Jonah, Chapter 2

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying,

“I called to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and thou didst hear my voice.
³ For thou didst cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood was round about me;
all thy waves and thy billows
passed over me.
⁴ Then I said, ‘I am cast out
from thy presence;
how shall I again look
upon thy holy temple?’
⁵ The waters closed in over me,
the deep was round about me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
⁶     at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet thou didst bring up my life from the Pit,
O Lord my God.
⁷ When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to thee,
into thy holy temple.
⁸ Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their true loyalty.
⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to thee;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Prayer

O God, My God, even when I am surrounded by problematic people, places, and predicaments, when I think about how good you are to me, I am grateful. Remind me that even when Jonah was running away from your call, you pursued him. Remind me how, as he was nearly drowning in the sea, you sent a great fish to rescue him (by swallowing him, of all things.) Remind me how Jonah shook off his disobedience enough to give you praise and thanks from the belly of that whale. Make me grateful for the fact that you have chosen not to let me go. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.