Mercy at the Bottom
Text: Jonah 2:1-10
“When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.” —Jonah 2:7
When a humpback whale off Herring Cove Beach swallowed Michael Packard, it was utter darkness for the veteran lobster diver. “I was completely inside; it was completely black,” Packard said. “I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’m getting out of here. I’m done, I’m dead.’ All I could think of was my boys — they’re 12 and 15 years old.”
Can you imagine that feeling of despair? For Jonah, it was three days of utter and complete darkness. He had been guilty of judging who was worthy or not worthy of God’s grace. He would rather see his enemies perish than for them to experience mercy and forgiveness. So he “sailed” away from God’s mission and tried to do his own thing. It didn’t go well. God was faithful to send one crisis after another in an attempt to rescue Jonah from himself, reset his heart, and correct his vision.
In an incredible twist of fate, the drifting prophet now finds himself in a place where he needs mercy more than those he had denied mercy. Had Jonah been as desperate for those unlovable Ninevites as God was relentlessly desperate for him, he would’ve never been in this predicament. But now he is “bottomed out” and crying out to God from the reeking belly of a fish.
There is much we can glean from Jonah’s prayer of desperation. We see that he uses language from the Psalms, revealing that Jonah was a man who knew God’s Word, and knew it by heart, because there would’ve been no Bible and no candle in the fish’s belly. In order to survive the torture of a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom spoke of relying on the memory of scripture that had been stored in her heart. Don’t underestimate the importance of hiding God’s Word in your heart because you never know when your desperation will make you lean upon it more than your next meal.
We can also see how Jonah’s prayer reveals the way he interprets his circumstances. Jonah said to God, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas.” He doesn’t blame the sailors because he recognizes that God was working sovereignly through them. Joseph once told the brothers who had beaten and betrayed him, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). There is nothing like a grim dark night of the soul to prune our hearts, humble us, retract those accusatory fingers we are pointing at others, and recalibrate our perspective. God’s ways are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), and we drift when we fail to trust His process.
But perhaps the most important lesson we can pull from Jonah’s prayer is the element of remembrance. “When my life was fainting away,” Jonah cried, “I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you…” (v.7). That remembrance of God’s character, faithfulness, and sovereignty over our lives can reset us with sincere gratitude, humble surrender (sacrifice), and renewed vows as we see in verse 9. At the conclusion of his prayer, the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. His salvation was by grace alone, for Jonah had done nothing to deserve being rescued.
Consider: Where do you find yourself desperate right now? Financial hardship? Loneliness? Anxiety? Fractured relationships or family dysfunction? Disconnect with your spouse? Prodigal children drifting away from the Lord? Debilitating illness? Anger at the world? A deficiency of compassion or mercy? It is good to “remember” the heart of the Father and His relentlessness love for us. In the belly of a fish there isn’t much you can control, but you can still trust the heart of God even when you can’t see His hand. Because God is good, a fish’s belly doesn’t have to be a pit of despair but a recalibration of HOPE.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you that you never give up on us. Your unfailing love and relentless pursuit to rescue us from ourselves is our only refuge. May we be good stewards of the mercy and grace you have given us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection and/or Group Discussion
- When have you found it hard to be merciful to others?
- Once inside the fish, how did Jonah respond to God’s rescue? (Jonah 2:1-9)
- What was Jonah’s attitude toward God? (vv.7-9)
- How has God pursued you when you have drifted or tried to avoid Him? In what ways have you been, or not been, a steward of His grace?
- When have bad circumstances turned out for your good? How do you want to thank the Lord right now for all of the remarkable ways He has delivered you?
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