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Meditation

Reader,

Jonah's story is so familiar to Christians and non-Christians alike that we often miss the finer details.

Most of us can't remember hearing this story for the first time as we were so young. It begins its life in us as a remarkable tale about a man miraculously swallowed by a fish, but as we mature in our faith, we understand the overriding themes of Jonah's disobedience, how you cannot hide from God, repentance for sin and God's Justice and Grace.

When you copy this passage, you'll notice the switching of tenses from present to past and from the impersonal to the personal. (He "answered me", "you listened") As if Jonah is reporting on his own prayer after the fact. We glean the prayer from the account of the circumstances and the quotes.

It's complex, but ends emphatically, "Salvation comes from the Lord."

Today's text is Jonah 2:1-9

Jonah's Prayer of Repentance

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
​³ You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.

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​⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’

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​⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
​⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
​⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

Encouragement

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
​² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

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​³ He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.

Psalm 40:1-3

Andy

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