The Prayer of Jonah in the Fish (Jonah 1:17-2:10)

Announcements

Still looking to fill the treasurer position—needs to be a member of the church, needs to be able to input data into a web-based computer software program, needs to be comfortable handling cash and checks, and needs to be comfortable with handling the church’s financials at the bank.

Church Picnic — Sunday, June 27th, 2021. My hope is to have this at one of the pavilions at Coldstream and essentially what we’re going to do is have our Sunday morning service there and then I’d encourage everyone to stick around for lunch right after the service. Of course, please invite friends and family to come, the more the merrier. Again, my hope is to have this at Coldstream but I’m still waiting for the township to approve it, so be aware that it might change by the time that date comes but I will keep you updated about it.

Missionary Michael Dunlop and his family will be here on July 11th during the Sunday morning service. He’ll be preaching during the service as well as presenting his ministry vision for France. They are on deputation right now, which means that they haven’t started in France yet because they’re still raising the funds to go but their hope is to be in France as soon as possible. Normally, I wouldn’t mention something like this so far in advance but I do want us to be aware that they’ll be here so that we can plan on having as many people as possible here for that service. I’ve requested that in addition to his regular presentation, that his sermon itself be focused on evangelism with an emphasis on the Gospel, which means that it will be an excellent opportunity for you to invite people that might not actually believe to the service. Again, that’s July 11th during the Sunday morning service. I’ll remind you about it again as we get closer to the date.

Probably about a month ago, I mentioned the possibility of renting a storefront near Front street in Philipsburg and I asked everyone to pray for that opportunity. We’ve kept in contact with the building manager and since we last spoke about it, the landlord has lowered the rent to $550 for us, again with all of the utilities included in the rent. She has also agreed to replace all of the flooring throughout the whole unit at no additional cost to us and has agreed to allow us to make minor cosmetic changes such as painting and erecting signs in front of the building. I know $550 seems like a lot but since we haven’t paid rent at all this year, we actually have more than plenty budgeted for that amount and it’s actually only a modest increase in what I initially budgeted for a year’s worth of rent in the first place. I’d like for us to continue praying to see if that’s the direction the LORD is leading us towards.

There are several benefits that would come from us having a permanent location that we could utilize every day of the week—from simply saving us the hassle of setting up and tearing down each week to giving us room to grow.

In addition, my goal would be to have an office in the building so that I could have office hours throughout the week for people in the community to stop whether that’s for counseling or for any other needs that they might have.

And it would actually give us room to start a children’s ministry in the future.

There are several other benefits but we don’t really have time to discuss it all right now, if you want to know what the benefits are, please come speak with me and I’ll walk you through it all.

One last thing about a potential permanent location for us, the decision for us to rent a facility on a permanent basis would normally be a decision made by the deacon board but obviously, we don’t have a deacon board at the moment. So, what that means is that during our next business meeting in July, I’ll present the storefront for a vote during the business meeting and the congregation will make the decision as to whether we should go forward with renting a storefront or not. Please be aware of that for the next business meeting.

As always, let me encourage you to continue giving as part of your worship of the LORD. We have three ways for you to give: (1) check and cash giving can be done through the offering box in the rear of the room. Please write your checks to Grace & Peace Bible Church and if you’d like a giving receipt for your cash giving, please be sure to place your gift in an envelope with your name on it. Debit, Credit, or ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting the number 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) visiting us at graceandpeacepa.com and selecting “Giving” in the menubar. Everything that you give goes to the building up of this local church and the spread of the Gospel throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship

Our Call to Worship this morning is the last 19 verses of Psalm 18, which I know sounds like a lot but the theme is the same throughout the 19 verses. Psalm 18, closes with the psalmist rejoicing in God’s blessings—the God who is a rock and has equipped him. The God who secures him and shields him with salvation. Psalm 18, closes by praising the LORD for all of these blessings, particularly salvation and steadfast love.

Let’s read responsively Psalm 18:31-50; I’ll read the odd numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Please stand with me as we read Psalm 18 together, page 3 of your worship guides.

Psalm 18:31–50 ESV

31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?— 32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. 36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. 43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation— 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, 48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence. 49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

Congregational Singing

Page 5 of your worship guides

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

His Mercy is More

He Will Hold me Fast

Scripture Reading

Our Scripture reading this morning is Matthew 12:38-42, in which Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their unbelief and he tells them to consider how Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights in comparison to how he would be dead for three days and three nights before his resurrection.

Last week, in the introduction of the sermon, I mentioned that one of the common issues the people have about the historicity of the book of Jonah is the fact that Jonah is swallowed by a fish. So, they’ll make the argument that Jonah can’t possibly be historical because the idea of a fish swallowing a man is so fanciful; and they would argue that because Jonah being swallowed by a fish is so imaginary, that there must be a symbolic meaning behind what happens in the book.

I mentioned briefly, that we really have no reason to doubt the historicity of Jonah. Yes, he does get swallowed by a big fish, but it’s clear in the text that God had chosen that fish to swallow Jonah, which tells us that the swallowing of Jonah was a miracle that happened intentionally by God. It seems crazy because it doesn’t normally happen but that is in the very definition of a miracle. With the way Jesus compares his resurrection to the swallowing of Jonah in the fish—if Jonah didn’t actually happen, it would cast doubt on Jesus’ resurrection.

I mentioned that we don’t have a reason to doubt the historicity of Jonah but we do have other evidences for the truthfulness of Jonah in other passages of Scripture. (1) In 2 Kings, Jonah is spoken of as a historical prophet that prophesied during the time of King Jeroboam II. And (2) in Matthew Jesus speaks of Jonah in a way that makes it clear that Jesus knew that Jonah was an historical account and I wanted us to read Jesus’ account of Jonah for our Scripture reading this morning:

Read with me Matthew 12:38-42.

Matthew 12:38–42 ESV

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Sermon

Introduction

Last week, we started our summer series called Nineveh, which covers both the book of Jonah, as well as the book of Nahum. Both Jonah and Nahum were prophets to a rather large city in the ancient near east called Nineveh and they both record two completely different responses to the message of God. Both Jonah and Nahum were called by God to go to the Ninevites to preach that judgment was coming but salvation is offered freely to all who would repent. Jonah records the Ninevites repenting during his time era but Nahum records the Ninevites rejecting God during his time era.

Last week, we really just started with a lot of introductory material into all that happened and we actually started into the account of Jonah through Jonah 1:1-16. And just as a recap, let me remind you of what that we’ve discussed so far:

I’ve already mentioned that Jonah was a prophet who was specifically sent by God to the Ninevites, which was the capital city of the Assyrians. One of the most important details of the Assyrians is that they were utterly wicked people, so much so that the king of Nineveh also admitted to their wickedness when the Ninevites eventually repent in Jonah 3.

Because of this great wickedness, Jonah determines in his heart that the Ninevites really don’t deserve forgiveness for their sins, so he not only refuses to obey God but he runs in the complete opposite direction—I explained last week that for an Israelite to get to Nineveh, they would have to travel by land to the northeast. Jonah instead, gets into a boat and starts traveling as far as he possibly could, all the way to modern-day Spain.

As we all know from the historical narrative, he doesn’t actually make it that far. He climbs aboard a ship in Joppa going to Tarshish and the Lord causes a great storm, which was so tremendous that the seasoned sailors panic and throw their freight overboard until Jonah finally admits that this storm was caused by his disobedience to God and he convinces them to throw him overboard.

This is where we left off, with God stopping the storm, the sailors realizing that Yahweh is truly God and worshiping him, and with Jonah drowning in the sea.

And the next major event is the one that we all know about, Jonah gets swallowed by a fish. Read with me Jonah 1:17-2:10, after which, I’ll explain how we’ll break up the passage, we’ll pray, and then we’ll dig into Scripture.

Jonah 1:17–2:10 ESV

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

As we study this passage, we’re going to look at it in two sections: (1) 1:17-2:2, Jonah Cries out from the Fish, is going to give us a bit of the setting, which is actually quite simple, Jonah is in a giant fish and now he’s crying out to the LORD. And I do want to make it clear, that even though Jonah cries out to God, he actually doesn’t seem repentant for his sin, so please keep that in mind as we study this section. Jonah is in a giant fish and he cries out to the LORD; and then in (2) Vs. 3-10, Jonah’s Prayer of Praise, which covers the rest of the chapter. I want to be abundantly clear again though, that even as Jonah praises the LORD and prays, the Bible no where mentions that Jonah is repentant for sinning against the Ninevites during his prayer in chapter 2. This is an important detail to remember as we work through the passage and as we seek to apply the passage later this morning. Before we jump in, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate his words for us.

Prayer for Illumination

Jonah Cries out from the Fish (1:17-2:2)

Jonah 1:17 both connects our current passage by continuing the narrative and introduces us to a new setting that presents the reasoning for Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2. Jonah 1:17 starts off with, “The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” And we really need to stop here because there are several questions that I’m certain you probably have—for instance, what just happened!? Or I thought Jonah was swallowed by a whale? Why does this say he was swallowed by a fish? And is this even possible? Could this have legitimately happened? So, let me answer those questions, starting with:

“I thought Jonah was swallowed by a whale? Why does this say he was swallowed by a fish?” There are two reasons why people think Jonah was swallowed by a whale:

In Matthew 12:38-42, which we read during our Scripture reading, the Bible tells us that “Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish.” And that is the common reading in most modern translations, that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish.

However, in the KJV, which for many people is the translation that they grew up with, the KJV says that “Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly.”

So the question is, was it a fish or was it a whale? Going back to our original text in Jonah 1:17, we read that the LORD appointed a great fish and the word fish is translated from the Hebrew word dag, and we know for a fact, that the Hebrew word dag only means fish.

Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, not a whale; which then brings up the question, why does the KJV translated Matthew 12:40 as Jonah being swallowed by a whale? And that’s really a question concerning translation issues. Whereas Jonah was written in Hebrew and translated into English, Matthew was written in Greek and translated into English.

The word used here to describe the fish is the Greek word ketos, which has more than one gloss. It can be translated as huge fish or it can be translated as a sea monster. So the KJV translators determined to make the passage more realistic and chose to translate the word as a whale, despite the passage in Jonah clearly referring to a great fish.

The second reason why most people think Jonah was swallowed by a whale is because several people took the passage in Matthew from the KJV and ran with it—so you have people like Sight and Sound Theatres who portray the beast to be a whale and Veggie Tales along with several other children’s books and movies portraying the beast as a whale based off of the KJV, when in reality the Bible calls the animal a giant fish.

Which means that when Jonah 1:17 happens, it should cause you to stop in your tracks and ask that question, “What just happened!?”

And this is really part of the purpose of every miracle that occured throughout the Bible. We’ve spoken of it several times before but it is so important for us to understand this, so let’s talk about it again.

Miracles throughout the Bible were utilized by God to confirm his message and to make it clear that he truly is God. We’ve already seen the result of the first miracle in Jonah when God causes this massive storm and stops the storm in chapter 1, it causes the sailors to recognize that Yahweh is truly the LORD, and they praise and worship him.

Jonah being swallowed by a great fish, is yet another miracle that confirms what God had told him and makes clear that Yahweh is truly God, which then results in Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2.

Often, as we ask that question, “What just happened!?” we then have to wrestle with whether or not this could have occurred. People have been wrestling with whether or not Jonah could have actually occurred and they have several ideas as to how it possibly could have happened.

There are several theories as to how this could possibly have happened and what each of these theories tend to do is try to prove that a miracle could have happened within the scientific laws that we currently understand.

Here’s the issue with that, miracles are the breaking of scientific laws or the breaking of how things normally function—by trying to create a theory to explain how this could happen under our current understanding of science is to make the claim that this isn’t actually a miracle—that it could have happened without needing something breaking scientific laws.

But Jonah being swallowed by a giant fish is legitimately a miracle, something that normally wouldn’t occur, which means that us trying to determine what type of fish this could be or how he could survive 3 days and 3 nights really is a waste of time. And any amount of time that we would spend trying to determine how this could work naturally is solved by understanding that this is a miracle that typically wouldn’t have happened. How do I know this beyond the simple fact that it typically wouldn’t have happened?

Read with me again, Vs. 17, “And the LORD appointed a great fish.”

We don’t need to know what type of fish swallowed Jonah—whether it was some sort of sea monster, or massive tuna.

All that we need to know is in the text, “The LORD appointed [or provided or arranged for] a great fish.” And that’s precisely how it happened. God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah

Whatever type of fish it was, God chose it to swallow Jonah.

Which leaves one last question concerning Vs. 17, How could Jonah have stayed within the belly of the fish for three days and three nights?

If you read commentaries about this verse, you’ll find, yet again a number of different theories as to how this could be. Most of which rely on a symbolic way of understanding the three day and three nights.

These theories range from the fish being completely symbolic and the three days and nights being representative of death to a comparison to ancient near eastern mythology concerning the time it would take to go to the underworld and back.

The issue with each of these theories is that the text itself doesn’t actually give us a reason to assume that the three days and three nights have to be taken in a symbolic or figurative manner.

In fact, thus far, in the narrative, everything that has been said has been taken literally—God literally told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah literally chose to run from God and disobey, Jonah literally went aboard a literal boat, there was a literal storm.

And since Jonah 1:17 continues in utilizing literal language to describe the events that took place, logic dictates that Jonah was literally swallowed by a great fish that was literally appointed by God and Jonah literally spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

So, despite numerous attempts to allegorize or moralize the fact that Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, in reality the Bible is just giving us the timeframe for Jonah being in the belly of the fish.

NAC, “Although the phrase ‘three days and three nights’ may have had a variety of connotations both from other Old Testament passages and from extrabiblical writings, no compelling reason exists to disbelieve the literal span of time indicated. In fact, none of the Old Testament allusions of a similar nature are necessarily figurative. The major point is that God, through the fish, could sustain this pouting prophet during [seemingly] ‘unbelievable’ circumstances and return him to the place where he could renew his commission to serve.”

It is in this condition, that Jonah prays the prayer that takes up the rest of the passage. Chapter 2 Vs. 1-2, “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” What we learn from Vs. 1-2, is three-fold: (1) we learn that this prayer was prayed by Jonah while he was still in the fish and (2) we learn that Jonah is in great distress as he prays this prayer, and (3) we learn that Jonah despite not actually repenting from his sin against the Ninevites, is starting to return to obedience in the Lord.

The first bit that we learn, about Jonah still being in the fish is literally something that we learn by taking the text for what it says.

We aren’t implying that Jonah is still in the fish based off of logic or anything, we know Jonah is still in the fish because Vs. 1, tells us that Jonah is still in the fish.

And because we know that this is a literal fish and Jonah is literally within the stomach of this fish, we can only imagine the type of distress that Jonah is in.

I don’t know what it’s like to be within the belly of any type of animal and neither do any of you but I’d imagine that it isn’t a great experience. Between being surrounded by darkness the entire length of three days and nights, being inside an animal, and I’d imagine stomach acid wouldn’t feel that great against your skin, all while the fish is still alive and swimming in the sea.

Vs. 2 tells us that Jonah said, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” This verse actually starts the transition into his prayer but there are several things of note about this verse before we jump into the prayer.

First, the fact that Jonah is willing to call out to the LORD again tells us that this is a moment in which he is starting to turn back to the LORD, however, remember he still has yet to actually repent from his sins against the Ninevites. So, while he has started turning back to God, he hasn’t actually realized his sin and repented from them. His slowly turning back to God is also noticeable in the fact that he writes in Vs. 1, that he prayed to the LORD his God. If you want to get very specific with what Jonah writes in Vs. 1, Jonah prayed to Yahweh his Elohim, which means that Jonah prayed to his God utilizing God’s personal covenant-keeping name

Secondly, you might be unfamiliar with the word Sheol, so let me explain that term briefly to help you understand the verse. Sheol is a word that’s transliterated form Hebrew.

Occasionally, there are words that have such a specific or unique meaning that there really isn’t an English word the correlates with it and this is one of those instances.

Sheol is always transliterated in the ESV but in the KJV, they tried to translate the word with numerous different words. Roughly half of the time, Sheol is translated as hell, a little under half of the time, it’s translated as the grave and on occasion it’s translated as the pit. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it’s usually translated as Hades.

Sometimes Sheol refers to a place and this would be after this life when unbelievers go to Sheol but occasionally Sheol is generically speaking of the place of the dead and in this case, it’s really speaking of Sheol in the form of the grave.

Jonah is crying out to the LORD in his distress and he’s expressing the distress that he’s in by calling his time in the belly of the fish the belly of the grave, or the belly of the dead, or as the KJV says, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.”

Third, and this is just a brief side-note, notice that this is the first time Jonah prays throughout the whole book.

In chapter 1, he hears from God to go and tell the Ninevites to repent—Jonah doesn’t pray, he runs and disobeys.

Jonah is then caught in a big storm but he doesn’t pray, he sleeps.

The captain of the ship tells him to pray to his god in hopes that they wouldn’t perish but the Bible doesn’t tell us that Jonah prayed.

Even as he’s thrown into the sea, the sailors on the boat worship God, but Jonah doesn’t pray whatsoever.

Jonah, while in the belly of the fish, prays for the first time in the book and again, as we read his prayer in this next section, remember with me that Jonah is not repenting from sin in this prayer—he hasn’t had a change of heart, he’s simply praising God in his prayer.

Which brings up the question, what exactly is he praising God for?

Read with me Vs. 3-10, Jonah’s Prayer of Praise.

Jonah’s Prayer of Praise (2:3-10)

Jonah 2:3–10 ESV

3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

The prayer of Jonah is written in a manner very similar to a psalm or a poem, which means that we’ve transitioned from simply reading historical narrative like the rest of the book and like the Gospel according to John, to Hebrew poetry. Because Hebrew poetry is written differently, we have to read the passage differently than how we read chapter 1. This means that while we’re still going verse-by-verse through the text, occasionally I’m going to jump around a little bit to show you how Jonah emphasizes certain ideas and themes.

Jonah starts in Vs. 2, by calling out to the LORD in his distress and God answered him. And he says, “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice,” referring to to his prayer in the belly of the fish.

Now, we could assume that Jonah is praying for his salvation from the fish but I’m going to argue that he isn’t actually praying for salvation from the fish but rather that he’s giving thanks that he’s in the fish. And I have three reasons for this:

First, Jonah is still in the fish when he prays this prayer and in the prayer he states in Vs. 2, that God heard him and in Vs. 9, that he is going to offer sacrifices to God with a voice of thanksgiving because salvation belongs to the LORD. Or in other words, Jonah in his prayer is giving thanks to God for saving him, but he’s still in the fish when he prays this. God hadn’t rescued him from the fish yet, so what is he giving thanks for?

Second, even though he states that he prayed this while in the belly of Sheol, which I think is a great description of what being inside a fish belly would be like, what he describes in the prayer isn’t actually the time he spent in the fish. It’s actually about his time outside of the fish, while he was struggling to survive in the water.

Third, he speaks of God rescuing him from the water as his salvation from death in Vs. 7.

Whereas its common for us to read this prayer and think that Jonah is speaking about his time within the fish, in reality, he’s giving thanks to the LORD for saving him by swallowing him with a giant fish.

This means that everything that Jonah prays about, the events that he’s speaking of actually have to do with something prior to his time inside of the fish and I’m actually going to suggest that he’s praising God for saving him from the waters by swallowing him with a giant fish. And this is where we’re going to start jumping around a little bit in the text.

Read with me again Vs. 3, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.” Vs. 5, “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.” And as Jonah struggles in the waters, he makes the statement that “I am driven away from your sight” and “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.”

These descriptions actually tell us a number of useful facts.

Whereas the sea was calm for the sailors in Jonah 1:15-16, the sea was not calm for Jonah. While the sailors were worshiping God on their boat, Jonah was being pulled under the waves into the deep heart of the seas.

This also tells us (and you might think this is an understatement) that Jonah was fearful for his life as he sank into the sea. Though it was his idea to be thrown into the sea, it wasn’t like he had a plan once he was in the water. It’s clear from the initial response of the sailors that they assumed that if he was thrown into the water, he would die—it’s safe to assume that Jonah probably thought he would die as well. And in his moment of facing death, he cries out to the LORD. But again, remember he isn’t quite to the point where he repents for his sin against the Ninevites.

Despite not repenting for his sins against the Ninevites, he realizes his only hope is God and he calls out to God for help.

So Jonah, as he prays this prayer is actually giving thanks to the LORD for saving him from drowning in the sea. And as he’s giving thanks, he actually makes a few statements that are profound but subtle.

Remember in Jonah 2:1, I made it a point that Jonah is crying out to Yahweh his God, which emphasizes this personal relationship that Jonah has with Yahweh.

But when we read through the prayer, did you notice that Jonah speaks of God’s sovereignty over the situations of his life? Read with me again Vs. 3, and I’ll emphasize what I’m talking about. “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.”

Which gives the impression that Jonah realizes that what he’s suffering through is God’s punishment for his disobedience. Or in other words, he realizes that God is utilizing the sea as a means to judge his sin.

But again, when we read through the prayer, did you notice that Jonah speaks of God’s sovereignty over the situations of his life? Read with me again Vs. 6-7, “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.”

Which gives the impression that Jonah realizes that his salvation from drowning in the sea is God’s work despite his initial disobedience. Or in other words, like he says at the end of Vs. 9, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

So, what we’ve seen so far in the book of Jonah is Jonah sinning against the Ninevites, Jonah disobeying God and climbing aboard a ship going the complete opposite direction that he was supposed to go. We’ve seen God utilize a massive storm, which convinces the sailors to do what Jonah says and throw him overboard and now we’re reading about what his experience was like struggling in the sea.

The descriptions of which evoke a sense of fear and hopelessness, Vs. 2, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress.” “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried.” Vs. 3, “You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.” “The flood surrounded me.” “Your waves and your billows passed over me.” Vs. 5, “The waters closed in over me to take my life.” Vs. 7, “My life was fainting away.”

All of these phrases show us that Jonah was truly fearful for his death and all of these phrases tell us that he realized that this was a consequence of his own disobedience.

They also reflect a person who realizes that the only place that he can turn is to the LORD for salvation, which is precisely what he does.

In his desperation, the psalm-like prayer points to the only one that Jonah can have hope in. Vs. 2, “I called out to the LORD . . . and he answered me” “You heard my voice.” Vs. 4, “I shall again look upon your holy temple.” Vs. 6, “You brought up my life from the pit.”

All of these phrases show us that Jonah was truly desperate for the LORD to save him and they tell us that he recognized that God alone could save him.

Each of these phrases show us a man that is hopeful that God will save him despite his sin.

So, we see how the desperation of Jonah as he’s sinking in the sea compels him to call out to the LORD and as he describes the reason for his desperation he does it in a poetic manner. Keep these themes and emphasis in mind as we re-read Vs. 3-7, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.”

The desperate, fearful and hopeless Jonah cries out to the one who he knows can save him and in doing this he turns back to the LORD—not necessarily with repentance from his sin of partiality against the Ninevites, but the prayer clearly signifies his return to obedience of the LORD.

We know this because in chapter 3, the LORD speaks to him again to go to Nineveh and he actually goes.

And in recording his prayer, he actually gives us a pattern for us to follow when we find ourselves in similar situations—that when we find ourselves in great despair, we can and should cry out to the LORD.

But in knowing that Jonah still has great hatred towards the people of Nineveh, perhaps the greatest warning in this passage is to be sure that when you’re calling out to God, part of your calling out to him is in true repentance from sin.

Jonah wraps up his prayer in Vs. 8-9, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

Which might sound a little odd at first because it seems almost like he’s completely changing topics when he brings up “vain idols,” but think with me. Jonah has just finished up proclaiming God’s goodness in rescuing him from the deeps. He has just proclaimed how God is completely sovereign over all things including the waves that passed over him.

And in making all of those statements, he makes it abundantly clear that the only hope that he had was the LORD. What he’s doing in Vs. 8-9 as he wraps up his prayer is explicitly making the statement the Yahweh is the only god that anyone can have hope in.

That is in contrast to “those that pay regard to vain idols,” which if you remember with me, included the sailors in the ship from Jonah 1, who prior to worshiping Yahweh were praying out to their false gods.

What Jonah says in Vs. 8, “those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love” is that those who hope in worthless idols lose their hope of salvation.

You might think that that isn’t quite what that verse says but let me assure you that it really does. The word translated as “steadfast love” is the Hebrew word hesed. Hesed refers to the covenant-keeping loyal love of God. Hesed is what is being referred to when the Bible expresses God’s love for those that he has promised salvation to.

By hoping in worthless idols, these idolators lose the confident expectation they could have in God’s promises because they’re hoping in false idols rather than the one true God.

But Jonah isn’t like that, Jonah finishes in Vs. 9, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

Jonah finishes by claiming that he doesn’t pay regard to vain idols, he worships Yahweh with Thanksgiving. When he says “What I have vowed I will pay” he’s referring to the sacrifices that he intends to offer to God and the thanksgiving he intends to praise God with.

Unlike the idolators who worship falsehood, Jonah will worship the one, true God.

And he closes with probably the most ironic statement he could possibly make, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” Why do I say that it is ironic? Because the whole mess that Jonah was in was caused by his refusal to preach repentance and salvation to the Ninevites.

If he truly believed that salvation belonged to the LORD, he would have had no issue taking the message of salvation to the Assyrian people in Nineveh because it isn’t his salvation to proclaim, it’s the LORDS.

After finishing this prayer, “the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”

As we start to wrap everything up, I’m sure you have the question, how exactly do we apply a personal prayer to our lives? So, let’s spend the remaining amount of time that we have together seeking to apply the truths in this passage. We’re going to do that in two different ways: (1) I’m going to give specific application concerning different sections of the passage (like I normally would do) and (2) I’m going to give general application over the whole passage:

Application

Jonah Cries Out from the Fish (1:17-2:2)—In the first three verses of this passage, we see God appointing a great fish to swallow Jonah, Jonah being stuck in the fish for three days and three nights and the start of his prayer. There’s really two application points that I want to make from these three verses:

Perhaps the most potent application is this: if the Bible says a miracle occurred, don’t try to explain it utilizing natural means—in other words, we spoke at length about several different theories that try to rationalize Jonah being swallowed by a fish or Jonah being able to survive inside a fish.

The truth is, God chose that fish and God sustained Jonah within the fish. It would not have occurred otherwise.

To try and explain these events utilizing natural means, would be to diminish the fact that God performed a miracle.

The proper application would then be, that when the Bible says something miraculous happened, regardless of how farfetched it is, it isn’t meant to be explained by natural means—it’s meant to confirm God’s message and show the glory of God.

Don’t try to explain away miracles in the Bible; simply worship God.

The second application has to do with his response when he found himself in distress, “Then Jonah prayed,” “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me.”

Jonah realized he was in a position where he couldn’t possibly have hope without the LORD, so he cried out to God.

Which is actually a very telling piece of truth for us today, because Jonah did this while he was technically still on the run from God and in disobedience.

And yet, even while still on the run from God and even while in disobedience, he still cried out to God.

The proper application would then be, that regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey—whether you find yourself in a position of obedience to the LORD or in a position of disobedience to the LORD, turn to the LORD when you find yourself in distress—he is your only hope for salvation

Turn to the LORD.

From Jonah 1:17-2:2, don’t try to explain away miracles in the Bible; simply worship God and when you find yourself in times of distress, don’t hesitate to turn to the LORD.

Jonah’s Prayer of Praise (3-10)—in the bulk of the text, we read Jonah’s actual prayer, which I explained was a prayer of thanksgiving for God saving him by swallowing him with a fish, and there’s really two application points that I want to draw out of this section of the passage as well, which are actually connected with the prior application point, in times of distress, don’t hesitate to turn to the LORD and pray.

As we read this section of the passage, we see a great description of the distress that Jonah suffered, which is significant because we typically don’t pray like this. Our prayers are typically very cleaned-up and polished but that’s definitely not what Jonah does.

In fact, many of the prayers throughout the Bible are actually more raw than what we would be when we pray. Jonah doesn’t seek to polish up the fear that he felt in the sea, he doesn’t try to clean-up what happened. In Psalm 12, David calls out for God to save him and in a hyperbolic way, he claims that he’s the only godly person left, that everyone else lies with flattering lips and a double heart. Psalm 12, 13, 22, and 42 are all great examples of psalmists simply crying out to the LORD in their distress without trying to make their prayers polished or cleaned-up, they simply cry out in desperation.

When you’re struggling in life—whether that’s do to familial loss, overwork, interpersonal relationship problems, illness, or any number of other issues, it is appropriate to turn to the LORD

AND it is appropriate for your prayers to be raw just like Jonah’s, just like David’s, and just like several other people throughout the Bible; just as long as you keep in mind that you’re still talking to God.

So, when life is difficult, don’t hesitate to go to the LORD and simply tell him that life stinks right now, that everything seems to be wrong right now, that you feel alone, or that you feel like everyone hates you.

But be sure that you always couple it with truths of God—life stinks right now but I know you’re always good. Everything seems to be wrong right now but I know you’re always right. I feel so alone but I know you are with me. I feel like everyone hates me but I know that you love me.

Being raw in your prayer to the LORD will deepen your prayer life and deepen your relationship with God.

In your distress, cry out to God authentically.

After you turn to the LORD in your distress and after you tell the LORD of the great difficulties in your life, the proper response is to do what Jonah does in Vs. 8-9, hope in the LORD only and praise him with thanksgiving.

When you cry out to the LORD in distress the temptation will be to simply complain to him. Throw all your complaints to the LORD and then end your prayer.

You must not do this—in every prayer throughout Scripture that we would consider a lament, the individual cries out to the LORD, expresses his distress, and then emphatically states that his only hope is in the LORD.

You must do the same—through every trial and tribulation in your life: cry out to the LORD, express your distress, recognize that your only hope is in the LORD.

And then give thanks to the LORD.

God, life stinks right now but I know you’re always good. Everything seems to be wrong right now but I know you’re always right. I feel so alone but I know you are with me. I feel like everyone hates me but I know that you love me. Thank you for keeping your promises to me. Thank you for being my one hope in times of trouble.

In every time of trouble in your life, cry out to the LORD authentically, express your distress, and put your hope in the LORD with thanksgiving.

And finally, as we close off, I want to look at one specific application point that covers the entirety of the prayer and the passage. Sometimes we can read a passage like this and lose the context so let’s look at this prayer in light of context.

I don’t know if you noticed this but this prayer occurred almost immediately after Jonah rejected God, ran from God, was thrown into the sea, and swallowed by a fish; and no where in chapter one or two, does Jonah actually repent from any sin. No where in any of the text does he say, “LORD, I really messed up, please forgive me.”

Why is that? Because Jonah hasn’t actually repented, which tells us that despite recognizing that he was wrong to disobey God and despite being thrown in the sea and swallowed by a fish, he still thinks he’s right to not go to the Ninevites and preach a message of repentance to them.

Do you know what the issue is? Jonah isn’t in the right, Jonah is wrong, he needs to repent.

And despite the fact that he prayed this beautiful prayer of thanksgiving to the LORD, the fact of the matter is that he’s still in sin. What does that tell us?

It tells us that you can sing great praises to the LORD, you can give thanks to the LORD, you can do the Christian things, and say the “right things” and your heart can still be wrong and you can still be in sin.

So, what is the application from the whole passage? Be sure that you’ve actually repented from your sin.

It is not enough to sing songs to the LORD, it is not enough to give thanks to the LORD, it is not enough to do the Christian things and say the “right things,” salvation belongs to the LORD and according to Paul, salvation only comes to those who repent from their sins, believe in their hearts, and call out to the LORD.

Put simply, what we see in Jonah’s prayer is this: (1) in times of distress we must cry out to the LORD, (2) when we cry out to the LORD, we should be authentic—we should express our distress, but then emphatically hope in the LORD with thanksgiving, and (3) we need to be sure that even in us doing all of the Christian things, that we do them with a heart of repentance with belief in the LORD.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

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I will Glory in My Redeemer