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.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
From the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed to God. This was not a prayer for God to deliver him but a prayer of praise once he realised that God had sent the fish to save him. He would have written the prayer sometime later but it was prayed in the belly of the fish.
Having told the sailors to cast him overboard, Jonah must have feared death. From that fear of death he had cried out to God and God delivered him. Even though it was the sailors who physically cast him into the sea, Jonah recognised God’s sovereign intervention behind their action. He acknowledged that the sea and waves belonged to God. Though he had been driven away through his disobedience, Jonah had a repentant attitude and had faith that he would see God’s holy temple (probably in Jerusalem again or perhaps in heaven). When the sea had threatened to take Jonah’s life he remembered the Lord was his God and he prayed. His prayer reached God in his heavenly abode and God stepped in and saved him. Perhaps thinking of the sailors, Jonah acknowledged that praying to idols would have brought no response. Jonah ended with thanksgiving and a sacrifice of praise to God. He vowed obedience and declared that salvation belongs to the Lord—deliverance from danger is a gracious gift from God.
God commanded the fish to spit Jonah up on dry land. He was most probably back where he started, positioned to do what God had originally called him to do.
When last did you pray to praise God for who He is and what He has done in your life without asking for anything?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
The Flood Recedes and the Rainbow: Genesis 8-9