Scripture: Jonah 1:1-3a; 4:1-4 (NIV Study Bible) – “The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.  Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.”  “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.  He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?  That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.  I knew that you are a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, O lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’  But the Lord replied, ‘Have you any right to be angry?’” (Please read the entire book of Jonah Chapters 1-4).

Message:

The word of the Lord came down to Jonah
To carry God’s warning to the wicked of Ninevah
But Jonah the man, fled from the word

Sailed off to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord
Upon the calm sea a great tempest was brought
Cast Jonah into the deep, for it was he that God sought
God sent a great fish to swallow him whole

Three days in the belly, Jonah searched his own soul
He offered up prayers of thanksgiving and praise
From the depths of despair, his spirits God raised
And he was delivered onto the dry land

As a prophet of the Lord for the judgement at hand
But the city of Nineveh, its king and its peoples
Donned sack cloths and ashes, and humbled themselves
Then God in His wisdom saw them in repentance
Was filled with compassion and granted them deliverance
But Jonah was bitter because of God’s mercy
For he would rather die, than share with them in God’s glory¹

Prayer: Dear Lord, deliver me from all in me that would keep me from sharing Your glory, with any and all You are calling.  Amen.

1.     “The Word of the Lord” by Dennis Stevenson. 1992 © Copyright, revised 2024 © Copyright. Used by permission.