mh_parser/vol_split/32 - Jonah/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Jonah.iii" n="iii" next="Jonah.iv" prev="Jonah.ii" progress="85.35%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Jonah.iii-p0.1">J O N A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jonah.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jonah.iii-p1" shownumber="no">We left Jonah in the belly of the fish, and had
reason to think we should hear no more of him, that if he were not
destroyed by the waters of the sea he would be consumed in the
bowels of that leviathan, "out of whose mouth go burning lamps, and
sparks of fire, and whose breath kindles coals," <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.41.19 Bible:Job.41.21" parsed="|Job|41|19|0|0;|Job|41|21|0|0" passage="Job 41:19,21">Job xli. 19, 21</scripRef>. But God brings his
people through fire, and through water (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.12" parsed="|Ps|66|12|0|0" passage="Ps 66:12">Ps. lxvi. 12</scripRef>); and by his power, behold,
Jonah the prophet is yet alive, and is heard of again. In this
chapter God hears from him, for we find him praying; in the next
Nineveh hears from him, for we find him preaching. In his prayer we
have, I. The great distress and danger he was in, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.2-Jonah.2.3 Bible:Jonah.2.5 Bible:Jonah.2.6" parsed="|Jonah|2|2|2|3;|Jonah|2|5|0|0;|Jonah|2|6|0|0" passage="Jon 2:2,3,5,6">ver. 2, 3, 5, 6</scripRef>. II. The despair
he was thereby almost reduced to, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.4" parsed="|Jonah|2|4|0|0" passage="Jon 2:4">ver.
4</scripRef>. III. The encouragement he took to himself, in this
deplorable condition, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.4 Bible:Jonah.2.7" parsed="|Jonah|2|4|0|0;|Jonah|2|7|0|0" passage="Jon 2:4,7">ver. 4,
7</scripRef>. IV. The assurance he had of God's favour to him,
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.6-Jonah.2.7" parsed="|Jonah|2|6|2|7" passage="Jon 2:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. V. The warning
and instruction he gives to others, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.8" parsed="|Jonah|2|8|0|0" passage="Jon 2:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. VI. The praise and glory of all given
to God, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.9" parsed="|Jonah|2|9|0|0" passage="Jon 2:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. In the
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.10" parsed="|Jonah|2|10|0|0" passage="Jon 2:10">last verse</scripRef> we have Jonah's
deliverance out of the belly of the fish, and his coming safe and
sound upon dry land again.</p>
<scripCom id="Jonah.iii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2" parsed="|Jonah|2|0|0|0" passage="Jon 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jonah.iii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.1-Jonah.2.9" parsed="|Jonah|2|1|2|9" passage="Jon 2:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jonah.iii-p1.12">
<h4 id="Jonah.iii-p1.13">Jonah's Prayer; The Prophet in the Fish's
Belly. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p1.14">b. c.</span> 840.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jonah.iii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Then Jonah prayed unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p2.1">Lord</span> his God out of the fish's belly,   2
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p2.2">Lord</span>, and he heard me; out of the belly of
hell cried I, <i>and</i> thou heardest my voice.   3 For thou
hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the
floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed
over me.   4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I
will look again toward thy holy temple.   5 The waters
compassed me about, <i>even</i> to the soul: the depth closed me
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.   6 I went
down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars
<i>was</i> about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from
corruption, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p2.3">O Lord</span> my God.   7
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p2.4">Lord</span>: and my prayer came in unto thee, into
thine holy temple.   8 They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy.   9 But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay <i>that</i> that I have
vowed. Salvation <i>is</i> of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p2.5">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p3" shownumber="no">God and his servant Jonah had parted in
anger, and the quarrel began on Jonah's side; he fled from his
country that he might outrun his work; but we hope to see them both
together again, and the reconciliation begins on God's side. In the
close of the foregoing chapter we found God returning to Jonah in a
way of mercy, <i>delivering him from going down to the pit,</i>
having <i>found a ransom;</i> in this chapter we find Jonah
returning to God in a way of duty; he was called up in the former
chapter to pray to his God, but we are not told that he did so;
however, now at length he is brought to it. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p4" shownumber="no">I. When he prayed (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.1" parsed="|Jonah|2|1|0|0" passage="Jon 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>Then Jonah prayed;</i> then
when he was in trouble, under the sense of sin and the tokens of
God's displeasure against him for sin, then he prayed. Note, When
we are in affliction we must pray; then we have occasion to pray,
then we have errands at the throne of grace and business there;
then, if ever, we shall have a disposition to pray, when the heart
is humbled, and softened, and made serious; then God expects it
(<i>in their affliction they will seek me early,</i> seek me
earnestly); and, though we bring our afflictions upon ourselves by
our sins, yet, if we pray in humility and godly sincerity, we shall
be welcome to the throne of grace, as Jonah was. Then when he was
in a hopeful way of deliverance, being preserved alive by miracle,
a plain indication that he was reserved for further mercy, then he
prayed. An apprehension of God's good-will to us, notwithstanding
our offences, gives us boldness of access to him, and opens the
lips in prayer which were closed with the sense of guilt and dread
of wrath.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p5" shownumber="no">II. Where he prayed—in <i>the fish's
belly.</i> No place is amiss for prayer. <i>I will that men pray
every where.</i> Wherever God casts us we may find a way open to
heaven-ward, if it be not our own fault. <i>Undique ad cœlos
tantundem est viæ—The heavens are equally accessible from every
part of the earth.</i> He that has Christ dwelling in his heart by
faith, wherever he goes carries the altar along with him, that
<i>sanctifies the gift,</i> and is himself a <i>living temple.</i>
Jonah was here in confinement; the belly of the fish was his
prison, was a close and dark dungeon to him; yet there he had
freedom of access to God, and walked at liberty in communion with
him. Men may shut us out from communion with one another, but not
from communion with God. Jonah was now in the bottom of the sea,
yet <i>out of the depths he cries to God;</i> as Paul and Silas
prayed in the prison, in the stocks.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p6" shownumber="no">III. To whom he prayed—<i>to the Lord his
God.</i> He had been fleeing from God, but now he sees the folly of
it, and returns to him; by prayer he draws near to that God whom he
had gone aside from, and <i>engages his heart to approach him.</i>
In prayer he has an eye to him, not only as <i>the Lord,</i> but as
<i>his God,</i> a God in covenant with him; for, thanks be to God,
every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of
covenant. This encourages even backsliding children to return.
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.22" parsed="|Jer|3|22|0|0" passage="Jer 3:22">Jer. iii. 22</scripRef>, <i>Behold, we
come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. What his prayer was. He afterwards
recollected the substance of it, and left it upon record. He
reflects upon the workings of his heart towards God when he was in
his distress and danger, and the conflict that was then in his
breast between faith and sense, between hope and fear.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p8" shownumber="no">1. He reflects upon the earnestness of his
prayer, and God's readiness to hear and answer (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.2" parsed="|Jonah|2|2|0|0" passage="Jon 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): He said, <i>I cried, by reason
of my affliction, unto the Lord.</i> Note, Many that prayed not at
all, or did but whisper prayer, when they were in prosperity, are
brought to pray, nay, are brought to cry, <i>by reason of their
affliction;</i> and it is for this end that afflictions are sent,
and they are in vain if this end be not answered. Those <i>heap up
wrath</i> who <i>cry not when God binds them,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.36.13" parsed="|Job|36|13|0|0" passage="Job 36:13">Job xxxvi. 13</scripRef>. "<i>Out of the belly
of hell</i> and the grave <i>cried I.</i>" The fish might well be
called a grave, and, as it was a prison to which Jonah was
condemned for his disobedience and in which he lay under the wrath
of God, it might well be called the belly of hell. Thither this
good man was cast, and yet thence he cried to God, and it was not
in vain; God <i>heard him, heard the voice</i> of his affliction,
the voice of his supplication. There is a hell in the other world,
out of which there is no crying to God with any hope of being
heard; but, whatever hell we may be <i>in the belly of</i> in this
world, we may thence <i>cry to God.</i> When Christ lay, as Jonah,
three days and three nights in the grave, though he prayed not, as
Jonah did, yet his very lying there cried to God for poor sinners,
and the cry was heard.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p9" shownumber="no">2. He reflects upon the very deplorable
condition that he was in when he was in the belly of hell, which,
when he lay there, he was very sensible of and made particular
remarks upon. Note, If we would get good by our troubles, we must
take notice of our troubles, and of the hand of God in them. Jonah
observes here, (1.) How low he was thrown (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.3" parsed="|Jonah|2|3|0|0" passage="Jon 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Thou hadst cast me into the
deep.</i> The mariners cast him there; but he looked above them,
and saw the hand of God casting him there. Whatever deeps we are
cast into, it is God that casts us into them, and he it is who,
<i>after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.</i> He was
<i>cast into the midst of the seas—the heart of the seas</i> (so
the word is), and thence Christ borrows that Hebrew phrase, when he
applies it to his own lying so long in the <i>heart of the
earth.</i> For he that is laid dead in the grave, though it be ever
so shallow, is cut off as effectually from the land of the living
as if he were laid in the <i>heart of the earth.</i> (2.) How
terribly he was beset: <i>The floods compassed me about.</i> The
channels and springs of the waters of the sea surrounded him on
every side; it was always high-water with him. God's dear saints
and servants are sometimes encompassed with the floods of
affliction, with troubles that are very forcible and violent, that
bear down on all before them, and that run constantly upon them, as
the waters of a river in a continual succession, one trouble upon
the neck of another, as Job's messengers of evil tidings; they are
enclosed by them on all sides, as the church complains, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.7" parsed="|Lam|3|7|0|0" passage="La 3:7">Lam. iii. 7</scripRef>. <i>He has hedged me about,
that I cannot get out,</i> nor see which way I may flee for safety.
<i>All thy billows and thy waves passed over me.</i> Observe, He
calls them God's billows and his waves, not only because he made
them (<i>the sea is his, and he made it</i>), and because he
<i>rules</i> them (for <i>even the winds and the seas obey
him</i>), but because he had now commissioned them against Jonah,
and limited them, and ordered them to afflict and terrify him, but
not to destroy him. These words are plainly quoted by Jonah from
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.42.7" parsed="|Ps|42|7|0|0" passage="Ps 42:7">Ps. xlii. 7</scripRef>, where, though
the translations differ a little, in the original David's complaint
is the same <i>verbatim</i>—<i>word for word,</i> with this of
Jonah's: <i>All thy billows and thy waves passed over me.</i> What
David spoke figuratively and metaphorically Jonah applied to
himself as literally fulfilled. For the reconciling of ourselves to
our afflictions, it is good to search precedents, that we may find
<i>there has no temptation taken us but such as is common to
men.</i> If ever any man's case was singular, and not to be
paralleled, surely Jonah's was, and yet, to his great satisfaction,
he finds even the man after God's own heart making the same
complaint of God's <i>waves and billows going over him</i> that he
has now occasion to make. When God <i>performs the thing that is
appointed for us</i> we shall find that <i>many such things are
with him,</i> that even our path of trouble is no untrodden path,
and that God deals with us no otherwise than as he <i>uses to deal
with those that love his name.</i> And therefore for our assistance
in our addresses to God, when we are in trouble, it is good to make
use of the complaints and prayers which the saints that have been
before us made use of in the like case. See how good it is to be
ready in the scriptures; Jonah, when he could make no use of his
Bible, by the help of his memory furnished himself from the
scripture with a very proper representation of his case: <i>All thy
billows and thy waves passed over me.</i> To the same purport,
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.5" parsed="|Jonah|2|5|0|0" passage="Jon 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>, <i>The waters
compassed me about even to the soul;</i> they threatened his life,
which was hereby brought into imminent danger; or they made an
impression upon his spirit; he saw them to be tokens of God's
displeasure, and in them the <i>terrors of the Almighty set
themselves in array against him;</i> this reached to his soul, and
put that into confusion. And this also is borrowed from David's
complaint, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.69.1" parsed="|Ps|69|1|0|0" passage="Ps 69:1">Ps. lxix. 1</scripRef>. The
<i>waters have come in unto my soul.</i> When <i>without are
fightings</i> it is no marvel that <i>within are fears.</i> Jonah,
in the fish's belly, finds the <i>depths enclosing him round
about,</i> so that if he would get out of his prison, yet he must
unavoidably perish in the waters. He feels the <i>sea-weed</i>
(which the fish sucked in with the water) <i>wrapped about his
head,</i> so that he has no way left him to help himself, nor hope
that any one else can help him. Thus are the people of God
sometimes perplexed and entangled, that they may learn not to
<i>trust in themselves, but in God that raises the dead,</i>
<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.8-2Cor.1.9" parsed="|2Cor|1|8|1|9" passage="2Co 1:8,9">2 Cor. i. 8, 9</scripRef>. (3.) How
fast he was held (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.6" parsed="|Jonah|2|6|0|0" passage="Jon 2:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): He <i>went down to the bottom of the mountains,</i>
to the rocks in the sea, upon which the hills and promontories by
the seaside seem to be bottomed; he lay among them, nay, he lay
under them; the <i>earth with her bars was about him,</i> so close
about him that it was likely to be about him for ever. The earth
was so shut and locked, so barred and bolted, against him, that he
was quite cut off from any hope of ever returning to it. Thus
helpless, thus hopeless, did Jonah's case seem to be. Those whom
God contends with the whole creation is at war with.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p10" shownumber="no">3. He reflects upon the very black and
melancholy conclusion he was then ready to make concerning himself,
and the relief he obtained against it, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.4 Bible:Jonah.2.7" parsed="|Jonah|2|4|0|0;|Jonah|2|7|0|0" passage="Jon 2:4,7">3<i>v.</i> 4, 7</scripRef>. (1.) He began to sink into
despair, and to give up himself for gone and undone to all intents
and purposes. When the <i>waters compassed him about even to the
soul</i> no marvel that <i>his soul fainted within him,</i> fainted
away, so that he had not any comfortable enjoyments or
expectations; his spirits quite failed, and he looked upon himself
as a dead man. <i>Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight,</i> and
the apprehension of that was the thing that made his spirit faint
within him. He thought God had quite forsaken him, would never
return in mercy to him, nor show him any token for good again. He
had no example before him of any that were brought alive out of a
fish's belly; if he thought of Job upon the dunghill, Joseph in the
pit, David in the cave, yet these did not come up to his case. Nor
was there any visible way of escape open for him but by miracle;
and what reason had he to expect that a miracle of mercy should be
wrought for him who was now made a monument of justice? His own
conscience told him that he had wickedly <i>fled from the presence
of the Lord,</i> and therefore he might justly <i>cast him away
from his presence,</i> and, in token of that, <i>take away his Holy
Spirit from him,</i> never to visit him more. What hopes could he
have of deliverance out of a trouble which his <i>own ways and
doings</i> had <i>procured to himself?</i> Observe, When Jonah
would say the worst he could of his case he says this, <i>I am cast
out of thy sight;</i> those, and those only, are miserable, whom
God has cast out of his sight, whom he will no longer own and
favour. What is the misery of the damned in hell but this, that
they are cast out of God's sight? For what is the happiness of
heaven but the vision and fruition of God? Sometimes the condition
of God's people may be such in this world that they may think
themselves quite excluded from God's presence, so as no more to see
him, or to be regarded by him. Jacob and Israel said, <i>My way is
hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my
God,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.27" parsed="|Isa|40|27|0|0" passage="Isa 40:27">Isa. xl. 27</scripRef>.
<i>Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, my God has forgotten
me,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.14" parsed="|Isa|49|14|0|0" passage="Isa 49:14">Isa. xlix. 14</scripRef>. But
it is only the surmise of unbelief, for God has not <i>cast away
his people whom he has chosen.</i> (2.) Yet he recovered himself
from sinking into despair, with some comfortable prospects of
deliverance. Faith corrected and controlled the surmises of fear
and distrust. Here was a fierce struggle between sense and faith,
but faith had the last word and came off a conqueror. In trying
times, the issue will be good at last, providing our faith do not
fail; it was therefore the continuance of that in its vigour that
Christ secured to Peter. <i>I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.32" parsed="|Luke|22|32|0|0" passage="Lu 22:32">Luke xxii.
32</scripRef>. David would have fainted if he had not
<i>believed,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.13" parsed="|Ps|27|13|0|0" passage="Ps 27:13">Ps. xxvii.
13</scripRef>. Jonah's faith said, <i>Yet I will look again towards
thy holy temple.</i> Thus, though he was <i>perplexed,</i> yet
<i>not in despair;</i> in the depth of the sea he had this hope in
him, as an <i>anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast.</i> That which
he supports himself with the hope of is that he shall yet <i>look
again towards God's holy temple.</i> [1.] That he shall live; he
shall look again heaven-ward, shall again see the light of the sun,
though now he seems to be cast into utter darkness. Thus <i>against
hope he believed in hope.</i> [2.] That he shall <i>live, and
praise God;</i> and a good man does not desire to live for any
other purpose, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.175" parsed="|Ps|119|175|0|0" passage="Ps 119:175">Ps. cxix.
175</scripRef>. That he shall enjoy communion with God again in
holy ordinances, shall <i>look towards,</i> and go up to, <i>the
holy temple,</i> there <i>to enquire,</i> there to <i>behold the
beauty of the Lord.</i> When Hezekiah desired that he might be
assured of his recovery, he asked, <i>What is the sign that I shall
go up to the house of the Lord?</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.22" parsed="|Isa|38|22|0|0" passage="Isa 38:22">Isa. xxxviii. 22</scripRef>), as if that were the only
thing for the sake of which he wished for health; so Jonah here
hopes he shall <i>look again towards the temple;</i> that way he
had looked many a time with pleasure, rejoicing when he was called
<i>to go up to the house of the Lord;</i> and the remembrance of it
was his comfort, that, when he had opportunity, he was no stranger
to the holy temple. But now he could not so much as look towards
it; in the fish's belly he could not tell which way it lay, but he
hopes he shall be again able to look towards it, to look on it, to
look into it. Observe, How modestly Jonah expresses himself; as one
conscious to himself of guilt and unworthiness, he dares not speak
of dwelling in God's house, as David, knowing that he is <i>no more
worthy to be called a son,</i> but he hopes that he may be admitted
to look towards it. He calls it the <i>holy temple,</i> for the
holiness of it was, in his eye, the beauty of it, and that for the
sake of which he loved and looked towards it. The temple was a type
of heaven; and he promises himself that though being now a
<i>captive exile,</i> he should never be <i>loosed,</i> but <i>die
in the pit,</i> yet he should look towards the heavenly temple, and
be brought safely thither. Though he die in the fish's belly, in
the bottom of the sea, yet thence he hopes his soul shall be
carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. Or these words may be taken
as Jonah's vow when he was in distress, and he speaks (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.9" parsed="|Jonah|2|9|0|0" passage="Jon 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) of paying what he vowed;
his vow is that if God deliver him he will praise him <i>in the
gates of the daughter of Zion,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.9.13-Ps.9.14" parsed="|Ps|9|13|9|14" passage="Ps 9:13,14">Ps. ix. 13, 14</scripRef>. His sin for which God
pursued him was <i>fleeing from the presence of the Lord,</i> the
folly of which he is now convinced of, and promises not only that
he will never again look towards Tarshish, but that he will again
look towards the temple, and will go <i>from strength to
strength</i> till he appear before God there. And thus we see how
faith and hope were his relief in his desponding condition. To
these he added prayer to God (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.7" parsed="|Jonah|2|7|0|0" passage="Jon 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): "<i>When my soul fainted within me,</i> then <i>I
remembered</i> the Lord, I betook myself to that cordial." He
remembered what he is, how nigh to those that seem to be thrown at
the greatest distance by trouble, how merciful to those that seem
to have thrown themselves at a distance from him by sin. He
remembered what he had done for him, what he had done for others,
what he could do, what he had promised to do; and this kept him
from fainting. Remembering God, he made his addresses to him:
"<i>My prayer came in unto thee;</i> I sent it in, and expected to
receive an answer to it." Note, Our afflictions should put us in
mind of God, and thereby put us upon prayer to him. When our souls
faint we must remember God; and, when we remember God, we must send
up a prayer to him, a pious ejaculation at least; when we think on
his name we should call on his name.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p11" shownumber="no">4. He reflects upon the favour of God to
him when thus in his distress he sought to God and trusted him.
(1.) He graciously accepted his prayer, and gave admission and
audience to it (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.7" parsed="|Jonah|2|7|0|0" passage="Jon 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>My prayer,</i> being sent to him, <i>came in unto
him,</i> even <i>into his holy temple;</i> it was heard in the
highest heavens, though it was prayed in the lowest deeps. (2.) He
wonderfully wrought deliverance for him, and, when he was in the
depth of his misery, gave him the earnest and assurance of it
(<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.6" parsed="|Jonah|2|6|0|0" passage="Jon 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Yet hast
thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God!</i> Some
think he said this when he was vomited up on dry ground; and then
it is the language of thankfulness, and he sets it over-against the
great difficulty of his case, that the power of God might be the
more magnified in his deliverance: <i>The earth with her bars was
about me for ever,</i> and yet <i>thou hast brought up my life from
the pit,</i> from the <i>bars of the pit.</i> Or, rather, we may
suppose it spoken while he was yet in the fish's belly, and then it
is the language of his faith: "Thou hast kept me alive here, in the
pit, and therefore thou canst, thou wilt, <i>bring up my life from
the pit;</i>" and he speaks of it with as much assurance as if it
were done already: <i>Thou has brought up my life.</i> Though he
has not an express promise of deliverance, he has an earnest of it,
and on that he depends: he has life, and therefore believes his
life shall be <i>brought up from corruption;</i> and this assurance
he addresses to God: <i>Thou has done it, O Lord my God!</i> Thou
art the Lord, and therefore <i>canst</i> do it for me, my God, and
therefore wilt do it. Note, If the Lord be our God, he will be to
us the <i>resurrection and the life,</i> will redeem our lives from
destruction, from the power of the grave.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p12" shownumber="no">5. He gives warning to others, and
instructs them to keep close to God (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.8" parsed="|Jonah|2|8|0|0" passage="Jon 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>Those that observe lying
vanities forsake their own mercy,</i> that is, (1.) Those that
worship other gods, as the heathen mariners did, and call upon
them, and expect relief and comfort from them, <i>forsake their own
mercy;</i> they stand in their own light; they turn their back upon
their own happiness, and go quite out of the way of all good. Note,
Idols are <i>lying vanities,</i> and those that pay that homage to
them which is due to God only act as contrarily to their interests
as to their duty. Or, (2.) Those that follow their own inventions,
as Jonah himself had done when he <i>fled from the presence of the
Lord</i> to go to Tarshish, <i>forsake their own mercy,</i> that
mercy which they might find in God, and might have such a
covenant-right and title to it as to be able to call it their own,
if they would but keep close to God and their duty. Those that
think to go any where to be from under the eye of God, as Jonah
did—that think to better themselves by deserting his service, as
Jonah did—and that grudge his mercy to any poor sinners, and
pretend to be wiser than he in judging who are fit to have prophets
sent them and who are not, as Jonah did—they <i>observe lying
vanities,</i> are led away by foolish groundless fancies, and, like
him, they <i>forsake their own mercy,</i> and no good can come of
it. Note, Those that forsake their own duty forsake their own
mercy; those that run away from the work of their place and day run
away from the comfort of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p13" shownumber="no">6. He solemnly binds his soul with a bond
that, if God work deliverance for him, the God of his mercies shall
be the God of his praises, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.9" parsed="|Jonah|2|9|0|0" passage="Jon 2:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. He covenants with God, (1.) That he will honour him
in his devotions with the <i>sacrifice of thanksgiving;</i> and God
has said, for the encouragement of those that do so, that those
that <i>offer praise glorify him.</i> He will, according to the law
of Moses, bring <i>a sacrifice of thanksgiving,</i> and will offer
that according to the law of nature, with the <i>voice of
thanksgiving.</i> The love and thankfulness of the heart to God are
the life and soul of this duty; without these neither the sacrifice
of thanksgiving nor the voice of thanksgiving will avail any thing.
But gratitude was then, by a divine appointment, to be expressed by
a sacrifice, in which the offerer presented the beast slain to God,
not in lieu of himself, but in token of himself; and it is now to
be expressed by the <i>voice of thanksgiving,</i> the <i>calves of
our lips</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.2" parsed="|Hos|14|2|0|0" passage="Ho 14:2">Hos. xiv. 2</scripRef>),
the <i>fruit of our lips</i> (<scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.15" parsed="|Heb|13|15|0|0" passage="Heb 13:15">Heb.
xiii. 15</scripRef>), speaking forth, singing forth, the high
praises of our God. This Jonah here promises, that with the
sacrifice of thanksgiving he will <i>mention the lovingkindness of
the Lord,</i> to his glory, and the encouragement of others. (2.)
That he will honour him in his conversation by a punctual
performance of his vows, which he made in the fish's belly. Some
think it was some work of charity that he vowed, or such a vow as
Jacob's was, <i>Of all that thou hast given me I will give the
tenth unto thee.</i> More probably his vow was that if God would
deliver him he would readily go wherever he should please to send
him, though it were to Nineveh. When we smart for deserting our
duty it is time to promise that we will adhere to it, and abound in
it. Or, perhaps, the sacrifice of thanksgiving is the thing he
vowed, and that is it which he will pay, as David, <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.116.17-Ps.116.19" parsed="|Ps|116|17|116|19" passage="Ps 116:17-19">Ps. cxvi. 17-19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p14" shownumber="no">7. He concludes with an acknowledgment of
God as the Saviour of his people: <i>Salvation is of the Lord;</i>
it <i>belongs to the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.8" parsed="|Ps|3|8|0|0" passage="Ps 3:8">Ps. iii.
8</scripRef>. He is the <i>God of salvation,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.19-Ps.68.20" parsed="|Ps|68|19|68|20" passage="Ps 68:19,20">Ps. lxviii. 19, 20</scripRef>. He only can work
salvation, and he can do it be the danger and distress ever so
great; he has promised salvation to his people that trust in him.
All the salvations of his church in general, and of particular
saints, were wrought by him; he is the <i>Saviour of those that
believe,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.4.10" parsed="|1Tim|4|10|0|0" passage="1Ti 4:10">1 Tim. iv. 10</scripRef>.
Salvation is still of him, as it has always been; from him alone it
is to be expected, and on him we are to depend for it. Jonah's
experience shall encourage others, in all ages, to trust in God as
the God of their salvation; all that read this story shall say with
assurance, say with admiration, that <i>salvation is of the
Lord,</i> and is sure to all that belongs to him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jonah.iii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.2.10" parsed="|Jonah|2|10|0|0" passage="Jon 2:10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jonah.iii-p14.5">
<h4 id="Jonah.iii-p14.6">Jonah's Deliverance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p14.7">b. c.</span> 840.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jonah.iii-p15" shownumber="no">10 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jonah.iii-p15.1">Lord</span>
spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry
<i>land.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jonah.iii-p16" shownumber="no">We have here Jonah's discharge from his
imprisonment, and his deliverance from that death which there he
was threatened with—his return, though not to life, for he lived
in the fish's belly, yet to the <i>land of the living,</i> for from
that he seemed to be quite cut off—his resurrection, though not
from death, yet from the grave, for surely never man was so buried
alive as Jonah was in the fish's belly. His enlargement may be
considered, 1. As an instance of God's power over all the
creatures. God <i>spoke to the fish,</i> gave him orders to return
him, as before he had given him orders to receive him. God speaks
to other creatures, and <i>it is done;</i> they are all his ready
obedient servants. But to man he <i>speaks once, yea, twice, and he
perceives it not,</i> regards it not, but turns a deaf ear to what
he says. Note, God has all creatures at his command, makes what use
he pleases of them, and serves his own purposes by them. 2. As an
instance of God's mercy to a poor penitent, that in his distress
prays to him. Jonah had sinned, and had done foolishly, very
foolishly; his own backslidings did not correct him, and it appears
by his after-conduct that his foolishness was not quite driven from
him, no, not by the rod of this correction; and yet, upon his
praying, and humbling himself before God, here is a miracle in
nature wrought for his deliverance, to intimate what a miracle of
grace, free grace, God's reception and entertainment of returning
sinners are. When God had him at his mercy he showed him mercy, and
did not <i>contend for ever.</i> 3. As a type and figure of
Christ's resurrection. He died and was buried, to lay in the grave,
as Jonah did, three days and three nights, a prisoner for our debt;
but the third day he came forth, as Jonah did, by his messengers to
preach repentance, and remission of sins, even to the Gentiles. And
thus was another scripture fulfilled, <i>After two days he will
receive us, and the third day he will raise us up,</i> <scripRef id="Jonah.iii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.2" parsed="|Hos|6|2|0|0" passage="Ho 6:2">Hos. vi. 2</scripRef>. The earth trembled as if
full of her burden, as the fish was of Jonah.</p>
</div></div2>