By
This sermon was preached for RUF at CNU’s Virtual Large Group on April 1, 2020. RUF’s Large Group is a weekly worship service that has now shifted to live-streaming on YouTube thanks to COVID-19.
Our passage comes from Jonah 2:1-10.
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said,
“I called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
3 “For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me.
4 “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars was around me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
7 “While I was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
8 “Those who regard vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness,
9 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation is from the Lord.”
10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
* * *
Main points
(1) The context of Jonah’s prayer – Jonah 1:1-17
- How did Jonah find himself in this situation?
(2) The content of Jonah’s prayer – Jonah 2:1-10
- What is Jonah saying here?
(3) The consequence of Jonah’s prayer – Matthew 12:40
- What does this mean for us?
Helpful resources:
Dan Carlin’s “King of Kings, part 1” podcast on the Assyrian empire
“The Book of Jonah: A Most Unexpected Deliverance” by Patrick Quinn
Take Note Of This 