And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
3 “For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me.
4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars wasaround me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
7 “While I was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
8 “Those who regard vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness,
9 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation is from the Lord.”
When I read Jonah's prayer I am reminded of my own hearts cry for help when I am in despair.
The Lord has truly saved me from the pit or shall I say, from the "stomach of the fish".
When I read Jonah's story and think upon his actions, I am reminded just how alike we are, Jonah and I. Scripture clearly tells me what is right and good and so often I am apt to flee from it, when truly I should bind it around my neck and never forget it. God clearly spoke to Jonah and Jonah did not want to obey, so he ran from the Lord.
Jonah learned the hard way that the Lord cannot be lost or left behind. Jesus was with him in the depths of the sea, in the belly of a great fish. Jonah saw his error and cried to the Lord, thinking that he should surely die soon. Our gracious Lord delivered Jonah and sent him on his way to carry out the command given.
Jonah's story is not only spectacular, but pretty much unheard of. Who can live in the belly of a fish for three days? What fish actually vomits? Well, Jonah did it by the Lord's hand! And thank goodness that this fish did vomit!
As I think about these things I am reminded how the Lord has put people like Jonah and his life story in the Bible to help show us who we are and who God really is. He uses people who seem outrageous and fleshly to help us examine our own hearts. We are outrageous and fleshly, are we not? We may not get swallowed by a fish for running from the Lord in our petty ways, but we are just as much to blame for our sinful actions as the man who did get swallowed by a fish!
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