Jonah’s Psalm of Thanksgiving

The story of Jonah is strange and filled with surprises. He is the only prophet who runs in the opposite direction, the true wise men of the story are Gentile sailors, there is a rescue-ish fish, and, at the end, Jonah is one cranky prophet—to name a few. Then there is his prayer, spoken from the fish’s belly, which closely follows the tradition of the psalms of thanksgiving. It ends, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you. Salvation belongs to the Lord” (2:9). And it is in the past tense. God has already done it.

This prayer may be the most unexpected feature of them all, and it is good for our souls. How can Jonah speak this prayer from the belly of a fish, as though he had already been delivered? He went from being thrown into a raging sea into something just as dangerous and more gross. Perhaps then we too can have high hopes and add a psalm of thanksgiving to our days, even when they are not going so well.

Jonah’s prayer fits between these words.

Jonah had no reason to think he would be anything other than digested, and these are his first and last words. Why would he choose a psalm of thanksgiving rather than lament?

Forgiveness of sins could feel a bit iffy in the Old Testament. The realities of mercy and grace were clear, yet questions persisted. Did you have to offer sacrifices for forgiveness? Were some sins so bad that they were beyond forgiveness? Jonah’s sin, of course, was of a very bad sort. But these questions vanished when Jonah was thrown into a violent sea and didn’t die. God gave him life. Though deliverance-by-being-eaten might seem ironic to us, for Jonah, it was God’s blatant rescue and it was clear evidence that God had not abandoned him. Jonah’s sins could not keep his God away. Even big sins could be forgiven. Simply put, God heard his prayer.

Notice the bookends of the prayer: “you heard my voice” and “my prayer came to you.” God heard Jonah’s voice because he was in the belly with him—his compassion was aroused, forgiveness was assured, and God acted. Jonah was delivered from death. But now he needed back-to-back deliverances. What would God do about the fish? Given that God was near and heard him, Jonah was unconcerned. His prayer had no request. He needed nothing more. This is why he gives thanks.

Now imagine. Forgiveness of sins is no longer iffy since Jesus himself took on our sins. In this, we have been rescued from the grave. The biggest deliverance has been accomplished. Now we face little deaths and need other less-weighty deliverances. Imagine being so confident that your God of steadfast love actually and truly listens and that this is enough in itself. Jesus assures you of it. Everything else is anticlimactic. You give thanks that he hears you. Whatever deliverance he chooses to bring, you trust him.

As a larger community, we are learning how to lament, which is good. But Jonah reminds us that we can also take possession, right now, of the psalms of thanksgiving.