Jun 26 – THE ONE WHO ANSWERS !

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2)

The prophet Jonah got into a great struggle for his life; and he did not know what to do. Since he had disobeyed the will of God and travelled to the city of Tarshish, the ship he was travelling fell into severe damage; and the sea became more and more turbulent. Finally Jonah had to be thrown into the sea. A great fish swallowed him; and Jonah had to spend three days and nights in the belly of that fish.

Just imagine yourself in that situation – a situation of life or death. He completely lost all hope of living anymore. In the Book of Jonah, chapter 2, in verses 1 to 8, he describes the anguish of his soul in that situation.

What was the final conclusion of Jonah, at the end of that experience? He said, “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). “So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jonah 2:10).

You may be like Jonah today. You may have committed some mistakes and ended up in trouble as a result. You may feel like you are in the belly of Hades. You may have lost all happiness and peace in the family, and unable to praise God.

Even in that situation, make a firm resolve to praise the Lord. Such praise should not be superficial just from your lips, but should be sincere and from the depth of your heart.

A sister, with an infant toddler, contracted severe measles; and was bedridden. There was no one to help. She had high fever; and could neither look after the baby; nor cook for her husband. She cried unto the Lord and asked: ‘Why, Lord, why did this disease come to me?’. Then the Lord showed her an empty basket. He spoke to her and said, “Your basket is empty, because there is no praise in your mouth”. It was one o’clock at midnight. Immediately that sister knelt down and began to praise and glorify the Lord. Due to her exhaustion, she fell asleep as she was praising and glorifying God. When she woke up in the morning, she was pleasantly surprised to be completely healed of her disease. She was completely refreshed. There was no more fever and not even any symptom of measles.

Praise pleases God. The Lord dwells in the midst of praises. His soul rejoices in praise from the depths of our hearts.

Children of God, praise the name of God with a song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30).

Verse for further meditation: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15)