Jonah 2 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

The Lord actually speaks to fish!  The big ones as well as the little ones.  Not only did God command the great fish to swallow Jonah and later to spit him up onto dry land, he also commanded the little fish to swallow the shekel before he commanded Peter to catch the fish in order to pay his taxes.  Similarly, he commanded a whole school of fish to swim to the right side of the disciples’ boat before commanding his disciples to lower their net on that side.  But not only does he command the fish, he commands all living and non-living things to do his bidding for the sake of his own glory.  He commands the sun and the moon; he commands the angels as well as the unclean spirits.  He commands the living as well as the dead.  There is nothing in all of creation that the Lord does not command. 

And there is nowhere that anyone can go to hide from his presence, whether in the heights of the heavens or the depths of the sea; even in the belly of a fish the Lord will be found and there our prayers will be heard.  What an amazing story this is not only in terms of God’s mercy upon the Ninevites, and his patience with Job, but also in the revelation of his great power over the wind and the waves and over man and beast proving that God not only rules over all but overrules all the sinful ways of men.  

Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish sounds like one of the psalms of lament, but it also seems to function as a confessional psalm, a testimonial psalm as well as a psalm of wisdom in which Jonah is teaching his fellow Israelites the futility of looking to idols for in so doing one forsakes his hope in the steadfast love of the Lord.  Just as Naomi realized the steadfast love of the Lord again when Boaz showed favor to her and her daughter-in-law, so Jonah remembered the steadfast love of the Lord in the belly of the fish.  For although the Lord had brought the wind and the waves and ordered the lot to fall upon Jonah (see Proverbs 16:33) causing the sailors to throw him overboard, he also had provided the fish to save him, and for that Jonah was grateful to see the steadfast love of the Lord put on display in heart of the sea.

What an encouragement to prayer this is as well.  For Jonah cried out to the Lord in great distress when the waves were crashing over him, and when seaweed had wrapped itself around him, and all hope seemingly was lost.  But the Lord heard his prayer from his holy temple and brought up his life from the pit.  Indeed, “salvation belongs to the Lord.”  Certainly, Jonah needed to learn this for himself, but he also needed to learn it for the sake of others who were far away from the Lord, for the Lord’s arm is not too short to save even the pagan nations of the world.  Soon enough, Jonah would see that same saving power at work even in the heart of Nineveh and it would shock him.  At times we too are shocked when we see the Lord soften a hard heart and grant salvation to those we least expected to believe.