He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. Psalm 91: 15, NKJV
Dear Lord, we praise and thank You, that wherever we are, under whatever circumstances, we can call upon You with the assurance, that You will deliver us, if we allow You! Amen
Today we will be looking at the story of Jonah. It is a “one of a kind” story. Here is Jonah, sent by God, to warn the people of Nineveh to repent of their evil ways, lest they be destroyed. And what does he do? He takes off running in the opposite direction. We find Jonah sleeping complacently in the stern of the ship, in which he is running away, when a big storm arises. The sailors are praying, and casting things over the side of the ship to lighten the load (1: 5). But sin has a weight of its own (Hebrews 12: 1), from which only the Lord can set us free. Jonah realizes this, and asks the sailors to throw him out of the ship (Jonah 1: 12), which they do; but very reluctantly (14, 15).
While Jonah was sleeping, revival had been taking place aboard the ship. You see my friends, God will oftentimes use our ‘slip-ups” to reach His “other sheep.” The sailors were praying, and confessing their sins and searching their souls (5); and when Jonah asked them to throw him overboard and they did, and the sea suddenly became calm, this was their reaction: “Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD, and took vows” (16). The Deliverer was busy delivering the sailors, while Jonah slept.
Jonah is in trouble, so he calls upon the Deliverer. The Lord prepares a fish to swallow him. He needs a little “time-out.” “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly” (2:1). And what a prayer! It is short, but packed with pronouncements of faith, “Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple’ ” (4). Even though my soul has descended to the place of the dead (Sheol), I will still look toward the place of Your mercy seat! There is where I will find my Deliverer! “The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. When my soul fainted within me, then I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, into your holy temple…But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed, salvation is of the Lord” (6,7, 9).
Even though all seems lost; I still dare to hope that You will bring up my soul from the pit. Even when my soul faints within me, I will remember the Lord, and my prayer will enter Your holy temple. I know that I will live to come and pay my vow in Your temple, because salvation is God’s business! He is my Deliverer! And God delivered Jonah out of the fish’s belly (10)!
But there was one more deliverance waiting to take place. Jonah had been delivered from the belly of the fish, but not from his lack of love. Yet God will work with what He has, to do what has to be done. Jonah now makes his way toward Nineveh. He preaches that in “forty days more…Nineveh shall be overthrown! And the people of Nineveh believed God…” (3: 4, 5). A revival, such as has not been heard of in our day, takes place. From the king on his throne, to the animal in the barn, refrain from eating, and drinking water. And God, who delights in mercy, accepted the repentance of His children, and delivered them from destruction (2: 10)!
Unfortunately, our story does not end in total deliverance for Jonah. The sailors were delivered, and so were the people of Nineveh! Jonah received the deliverance he asked for: from the belly of the fish. We will also receive the deliverance we ask for, if we allow the Lord to deliver us; for deliverance belongs to the LORD, and is what He delights in!