Jonah: The Psalm of Deliverance
Chapter 2
(Psalm 18:1-6)
Yes, I am a fish. But fish have stories, too.
Anyway, it was a regular day, and I was doing what fish do.
It was not a fancy day so I expected nothing new.
And in a moment — in a flash — I heard His very voice.
Him! Yes, He, the Maker, who lets me wander His very own sea.
“Up!” He said, “I have appointed you with a special task today.”
And then He asked me to serve Him in this way:
One of those special creatures — a real live child of God —
I was asked to carry across the sea.
Oh to be like them: made to know God like a friend
And be made like Him, specially.
So, I went.
And I picked him up in the strangest fashion.
He was nearly drowning and had not a single possession.
“Swallow him? Really?” I asked the Maker.
“Alright, if that is what you say. I won’t see it as silly.”
Then after I swallowed him,
Obeying, even when it felt funny,
The strangest thing I heard from my tummy.
The man was crying and even starting to sing!
With great pain he did this and I wondered to myself,
How had he gotten so beside himself?
Three days the Maker told me to keep him on board,
Until I should spit him onto Nineveh’s shore.
Now that I look back,
I don’t know why God chose me for that task.
I don’t know what the Maker was doing with this man,
But, I rejoice that I got to be part of His plan.
I don’t know what in the world this was for,
But I am thankful I got to serve my Lord.
So . . . if you’re a son or daughter of the Maker —
One of those special image bearers —
But you’re thinking of getting on an escape boat,
Please don’t get on board.
Instead, think of my story
And happily serve the Lord.
Eden Parker, 2015
Good morning, Faithlink community! I’m Ashley Goad, one of your associate pastors. Last week, Pastor Erik introduced you to a prophet named Jonah. And if you haven’t heard Erik’s sermon from last week, go back and listen to Erik unpack Jonah chapter 1. He’s one of the most gifted expository pastors I know, breaking apart verse-by-verse to give context and meaning.
We learned Jonah was a wayward prophet, who received a direct call from God to go to Ninevah. And he didn’t just say no; he ran in the opposite direction, and set sail for Tarshish, 2500 miles from Ninevah. But God sent a huge storm at sea. The ship was about to break into pieces. The sailors were terrified, and they called out in desperation to their gods, yet they found Jonah sleeping at the bottom of the ship. The sailors woke him up, and cast lots to see who brought this trouble to their journey. It was Jonah, and they threw him overboard. Immediately the sea quieted down.
That’s where we left Jonah last Sunday with Erik. And so we pick up with the next verse, the last verse in chapter one, which says:
And then…the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Afloat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, God appointed a fish to swallow Jonah. I found myself dwelling upon this word appointed. It’s a curious word. In Hebrew, it’s ma-na-h.
The KJV translates it: Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
The Message says: Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah.
The NIV uses this: Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah.
And the NLT, my favorite, says: Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.
Although God had appointed his prophet to travel to Nineveh and preach the good news of Yahweh’s forgiveness, He resorted to appointing a fish to retrieve the prophet in his rebellion. This verb, ma-na-h is used several times in this little book. And in each case, God orchestrated a circumstance to teach Jonah something he desperately needed to know.
Although I’ve always seen the fish as Jonah’s antagonist, let’s remember how we got to this point in the narrative. Remember that Jonah is trying to flee Yahweh’s territorial boundaries by getting on a ship headed for Tarshish. Remember that unlike the other ancient gods, Yahweh doesn’t have territorial boundaries. So, Yahweh, the God of earth and sea, hurls a great wind at Jonah’s ship to stop him, resulting in the sailors hurling Jonah into the sea to save the ship. In light of the fact that our prophet is currently dog-paddling in the middle of the Mediterranean, I think it’s fair to say that Jonah is feeling pretty good about this huge fish. Yahweh is indeed the God of land and sea, and as this psalm makes very clear, Yahweh can find, and mind, his servant whatever the crisis is at hand.
Speaking of the Mediterranean Sea… Last weekend, I was in Turkey with our Russian partners in ministry, who wanted to get away from the chaos and turmoil of everyday life in their country. And Turkey was one of the only countries in the world willing to accept their visit. So, I traveled first to Romania to check on Caroline Cunningham and Dragos and Stefania Alexandrescu. And then I hopped on another plane to Kas, Turkey.
We rented a house on the coast, as you do… because we needed a place for quiet, a place for prayer, a place for healing, and a place for restoration. And on that first morning, I sat outside with my cup of coffee in hand and opened my Bible to Jonah Chapter 2. And from my balcony, I gazed for nearly an hour into the vast blue of the Mediterranean Sea. I read, and read, and re-read this psalm of desperation, or better yet, this psalm of deliverance. I even took a dip in the Sea…several times. We’ll call that sermon research!
It was here that I realized that getting swallowed by this fish was not some sort of punishment directed at Jonah for disobedience. God was not putting Jonah in the worst time out ever! The great fish is not the villain! Rather, the great fish is Jonah’sdeliverance. God sent the most unexpected lifeguard of all time to rescue His wayward prophet! That’s clear from the fact that Jonah responds to being swallowed with a hymn of praise!
Which leads us to Jonah Chapter 2 of Jonah:
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said,
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,
and Lord, you heard me!
You threw me into the ocean depths,
and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’
“I sank beneath the waves,
and the waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth,
whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
snatched me from the jaws of death!
As my life was slipping away,
I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
in your holy Temple.
Those who worship false gods
turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”
Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
Up to this point, the narrator had not provided us with any clues as to Jonah’s emotional state. But in this prayer in chapter 2, we are given insight into what is going on in his heart. This great man of God, who has intentionally and willfully defied the command of God, who has been given a second chance, offers a prayer of thanksgiving . . . from the belly of a fish.
Now, it would be quite a stretch to anticipate that Jonah had a quill and papyrus, or a pen and paper on hand in the midst of his near-drowning and rescue. The chances the prophet remained conscious and composed enough to write a psalm is even more challenging. But like any faithful Israelite, we can anticipate Jonah had memorized many psalms, many creeds, many hymns, and probably called several to mind between the hurling, and the drowning, and the swallowing. Jonah Chapter 2 is the result of those cries for help and expressions of gratitude. Particularly interesting in Jonah’s prayer are the parallels with Psalm 18, that Tricia read earlier. This might have been the memorized piece that Jonah recited as he stared his own mortality in the face.
But I tend to think Jonah was recalling several of his favorite Psalms. I want us to do something a little different here. On each slide, I have a verse from Jonah and a corresponding verse from Psalms. I am going to read the verse from Jonah, and then together, we’ll read aloud the verse from Psalms. See if you can spot the similarities:
Ref | Jonah (ESV) | Ref | Psalms (ESV) |
2:2a | I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; | 120:1 | In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. |
2:2b | out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. | 30:3 | O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. |
2:3a | For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; | 88: 6–7 | you have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. |
2:3b | all your waves and your billows passed over me | 42:7 | Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. |
2:4a | Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight;’ | 31:22a | I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” |
2:4b | yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. | 5:7 | But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. |
2:5a | The waters closed in over me to take my life; | 69: 1–2 | Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. |
2:6b | yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.” | 103:4 | who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, |
2:7a | When my life was fainting away, I remembered | 142:3 | When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. |
2:8a | Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. | 31:6 | I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. |
2:9a | But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed, | 50:14 | Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, |
2:9c | Salvation belongs to the Lord! | 3:8 | Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! |
So, what can we learn from this fishy experience? Let me offer my takeaways from my balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea:
First, if we are to take away any lesson from this psalm of desperation and deliverance, it is Jonah’s final words to end his psalm:
“For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”
At the climax of Jonah’s prayer, verse 9, he speaks of ḥeseḏ. It’s a key biblical word often translated as "steadfast love” or “grace.” It refers to the covenant love of God. It takes the whole prayer for Jonah to get there - to a declaration about God's grace - but when he does, that’s when he’s released back into the land of the living.
In fact, if we were to ascribe a theme to the Book of Jonah, I think it would be simply - salvation. And as we know, from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 & 9, we are saved by grace, through faith, and this grace is a gift from God, and only God.
Like Jonah, we have all run away from God. But Jonah’s story shows us that God can and will save us from times of deep trauma in our lives, just as He saved Jonah from the storm.
To save Jonah, God provided a fish; to save us, He provided His Son.
And in Jonah chapter 2, Jonah shows us the way to salvation:
1) First, Jonah says: You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. Here, Jonah acknowledged the danger he was in, but also that God had pursued him. God was longing to save him. This encourages us to admit to God that we have run away, and thank Him for coming after us.
2) Second, Jonah writes: In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
Jonah recognized he could not save himself. Like Jonah, our only hope is to call on God. All of our wealth, our cleverness, our skills, our contacts - nothing worldly can save us from the dangers we face. Only God can.
3) Third, Jonah acted. Yes, God saves us where we are, but He doesn’t leave us there. Returning to God means huge changes in our lives. As Erik will explore next week in chapters 3 and 4, Jonah’s life was literally turned around when he came back to God. And the same will happen for us.
So, my first takeaway is God alone can save us. The second takeaway is to write the Scriptures on our hearts, so that in any situation, whether we have a Bible at hand or not, we are able to recall the faithful words of God, and find solace, and comfort, and strength.
And science backs this up! According to studies in neuroscience, it’s possible to teach and reteach your brain to respond to stimulus in a particular fashion. As a result, a person can actually train their brain to respond to:
· the stimulus of stress …with calm, as opposed to anxiety
· or, the stimulus of a particular substance or habit …with abstinence
· or, the stimulus of crisis …with optimism
It seems to me this isn’t actually new information… For centuries the Scriptures have been commanding us to do the same — change the way we respond to crisis!
For example, Philippians 4:4–6: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
A command to respond to stress with prayer is a command to rewire your brain. It’s a command to retrain our brains to respond to a particular stimulus with a different response. In his despair, Jonah cried out to God. He chose to pray in the midst of some really serious stress. He found hope in the midst of desperation. Paul commands the same - change your response to stimulus! Are you anxious? Are you drowning in debt? Drowning in despair? Drowning in addiction? Drowning in crisis? Drowning in pain? Try praying your own psalm of deliverance… with all the honesty, all the rawness, all the authenticity you can muster. And let’s get neuroscience working in our favor!
So, first, God saves. And second, we pray. And finally, what can we learn from this fishy tale? We wait and listen for God to answer.
Do you know the game Would You Rather? Let’s give it a go:
· Would you rather -
o have someone you work with barge into your office to duke out a conflict,
o or have that same person simply exclude you from every email or report they send?
· Would you rather -
o have your spouse blow up at you about something they think you did,
o or give you the cold shoulder and silent treatment for a month?
· Would you rather -
o have your best friend text you that they don’t want to be friends with you anymore,
o or have them simply (and silently) stop interacting with you?
One of the most amazing things about Israel’s God is that He actually speaks to His people. In the Old Testament, God actually speaks to His people through His prophets. How ironic it is that our prophet, Jonah, launches his psalm with his affirmation that God has spoken to him:
“I called out to Yahweh and He answered me!” He answered me!
In the polytheistic world of Israel’s neighbors, this was not normal.
· Do you remember the ship’s captain in Chapter 1? “Get up!” he said, “Call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us and we will not perish!”
· Do you remember how amazed the sailors were when Jonah’s God actually did something about the storm?
The prophets of Israel were constantly reminding the people of Israel that their idols, their statues of false gods, had eyes that couldn’t actually see, and ears that couldn’t actually hear. But Yahweh does see, and does hear, and does respond. This is why the “vain idols” are continuously mocked throughout the Psalms. These psalms of thanksgiving are contrasting the blind, deaf, unmoving statues of their neighbors with the invisible and omnipotent true God.
And in Isaiah 44:12–17, Isaiah took the message further and ridiculed those who carve their own god out of a block of wood, and then think that god can answer in a time of crisis!
In our crisis, in Jonah chapter 2, we see an entirely different picture. The prophet knew he was facing certain death, so he prayed . . . And God, who can see and hear and act, saw his calamity, heard his cry, and answered him.
So, back to the “would you rather”… Think about those incredibly frustrating emotions that come from a relationship where open communication has broken down. When the only choices left are yelling and passive-aggressive silent treatment, which did you choose? I know for me, if I truly care about the relationship, I’ll take yelling over silence any day. Silence means that my colleague, my friend, my spouse is more interested in protecting themselves than they are in their relationship with me. And in my life experience, silence is the death of relationship. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be yelled at any more than the next person, but I would rather deal with a living, irritated relationship, than a dying, retreating one.
Which would you rather? A god who gives you the silent treatment, or one that might need to speak to you while hanging out in the belly of a fish? I think I’ll take the latter.
Friends, this is one chapter in the Bible that I could spend days unpacking, and indeed I did so, sitting on that balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, where Jonah himself spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. My prayer for each of us is that we, too, will go to the Lord in prayer, call out to Him in our distress, listen for Him to answer, and know that because of Him, we, too, can live our lives in the glory of His amazing grace.
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