Jonah: A prayer from the Depths
12 Prophetic Men • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewJonah’s prayer from within the fish
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15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
16 Then the men became extremely afraid of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
This is the word of God…
Are you ready for the message God has for us?
Develop what we often focus on in the book of Jonah
7 times the word great appears — Jonah 1:2
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.”
4 However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.
17 And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
Then also 3:2; 3:3, 4:11
The word means above average size, number, quantity, or magnitude.
Larger or bigger than normal — Develop
Sometimes we miss his prayer or Psalm of thanksgiving.
Jonah was in distress
Jonah was in distress
Jonah was drowning and saw the fish as God’s means of saving his life.
From the belly of the fish Jonah worships God and prays.
Jonah gives thanks for the mercy and grace God has showed him.
In Jonah’s
mind he was in the gravest peril praying, thinking of God’s presence in the temple — Jonah 2:4
4 “So I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
Jonah recognizes also that from the depths of the sea his petition rises to heaven — Jonah 1:7
7 And each man said to his mate, “Come, let’s cast lots so that we may find out on whose account this catastrophe has struck us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Jonah was praying from the midst of Sheol — verse 1
It is the fear of death that has gripped Jonah
The horror and God’s deliverance
The horror and God’s deliverance
It seams that fear was gripping Jonah after all he was thrown over board.
Ever been in a dark time and felt the walls closing in around you?
Develop — I thought about being in the belly of a fish claustrophobic
The Jews viewed the ocean as chaotic, full of evil, darkness, and death.
For Jonah to sink in the water was to sink toward death and the realm of Sheol
1 Save me, God, For the waters have threatened my life.
2 I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
15 May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit close its mouth on me.
Thus for Jonah he was sinking toward his death.
The Jews believed every sort of distress, illness, or trouble was considered to be a weak form of death.
Have you ever felt like this? — Develop
Yet in the midst of this Jonah recognizes God’s deliverance - Jonah 2:8-9
8 “Those who are followers of worthless idols Abandon their faithfulness,
9 But I will sacrifice to You With a voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.”
Jonah didn’t learn much
Jonah didn’t learn much
We see a change in Jonah — God is in this
The tension is that the change is not a complete change.
Jonah turns to God, but his problem with God remains unresolved.
That is the tension remains as the book ends — Jonah 4:9-11
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!”
10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.
11 Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many animals?”
Jonah doesn’t seem to have learned anything.
A commentator wrote: “Three days of undigested Jonah.” — Develop
The fish had to be relieved to be rid of the thing inside it.
I find it interesting wherever Jonah goes he just seems to cause difficulties, whether for human beings or God’s other creatures.
Conclusion
In times of great distress do we seek God?
When the pressures of the world close in on us like being in the tight space of a fish do we turn to God?
Being even in the depths and darkness of the ocean Jonah new that his prayer would be heard by God — Jonah 2:7-10
7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.
8 “Those who are followers of worthless idols Abandon their faithfulness,
9 But I will sacrifice to You With a voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.”
10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Do you like Jonah recognize the living God you are praying to?
Jonah came to God in the midst of trial, but we understand the need to be before God daily!
In His word and in His presence through prayer!
God’s people need more prayer always!
