“Intro to The Marks of a Penitent Prayer PT II” (Jonah 2:5-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/08/2025 10:20 AM

My Worship Time                                   Focus:  “Intro to The Marks of a Penitent Prayer PT II”

Bible Reading and Meditation                                                                Reference: Jonah 2:5-10

            Message of the verses: 

“Water encompassed me to my very soul. 

The great deep surrounded me,

Weeds were wrapped around my head. 

I went down to the base of the mountains. 

The earth with its bars closed behind me forever,

But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Yahweh my God.

While my soul was fainting within me,

 I remembered Yahweh,

And my prayer came to You,

To Your holy temple. 

Those who regard worthless idols

Forsake their lovingkindness,

But as for me, I will sacrifice to You

With the voice of thanksgiving. 

That which I have vowed I will pay.

Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”

Then Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

            “When believers disobey the Lord and continue to sin, God disciplines them to bring them to repentance.  The author of Hebrews wrote, “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE FLOGS EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES” (Heb. 12:6).  Believers who persist in disobedience suffer God’s chastisement, which He inflicts to bring them back to Himself.  When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, God chastened him until he repented (Ps. 51:4, 8).  In Psalm 32:3-4, David wrote, “When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer.”  God’s hand of discipline drew David to suffering, sorrow, and penitence, and so he wrote:  “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh’; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (32:5).

            “The Apostle Paul similarly explained that God’s purpose for chastening was to bring wayward believers to recognize their sin and to turn from it.  In 1 Corinthians 11:30, he wrote to the Corinthian church that those who participated in the Lord’s table in any unworthy manner were severely chastened so that they became “weak and sick, and a number sleep.”  The Lord ended the early life of some of them, taking them to heaven, so that their evil influence would no longer stain His church (cf. Acts. 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:5; James 5:15; 1 John 5:16-17).  Paul explained that the intention behind such discipline and its consequent sorrow was to compel the disobedient to repent and return to the righteousness that brings blessing (1 Cor. 11:32; cf. Ps. 32:3-5).  Concerning this sorrow, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10: “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to repentance.  For you were made to have godly sorrow, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.  For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death.’”

            “The Lord disciplined Jonah for those same reasons—to bring him to repentance, to sanctify him, and to make him useful for service.  In Jonah 2:5-9, the prophet concluded his prayer of contrition and repentance from the stomach of the fish.  In the first part of the chapter, Jonah had recognized his humble condition (Jonah 2:1), issued a heartfelt cry for mercy (2:2), and made an honest confession of how his sin had distanced him from Yahweh (2:3-4).”  “Here, in verses 5-7, Jonah moved from desperation to dependence as he expressed hope-filled confidence in God’s saving grace.  In verses 8-9, he concluded his prayer by presenting a heart of consecration and by offering praise to the Lord.  Finally, the narrative of Jonah 2 ends with God’s response to Jonah’s petition.  The Lord answered His penitent prophet by removing His hand of discipline and extending instead His hand of compassion (2:10).”

Spiritual Meaning for My Life Today:  “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23-24).

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).