January 18th, 2021
Jonah 1:17-2:10 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 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. 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. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 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. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
The Big Picture
The verb “appointed” is used several times in the book of Jonah. It means that God orchestrated a circumstance in history to teach a lesson. Peter Craigie writes that when we reject and disobey God, as Jonah did, it takes “radical treatment, if it is to be remedied. Why is it that you and I, like Jonah, often find ourselves learning the greatest secrets of God’s grace is at the bottom of ourselves and our circumstances?! Verses 2-9 is the recorded prayer of Jonah as he comes to the realization of the steadfast love (v8) of God which can also be interpreted “grace”. At that moment that he confesses and acknowledges the steadfast love of God, the fish vomits Jonah out on the dry land. Gross.
How To Pray
Today is a good day to begin a normal rhythm of confession if that isn’t a normal part of your prayer time with the Lord.
If confession is part of the rhythm of your walk with the Lord, then as you pray today, pray Psalm 19:12-14.
Pray for the purity of God’s Church, the Bride of Christ. None of us are perfect or will be perfect on this side of Heaven but we can make it a practice to ask God to graciously make us holy unto himself.