Salvation Belongs to the Lord

In this sermon, we looked at how Jonah's psalm of thanksgiving in Jonah 2 declares that the miracle of salvation belongs to the Lord. Jonah begins by summarizing his experience of salvation and indicating that God is a good God who hears when His people cry out to Him for help. After reaching a place of complete desperation and despair, Jonah is finally awakened to see how the obstacles that God used to stop him from running were actually good gifts meant to lead him back to the Lord's presence. Jonah's distorted view of God had caused him to run from God instead of toward Him but, in his despair, Jonah is awakened to the true character of God. He remembers that God isn't angry and vengeful; God is slow to anger and abounding in love. We, too, can find ourselves isolated from God or even running from Him when we have a distorted view of who He is. It’s a miraculous expression of the Lord's loving kindness when He graciously stops us in our tracks to awaken our hearts to who He truly and to bring us back to Himself.