Jonah's Psalm

I've always had a real love of the Book of Jonah... perhaps it's because he is such an appalling prophet - God uses him despite himself - giving hope to all of us preachers and pastors who are all too aware of our failings...I've preached my way through the book a couple of times and, way back when wrote a series of monologues based on the 4 chapters that I've performed in various settings (sometimes to the detriment of my health). But the mention of Jonah and the Whale in "Accentuate the Positive", which I posted yesterday, sent me scurrying back to Jonah chapter 2 where the prodigal prophet finds himself in the belly of the whale and composes a psalm - Is it genuine thankfulness for his strange salvation, or a piece of "cod" piety cobbled together from bits of various psalms? It is hard to say, indeed the whole book in places reads like a satire on hypocrisy. 

But here is my take on Jonah's psalm:

In deep distress I called to the Lord, 

and he answered me. 

From the depths of a watery grave I called for help, 

and you heard my cry. 

You hurled me into the ocean depths, 

into the swirling seas,

the currents pulled me here and there; 

the waves and breakers crashed down upon me. 

I said, 'I have been discarded, thrown away like rubbish; 

when will I see your holy temple again?' 

The engulfing waters grasped me and drew me down and down; 

seaweed twisted around my head. 

I sank down into the abyss; 

The gateway to life was slamming shut behind me. 

But you pulled me from the jaws of death, O Lord my God.

When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, O Lord, 

my prayer rose to you from the depths to your high and holy dwelling place.

Those who cling to man-made idols sink like stones 

rather than grasping the grace that is offered to them. 

But wherever I am I will sing a song of thanksgiving, 

I will bring you a sacrifice of praise. 

I will fulfil my promises:

Salvation comes from the Lord.

Jonah 2: 2-9

Salvation does come from the Lord, sometimes in the strangest of forms, Be it a big fish . Or a baby born in a byre... A baby called Jesus, meaning "God saves"... Iesus Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr, IChTHYS... the fish...

Come Lord Jesus...

Shalom