WEBVTT 00:00:02.432 --> 00:00:03.633 Amen. Thank you. Isaac. 00:00:03.633 --> 00:00:04.966 Nice sweatshirt, by the way. 00:00:04.966 --> 00:00:07.466 I just wanted to point out it looks great. 00:00:07.466 --> 00:00:09.465 Good choice. 00:00:09.465 --> 00:00:11.599 This is our theme for the year, walk by Faith. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.032 You've seen it in the wall coming in, and we have t shirts and sweatshirts. 00:00:15.032 --> 00:00:15.965 Hopefully you ordered one. 00:00:15.965 --> 00:00:22.765 We've got a few extra, but we really want to emphasize the importance going into a new year of walking by faith. 00:00:22.765 --> 00:00:26.600 That's what we're called to do as Christians. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.233 We don't always know exactly how things are going to turn out. 00:00:30.233 --> 00:00:32.533 We're trusting that Christ is going before us. 00:00:32.533 --> 00:00:33.932 Help us to walk by faith. 00:00:33.932 --> 00:00:35.765 We depend on him through our life. 00:00:35.765 --> 00:00:37.299 We walk by faith, not by sight. 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:39.600 And that's a key theme for us this year. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:46.399 And of course, it goes well with the whole theme of the book of Jonah and many of the ideas we're seeing in there. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:55.832 That's what we're studying to open the year in the month of January. We’ll be in Jonah chapter two today. I think that's page 726 in a church Bible. 00:00:55.832 --> 00:00:58.566 If you have a church Bible, you can be turning there. 00:00:58.566 --> 00:01:00.100 If not, we've got those out in the lobby. 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:01.133 You can grab one any time. 00:01:01.133 --> 00:01:02.265 Those are free for you. 00:01:02.265 --> 00:01:06.632 We want you turning in God's Word, following along as we read in God's Word together. 00:01:06.632 --> 00:01:12.900 We want to develop that habit, that familiarity with your copy of the scriptures, that you're in it, reading it, studying it. 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:15.632 That's where God will speak to you this year is through His Word. 00:01:17.665 --> 00:01:27.632 As I was preparing the message this week, I was reminded of the story of a friend of mine who someone had asked him to sit their house, watch the dogs while they were out of town. 00:01:27.632 --> 00:01:28.832 And so he was there. 00:01:28.832 --> 00:01:39.233 He got up one morning to let the dogs out, and he went out the back door just in his jammies still, just his boxers and a t shirt, lets the dogs out. 00:01:39.233 --> 00:01:49.500 And as he's standing there enjoying the crisp morning air, the sunlight beaming down upon his body, he hears the door shut and lock behind him. 00:01:50.132 --> 00:01:55.233 And he thinks this will be interesting to see how this turns out. 00:01:55.233 --> 00:01:55.933 What am I going to do? 00:01:55.933 --> 00:01:56.766 Go to the neighbor? 00:01:56.766 --> 00:01:58.233 I'm in a strange neighborhood. 00:01:58.233 --> 00:01:59.266 I don't know anyone here. 00:01:59.266 --> 00:02:07.500 Just knock on the door and say, hey, I know I'm just in my underwear, but can I use your phone? You know, how is that going to turn out? 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:12.400 He was in a moment, and he realized right then, I need to be rescued. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:17.566 I need someone else to show up and rescue me from my situation because he didn't have a phone on him. 00:02:17.566 --> 00:02:20.566 He didn't know what he was going to do. 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:24.633 And I'm sure we've all found ourselves in situations where we needed to be rescued. 00:02:24.633 --> 00:02:27.932 We needed someone to show up and rescue us. 00:02:27.932 --> 00:02:36.332 And of course, we saw that last week with Jonah, but we were wondering as we studied it, did he want to be rescued or not? 00:02:37.032 --> 00:02:38.466 Some of us have been there. 00:02:38.466 --> 00:02:39.866 I don't really want to be rescued. 00:02:39.866 --> 00:02:42.133 I like that I'm running as far from God as I can. 00:02:42.133 --> 00:02:43.300 Please don't try to stop me. 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:44.133 Thank you very much. 00:02:45.432 --> 00:02:48.366 But God showed up and rescued Jonah. 00:02:48.366 --> 00:02:52.966 And this week we're going to look at how does he react to that, how does he respond to that? 00:02:52.966 --> 00:02:55.099 And we're going to learn some principles for that. 00:02:55.099 --> 00:02:59.832 On how we respond when we need to be rescued, whether we want to or not. 00:02:59.832 --> 00:03:04.366 In fact, I think the key idea here is that Jonah has hit bottom. 00:03:04.366 --> 00:03:07.265 And how will you respond? 00:03:07.265 --> 00:03:09.900 How do you respond when you're at the bottom? 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:15.932 So we're going to be in Jonah chapter two if you want to turn there, and i’m going to read this entire chapter. 00:03:15.932 --> 00:03:17.900 And then we'll talk about four lessons. 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.765 I think there's four lessons in this that we can pull from it. 00:03:20.765 --> 00:03:23.699 In Jonah chapter two, 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:25.400 17. 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:36.932 Some of your Bibles may even have a footnote that says in the Hebrew Bible, which is what the Old Testament was written in, in the language of Hebrew, Hebrew language, that actually is chapter two, verse one, 00:03:36.932 --> 00:03:44.633 17 and goes down through what would have been verse 11 in their Bible. 00:03:44.633 --> 00:03:47.733 And there's a reason why; we'll point this out as we go. 00:03:47.733 --> 00:03:51.466 17-- and the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. 00:03:52.733 --> 00:03:58.466 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, and three nights. 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:06.233 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, I called out to the Lord out of my distress. 00:04:06.233 --> 00:04:16.365 And he answered me out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice for you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas. 00:04:16.365 --> 00:04:17.800 And the flood surrounded me. 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:21.833 All your waves and your billows passed over me. 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:26.100 Then I said, I am driven away from your sight. 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:29.065 Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. 00:04:29.065 --> 00:04:32.766 The waters closed in over me to take my life. The deep surrounded me. 00:04:32.766 --> 00:04:37.199 Weeds were wrapped about my head, all the roots of the mountains. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:41.699 I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. 00:04:42.466 --> 00:04:45.233 Yet you brought up my life from the pit. 00:04:45.233 --> 00:04:47.333 Oh Lord my God. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.333 When my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord. 00:04:51.333 --> 00:04:54.665 And my prayer came to you into your holy temple. 00:04:55.733 --> 00:05:00.865 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 00:05:00.865 --> 00:05:06.665 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed. 00:05:06.665 --> 00:05:08.233 I will pay. 00:05:08.233 --> 00:05:11.233 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:05:12.266 --> 00:05:20.165 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.865 So Jonah has been rescued by God. 00:05:23.865 --> 00:05:26.865 He's been swallowed by the fish. 00:05:27.266 --> 00:05:32.699 And his response, whether he wanted to be rescued or not, is encouraging, should be encouraging to us. 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:35.266 His response is to pray. 00:05:35.266 --> 00:05:38.266 This whole chapter is one long prayer. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:46.533 And here's the first thing to note about this prayer is that this prayer is really Jonah prays a psalm. 00:05:46.533 --> 00:05:49.033 You could say it's the first point in your outline. 00:05:49.033 --> 00:05:50.466 Jonah prays a Psalm. 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:58.833 And I say that because many of the commentators, many people who have studied this passage, also call it a psalm. 00:05:58.833 --> 00:06:06.065 And if we were to just pull it out of the book of Jonah, if you were to just read it, not knowing it was from Jonah, have it read to you. 00:06:06.065 --> 00:06:08.665 Have this verse one through verse nine. 00:06:08.665 --> 00:06:10.565 Read aloud as I just did. 00:06:10.565 --> 00:06:14.132 You would say, you know, that feels like a psalm, that sounds like a psalm. 00:06:14.132 --> 00:06:22.466 It's written a lot like a psalm, like a hymn, like when I read through the Book of Psalms, it feels very similar to it. 00:06:22.632 --> 00:06:34.766 And there's a reason why that is, because it is largely a collection of quotes from various passages in the Book of Psalms Jonah, when he's at the end of himself. 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:39.966 17, it took three days and three nights for him to get there. 00:06:41.932 --> 00:06:46.300 Sometimes it takes a little bit for us to realize, no, I really am in a desperate situation. 00:06:46.300 --> 00:06:50.199 I thought I had it all together, but I don't. 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:53.600 Jonah turns to prayer and he turns to the Psalms. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:07:00.966 And of course, he didn't have a scroll in his pocket that he could pull out with his head lamp and read in the belly of the fish. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:05.266 This was God's word that would have been hidden in his heart already. 00:07:05.266 --> 00:07:09.432 These are psalms that he would have prayed and over and over again. 00:07:09.432 --> 00:07:15.033 And what I'm encouraged by is that when he was in his lowest moment, God's Word is what came to mind. 00:07:15.565 --> 00:07:21.065 I'm going to pray the Psalms, and I've listed in your notes a number of different references. 00:07:21.065 --> 00:07:29.833 You can see in each of the verses where he quotes from various psalms, and in verse two or verse two he says, I called out to the Lord out of my distress. 00:07:29.833 --> 00:07:31.266 That's in Psalm 120. 00:07:31.266 --> 00:07:33.833 It's also in 18. It's in chapter three. 00:07:33.833 --> 00:07:44.865 It shows up all over the place, and you can go down almost verse by verse, and if you have a Bible was with cross-references, you'll see the Psalms cross-referenced over and over again. 00:07:44.865 --> 00:07:48.333 Some of them are exact quotes, some of them are allusions to themes and ideas. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:58.699 But I think what's encouraging is that Jonah knows the only place I have to turn in this moment is to God's Word. 00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:14.165 That's a powerful lesson for us when you've hit the bottom, when you feel like there's nowhere else to go, even though, you know, I probably should have turned here a long time ago, man, turn to God's Word, turn to him, cry out to him. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.333 So that's the first lesson to learn here from Jonah's prayer. 00:08:19.632 --> 00:08:21.600 But now look what happens next. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:29.500 Because Jonah, as he's praying this prayer, even though it is a collection of Psalms, it has a bit of a flow to it. 00:08:29.500 --> 00:08:32.500 It has a little bit of a a story to it. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:39.299 In fact, the thing to notice here, second point in your outline is that there's a key turning point in this psalm. 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:46.200 There's a place here where the story has a key hinge, a key turning point. 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.899 So it starts out with him talking about the bad situation situation he's in. 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:52.932 In verse three, you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas. 00:08:52.932 --> 00:08:55.299 Verse four, I'm driven away from your sight. 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:56.033 Verse five. 00:08:56.033 --> 00:09:00.000 The waters closed in over me to take my life. You can almost feel. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.799 You might even feel a little constrained as you read this. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.166 There's the weeds wrapped about my head. 00:09:05.166 --> 00:09:05.732 You can. 00:09:05.732 --> 00:09:08.365 You can sense the desperation that the end is very near. 00:09:08.365 --> 00:09:12.832 And then this is the low point of the story. 00:09:12.932 --> 00:09:21.932 In verse six, at the roots of the mountains, I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. 00:09:23.865 --> 00:09:26.365 And we see that phrase that we saw over and over again 00:09:26.365 --> 00:09:28.332 I went down. 00:09:28.332 --> 00:09:34.232 You remember we saw that progression started last week, where Jonah was on his way down. 00:09:34.232 --> 00:09:39.200 First he went down to Joppa and he got a ship, and he went down into the belly of the ship. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.765 And then, of course, the sailors threw him down into the water. 00:09:43.765 --> 00:09:50.232 And then from there he goes down into the whale, into the belly of the whale, which takes him down further into the water. 00:09:50.232 --> 00:10:02.066 And as he's already said, down into the belly of Sheol, he knows the end is coming further and further down, further and further away from the Lord. 00:10:02.432 --> 00:10:04.166 But here's the key turning point. 00:10:04.166 --> 00:10:05.732 He's been on the downward progression. 00:10:06.732 --> 00:10:09.000 But here in verse six it turns. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:15.265 Yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 00:10:15.666 --> 00:10:18.432 So he's been on this downward progression downward, downward, downward. 00:10:18.432 --> 00:10:20.533 And here we get the turning point. 00:10:20.533 --> 00:10:23.133 But you brought me up. 00:10:23.133 --> 00:10:23.932 And I love that. 00:10:23.932 --> 00:10:27.633 Jonah is quick to acknowledge you're the one who did this. 00:10:27.633 --> 00:10:30.432 You rescued me. 00:10:30.432 --> 00:10:33.432 It reminds me of Ephesians chapter two. 00:10:34.033 --> 00:10:45.365 It's one of my favorite passage to talk with people about when it comes to talking about Christ working in your life, because the whole first three verses are about how dead you are spiritually. 00:10:45.365 --> 00:10:47.566 You were dead in your trespasses and sins. 00:10:47.566 --> 00:10:48.633 You were going your own way. 00:10:48.633 --> 00:10:50.732 You were chasing after all the ways of this world. 00:10:50.732 --> 00:10:52.700 You were following the prince of the power of the air. 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.200 You loved darkness. 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:08.432 But then verse four starts with this, this one word, two words, but God, but God being rich in mercy because of his great love for us. 00:11:08.432 --> 00:11:11.100 And he does three things there. 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:14.066 He raises us. 00:11:14.066 --> 00:11:15.732 Jonah raised. 00:11:15.732 --> 00:11:17.232 He lifted me up. 00:11:17.232 --> 00:11:20.666 Seated us with him in the heavenly places. 00:11:20.666 --> 00:11:23.666 He made us alive. 00:11:24.265 --> 00:11:27.299 And if you're dead, there's nothing you can do to raise yourself. 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:30.832 There's nothing you can do to make yourself alive. 00:11:31.133 --> 00:11:33.666 We need God to show up. 00:11:33.666 --> 00:11:38.566 And so Jonah recognizes there's a key turning point here. 00:11:38.566 --> 00:11:41.566 I was dead, I had no hope. 00:11:43.033 --> 00:11:50.100 But I trusted that he would show up and move in my life. 00:11:50.566 --> 00:12:01.533 And there's something so powerful about that where I think if you're at the bottom, you've got to get to the point where you realize there's nothing else I can do. 00:12:01.533 --> 00:12:03.732 In fact, I put a quote in your notes about this. 00:12:03.732 --> 00:12:05.399 Tim Keller really drew this out. 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.399 I thought it was so good. 00:12:08.432 --> 00:12:09.133 He says it this way. 00:12:09.133 --> 00:12:24.332 He says it's only when you reach the very bottom, when everything else falls apart, when all your schemes and resources are broken and exhausted, that you are finally open to learning how to completely depend on God. 00:12:24.966 --> 00:12:30.200 You never realize that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. 00:12:30.432 --> 00:12:33.633 You must lose your life to find your life. 00:12:33.633 --> 00:12:39.732 I think a powerful parallel to this is in the story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. 00:12:39.732 --> 00:12:53.265 Because life was great when he had plenty of money and friends who loved him for his money, and when it all ran out, when the good times ran out, when he had no food, no friends, no money, no one was there. 00:12:53.265 --> 00:12:55.500 He had the worst job you could possibly imagine. 00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:57.033 He had fallen so far. 00:12:57.033 --> 00:12:58.765 It was at that point that he woke up. 00:12:58.765 --> 00:13:00.332 What are you doing? 00:13:00.332 --> 00:13:01.832 What am I doing? 00:13:01.832 --> 00:13:04.133 I've got a father who loves me. 00:13:04.133 --> 00:13:05.633 I could go back to him any time. 00:13:05.633 --> 00:13:08.633 What am I doing? 00:13:09.033 --> 00:13:12.232 But he had to get all the way down. 00:13:15.265 --> 00:13:17.299 I was talking to a gentleman recently. 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:20.299 They don't go here to church. 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:28.265 But he said we realized pretty recently that we have been enabling a child for years. 00:13:29.299 --> 00:13:30.365 And we got to let him go. 00:13:30.365 --> 00:13:33.932 We got to let him go all the way down, if that's how it has to be. 00:13:33.932 --> 00:13:36.700 And we don't like that, we're not happy about that. 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.966 This is the hardest thing we've ever done, but we've not been helping them. 00:13:39.966 --> 00:13:41.133 We've been enabling them. 00:13:42.332 --> 00:13:48.899 And until they hit bottom, you know, you can't want someone to change more than they want it for themselves. 00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:54.600 It doesn't matter how much you want it if if they don't want it. Now, of course, come alongside them, be there, support them. 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.600 But there's times when helping hurts. 00:13:58.932 --> 00:14:07.700 And you know how it is, until you get to the point, as Keller said, you've never realized that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:11.865 For those who have struggled with addiction, you understand this. 00:14:11.865 --> 00:14:13.332 There's this. 00:14:13.332 --> 00:14:20.899 There's this idol or this lie about addiction that you can get to the place where you can manage it. 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:24.600 No, I can, I'll be all right, I can, I can handle it. 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:25.732 I'm strong enough. 00:14:25.732 --> 00:14:28.299 That's the, man, the enemy loves that lie. 00:14:28.299 --> 00:14:30.365 Because we all want to think we're strong. 00:14:30.365 --> 00:14:31.700 I don't want to admit I'm weak. 00:14:34.332 --> 00:14:37.200 And he loves to keep you right there. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:42.066 Keep you right there where you think you can manage it, but you know. 00:14:42.066 --> 00:14:44.700 But talk to anyone who's been there. 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:46.033 I've talked to a guy. 00:14:46.033 --> 00:14:47.033 He said, you know, I can't. 00:14:47.033 --> 00:14:48.100 I can't have just one. 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:51.232 It's either 0 or 30 drinks, right? 00:14:51.232 --> 00:14:53.600 There's no there's no in between. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.466 And to tell myself, I could you'd be all right. 00:14:55.466 --> 00:14:58.466 You can just have one. 00:14:59.133 --> 00:15:01.899 You can't manage sin is the issue. 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.066 What... I'm talking about addiction. 00:15:04.066 --> 00:15:05.399 Not everybody has struggled with that. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:06.566 But everybody has struggled with sin. 00:15:06.566 --> 00:15:07.799 And you can't just manage sin. 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:10.533 You got to kill it. 00:15:10.533 --> 00:15:13.066 You got to put it to death. 00:15:13.066 --> 00:15:19.399 You can't just tinker with it and toy with it and hope that it won't affect you. 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:24.000 You gotta get all the way down to the bottom, to the place where you go. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.633 There's only one way up, and there's only one who can bring me up. 00:15:28.633 --> 00:15:29.765 And that's where Jonah is. 00:15:29.765 --> 00:15:30.732 That's the turning point. 00:15:30.732 --> 00:15:33.732 And that's the powerful lesson for us. 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:40.299 It's a hard place to be, but it's a good place to be. 00:15:41.566 --> 00:15:45.566 So Jonah highlights this turning point in the story. 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:49.732 But there's a big problem with this prayer. 00:15:49.732 --> 00:15:51.332 Okay? 00:15:51.332 --> 00:15:53.566 In fact, that's something for us to take note of. 00:15:53.566 --> 00:15:57.932 Third point in your outline, there's a problem with Jonah's prayer. 00:15:58.666 --> 00:16:05.966 And the big problem with his prayer, it's very Jonah centered, even though he's quoting Psalms, even though he knows how to use big, fancy words in his prayer. 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:09.732 There's a big problem here. 00:16:09.732 --> 00:16:13.432 It would get just a hint of it all throughout, and we see it first in verse seven. 00:16:13.432 --> 00:16:18.399 Look at verse seven right after he's praising God for raising him up from the pit. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.700 Look where he turns. 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:30.265 He says, when my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. 00:16:31.633 --> 00:16:39.100 Now there's just a hint here, but it's just enough to realize Jonah's pretty proud of himself right now. 00:16:39.332 --> 00:16:42.966 Yeah, you rescued me, but, but I remembered you. 00:16:42.966 --> 00:16:46.299 You know, even even though I was running from you, I still remembered you. 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:49.066 I still prayed, I still had a part in this. 00:16:49.066 --> 00:16:52.066 I was doing okay for myself. 00:16:52.133 --> 00:16:53.332 That's just a hint of it. But. 00:16:53.332 --> 00:16:55.000 But we get more here. 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.399 In fact, I think there's three key problems in this prayer. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.133 The first is that he seems pretty proud of himself. 00:17:00.133 --> 00:17:06.766 If you I put in your notes here that if you look at the across this entire prayer, he talks about himself. 00:17:06.766 --> 00:17:17.266 He uses a first person pronoun I, me, mine- some version of that 26 times, but he uses you, he, God pronouns about half that, 15 times. 00:17:17.266 --> 00:17:20.432 He's talking about himself twice as much as he's talking about God. 00:17:20.432 --> 00:17:22.232 In the midst of this prayer. 00:17:22.232 --> 00:17:23.865 Aren't those great conversations? 00:17:23.865 --> 00:17:26.200 Have you had friends like that? 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:27.133 Yeah, I had a buddy like this. 00:17:27.133 --> 00:17:33.032 Any time you said anything about yourself, his immediate response was, oh yeah, I know all about that. 00:17:33.032 --> 00:17:36.799 I've done that. In fact, I've done that better. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:38.365 Can't you just let me enjoy this moment? 00:17:38.365 --> 00:17:39.599 I did it can't. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.032 Does it have to be about you every time? 00:17:42.032 --> 00:17:46.099 And of course, as I saw that, I thought, well, how often do I do that? 00:17:48.165 --> 00:17:51.932 How often do I immediately go, oh yeah, well, let me tell you about me. 00:17:51.932 --> 00:17:54.066 One friend of mine used to say, hey, that's enough about me. 00:17:54.066 --> 00:17:55.732 Why don't you now talk about me? 00:17:55.732 --> 00:18:00.000 You know, in the midst of our conversation, what would you like to say about me? 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.500 Well, it was in jest. 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:02.432 I sort of. 00:18:02.432 --> 00:18:06.566 We both recognize that that's our that's our natural tendency. 00:18:06.566 --> 00:18:08.133 Would you please talk about me? 00:18:08.133 --> 00:18:08.799 Can we? 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.799 Let's focus on me. 00:18:12.732 --> 00:18:14.665 Jonah's pretty proud of himself. 00:18:14.665 --> 00:18:16.000 We've been there. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.000 Okay, that's a problem with his prayer. 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:26.365 Not only is he proud of himself, a second problem with this prayer is he's also looking down on others. 00:18:27.732 --> 00:18:29.799 Look at verse eight and nine. 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.766 Here's what he says, and we can't be sure exactly who he's talking about. 00:18:33.766 --> 00:18:40.833 More than likely, he's probably talking about the sailors who were just praying to other gods right before they threw him in. 00:18:40.833 --> 00:18:45.365 He might be talking about Nineveh, where God has called him to go, one or the other, or both. 00:18:45.365 --> 00:18:48.133 Look at what he says in verse eight. 00:18:48.133 --> 00:18:53.633 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 00:18:53.965 --> 00:19:03.400 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will pay. 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.232 Jonah is taking time to look down on those. 00:19:07.232 --> 00:19:10.099 And by the way, he's not wrong. 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:19.833 It is true that others should not pray to idols, but he's also doing it in a way here that puts himself above them. 00:19:19.833 --> 00:19:20.865 And here's the irony of it. 00:19:20.865 --> 00:19:22.965 And this is the trouble with the whole book of Jonah. 00:19:25.633 --> 00:19:29.665 Over and over again, everyone else other than Jonah does the right thing. 00:19:29.665 --> 00:19:32.432 Here he is looking down on the sailors. 00:19:32.432 --> 00:19:41.633 Now, the if it was the sailors, if he's looking down on them for praying to vain idols, everything he promised here, they already did. 00:19:42.066 --> 00:19:44.566 But this feels a little bit like a jailhouse conversion. 00:19:44.566 --> 00:19:47.900 As soon as I get out of here, Lord, I promise I'll never. 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:49.932 I'll never run from you again, I promise. 00:19:49.932 --> 00:19:51.633 Oh, you can count on me. 00:19:51.633 --> 00:19:52.833 Just get me out of here. 00:19:52.833 --> 00:19:53.900 Everything will be great. 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:55.365 You've heard that. 00:19:55.365 --> 00:19:56.400 You've said it. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:19:57.932 You know what I'm talking about. 00:19:57.932 --> 00:20:01.032 You've seen it and you go. 00:20:01.032 --> 00:20:02.599 He doesn't mean that at all. 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:04.900 You've seen it happen. 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:06.365 You know, when it's sincere or not. 00:20:07.566 --> 00:20:09.200 The people he's looking down. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.266 Look back in verse 14. 00:20:10.266 --> 00:20:12.732 The people he's looking down at, they've already done this. 00:20:12.732 --> 00:20:14.365 They called out to the Lord. 00:20:14.365 --> 00:20:15.500 This is in chapter one. 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:23.000 They called out to the Lord the sailors, oh Lord, let us not perish, for this man's life lay not on us innocent blood for you, oh Lord, have done as it pleased you. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:24.599 They're already praising the Lord. 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:26.400 They're already praying to him. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:27.766 They're already honoring him. 00:20:27.766 --> 00:20:30.633 They picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea. 00:20:30.633 --> 00:20:33.633 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. 00:20:34.833 --> 00:20:37.500 And the thing he promised to do. 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:38.799 Sacrifice. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.799 Make a vow. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.900 They've already done. 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:49.532 And there's no record as we go through the rest of the book of Jonah, there's no record that Jonah ever did the thing he promised to do. He may have. 00:20:54.500 --> 00:20:56.799 Pretty proud of himself. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.799 Quick to look down on others. 00:21:00.965 --> 00:21:03.965 Multiple problems with this prayer. 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:15.365 The last big problem with this prayer that I think stands out to me, but it's hidden a little bit in the context, is he also seems to see himself as a victim. 00:21:17.432 --> 00:21:22.599 And this to understand this, you have to go back and look and you'll have to do this on your own. 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:28.700 I'll just point that out with one of these, you'll have to go back and look at some of the psalms he quotes from Psalm. 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.532 Each of the many of the Psalms that were written have a context. 00:21:31.532 --> 00:21:34.633 If you want to flip over to Psalm three, I don't I don't have the page number for that. 00:21:34.633 --> 00:21:36.066 Psalms is about in the middle of the Bible. 00:21:36.066 --> 00:21:44.333 If you have a church Bible biggest kind of longest, most chapters in the Bible should be able to land upon it. 00:21:44.333 --> 00:21:49.232 Many of the Psalms have a little introduction to them that tell you the the context, the reason why they were written. 00:21:49.232 --> 00:21:52.266 This happened, therefore they wrote this psalm. 00:21:52.266 --> 00:21:54.665 Psalm three is a good example. 00:21:54.665 --> 00:22:04.099 And chapter two, verse two, the first verse of his prayer is very close to the first or to verse four of chapter three. 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:07.566 But look, just look at the introduction of chapter three of Psalms. 00:22:07.566 --> 00:22:13.400 It's a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. 00:22:14.032 --> 00:22:23.232 And the context of many of these are situations where the person writing the psalm, the person praying, is under persecution from an enemy. 00:22:23.232 --> 00:22:27.333 There's someone who's righteous, who's fleeing, who's under persecution from an enemy. 00:22:27.333 --> 00:22:30.732 David was fleeing from his son Absalom, who was trying to take over the kingdom. 00:22:30.732 --> 00:22:33.099 David was being persecuted, pursued. 00:22:33.099 --> 00:22:36.266 What this tells us is Jonah kind of saw himself this way. 00:22:36.266 --> 00:22:40.732 I'm going to quote from all these Psalms that remind me I'm the one right now who is righteous. 00:22:40.732 --> 00:22:41.965 I was doing the right thing. 00:22:41.965 --> 00:22:47.732 I sacrifice myself, and of course, look, I recognize I'm reading into what Jonah would have been thinking here. 00:22:47.732 --> 00:22:48.000 We don't. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.000 This isn't all spelled out for us in scripture. 00:22:52.066 --> 00:22:59.465 But it seems that by quoting from these Psalms, he's putting himself in a little bit of a victim place. 00:23:02.266 --> 00:23:05.032 And this is so deadly. 00:23:05.032 --> 00:23:08.032 Don't let yourself play the victim. 00:23:08.365 --> 00:23:14.133 Don't let yourself be in the place where you look at all your circumstances. 00:23:14.133 --> 00:23:16.732 And by the way, I'm not denying that you've had some hard circumstances. 00:23:16.732 --> 00:23:22.432 All of us have. Hard things happen to people, but don't play the victim in the midst of them. 00:23:22.432 --> 00:23:24.032 Jonah here should have been quick. 00:23:24.032 --> 00:23:26.865 We don't see him repenting of his sin. 00:23:26.865 --> 00:23:27.865 He should have been quick. 00:23:27.865 --> 00:23:31.432 The first thing he should have said was, God, I'm so sorry I ran from you. 00:23:31.432 --> 00:23:33.566 Will you forgive me? 00:23:33.566 --> 00:23:35.732 Own your sin. 00:23:35.732 --> 00:23:37.333 Yes. Tough situation. 00:23:37.333 --> 00:23:39.000 Yes. The sailors threw him in the water. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:39.665 He asked for it. 00:23:39.665 --> 00:23:41.365 Yes. He's in a bad place. 00:23:41.365 --> 00:23:42.633 Own your stuff. 00:23:42.633 --> 00:23:44.799 Own your sin. Don't play the victim. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:46.365 Don't let your kids play the victim. 00:23:46.365 --> 00:23:48.766 Don't enable them to do that. 00:23:48.766 --> 00:23:51.532 Help them see. Look, here's what we can do. 00:23:51.532 --> 00:23:52.665 Let's confess our sin. 00:23:52.665 --> 00:24:10.633 Let's cry out to the Lord and depend on him. So Jonah, the lesson for us in seeing his problem with this prayer is for us to be quick to confess and repent, and to pray rightly, and to lean on God. 00:24:10.865 --> 00:24:22.066 Now, the last thing to point out about his prayer, and this is the comforting part for me, because Jonah gets a lot of things wrong in this book. 00:24:22.932 --> 00:24:27.700 But where he lands is in the right place. 00:24:27.965 --> 00:24:31.766 Look back at verse nine in Jonah. 00:24:33.532 --> 00:24:39.000 He says, I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay. 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.799 And look at how he ends. 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:44.799 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:24:46.066 --> 00:24:47.365 But he still gets. 00:24:47.365 --> 00:24:51.865 And this is point, for in your outline he still gets to the right conclusion. 00:24:51.965 --> 00:24:54.099 Jonah's theology isn't perfect. 00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:55.532 He hasn't even fully confessed. 00:24:55.532 --> 00:24:59.432 We're not sure if he's fully repentant or not from running from the Lord. 00:24:59.432 --> 00:25:00.799 We can't be 100% sure. 00:25:04.333 --> 00:25:06.932 But he ends up in the right place. 00:25:06.932 --> 00:25:09.932 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:25:10.232 --> 00:25:14.432 And look, the comforting part of this is my heart's not perfect. 00:25:14.432 --> 00:25:16.900 I don't pray perfectly. 00:25:16.900 --> 00:25:23.532 My thought life isn't perfect, but I can still cry out salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:25:23.932 --> 00:25:26.365 Salvation belongs to him. 00:25:26.365 --> 00:25:31.165 And it doesn't depend on how perfect my views are and how perfect my heart is. 00:25:31.165 --> 00:25:37.165 It depends on him, and I'm so grateful for that. 00:25:37.165 --> 00:25:40.165 That he is great. 00:25:40.365 --> 00:25:44.000 And I'm thankful that we see that in Jonah. 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:49.066 He still ends up there in the midst of all his faults. 00:25:49.266 --> 00:25:55.766 And when you're at bottom, that's where you got to cry out, God, show up. 00:25:55.766 --> 00:25:58.299 Would you move in my life? 00:25:58.299 --> 00:26:00.165 Would you make a difference? 00:26:00.165 --> 00:26:01.400 I've messed it up. 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:03.232 Be quick to own that. 00:26:03.232 --> 00:26:05.066 Yeah, other bad stuff happened. 00:26:05.066 --> 00:26:05.965 I sure didn't help. 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:11.532 But I know salvation is in you. 00:26:13.465 --> 00:26:16.032 Has some powerful, powerful thoughts for us here. 00:26:16.032 --> 00:26:24.333 And I think two things for us to take away is that in the midst of a hard part, hard moment, turn to prayer. 00:26:24.932 --> 00:26:27.165 Turn to prayer. 00:26:27.165 --> 00:26:31.833 If you don't know what else to do, turn to prayer. 00:26:31.833 --> 00:26:36.066 Also, when you turn to prayer, turn to God's Word for prayer. 00:26:36.066 --> 00:26:38.232 Jonah, turn to the Psalms. 00:26:38.232 --> 00:26:39.500 Turn to the Psalms. 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:40.432 Turn to prayer. 00:26:40.432 --> 00:26:42.032 Turn to others who know God's words. 00:26:42.032 --> 00:26:45.099 Ask them, what part of God's Word should I be turning to? 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.633 How should I be praying? 00:26:47.633 --> 00:26:52.400 Pray the eternal truth of His Word. 00:26:52.766 --> 00:27:11.465 One thing I think that's important to highlight here, and I listed it in your notes and the reason why in Hebrew chapter one, verse 17, is the first verse of this section is that the the whole prayer is bookended by the whale, by the fish, by the animal. 00:27:12.965 --> 00:27:15.232 The book starts with a fish. 00:27:15.232 --> 00:27:16.599 The chapter starts with the fish. 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:18.965 The chapter ends with the fish. 00:27:18.965 --> 00:27:21.432 You know, Jonah is known as. 00:27:21.432 --> 00:27:26.432 The whole book is known as Jonah in the whale, but he barely shows up in the book. 00:27:26.432 --> 00:27:40.599 But one thing that is highlighted here, and the main point of the reason why he shows up at the beginning of the chapter and shows up at the end, is because even the fish will do what Jonah would not. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.299 Verse ten says it very clear. 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.932 And the Lord spoke to the fish. 00:27:46.932 --> 00:27:52.165 The Lord spoke to Jonah too-- verse one of chapter one the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 00:27:52.165 --> 00:27:54.299 Lord spoke to Jonah. 00:27:54.299 --> 00:27:55.066 And what did Jonah do? 00:27:55.066 --> 00:28:03.333 He ran, and the Lord spoke to a fish, and it immediately vomited Jonah up on the land. 00:28:03.333 --> 00:28:11.633 And some of the language here gives the implication that both the fish and the Lord were kind of sick of his prayer at this point. 00:28:11.633 --> 00:28:12.432 We're done with this guy. 00:28:12.432 --> 00:28:13.532 Let's get him out of here. 00:28:13.532 --> 00:28:16.532 Thank you Lord. 00:28:17.333 --> 00:28:19.566 Even the fish, it was more obedient. 00:28:19.566 --> 00:28:22.532 Be like the fish. 00:28:22.532 --> 00:28:24.532 Quick to obey the word of the Lord. 00:28:24.532 --> 00:28:27.532 Listening, eager. 00:28:29.432 --> 00:28:30.865 We're going to look at this. 00:28:30.865 --> 00:28:32.700 I've listed in your notes the sign of Jonah. 00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:34.066 We're going to look at that next week. 00:28:34.066 --> 00:28:37.299 I think it ties in a little better into next week's passage. 00:28:40.465 --> 00:28:44.299 But all of this is telling us the point of all of this. 00:28:44.432 --> 00:28:46.633 Move towards the Lord in prayer. 00:28:46.633 --> 00:28:49.232 Come to him in prayer. 00:28:49.232 --> 00:28:52.232 Come to the end of yourself. 00:28:52.333 --> 00:28:57.865 My friend, who was on that porch wondering what would happen. 00:28:57.865 --> 00:28:59.833 He realized, I don't have many good options here. 00:28:59.833 --> 00:29:02.400 And so here's what he did. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.532 He gave up. 00:29:04.532 --> 00:29:07.365 He set down. 00:29:07.365 --> 00:29:11.465 Somebody is going to come for me eventually. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:14.833 He heard the phone ringing in the house all day long. 00:29:14.833 --> 00:29:16.932 Somebody's going to come. 00:29:16.932 --> 00:29:18.566 They're looking for me. 00:29:18.566 --> 00:29:20.865 Somebody loves me. 00:29:20.865 --> 00:29:23.333 They're going to come for me. 00:29:23.333 --> 00:29:26.333 There's nothing I can do. 00:29:26.465 --> 00:29:29.032 Of course, maybe there were other things he could do. 00:29:29.032 --> 00:29:34.032 But you've been in that place where all you can do is just trust in the Lord. 00:29:36.333 --> 00:29:39.333 And that's what we see in Jonah's prayer. 00:29:39.333 --> 00:29:41.066 And that's my prayer for us today. 00:29:41.066 --> 00:29:44.066 Let's pray. 00:29:44.532 --> 00:29:47.532 God, thank you for your word. 00:29:47.833 --> 00:29:51.932 I thank you so much that you even tell us how to pray. 00:29:51.932 --> 00:30:01.932 And as Isaac read this morning, our father in heaven, holy is your name, and we pray that your kingdom would come. 00:30:01.932 --> 00:30:06.500 Help us to be a part of seeing your kingdom come in our lives and in the lives of others. 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:11.500 Our prayer is that your will would be done, not my will, which is what I often want. 00:30:11.532 --> 00:30:14.532 But my prayer is that your will be done. 00:30:15.566 --> 00:30:18.000 Would you forgive us? 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:19.732 Help us to forgive others. 00:30:19.732 --> 00:30:22.032 Keep us from temptation. 00:30:22.032 --> 00:30:23.700 We often invite temptation. 00:30:23.700 --> 00:30:25.599 Would you protect us from evil today? 00:30:27.232 --> 00:30:31.965 Help us to walk in the knowledge and the power of your kingdom. 00:30:32.965 --> 00:30:35.965 Help us to be quick to repent. 00:30:36.465 --> 00:30:38.066 Thank you that we can gather today. 00:30:38.066 --> 00:30:40.532 We love you. Amen.