A Pray from the Deep ( Jonah 2)
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
9-15-19
Save Me!
When my boys were younger, we would go to CAPS pool in Chatsworth in the summer. We got to know the manager and one day she asked me to help with one of the life guard drills. All I had to do was drown. Well, pretend to drown.
I dove off the high dive and treaded water for a minute then began to flail and yell,”Help, save me!”
Whistles blew and the lifeguard nearest me dove in a swam towards me. When she got to me, she grabbed me and started talking very calmly -it’s going to be okay, I got you. There was just one problem. She didn’t have me.
She was about 5 feet tall and weighed about 90 pounds soaking wet. I went limp and she tried to pull me to the edge of the pool. But she couldn’t. She finally whispered in my ear, “Could you kick your legs a little bit?”
I learned something that day. If you are truly drowning, you need someone much stronger than you to save you.
Hmmm…we will come back to that idea in a little bit.
A Runaway Prophet
We are continuing our series on the OT book of Jonah. If you weren’t here last week, I would encourage you to watch the sermon on our FB page.
God said go to Nineveh and proclaim judgement. Instead of going 550 NW to Nineveh, Jonah boards a ship bound for Tarshish, which is 2,500 miles east!
God said go and Jonah said no. He knew it was a suicide mission. Imagine a rabbi standing on a street corner in Berlin in 1942. But he also hated the Assyrians and had no interest in seeing them get a chance to repent. The love of God was reserved for the Jewish people alone and the Ninvites were a brutal people who had terrorized Israel.
Jonah finds himself in the middle of the sea in a terrible storm. Jonah might run but God would pursue him.
The sailors understood this was a supernatural storm and began praying to their gods. The captain went below deck and found Jonah asleep. He woke him up and begged him to pray.
After casting lots, the sailors discover the storm is Jonah’s fault. He tells them that he is a Hebrew and that he worships the God who created the land and the sea.
The sailors are terrified. You are running from the God that created the sea…in a boat…on the sea?!
He tells them to throw him overboard and the storm all stop. What’s the best way to get out of going to Nineveh? Dying would work.
They have more compassion that he does and try desperately to row back to land. They finally give up and pray to Jonah’s God and ask that they not be punished for throwing him overboard.
They hurl Jonah into the sea and the storm stops immediately. The sailors break out in worship on the deck while the sulking prophet treads water waiting to drown.
But God had other plans. He appointed a big fish to swallow Jonah and he spent three days and three nights in the most interesting air B and B ever!
Remember the big idea of Jonah:
God is a God of extravagant grace, especially to those who least deserve it!
Turn with me to Jonah 2.
Prayer.
A Psalm from a Dark Place
Chapter 2 of Jonah is a psalm, much like the ones David wrote down for us.
It’s a prayer from a dark place, literally.
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.” (Jonah 2:1)
Let’s set the stage:
Are any of you claustrophobic?
Scared of the dark?
Don’t like the water?
Germaphobes?
Don’t like fish?
Don’t like heat?
This would not have been a good day for you.
So far in the story, we haven’t heard Jonah repent or even pray. But now, in the belly of the great fish, he finally cries out to God.
Let me make a quick observation before we begin.
Jonah is deeply conflicted.
Jonah uses “I or my” 15 times in these 8 verses! He is still self-absorbed. But he also quotes 8 different Psalms. He’s a prophet. He was raised on the Psalms and they would have been deeply imbedded in his soul.
Notice also that he prays to the “Lord his God.” He is conflicted. He has been petulant and disobedient. But he still loves God.
I wonder if this could describe any of us?
Let’s see
Jonah’s cry for help in verses 2-3.
Jonah’s circumstances in verses 4-7
Jonah’s commitment in verses 8-9
I Cried to the Lord
“He said, ‘In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.’” (Jonah 2:2-3)
Notice that this is written in the past tense. At this point, was he in the fish or out of it? He was still in the belly.
The word "distress” means “in a tight place” and the Hebrews used this word to describe childbirth.
He calls from the realm of the dead (Sheol). He understood that his situation was deadly.
He echoed the Psalms of David:
"In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” (Psalm 18:6)
He realizes he is deep trouble. He also understands that even though he has been unfaithful to God, God would listen and hear his cry for help.
He would have looked around and tried to figure a way out. Even if he got out of the fish and swam to the surface, he was still in the middle of the sea.
Aren’t we like Jonah? When everything is falling apart, then we start calling out to God for help.
I heard Steve Brown tell a story of a mother whose daughter was in a bad car accident. The mother went to the bar and got drunk and then drove home screaming and cursing at God the entire way. When she pulled in the driveway, she turned off the car and sat in the quiet. She said that in the quiet, she heard God say to her heart, “That’s the first time you’ve talked to me a long while. I’ve missed you. I love you. I’ll get you through this.”
There are no atheists in foxholes. Jonah is going to die. He knows he needs help. He cries out the God who sent the storm and the fish because he knows that is his only hope.
Going Down for the Last Time
Jonah cries out to God and then, in this Psalm he describes his hopeless circumstances.
“You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,?and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers?swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple. The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down;?the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:3-7)
Wait, hold on. Who hurled him into the deep? The sailors did. But Jonah recognizes that it was God who hurled the storm and it was God who hurled him overboard.
Notice the progression. Currents…waves…breakers…engulfing waters…seaweed wrapped around his head…root of the mountains…barred in forever. He was drowning, sinking farther and farther down. Down all the way to the bottom on the sea.
I love that he says that he was banished from God’s sight. Isn’t that what he wanted?! He was running away from the presence of the Lord, which was represented by the Temple in Jerusalem.
But God rescued him by sending a fish to swallow him. He was beginning to lose hope. But from inside the great fish, right before he lost consciousness (life ebbed, grew faint), he turned his thoughts back towards the temple and “remembered” the Lord.
He prayed this prayer before he had been rescued. He didn’t know how it would turn out but he knew God would hear his prayer, even from the bottom of the ocean from inside a fish.
Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to see how much help we need.
I watched an interview with Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. He was an alcoholic. They asked him what was his “rock bottom.” He said it was a stewardess saying, “Welcome to London, Mr. Walsh.” He asked her, “What am I doing in London?”
He didn’t remember getting on the plane or even buying the ticket. He know that something drastic had to happen or he was going to die.
I knew a man who was a well-loved principal of a school, married for many years to a wonderful woman, and was known in the community.
But he was deep in sexual sin - porn and multiple adulteries with teachers and parents in his school. It all came crashing down on him when several of these women went to the school board.
He was fired from his job. His wife was threatening to leave him. His reputation was ruined.
This drove him to his knees and for the first time in a long time, he cried out to God with tears of humility and repentance. He committed his life to Christ and decided not to live in regret but move forward.
He got into treatment and five years later, he was leading a group ministering to men in sexual sin. He was very thankful for the second chance he had been given - by his wife and family but most importantly from His God.
God is willing to rescue you, even if you are calling out from the bottom of the sea. All you have to do is admit that you cannot help yourself, He’ll do the rest.
Jonah’s Commitment
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” (Jonah 2:8-9)
So far, we’ve heard Jonah cry out to God in desperation, give us a vivid description of his circumstances, and now we will hear his commitment to the Lord.
Verses 8 is in the very middle of the book of Jonah.
Jonah is writing for the audience that will read this later- Hebrews. At that time, Israel economy was booming but they were spiritually bankrupt - filled with greed, pride, injustice, and idolatry.
Jeremiah wrote this about Israel’s idolatry:
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
The Jewish people were prone to worship other gods and so are we. Tim Keller says that asking a simple question can uncover idols in our lives:
What is it in your life that you simply could not live without?
The Hebrew literally reads, “the forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” The word is “hesed.” It means unmerited favor bestowed by a unobligated giver. And it is only used of God’s covenant love toward Israel.
When I went to Philadelphia with my brother, we had planned to tour Independence Hall but we got there too late to get tickets. They did have tours after hours but it wasn’t with a tour guide.
I walked up to one of the park rangers and asked him what time the after hour tours started. He asked how many were in my party and said five. He then pulled out five tickets from his pocket and handed them to me. I nearly started crying.
I was able to explain to my niece and nephew, that was a perfect example of grace. I didn’t deserve it. I did nothing to earn it. He didn’t have to pick me to give them to. And my response was one of thanksgiving.
Jonah recognizes the grace that God had given him. He was drowning. He was helpless and hopeless. And what looked like punishment was actually a fish uber ready to take him back to dry land.
God was not paying Jonah back. He was bringing Jonah back!
“And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”( Jonah 2:10).
Jonah didn’t really repent. He never said, “I’m sorry for not obeying You God.” Because, as we will see, he wasn’t sorry. But it was enough. It was a beginning, a turning of Jonah’s heart back toward God.
This is Psalm mixed with protest, with a little passive-aggressive swipe at the idol worshipping Ninevites. By the way, they worshiped a god that was half-fish. That might come in handy to know next week!
We are going to come back to verse 9 in just a minute but let’s see what we can learn from these verses.
Application
This past week, Jarrid Wilson, associate pastor at Harvest in CA with Greg Laurie committed suicide. He had been open about his mental health issues and run a ministry called “Anthem for Hope” that ministered to people struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.
Monday, he did a funeral for a woman that had committed suicide and that night he decided that dying was better than living.
This has weighed heavily on me all week. First because he was a pastor, and we have an epidemic of pastors and ministry leaders committing suicide. Secondly, because of the beautiful family that he left behind. And third, because I’ve been there and maybe you have been there too.
I want to put together some of my thoughts with some points from a couple of pastors that I really trust.
God answers our cries of distress, even when we are guilty.
Jonah was in the belly of a fish because of his own disobedience and sin. And yet, God heard him and rescued him.
This provides us with so much hope.
Even if you are in trouble and it is all your fault, you can still call out to the Lord and He will hear you.
“Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” (Psalm 107:1-15)
Some of us need to hear this today. Even if your chains are of your own making, God is still reaching out to you. Even if your storm is a judgment from God because of your disobedience, He still wants to rescue you no matter how far you run or how low you sink.
Remember, the fish wasn’t punishment it was mercy!
You can cry out and repent and He will hear and answer.
There’s a story about a man who fell in a pit:
-
A Counselor walked by and said, “I feel your pain. Pits are not good places to be.”
- A politician walked by and promised to put together a committee to study the problem of pits.
- A Pharisee walked by and said to himself, “Only bad people fall in pits.”
- A Newspaper reporter walked by and asked the man for an exclusive story about life in the pit.
- A TV evangelist walked by and yell down that the man was still in the pit because he had spoken words of faith that would remove the pit.
- Jesus walked by, stopped, and reaching down and pulled the man up and gave him a hug.
2. God answers our cries of distress, and delivers us from impossible situations.
The troubles in this life aren’t spread out evenly. They seem to come in waves. Just when we think we can stand, we get knocked down by another wave.
You’ve heard people say that God will never give you more than you can handle. That’s is just not true. He will definitely give us more than we can handle in order to shake us to the core of what we believe and give us an opportunity to trust Him.
Jonah was absolutely helpless to save himself. There seemed to be no hope at all. He could have never imagined how God would rescue him but he knew it was possible.
Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego would not bow down to the idol that Nebekenezer made:
“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)
God is the God of the impossible. When you are overwhelmed and think there is no way out, cry out to God using Jeremiah’s words:
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
3. God answers our cries of distress, and delivers us just in time.
As Jonah was sinking and losing consciousness, it looked like all was lost. When he regained consciousness, he realized he was still alive and was in the belly of a fish.
The fish swallowed him right before he was going to drown. Sometimes God works in stages. It was the first step toward getting Jonah back on dry land.
God is never late but He is rarely early!
If you remember from our study of Habakkuk, he started the book with the cry, “How long?”
“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen. Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2)
Some of you have been crying out for a while and feel like God hasn’t answered. He is not asleep. He is not unaware. He is working behind the scenes for your good and His glory in His timing alone.
Trust Him. Greg Laurie defines HOPE as Hold One with Patient Expectation.
Corrie Ten Boom wrote:
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, do you jump out of the train? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get your through.”
4. God answers our cries of distress, in order to win our loyalty and thanksgiving.
Jonah ends his Psalm with a shout of thanksgiving!
Paul wrote the Corinthian church that answered prayers lead to worship:
“But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:9b-11)
Asaph wrote in Psalm 50 the same idea:
“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” (Psalm 50:15)
When God delivers us out of impossible situations, our natural response is praise. It makes us thankful and it also leads us to be more merciful to others.
5. God answers our cries of distress because He is the God of second chances.
God gave Jonah a second chance to fulfill the mission that he gave him. He didn’t have to. He could have let him drown in the sea and used someone else. But that’s not how God works.
He gave Adam and Eve another chance after they drove the bus of humanity right off the cliff of sin.
He gave David another chance after his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband.
He gave Peter another chance. After Jesus had risen, He ends up sitting on the beach with Peter eating fish. He asked him three times if he loves Him. Each time Peter said yes. Why three? Because that’s how many times Peter denied Him. He was restoring him snd preparing him for the mission he had ahead of him.
If you think you’ve gone too far and can’t be used by God anymore because of all the things you’ve done, you are wrong. God wants to give you a second chance.
How does that work? Let’s finish by going back to verse 9.
Salvation is from the Lord
“I will say, ‘Salvation is from the Lord.” (Jonah 2:9).
First, you have to realize that God is the author of salvation - you cannot save yourself. Jonah could do nothing. He was trapped inside of a fish with seaweed wrapped around his head. If he was going to be saved, it would have to come from outside of him and his circumstances.
Some people believe you have to clean up your lives (throw the cargo off the ship) and then come to God. God says, “Come to me just as you are and I will clean you up from the inside out.”
Some of you need to do that today. You have been running too long and it’s time to stop running from God.
Confess you are a sinner. Admit your need for a Savior. And pray a prayer of surrender.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Some of you are losing hope and you may even think of taking your life. Jonah prayed this prayer from a very dark place, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
He loves you. You can trust Him. Don’t give up. Reach out to Him. Reach out to me.
