SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/02/2025 8:55 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “A Heartfelt Cry”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 2:2
Message of the verse: …and he said,
“I called out of my distress to Yahweh,
And He answered me,
I cried for help from the belly of Sheol;
You heard my voice.”
It can be seen that Jonah recognized his desperate condition and so he cried out to God for mercy and deliverance, and he said, “I called out of my distress to Yahweh, and He answered me.” It is in the Psalms that such expressions are used to emphasize the undeserved kindness and compassion of God toward His people as seen in Pss. 4:1; 17:6-7; and 27:7. It is true that the biblical writers acknowledged that Yahweh was under no obligation to answer the requests of those who cried out to Him, especially those who had been flagrantly disobedient and this can be seen in Ps. 18:41; Isa. 1:15; Jer. 11:11 and Mic. 3:4, 7. Hence they marveled at the wonder of God’s abundant grace, that He would hear the penitent prayers of His people and respond in mercy: “Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them” (Ps. 99:6).
Now having experienced such mercy from God, Jonah echoed the same wonder as he stated that he too had called out, giving voice to his desperate need. Earlier, the sailors called out to their gods as seen in Jonah 1:5 and subsequently to Yahweh (1:14) because their lives were in imminent danger (vv. 5b, 14). However by contrast, Jonah refused to call out to the Lord while on the ship. But after being hurled into the sea, and humbled in the belly of the fish, the prophet acknowledged his desperate situation. This reminds me of when I was working at my job at the Cleveland Casting Plant when a friend of mine was telling me about when he was on his boat in lake Erie and a storm came up quickly and so he began to pray to God to get him back to land, and he got back to land after being terrified for a while, but I don’t believe that he ever did anything about calling out to God to give him thanks. Now back to Jonah’s story: This was a critical step in Jonah’s repentance, since God’s grace is given to those who recognize their great need, see Matt. 5:3; 18:23-24; Luke 18:13; and Eph. 2:1-4. And call on the Lord for help as seen in Romans 10:13 “for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
John MacArthur writes: “Jonah acknowledged not only his urgent need but also his inability, as he spoke of his (my) distress. Distress has the notion of a tight space, in which a person is trapped and unable to escape. This certainly was Jonah’s physical experience. Though the ocean is broad, Jonah was confined, constricted, and cut off. He had no options and no ability to save himself. He knew that only the Lord could deliver him. Jonah’s helpless state illustrates the hopeless condition of very sinner. In salvation, sinners are unable to come to God on their own (cf. Ps. 31:1-2; John 6:44;Rom. 1-3; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Eph. 2:1-9; Titus 3:3-5). Like Jonah, their only hope is to call out to God for mercy. B crying out to Yahweh, Jonah showed that he understood that God alone had the power (cf. Ex. 14:13-14; 15:2-3; Isa. 40:10; 42:13; Zech 4:6) and the prerogative to save (cf. Ex. 34:6-8; Hos. 11:8).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Trust the Lord to give mercy to my wife and to me as she continues to fight the cancer she has, as she had her first chemo treatment yesterday.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Word of God, and the God of the Word as we go through this difficult trial.
10/2/2025 9:22 AM
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