Jonah 2 - Salvation Comes From the LORD
- Alan Salwei
- Jun 23
- 3 min read
The LORD answers the prayers of the distressed.
Jonah 2 (NASB95)
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish,
2 and he said,
“I called out of my distress to the LORD,
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 was around 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.”
10 Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Heidelberg Catechism
Q&A 117
Q. How does God want us to pray so that he will listen to us?
A. First, we must pray from the heart
to no other than the one true God,
who has revealed himself in his Word,
asking for everything he has commanded us to ask for.
Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery,
hiding nothing,
and humble ourselves in his majestic presence.
Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation:
even though we do not deserve it,
God will surely listen to our prayer
because of Christ our Lord.
That is what he promised us in his Word.
Summary
The first chapter of Jonah details his disobedience to God’s calling and the
resulting judgement. After being cast into the sea, Jonah was swallowed by a
great fish.
Chapter 2 gives an account of Jonah’s prayers from inside the great fish. From
the darkness of the fish’s belly, Jonah cried out to God in response to his current
situation.
As the great fish descends below the surface of the water, Jonah feels banished
from the Lord’s sight and presence. This is more than a fear of death; Jonah is
expressing the separation from God he has brought upon himself through his
disobedience.
Jonah’s prayer of distress turns into one of thanksgiving, as Jonah speaks of
God’s saving power. What started as a petition for salvation from Jonah’s
impending doom becomes a prayer of praise for God’s deliverance.
Dig Deeper
Even though Jonah was in the depths of the sea, God heard and responds to his
petitions. In an act of divine grace, the great fish vomits Jonah out upon dry
land.
While being thrown up by a fish may not sound like a pleasant experience, for
Jonah this marked his deliverance from his current peril. God had heard and
accepted Jonah’s prayer of repentance and thanksgiving.
The deliverance of Jonah from the belly of the great fish did more than just save
him from certain death. Despite his past reluctance, Jonah was being given a
second chance to faithfully obey God’s calling.
Jonah is not the only person to try to run away from God. He was fortunate that
God graciously gave him an undeserved second chance. In what ways are you
running away from God? Set aside some time today to consider how God might
be giving you a second chance to do the right thing.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who answers those who call upon Him out of deep distress;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that in moments that you feel yourself fainting away that you'll remember the LORD and call upon Him;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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