SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/06/2025 11:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “An Honest Confession”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Job 2:3-4
Message of the verses: “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current surrounded me. All Your breakers and waves passed over me. So I said, ‘I have been driven away from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your temple.”
Now as we look back at his deliverance found in Jonah 2A:1-2, the prophet acknowledged that he was under God’s discipline and that it was his guilt that put him under the Lord’s judgment. Jonah realized that it was the sailors that hurled him into the ocean, however the prophet understood that it was God (You) who had taken action against Jonah and that the sailors were simply carrying out the Lord’s will (“The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up, 1:4). Now the verb cast according to John MacArthur “conveys the idea of throwing forcibly (cf. Ps. 60:10), emphasizing the purpose and power with which the Lord took action. The verb also implies God’s discipline, since it is used elsewhere to describe being thrown out of divine favor (cf. Pss. 51:11; 71:9; 102:10). This is especially the case in this context since Jonah was cast into the deep, a place both distant and remote. The deep is where God casts sins so that they are gone forever (Mic. 7:19) and where He drowned the Egyptian army so that they vanished from sight (Neh. 9:11). So when Jonah exclaimed that God had cast him into the deep, he expressed the isolation of being completely cut off from everything, surrounded only by suffocating darkness in the heart of the seas. When he fled down to Joppa, Jonah wanted to escape from God. Here, in the murky depts., he had seemingly received his wish. While not escaping God’s omnipresence, he had distanced himself from God’s blessing. The Lord’s discipline often grants sinners what they selfishly desire (cf. Num. 14:28-30; Rom. 1:24-32; Gal. 6:8), which never satisfies and only further distances them from God (cf. Ps. 107:10-12).” “10 There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains, 11 Because they had rebelled against the words of God And spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was none to help.”
I am going to quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary on Jonah and then save the rest of this section for tomorrow’s SD.
“As Jonan recounted his watery descent, he recalled how the current surrounded him, dragging him further and further under the surface. The prophet described that all Your breakers and waves passed over me. Breakers crash on top of people, beating them down, while waves roll over people making them unable to stand (cf. Ps. 42:7). In a deadly combination, these torrents pass over the prophet, beating him down, knocking him over, and overwhelming him completely. The Lord used the raging sea to chastise His rebellious servant. God’s discipline served its good purpose in the life of Jonah, for in suffering such unique isolation and peril, God’s prophet acknowledge that his condition was the Lord’s work in his life. He confessed that the breakers and waves that passed over him were God’s (Your) chastening instruments, wielded by His sovereign hand. Thus, through Jonah was cut off from God’s blessing, he had not eluded God Himself. The Lord was not absent from Jonah’s trial but working in and through it (cf. Jas. 1:2-5; 1 Pet. 1:6).”
Spiritual meaning for my Life Today: It is the best idea not to do things that will lead you away from the blessings of God, something that Jonah had done and actually will continue to do. The best thing to do is to trust the Lord in difficult situations, for we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
My Steps of Faith for Today: It was a very long and difficult evening and night for my wife and me as she had to go to the ER in order to take care of some difficult problems due to her cancer drugs she is taking. I am thankful to the Lord for getting us through last evening and night even though it was what I shall describe as a messy time.
10/6/2025 12:18 PM
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