Scripture from the ESV
2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying…
Nate’s sermon (2/21/16) does a great job discussing the implications of this prayer.
The prayer is one of gratitude and trust. Jonah foresees that God who has prepared this great fish is his deliverer.
Jonah the prophet, here speaks with God for the first time since God’s the call to Arise and preach repentance to Nineveh. Jonah has turned back to God, but is he yet the man God desires him to be? His prayer, as Nate points out, shows nothing of repentance. He recognizes God’s majesty and power, but what of the goodness of God’s purposes for all?
Jonah does not show the faith of Abraham who “offered up his only begotten son,of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
It is a right and true prayer, but it is incomplete. Yet God in His mercy will bring to completion that which He has begun in us.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!
Jonah is saved, but what of Nineveh? If salvation belongs to the Lord, is it not His privilege and prerogative to offer salvation to those whom He will? Our gratitude cannot be complete until we recognize how free and unnecessary is God’s favor.
Same & Other 