PT-4 “A Heartfelt Cry” (Jonah 2:2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/05/2025 10:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-4 “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.”

            I continue in this rather long section from this 2^nd verse in Jonah chapter two by continuing to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “Yahweh heard Jonah’s voice and responded with supernatural power on behalf of His servant.  By sending a fish to rescue Jonah from drowning in the sea, the Lord provided the vehicle to miraculously transport him to the shore (Jonah 2:10).  Death is a mighty foe (1 Cor. 15:26), an inevitable reality (Heb. 9:27), and mankind’s greatest fear (2:14-15).  But God’s power supersedes the threat of death (cf.) s. 23:4; 1 Cor. 15:54-57), as illustrated by His extraordinary deliverance of Jonah.  Though still in the fish, Jonah understood that because God had rescued him from the depts. of the sea, He would also deliver him from the stomach of the fish.

            “In recounting the power of divine deliverance, Jonah acknowledged that such salvation was not for him alone.  By continuing to quote the Psalms, he joined the ranks of those before him whom God had also rescued from Sheol.  David, for example wrote that Sheol had entangled him (Ps. 18:5), but that the Lord had heard his cry for help (18:6).  The author of Psalm 116 stated that the terrors of Sheol had come upon him, but that God had rescued him (116:3, 8).  The writers of the New Testament likewise declared that God preserved His people from death (cf. 2 Cor. 1:9; 4:7-10; 6:4-10; 11:23-33; 1 Peter 1:5-9).  However, as Jonah poetically described God’s might in his salvation, his words pointed to the ultimate deliverance from death:  the resurrection from the dead (cf. Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 15:1-5; 1 Peter 1:3-4), the hope of the saints in every age (cf. Job 19:25; Psalm 16:10; 1715; Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).  The reality of that hope was made certain by the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who fulfilled the sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:40).  Those who cry out for mercy and trust in the Lord, like Jonah did, will one day be raised by the power of God (cf. Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:20-23).  They will overcome the threat of death and enjoy the blessings of eternal life (cf. John 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:55-57).  Thus, God unveiled the glories of His salvation not only to Jonah, but also through Jonah to all His people.  Jonah was in awe that he lived, though he should have died.  Such wonder is shared by all the saints, for all the redeemed deserved death but received life in Christ and will be raised on the last day to eternal glory (cf. Job 19:25-26; Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 6:1-4; 8:18-39; 1 Cor. 15).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life Today:  When I was much younger I feared death a lot, and yet when I became a believer the Lord has taken that fear from me.  I realize that every person who dies is doing something that they have never experienced before and so there is somewhat of a mystery to it, but when the time comes for a person to die in the Lord, the Lord will give grace to get them through it.

            My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to work in my wife’s heart to trust Him with what she is going through because of the cancer that she has.  It is difficult on her, but it is my prayer that the Lord will give her peace as He knows what is going on with her and because she is His child that He will comfort her through the process of the chemo that she is taking.

10/5/2025 8:32 AM