#DailyDevotion The Prayer Of Faith
Jon. 2 3You threw me into the deep water, into the middle of the sea, and the flood surrounded me. All Your waves and billows went over me. 4Then I said: ‘Though I’m driven away from Your presence, I will certainly look again toward Your holy temple.’
Jonah here is recalling being thrown into the sea by the sailors. He does not here condemn them because he told them to throw him overboard to save their lives. If you’ve ever been in the deep water with waves crashing over you can relate to this. It isn’t fun. Probably his clothes eventually started to drag him under. It is amusing to say he was driven from the LORD’s presence when it was he himself who was running away from it, which is why he is in the predicament he is in. Now he may be thinking the sea was driving him from the LORD’s presence. Jonah here interjects a statement of repentance and faith. “I will certainly look again toward Your holy temple.” Now that he is being prevented by the sea to be in the LORD’s presence, he desires again to be in the presence of the LORD. Trusting in the LORD’s mercy, kindness, grace, steadfast love and forgiveness (Ex. 34:6), he is confident he will look again toward the temple where the LORD’s name, glory and presence was promised to be.
5The water surrounded me, threatening my life; the deep went around me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6I went down to the lowest parts of the mountains, to a world whose bars shut me in forever. But You, LORD my God, brought me back alive from the grave. 7When I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer reached You in Your holy temple.
Again he recalls being in the water. He is surrounded by the sea. He is tied up in seaweed. He can see the depths of the sea. He thought all was lost. I’m fairly certain a lot of people, commentators, and scholars think he is speaking of being in the fish and the fish has taken him down to the depths. But if you are inside of a fish, how would you know? He was thinking, this is it. I’m doomed.
Jonah appeals to the LORD the God of Israel. Perhaps he is recalling what he was praying while he was sinking to the depths of the earth. He has faith that the LORD has heard his prayer, vs. 2, enables to say the LORD his God has brought him back from the grave though he is as good as dead being in the belly of the fish. When he remembers the LORD he is confident his prayer reached the LORD in His holy temple. He sees the fish swallowing him being the LORD’s salvation. Even though he is about to die in the fish, his confidence is in the LORD’s promises. We too can face death and the grave with the same confidence. Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, believing the LORD’s promise that through Isaac’s seed the world would be blessed and so God is able to raise the dead. (Heb. 11:19) The LORD told him to go to Nineveh and so he believed the LORD would raise him from the dead for this purpose. Jesus would face death and the grave confident He was going to rise on the third day. We can face death and the grave with the same confidence. We have a promise that everyone who believes in Jesus even if we die we will be raised to eternal life and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die. (John 11:25, 26) We live with this promise of eternal life and the resurrection of our bodies to eternal life.
Merciful God and Father, Jonah trusted you would raise him from the dead to complete Your purpose for him. Grant us faith in the promise of Jesus that You will raise us to eternal life on the Last Day so we need not fear death and the grave. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.