Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / What Now? Praying from the Belly of Sheol (Jonah 2:1-10)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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What Now? Praying from the Belly of Sheol (Jonah 2:1-10)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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We do turn to God's Word now, and we continue
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in our sermon series through the book of Jonah.
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And so would you turn to chapter two of this
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book. Again, this is found within the minor prophets.
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If you start running into Micah, you've gone
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a little bit too far. It's in the middle of the
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minor prophets, so there we go. Can you hear
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me now? But before we read I'm gonna turn that
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off before Can you hear me Okay, before we read
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I wanted to just make some brief remarks about
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what we have already seen because we were not
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in Jonah last Sunday and so just a recap what
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we saw was Jonah running from the very presence
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of God running from what God asked him told him
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to do to go to Nineveh and preach repentance
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he doesn't want to do that and so he goes to
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Joppa and he's trying to flee to Tarshish and
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he gets on this boat right and he sleeps the
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crew is terrified because a horrific storm comes
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about and they wake him and say pray Jonah but
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the thing about Jonah that we've seen so far
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in chapter 1 is that Jonah doesn't pray does
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he we also remark that this in chapter 2 this
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this belly of the fish saga this is the thing
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that we all know from Sunday school right but
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sometimes we get so fixated upon the fish we
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want to know what kind of fish was it was it
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a whale how big was it could it really swallow
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a human being we asked all of these questions
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I want to give you a quote from another pastor,
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Thomas John Carlyle said, I was so obsessed with
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what was going on inside the whale that I missed
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seeing the drama inside Jonah. Today we're going
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to see the drama inside of Jonah. And we're going
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to see the thing that he should have been doing
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all along. Let's read Jonah chapter 2 Then Jonah
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prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of
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the fish saying I called out to the Lord out
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of my distress and he answered me out of the
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belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice
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for you cast me into the deep into the heart
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of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All
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your waves and your billows passed over me. And
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then I said, I am driven away from your sight,
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yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.
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And the waters closed in over me to take my life.
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The deep surrounded me. Weeds were wrapped around
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my head at the root of the mountains. I went
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down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.
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Yet you brought me up up my life from the pit
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Oh Lord my God when my life was fainting away
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I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to you
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into your holy temple those who pay regard to
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vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love
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But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice
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to you what I have vowed I will pay salvation
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belongs to the Lord And the Lord spoke to the
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fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
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This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we do
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thank you for this word. And we thank you for
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all of your words. We thank you that all of scripture
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is breathed out by your Holy Spirit. But Lord,
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as we come to this, we have questions. We don't
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always understand, and so we ask that you would
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grant us understanding now and a right application
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of the text. This we ask in Christ's name. Amen.
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Have you ever had a season in your life of fervent,
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desperate, zealous prayer? Can you remember a
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time when you knew there was nothing else you
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could do but pray. Have you had a situation like
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that? A time when you were constantly approaching
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the throne of grace in prayer? Jesus shows us
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time and time again that Christians are to be
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praying people. Christians are to pray at all
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times. But what we see from Jonah and what we
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see from Jesus is desperate prayer. Do you remember
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in Luke 22, it's in the other gospels as well,
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but specifically in Luke 22, Jesus took his disciples
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to pray before his arrest. And he tells them
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to pray that they would not fall into temptation.
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What do they do? They fall asleep. But Jesus
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does not fall asleep instead Jesus does what
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he told them to do Jesus in the garden before
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his arrest he prays He prays he says father if
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you're willing remove this cup from me Nevertheless,
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not my will but yours be done Jesus prays To
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the extent there in the garden that he begins
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to sweat And not just normal perspiration, but
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Luke 22 says that Jesus sweats drops of blood.
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Jesus, before he went to the cross, he was in
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anguish, but he shows us what the Christian is
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to do when our backs are against the wall, when
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we've hit rock bottom. We are to pray. Jesus
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shows us this. Jonah finally does too. Chapter
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two of Jonah should have been chapter one and
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what I mean by that is that Jonah in chapter
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two is doing what he should have been doing in
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chapter one. He is praying. Think about all the
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times in the first chapter that Jonah should
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have prayed and he did not. When the Lord told
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him to go to Nineveh to preach repentance there,
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Jonah doesn't pray about his response. He just
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high -tails it the other way. And then when Jonah
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is on the ship and he's sleeping and the captain
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comes to him and wakes him up and says, call
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out to your God, we don't see Jonah doing that,
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do we? And when Jonah lets those sailors in on
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who he is and more importantly, who he serves,
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and they say, well, what? What are we to do about
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this terrible storm that's threatening to break
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the boat in half? We do not see Jonah pray. Instead,
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we see him say, throw me overboard. But in chapter
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two, we see what is prescriptive for us, his
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response when he couldn't get any lower. And
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this is what we need to consider too. What do
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we do when we cannot get any lower? What do we
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do when the situation couldn't be worse? What
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do we do when we're drowning under the weight
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of sorrow, when we're overwhelmed by the miseries
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of this life? What do you do when you face that
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horrific diagnosis? What do you do when nothing
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is going right? What do you do? That's... where
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Chapter 2 comes in. It's so incredibly helpful
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for us. What do you do? You pray. But Jonah's
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prayer here, this song in Chapter 2, it also
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sounds like some other places in Scripture. I
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want to take you to a psalm that this reminds
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me of. If you will, turn to Psalm 88. Psalm 88,
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as some of you know, is brutally honest. It's
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bleak. It's dark. It's probably the darkest Psalm
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in the Psalter. It's nearly hopeless, and yet
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it's also instructive for us. So as I read the
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first seven verses of Psalm 88, I want you to
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listen for two things. One, In what ways does
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Psalm 88 sound like Jonah 2? And then secondly,
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think what does the psalmist do right? Listen
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to this from Psalm 88 1 through 7. Oh Lord, God
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of my salvation, I cry out day and night before
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you. Let my prayer come before you. Incline your
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ear to my cry for my soul. is full of troubles,
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and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted
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among those who go down to the pit. I am a man
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who has no strength, like one set loose among
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the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave,
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like those whom you remember no more, for they
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are cut off from your hand. You have put me in
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the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and
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deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you
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overwhelm me with all of your waves. Christian,
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what is it that the psalmist gets right in Psalm
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88? He prays. When we are at the bottom, when
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we are weak, when we are anxious, when we are
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depressed, when we feel like all hope is lost,
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we must pray. This is what the psalmist does,
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and this is what Jonah finally does. Perhaps
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you remember the words of James 5 .13. Is anyone
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among you suffering? He should pray. Christian,
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do not put off prayer. Don't put it off. Prayer
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is the medicine you need. Prayer is the remedy
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for a downcast soul. In prayer, you commune with
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the only one who can truly help you. And so here
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is Jonah. He's in the fish and there's only one
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thing he can do. There's actually only one thing
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recorded that he does. He prays, finally. In
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chapter one, we see Jonah talking about the Lord,
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but it's not until chapter two that he actually
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talks to the Lord. Look in verse two. I called
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out to the Lord. out of my distress and he answered
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me. Jonah finally now prays and the Lord answers
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him. This is remarkable. Jonah is in the deep,
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he's in the water, and then he's in the fish,
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but those things cannot prevent his prayer from
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getting to the ears of God. Those things cannot
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stifle prayer. I like to think of it like a cell
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phone signal. Sometimes if you go back into our
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woods back here, if you try and talk on the phone
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back there, or even sometimes in the Family Life
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Center, you'll find that you don't have a very
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strong cell phone signal. But Christian, when
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you pray in the name of Jesus, the signal is
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always strong. Your God loves to hear from you.
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and He knows your voice. He does. He knows your
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voice when you're in good cheer, and He knows
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your voice when you're upset. He knows your voice
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in your finest moments, and He knows your voice
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in your moments of regret. Think about all those
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times that Jonah should have prayed, but when
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he does, it's like the Lord hears him immediately.
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And so why would we ever neglect prayer? Jonah
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could not be lower. He says that he's in the
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belly of sheol. And there's a couple of, there's
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a few different ways of understanding that word
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sheol. It could refer to just death. Sometimes
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the word sheol refers to the grave. Sometimes
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it refers to the place of torment. And so I like
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how Rick Phillips at Second Pres says this, Jonah,
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is in a hellish grave. Look at the description
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of where he is in verse three. He's in the deep.
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He's in the heart of the seas. The flood surrounds
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him. And that word for flood is actually the
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word for river. It's almost as though Jonah is
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in the water, but in a river that's pushing him
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down. The flood surrounds him, the waves, the
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billows, they pass over him. Things cannot really
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get much worse. You see at one point he's got
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seaweed wrapped around his head. Verse seven,
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he shares that he feels like he's in prison,
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that he's behind bars. It is like Jonah is buried
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alive. But even as he is, verse four shows hope.
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Verse 6 shows hope. Verse 6 might be the turning
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point of this prayer, this song, the moment when
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Jonah realizes the fish is not his prison, but
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the fish is his life preserver. And so he says
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that he's brought up from the pit. You can see
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Jonah is being brutally honest within his prayer,
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and that's how you should be too, Christian.
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You can be honest within your prayers. For Jonah,
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within this prayer, he understands something
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about God. That God is sovereign over everything
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that happens. He says that it's the Lord is the
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one who throws him into the deep. Jonah knows
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who threw him into the deep. He knows it was
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the sailors, but who is behind every action.
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It's the Lord God. And so Jonah acknowledges
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this, the sovereignty of God, and yet it's the
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Lord also who brings him up to safety. And so
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what the Lord does here is he brings Jonah to
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his senses. Within the belly of the fish, the
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Lord is doing something. It's very similar, I
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think, to the prodigal son. You remember that
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story, right? You remember how the son takes
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his inheritance? And he flees. He goes away to
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a faraway land. He leaves his father. And what
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does he do with that inheritance? He squanders
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it all, right? And pretty soon the prodigal son
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is eating pig food. He's at the bottom, rock
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bottom. But then in Luke 15 it says that he came
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to himself. The prodigal son said, no more of
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this. I will go back to my father. I will confess
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my sin. I will be a hired hand for him. This
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is Jonah. Jonah comes to himself. Verse seven,
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he remembers the Lord. Jonah remembers the Lord.
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And so what does he do when he remembers the
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Lord? We'll go to verse one. Then Jonah prayed
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to the Lord his God from the belly. Did you see
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how it says the Lord his God? Jonah remembers
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God. Jonah still belongs to God. Jonah hasn't
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really forgotten God. He just forgot what God
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was like, what he is like, that God is merciful.
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This whole story is one of Jonah trying to forget
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God, but God doesn't forget Jonah. And friends,
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this is remarkable. because if you have you ever
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sinned to the extent where you thought God doesn't
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want to know me anymore God doesn't want to hear
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from me anymore God doesn't doesn't love me anymore
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have you ever felt like that we might have thought
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that Jonah being a prophet who's running away
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from God being expelled into the bottom of the
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sea might think you know what there's no point
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There is no point in praying to God. He doesn't
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want to hear from me. But that's not what he
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does. That's not what he does. Because the Lord
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is still his God. Jonah is a believer. And he
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might think that he has lost everything in his
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life. He might think, I am losing my life right
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now. But he doesn't lose his sonship. The adoption
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papers for Jonah are not lost. He still belongs
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to God and so he cries out to him. He doesn't
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turn to another God, does he? He mentions those
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who are worshiping vain idols. He doesn't turn
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to them either. He finally stops turning inward
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and Jonah looks upward. We remarked two weeks
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ago about what God was doing with Jonah in the
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belly of the fish. That this was a time of correction.
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And sometimes as Christians, we need that time
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of correction, don't we? We might be going through
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the most painful thing, but the Lord is refining
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us. The Lord is sanctifying us, right? In the
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belly of the fish, Jonah realizes that God has
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saved him. God was really doing something there
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in the fish, and he was really doing something
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in Jonah. We remember what Jonah did We remember
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how Jonah fled and we said two weeks ago that
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Jonah got what he wanted He tried to flee from
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the presence of God and said so God said okay
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You can have it He fled from his mission He neglected
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prayer on the boat He was thrown into the sea
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and so he gets what he wants, but when he gets
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it suddenly he realizes This is not what I want
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This is not what I need. This is the worst thing
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I could possibly experience. Christian, separation
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from the blessed presence of God is the worst
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thing you can experience. It's not what you want.
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We said that Jonah seems to realize that God
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is sovereign over everything, and so it's not
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so much that Jonah has been trying to escape
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God, who is omnipresent. Trying to get away from
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God and his blessed presence his favor, but when
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he gets that he realizes nope This is not what
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I want He cannot stand it for a second and friends.
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This is how sin works Sin can be enticing Sin
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can be exciting sin can be scintillating But
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you know this sin does not satisfy It doesn't
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sin destroys us and so we must be destroying
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sin before it destroys us All that sin is is
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just simply rebellion Against God where we act
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like God doesn't know like God doesn't see us
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but friends Your sin will find you out Your sin
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will find you out. And so when we are in rebellion
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against God, what should we do? Should we keep
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running? Should we keep trying to hide? Should
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we trying to escape the everywhereness of God?
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No. No. For it doesn't work. And even if it did,
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you would absolutely hate it. Do not try and
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escape from God. God... coming after you he sent
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his son for this very purpose to reclaim sinners
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and so do not run from God but instead pray to
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him as he says as this text says that God is
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still his God we might ask this question for
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those who don't know Jesus how can Jonah's God
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be my God how can he be your God Only through
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Jesus Christ. Friends, you don't have to face
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the hellish grave. You can have eternal life
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with all of God's blessings. This story here
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of Jonah shows us that it's not too late, is
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it? It's not too late. As Jonah's life was fainting
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away, he remembers the Lord and he exclaims,
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salvation belongs to the Lord. Friends, the story
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of Jonah. It's our story The story of Jonah is
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our story for we were in rebellion against God
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But because of God's mercy we are saved and that
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mercy has a name And his name is Jesus And what
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is so Remarkable about Jesus amongst a thousand
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things Is that Jonah As Jonas says that he's
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driven away from God, Jesus knows what that's
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like. Jesus knows what it's like for the Father
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to turn his face away. Jesus, who on the cross
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exclaimed, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
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me? Jesus knows what it's like, for he received
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the fullness of the punishment for our sin. Second
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Corinthians chapter 5 says that he became a sin
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Jesus endured the fullness the shame of it all
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So that you don't have to face the wrath of God
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So that you don't have to face separation from
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the benevolence of God know today that Christ
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went through it for you He did it for you. I
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Really like How Isaiah 43 puts this, just verse
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two. The prophet says here as God speaks through
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him, when you pass through the waters, I will
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be with you. And through the rivers, they shall
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not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire,
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you shall not be burned and the flame shall not
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consume you. Christian. Jesus has gone through
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the flood. He's gone through the flame. And anything
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you go through right now, if you are united to
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Christ in faith, He is always with you by His
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Spirit. Jesus did this for us. And so today,
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if you are running from God, if you are in rebellion
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against God, if you are denying the Gospel, do
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not wait another instant before doing the very
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thing. that Jonah should have been doing all
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along. Pray. Pray and say salvation belongs to
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the Lord. Now today you might say, well, I'm
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not in rebellion against God. I'm not running
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from God. I've been a member of this church for
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years, decades, maybe my whole life. What's the
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application for me? What's the application for
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the Christian who is walking closely with Jesus?
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Well remember, Jonah was a believer, too. Jonah
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was a prophet of God. And so prayer is not just
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to be done from the belly of Sheol. Prayer is
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not just a Hail Mary. The Christian life is a
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life of prayer. Even Jonah shows this, this,
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because yes, there is lamentation within his
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song, within his prayer. There's also thanksgiving,
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isn't there? There's also Thanksgiving, but I
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with the voice of Thanksgiving He says in verse
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9 will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will
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pay and so the Christian life is a life of thankful
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prayer And so cultivate Christian cultivate your
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prayer life Praying in adoration Praying in confession
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Praying in Thanksgiving and praying in supplication
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pray daily and pray throughout the day. But you
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might say, well, I don't really know how. How
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do I pray like Jonah does here? Do Jonah's words
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sound familiar at all? When I read Psalm 88,
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did that sound familiar at all to you? It should.
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Jonah's prayer sounds like it was lifted straight
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from the Psalter. And here's why. because Jonah,
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even as a runaway prophet, he knew the word.
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He knew some of the word. That's the reason why
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this chapter 2 sounds so much like Psalm 9, or
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Psalm 42, or Psalm 69, or Psalm 88. It's because
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Jonah is praying scripture back to God. And so
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when you are in desperation, when you have hit
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rock bottom, oh friends, I hope that you have
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stored up a whole wealth of God's word within
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your heart. I like how one other pastor put it.
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That Jonah in the belly of the fish, I bet it
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was pretty dark in there. Probably pretty hard
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to get his Bible out, right? And so how can we
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be ready for the storms of life? We must hide
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God's Word in our hearts. That's what I believe
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that Jonah did. That's why he's able to pray
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this way. And so, when you are in crisis mode,
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when something happens, and you don't know what
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to do, what scripture would you go to? What psalm
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or any part of scripture would you cry out back
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to God? Maybe you would just go to Jonah 2 -9
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and say, Lord, salvation belongs to you. We must
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hide God's Word in our hearts. Because salvation
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does belong to the Lord. There is salvation in
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no other name. God is in control of your life
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and mine. God is sovereign over every square
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inch of creation. This is evidenced by verse
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10. Look there as I begin to conclude. And the
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Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out
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upon the dry land. Here we see yet another example
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how everything in the book of Jonah responds
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to God. Everything in the book of Jonah responds
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to God except for the prophet until now. Until
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now. And so you see this fish spit Jonah out
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onto dry land. Why does the fish do that? Why
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does God command the fish to do this? Because
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God is merciful. Because God is not finished
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with Jonah yet. Because God's not yet through
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with the prophet announcing repentance in Nineveh.
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Because even though we may be stubborn, even
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though we may be rebellious, even though we may
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be prodigals, even though we may be runaways,
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God is not finished with us yet. And God will
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accomplish His purposes. showing mercy. Let's
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pray.