Jonah is a wonderful model for us here. Notice, he gives God all the glory for his salvation. “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (2:9).

C. H. Spurgeon says, “Jonah learned this sentence of good theology in a strange college…. Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them.”

We have been talking about how Jonah had been avoiding a God-centred life, but now we see how utterly God-centred Jonah became. Jonah 2 is a song of praise in which God gets all the glory for Jonah’s salvation.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. Notice how Jonah speaks directly to God, using the words “you” and “your”:

“I called out to the LORD… and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep… all your breakers and your waves passed over me.
I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
You brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God…
My prayer came to you, into your holy temple…
I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you... Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (2:2-9).

God saves!

Have you been giving God all the glory for your salvation? Or have you been taking some of the credit for it because of your response?

If salvation is something we do for ourselves with moral effort, good works, family values, and the Ten Commandments, then why did Jesus have to die on the cross? God sent the fish because Jonah couldn’t save himself. And that’s why God sent Jesus.

God saves desperate sinners
“To the roots of the mountains I went down” (2:6). What happened when Jonah believed? His problems got worse. Jonah hit rock bottom. He is absolutely hopeless, and then God sends the fish. “Yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God” (2:6).

God saves repentant sinners
“Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you” (2:8-9). Salvation from sin involves faith and repentance. Repentance is turning away from whatever had God’s place in your life before, while faith is turning to the Lord: “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you” (2:9).

Think about this: Praise and thanksgiving flowed out of Jonah while he was still in the fish! (2:1). Why? Jonah worships in the belly of the fish because he knows that God is saving him. And that’s all he needs to know.

God saves guilty, believing, desperate, repentant sinners, and He is ready and able to save you!

Are you still trying to save yourself, or are you filled with worship today because you know that God is saving you?

Maybe you have the idea that you need to clean up your life before God can save you. That’s like saying, “If you swim to shore, God will send you a lifeboat!” Jonah shows us a better way.

God saves guilty sinners
“You cast me into the deep… your waves passed over me” (2:3). Inside the fish, Jonah thinks, “God did this. God sent the storm.” Behind the human events, Jonah sees the hand of God.

Some people see their lives as strung together by chance. They feel that they are lucky or unlucky. Others see their lives as controlled by other people. They feel that they are victims. Other people see their lives as controlled by themselves. They feel that they are heroes. But Jonah knew God was at work, exposing his guilt and rebellion.

Owning our sinfulness means getting beyond the idea that we deserve something better from God. God saves guilty sinners. Believing the gospel begins when you own your guilt before God.

God saves believing sinners
“I am driven away from your sight” (2:4). It isn’t easy to ask God for help when you know you have sinned. Jonah felt God was no longer interested in him. He felt he was beyond forgiving.

What he says next is amazing: “Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple” (2:4). That is a marvellous statement of faith. God was for Jonah even when He was against him! And God is for you even when He is against you.

God saves guilty sinners. God saves believing sinners. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

*Do you feel like you need to “swim to shore” before God will save you? Or can you accept that He loves you even while you are a sinner?*

If you want to emphasise something important, you could put it at the beginning, like in a headline; in the middle, like in a climax; or at the end, like in a conclusion.

If you want to sum up the book of Jonah in one sentence, it would be when Jonah says, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (Jon. 2:9). God brought Jonah to the place where he wanted people to know what God had done in his life. And when he did, he put a song of praise right at the centre. For that reason, we’re coming to this great chapter at the end of our study of Jonah.

We’re going to look at Jonah’s remarkable testimony to God’s grace. Jonah disobeyed God, but God sent a storm, and Jonah told the ship’s crew to throw him in the sea (1:12, 15).

Then we have this remarkable statement: “The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (1:17).

Some suggest that this is just a parable to teach us lessons about God, but Jesus said, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mat. 12:40). The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ were historical events, and Jesus speaks about what happened to Jonah in the same way. What happened to Jonah belongs among the miracles.

What does this have to do with us? Jonah writes this song of praise to tell us how God saves sinners. The message of Jonah 2 is simply this: God saves guilty, believing, desperate, repentant sinners.

Are you inclined to view the story of Jonah as a parable or as a miracle of grace? Why?

Imagine that you are responsible for parking at the Super Bowl. Your job is to clear the parking lot as quickly and as safely as possible.

When the game ends, you motion the front row forward. Nothing happens. You walk over to the first car, and the driver says, “I got in the car, and everything went dark. I can’t drive. I’m blind.”

You go to the next car, and the driver says, “I got in the car, and some guy slapped these handcuffs on me. I can’t drive. I’m bound.”

You move to the third car, and the driver is slumped over. He is dead.

People are blaring their horns, but you have compassion. Why? Because you understand the problem.

There is a kind of Christianity that is angry with the sinful world. A kind of preaching that rails against the evils of our times and seems to find pleasure in doing so. It is angry because it does not understand the human condition.

By nature, we are blind, bound, and dead. We cannot see the glory of Christ. We do not have the power to stop sinning. And we will not come to Christ and follow Him.

That’s true of every person. Reflecting on the human condition will help you to grow in compassion. It will make you less like Jonah and more like the Lord, who has compassion on people who cannot tell their right hand from their left.

On a scale of 1 (angry) to 5 (indifferent) to 10 (compassionate), reflect on your attitude toward the sinful world, and especially toward those in your life who currently reject God.

Here are three ways we can grow in compassion:

1. Rejoice in God’s unique creation
Every person you meet is God’s unique creation. When you see someone on a train, at the store, or in school, say to yourself, God cares about this person, and He has placed me next to them. This doesn’t mean God will save all people. It does mean that He cares about all people, even His enemies. Try to show kindness to all people, especially those whose beliefs or behaviour may offend you. When you show compassion to all, you reflect the heart of God.

2. Reflect on our human condition
Here are three ways the Bible describes our human condition:

a) Spiritually blind (2 Cor. 4:4). It is not just that unbelievers don’t want to see. They cannot see the glory of Jesus or the wisdom of God’s law. b) Spiritually bound (Jn. 8:34). Sinners may be able to change the form of their sins, but they cannot stop being sinners. c) Spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1). By nature, we are unresponsive to God. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn. 6:44).

3. Engage in Christ’s redeeming mission
When the king heard God’s Word, he sat down, he repented, and he said, “Let everyone turn from his evil way… God may… turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (Jon. 3:6, 8-9). Jonah also sat down. He “went out of the city… and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city” (4:5).

Although the king is a new believer, he is actively pleading with God for the salvation of his city. While the prophet, who is a mature believer, is sitting outside, passively watching. Hearts grow cold on the sidelines of ministry, because compassion is more than a feeling. It is love in action.

What step could you take today to cultivate more compassion for a lost world?

Here we have a wonderful window into the heart of God. He relented and had compassion on the Ninevites… and that made Jonah angry! Jonah said, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful…” (Jon. 4:2). But Jonah was not a gracious and merciful prophet.

God was concerned about the city. He said, “There are 120,000 people in Nineveh, and these people matter to Me!” But Jonah was concerned about the vine. The Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did youmake it grow” (4:10). The contrast is striking. Jonah was concerned about the vine. God was concerned about the city.

We are all concerned about the vine—our jobs, homes, investments, and health. We are concerned about the things that bring us comfort and joy. But do we share God’s concern for our cities? It is easy to be deeply concernedabout the vine and yet unmoved by the plight of millions who face eternity without Christ.

Ask God to give you are heart for the cities andfor those who do not yet know Jesus Christ.

Think about the vine, the worm, and the wind in the life of our Lord Jesus.

Jesus chose twelve disciples and called them to be with Him (Mk. 3:14). He had the comfort, joy, and blessing of their companionship. He sent them out and their ministry was blessed with such success that he said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning” (Lk. 10:18).

Then the worm came. The disciples, who had brought Him comfort, joy, and blessing, all forsook Him and fled. Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, Peter denied Him with a curse, and Jesus was plunged into sorrow and loss.

And then the east wind blew. Jesus was scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns. He was nailed to the cross, and He was plunged into total darkness. And, in His affliction, pain, and distress, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mat. 27:46).

Why was Jesus forsaken? Because Jesus bore your sins in His body on the tree. The Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you. He endured the worm and the wind so that you could be brought into an eternity under God’s vine.

Can you see God’s love for you in Jesus?