Background to the Psalm:

It’s easy to see why this psalm occupies the place it does in the book of Psalms. The first four books of the Psalter end with a doxology but the fifth rounds off the whole book with a psalm that is devoted to praise! The book of Psalms came together over a prolonged period of time reaching its complete form in about 250-150 BC, but obviously the editors of the book could only see one place for this psalm and that was at the end as it’s the pinnacle of everything the book had been building to. There’s been a progression of a theme of praise building since Psalm 146 to this point and the word: ‘praise’ is used 13 times in the psalm. But the Hebrew readers of the psalm would have been conscious of another word which binds the psalm together which Michael Wilcox notes we miss: ‘in our English versions, because it is hard to translate consistently’ and that is the word ‘rejoice’![1]

 The structure of the Psalm:

• Where to praise God (v1).
• Why to praise God (vs1-2).
• How to praise God. (vs3-6).

 Some obviations on the text (all quotations ESV):

Verse 1 answers the question where’s the best place to worship God? The answer is very simply everywhere! The readers are told to praise him: ‘in his sanctuary’ and to: ‘praise him in his mighty heavens!’ Although some writers make a case for the: ‘sanctuary’ being the heavenly tabernacle (Hebrews 8:5), that seems unlikely when we look at the way we are to praise God with the list of earthly instruments (vs3-5). The point is simply made, there’s no one place that is specially set aside for God’s praise. He is to be praised for his holiness which is reflected in the word: ‘sanctuary’ a place of worship, and: ‘mighty heavens’ which can mean both the place of his dwelling as well as the vastness of the cosmos!  Quite simply there’s nothing that’s not subject to him. Christopher Wright sums this up brilliantly in his comments on Deuteronomy 10:14: ‘There is absolutely nothing in creation “up there or down here” that does not belong to him’.[2]

Secondly, verse 1 gives us the reasons why we should worship him. Two titles are used for God in this verse.  The first is: ‘LORD’ or ‘Yahweh’ as it is rendered in the Hebrew, which is the Covenant name for God.  That name illustrates his relationship with his people.  Whether we think in the terms of the ‘Old Covenant’ or the ‘New Covenant, both show that God was, and is committed to his people.  He has made promises to them which indicate his care for them.  These promises have been fulfilled in various ways and at various times.  But they have particularly been fulfilled in the coming and work of Christ.  The second title in the Hebrew is ‘Elohim’ (see: ‘God’ in verse 1), which means ‘creator’ and which indicates God’s creative power!  So we worship him because he is caring and committed to his people as well as powerful and worthy of praise which is amplified in verse 2 with the phrase: ‘Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!’

Lastly the psalm indicates how we are to worship such a great and mighty God! The list of instruments is extensive and indication seems to be ‘make it long, make it loud but please make it joyful!’ Worship is an issue that has become very divisive within the Church with the battle lines being drawn up and deeply entrenched!  We could go into the ins and outs of the regulative vs. the normative principle when it comes to worship, but there’s a huge danger in missing the point of what the Psalmist is saying here if we try to bolt such theologies on to the psalm.  The key theme, as Michael Wilcox has pointed out, is praise which is to be conducted in a joyous attitude!

The Psalm acts as the climax to the book of psalms as well as being the climax of the four psalms before it. In Psalm 146 an individual praises God for his grace, power and faithfulness to the needy.  In Psalm 147 the inhabitants of Jerusalem are exhorted to praise God for the blessing and security they had experienced in the years following the exile.  In Psalm 148 every creature that has breath is exhorted to praise God everywhere and by every possible means!  And Psalm 149 invites the saints to praise God in the light of their salvation and the punishment of their enemies!  Now in Psalm 150 we reach the climax with the culmination of the theme of these four psalms in one psalm!

Much ink has been spilt over the subject as whether or not all these instruments were used in temple worship and rather sadly it has become a rather contentious issue which I feel has been dangerously exploited by those on both sides of the regulative vs the normative argument. Yet the issue here is about everyone being involved.  Trumpets, possibly rams horns would have been blown by the priests, Harps and Lyres by the Levites, Tambourines by the woman and strings, Flutes and Cymbals by the men.  The key thing is this is not so much rules for worship, it is more about everyone being joyfully involved and, if we are to praise God: ‘with the loud clashing cymbals!’ (v5), loudly!  Perhaps, if we are going to draw regulative principles here, there is the case for loud joyous worship that: ‘engages the mind, voice, body and heart’ of the people of God![3]  This is about people joining in as a ‘collective whole’ rather than a group of musicians leading the worship and deafening the worshippers in the process!  Max Anders very helpfully points out: ‘one is acknowledging the greatness and grandeur of God. Flat worship is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, an inconsistency of the highest order.  Empty, tired praise is an insult to God, insinuating that his matchless glory is anything but glorious.’[4]

The bottom line is that: ‘everything that has breath’ is to: ‘praise the LORD’ (v6).  As is often the case in the psalms, this being the main theme, the line is repeated to give it added emphasis.  Perhaps the best way to sum it up is to paraphrase it as ‘give it all you’ve got!  I suspect psalms like this one were in Paul’s mind when he wrote to the Ephesians Church that they were to address: ‘one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 5:19-20). In the end James Montgomery Boice rather helpfully sums up the place of this psalm in the Psalter. ‘The Psalter doesn’t even end with a doxology, although it could. It does not end with an amen. It ends with a call to praise God which is itself our great doxology to which we add our own sincere and loud “Amen”’[5]

[1] Michael Wilcox, The Message of the Psalms 73 -150, Songs for the People of God, the Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 2001) 285.

[2] Christopher Wright, Deuteronomy, New International Biblical Commentary (Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1996) 146.

[3] Craig C. Broyles, Psalms, New international Biblical Commentary (Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers Inc, 1999) 519.

[4] Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Psalms 76-150 (Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, 2003) 376.

[5] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms Volume 3, Psalms 107-150 (Grand Rapids, Baker books, 1998) 1292.

Psalm 32

Background to the Psalm:

This is the second of the seven ‘penitential’ psalms.  It is the first given the title ‘A Maskil’ an expression which can mean ‘a skilful song’, ‘a song of instruction’ or ‘a contemplative poem’.  It is generally attributed to the time when David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and his subsequent failings before the prophet Nathan confronted him with his sin.  It was probably written after Psalm 51 as that psalm has a more immediate feel to it and this one seems to be more contemplative in its nature.

The structure of the Psalm:

• David starts by praising God for his now happy state (vs1-2).
• David reflects on his former state before repenting and how it had damaged his relationship with God (vs3-4).
• The effect his of repentance and his reflection on that (vs5-7).
• The Lord’s answer to the prayer and his instruction to David (vs8-9).
• David’s reflections on the benefits of his relationship with the Lord (vs10-11).

Some obviations on the text (all quotations ESV):

In verses 1-2 David uses three terms to express his sin.  The first is: ‘transgression’, which is rebellion against a rightful authority.  The second is the actual word: ‘sin’, which means to constantly miss the mark or to fall short.  Lastly he uses the word: ‘iniquity’ which can also be translated as crookedness or to deviate.  In relation to this he also uses three terms that apply to forgiveness.  The first is: ‘forgiven’ and the last is: ‘the LORD counts no iniquity’ (v2).  The second however is: ‘whose sin is covered’ (v2).  This one is particularly interesting as it is reminiscent of the blood of the sacrifices being sprinkled by the priest on the mercy seat on the ‘Day of Atonement’, hence symbolically covering over the sin from the condemnation of the Law!  Because of his experience of God’s forgiveness David starts the Psalm on a note of praise which could be translated: ‘happy is the one whose transgression forgiven’.

Verses 3-5 contrast the state before and after David confessed his sin.  There seems to have been a considerable time before David confessed his sin which happen when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan (1 Samuel 12:13).  These verses described that period of time and the real sense of turmoil he experienced which seemed to take on physical manifestations (v3).   David suffering is expressed by the phase: ‘your hand was heavy on me’ (v4).  Yet in verse 5 with its impression of instant forgiveness there is a real sense of David knowing the slate has been wiped completely clean when he makes what is a complete confession of the sin he’d committed. David now urges others to do as he has done and not hide anything from God.  After all David realizes from this and other experiences that real security is found in the Lord and him alone (vs6-7).

In verses 8-9 it is God who speaks in answer to the prayer and also to command David to instruct others as verse 9 is in the plural and not the singular of the previous verse.  In the last verses David makes to two observations.  Firstly, sin is not a fun thing and in the end will not lead to a happy life (v10).  Secondly real security and happiness can only be found in the Lord’s way and to go against that is complete and utter folly that will deny the believer his happy state in serving God.  David now invites other believers to join him in praising the Lord (v11).

Like to hear a sermon on this passage?  The Refreshment Repentance Brings.

When I was in my late teens I attended a job interview for a TV rental firm. The interviewer was quite aggressive and plied me with all kinds of questions.  I don’t know quite what he expected, as by the time we were about 10 minutes into the interview I was convinced I didn’t want the job and no doubt he was convinced he didn’t want to give me the job!  However, one particular question has stuck in my mind.  What were my expectations of working for him?  I’m not sure he’d have appreciated me saying: “well I expect in six months I’ll have your job.”  On the other hand, I don’t think he would of have been impressed if I’d said: “well if I end the month with a few bucks in my pocket I’ll be happy.”  But it raises the question of what our expectations in life are, and in particularly, what they are in our Christian life.  You see I believe, a bit like my imaginary answers at my job interview, there are two extremes.  Some expect the Christian life to be a continual experience of near miraculous blessing!  On the other hand, some are happy to experience whatever blessing God gives them, whereas others would say such an approach lacks faith!  So what’s the right answer?  Although there are other examples in the life of the prophet Elisha, this particular episode is one that can help us understand how God might choose to work or what we might expect.

At this point in Elisha’s career as a prophet things are going pretty well. Firstly he’s recognised as Elijah’s successor.  People can see: “The spirit of Elijah” rests on him (2 Kings 2:15).  Secondly the Lord’s worked some amazing miracles through him.  So it makes sense that the widow of one of the: ‘sons of the prophets’ approaches him due to her desperate situation, and desperate it is!  The creditor was at her door and seems to be a pretty heartless individual!  Okay, he’s within his rights (see Exodus 21:1-11, Leviticus 25:39-41 and Deuteronomy 15:1-11) but without her sons and no social security she’s in a desperate state both now and then later in her old age.  So she approaches Elisha, for help as he clearly knew her husband and his godly character.

But this raises a question. Why is the Lord letting it happen to the family of someone who was such a faithful servant in his cause?  It’s the old chestnut, why do bad things happen to good people?  But this proves that Christians are not spared from being caught in the crossfire of living in a fallen world!  There are many examples of the Lord’s people suffering in Scripture!  Jesus himself told his disciples: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).  God’s people suffer and this is just another example to help us be realistic about the subject, but also to ultimately encourage us!  So how can it encourage us and help us when life, to put it bluntly, can sometimes seem to be unfair!

Well firstly we can learn a lot from the attitude of the widow. She’s desperate, but, as Dale Ralph Davis highlights: ‘hers is a faithful desperation.’[1]  How can we tell that?  Because, by approaching his prophet, she cries to the Lord for help.  In other words she seeks a word from the Lord, which, in its modern context means turning to Scripture!  If we want to hear the Lord speak, that’s where we should look first.  The Bible’s called God’s Word for a reason, he speaks through it!  The rather encouraging thing for her is Elijah’s response.  He is immediately concerned and seeks to be compliant in helping her as he recognises genuine faith that seeks an answer from the Lord!  We might think: “well he’s a prophet, isn’t he supposed to go around helping people and being compliant with their requests?”  Yet we only have to look back at 3:13 where the godless King Jehoram, who was living up to his parents Ahab and Jezebel’s legacy, is basically told by Elisha: “why should I talk to you, if you want help in this situation why don’t you go to those prophets your father and mother used to employ” (the prophets on Baal in his mother’s case or false prophets in his father’s case).  Elisha’s attitude is different here because this is genuine faith as opposed to the: “can you get us out of a tricky situation that we’ve got into because we haven’t consulted the Lord” attitude of King Jehoram!

This being the case, we might expect to see, in the light of Elisha’s ministry, an impressive miracle. So verse 2 comes as a bit of a surprise as Elisha asks her what she’s got around the house.  Her reply doesn’t seem to hold a lot of promise as all she’s got is: “a jar of oil” demonstrating her poverty!  Elisha seems completely unfazed by this and instructs her to go to her neighbours and get as many jars and utensils as possible (v3).  Jesus himself acted in the same way when he fed the 5000.  When his disciples come to him with a question as to how they were going to deal with the crowd. After throwing the question back at them he then asks them how much food they’ve got (Mark 6:38), that being the prelude to an amazing miracle!  But that’s often the way the Lord’s deals with us.  You may be praying for family or friends to come to know Christ.  Well who’s the best person to invite them to an evangelistic event at your Church?  It’s you!  By all means pray, after all, we’re dependent on Lord, but the answer is you’re the Lord’s instrument in that time and place!  Sometimes, even when we don’t think we got many skills to use in the Lord Service there may be a good number of ‘jars of oil’ that are available, but not being used!  Just as Elisha starts with what the widow has, the Lord often starts with the most basic gifts we possess and uses them for his service!  I’m sure the widow could have thought that that jar of oil was completely insignificant and hardly worth mentioning, but she trusted Elisha and he was able to use it in a remarkable way to solve her problems.

The widow, obeying Elisha’s instructions, shuts herself in her house, just as Elisha has told her to. She then carries out his instruction concerning her jar of oil which is to: “pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside” (v4).  After all the vessels are full she asks her son to bring another vessel, but he replies that all have been used.  At this point the passage makes it clear that then, and only then, is the oil used up (vs4-6)!  Some commentators suggest that the Lord’s blessing was limited by lack of faith in not getting more utensils.  However, this seems to be based on conjecture of what isn’t there!  It assumes there were more utensils around the village or town, but there seems no indication that she didn’t follow the Prophet’s instructions to the letter.  Indeed, when she reports back to Elisha he simply gives the instruction to: “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest” (v7).  It appears that he sees the mission as accomplished![2]  The point seems to be that the Lord has sufficiently provided.  But let us note it is sufficiently, not luxuriously!

So how should we understand this? Is there any evidence that she could have experienced a great deal more blessing if she’d only had more faith?  I’m in the camp that says no there isn’t and I’d go even further and say that to pursue such thinking misses some very important points concerning this woman’s faith and the wonderful miracle that the Lord brought about through Elisha!  Firstly, the Word of the Lord is always enough!  Now if we grasp that, it makes a major difference to us as Christians.  Very sadly there is teaching around that suggests that the Lord always works through the miraculous supernatural works and if those things aren’t happening in your Christian life then you’re missing out as you lack the sufficient faith to experience them.  Some Christians become dependent on this kind of experience.  So what happens when there’s an absence of such an experience?  Having counselled such people I find often depression and doubts set in as they don’t have the foundation, which incidentally, the Holy Spirit provides.  The Bible is a book inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore, it is logical to draw the conclusion that he speaks through it!  In that sense it’s his greatest work!  In Hebrews 4:12 writer describes the nature and action of God’s Word in this way: ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing the division of the soul and of the spirit, of joint and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ A sword like that slices and penetrates the human body!  Likewise God’s Word cannot be stopped from going anywhere or exposing anything, it’s that powerful!  But then we get a key phrase in the next verse: ‘And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account’ (v13).  Rendered in the original Greek this phrase contains a wrestling term which means to force ones opponents head back or throwing one’s opponent down and proving one’s dominance.[3]  This is if describing literally coming face-to-face with God in his Word each time we open the Bible. The Word of the Lord was sufficient for this widow and her two sons.  She could have said: “that’s the most ludicrous suggestion I’ve ever heard” in relation to Elisha’s remedy for her problems.  But she recognised this was the Word of the Lord and she took it seriously!  The question is do we?  Do we see the Bible as God’s Word and therefore sufficient for each situation we find ourselves in?  If we do we will never have an ordinary or routine Bible study again!

Secondly, God’s grace is always sufficient. The widow was able to pay off her debts.  I stress again this could be termed adequate or sufficient blessing, no more, no less!  But that can often be the way the Lord blesses.  In 2 Corinthians we find Paul under attack from false teachers who liked to give themselves the title of ‘Super apostles’.  One criticism was he wasn’t very impressive as a speaker.   Another (which turns out to be wrong) was he never had extraordinary revelations from the Lord.  Paul defends his ministry, incidentally commenting on an extraordinary revelation that he had experienced, but then refers to what is referred to as ‘Paul’s thorn’.  What exactly he’s describing in 2 Corinthians 12:7 is not clear.  Some think it was a physical problem or a temptation of some sort.  Paul prayed it would be taken away but received this answer from the Lord. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8).  And do you know what?  He was content with that answer!  It was enough to know God’s grace kept him going.  He didn’t have the luxury of having the problem taken away, rather he experienced the grace and blessing of being able to continue in the work of the Gospel despite it.  That’s sufficient blessing!  There’s no indication the widow and her sons became rich through this miracle, but they were definitely provided for!

Lastly, God often works in miraculous ways which remain practically invisible. How many people do you think realised a miracle had taken place?  The neighbours probably had an-inkling something was going on, but the miracle unfolded behind closed doors so it’s likely only Elisha, the widow and her sons had any indication something miraculous had happened.  So what we need to ask is do we recognise this kind of thing as a blessing?  We must never neglect to thank God when we see sufficient blessing and grace in our lives or as a Church.  I think there’s a real danger that we can forget to thank God for his sufficient blessing and grace day-to-day.  We often make the mistake of the assuming the Lord owes us as Christians or Churches.  But to quote the verse that I partially quoted earlier Jesus, responding to the worried disciples in the upper room said: “I have said these things to you, that in me may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  As that comes from the lips of Jesus we would do well to see it as summing up the Christian experience.  Sometimes the Lord chooses to bless us well beyond what is normal.  But let’s not forget to thank him for his amazing and sufficient day-to-day blessing!

Would you like to hear a sermon on this passage? Sufficient, not Luxurious, Grace! 2 Kings 4:1-7.

[1] Dale Ralph Davis, 2 Kings, The Power and the Fury, (Fearn, Christian Focus Publications, 2005), 55.

[2]Elisha had no problems pointing out that his instructions have not been followed to the letter as we see later in 2 Kings 13:19 where King Jehoash does not show sufficient faith in his excursion of Elisha’s instructions!

[3] Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1993), 264.

We ended chapter 2 with the fish vomiting Jonah on to dry land, probably to the relief of both of them! From there the story is relatively simple as we saw in the last post.  Jonah is given a second chance to go to Nineveh and preach the message that God has given him.  This he does with very unexpected results when the Ninevites repent.  The book ends with Jonah being an exceptionally angry prophet who resents God forgiving the Ninevites.   But now I want to focus on two things, one fairly briefly as it relates to the time spent inside the fish and the second in a bit more detail as it relates to his prayer in chapter 2.

Any time that Jesus mentions someone by name from the Old Testament we should always take note, and he does this twice concerning Jonah. In Matthew 12:38-40[1] he makes a reference to the three days and three nights Jonah spent in the fish.  Jesus compares this to his dying and resurrection three days later.  But what are we to understand from this?  Firstly, although some commentators make a case for Jonah dying and being resurrected I see no evidence for this.  Jonah compares his plight as being similar to dying, but that’s as far as he goes.  But there’s a sense that Jonah is suffering the Lord’s judgement but is not abandoned to the grave which is what he feared.  This has major parallels with Christ as the apostle Peter points out on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:27 quoting Psalm 16:10).  This illustration is the sign Jesus gives to the unbelieving spiritual leaders of Israel.  The second (which I believe was another occasion) is in Luke 11:29-30 and seems to be aimed at those in the crowd who wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle.  Jesus infers that he’s going to be a sign to that generation just as: ‘Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh’ (Luke 11:30).  There’s some speculation over what he means by this, but I think it’s relatively simple.  If Jonah, with his forthright disobedience could be forgiven, the Ninevites could be as well!  Salvation would truly come from the Lord!  In his commentary on Jonah Hugh Martin speculates that Jonah must have shared ‘the terrible death which he endured, and the blessed resurrection which he experienced – can we doubt that the mercy and   miracle of their prophet’s resurrection was at once the ground and the gleam of hope which they caught hold of, as an encouragement to repent and call upon the Lord?’[2]  Through Jesus’ death and resurrection anyone who seeks forgiveness can receive it as the Ninevites did!

This brings us to the second point in relation to Jonah’s prayer, and that’s how we relate his prayer to his later anger which is directed at the Lords compassion and forgiveness of the Ninevites. And my word, he was angry!  Verse 1 of chapter 4 can be translated: ‘To Jonah it was a disaster, a great disaster. He became angry.’  The phrase: ‘He became angry’ in Hebrew is expressed by the word: ‘harah’ which can be translated as: ‘burning as with fire’ or: ‘was inflamed.’[3]  How can I put this?  The book just shouldn’t end this way with Jonah red faced and foaming at the mouth or jumping up and down in a frenzy of what may have been uncontrolled anger!  Now we know that in a way it doesn’t, God has the last word!  But the book is left hanging concerning Jonah’s attitude towards the Lord’s compassion for the Ninevites!  So how do we understand this?

Firstly, there’s a danger in the writing off Jonah completely. Anyone who is as angry as he is ends up saying things that they will regret later and we would do well to remember that in relation to what he had prayed earlier.  But I believe it highlights a weakness in Jonah’s theology.  He had not understood the extent of God’s grace.  He could understand it when it was extended to him; after all he was one of the Lord’s covenant people, but the Ninevites weren’t.  They didn’t ‘know their right hand from their left’ (4:11) which probably means they were not acquainted with God’s law as Jonah was.  The point was that God was prepared to extend his love and forgiveness to them despite their limited understanding due to their genuine repentance (see 3:6-9).  But Jonah had his theology as to who the Lord should save and whom he shouldn’t.  He figured the Lord shouldn’t relent where the Ninevites were concerned, hence his anger!  In chapter 4 verse 2 Jonah pretty much quotes Exodus 34: 6-7.  He properly thought it was a wonderful verse when applied to Israel.  He had no problem with the second part of verse 7 about God’s judgement upon the guilty: ‘to the third and fourth generation’ as the Ninevites were well-qualified as those who deserved punishment.  But we should be beware of a theology that imposes what we wish on God’s Word and leaves no room for God’s infinite grace, mercy and compassion.  That’s Jonah’s mistake here!  Such an attitude will only damage our relationship with God as it does when Jonah declares that he would rather die than go on living (vs3 and 8-9), which is effectively declaring “I don’t want to be the prophet of a God like you!”  Maybe, as I said, it was said in a fit of anger but we should note how much damage it does to the prophet’s relationship with God as at this point in the book he is reduced to disapproving and angry prayers!

The question for us is can we go through tough times and during them acknowledge God’s goodness to us, just as Jonah did in his prayer, and yet not really understand fully that the Lord may have been teaching us a poignant lesson about ourselves? Just because the Lord has been gracious to us in the past and we have seen his help, does not mean that he should always act as we think he should.  We can end up like Jonah, disapproving of God’s character and even starting to think he owes us something. We then end up as ‘rollercoaster Christians.’  We are going through a good time and experiencing the Lord’s blessing, God loves us!  But then we dive down into the depths of despair and depression.  There are family troubles (the worst kind), or we start to struggle with economic hardship through the loss of a job, or a much loved family member or relative dies.  The danger is that then we can forget the extent of God’s grace at a time we should be remembering it.  We decide God hates us, or even if we don’t use such a strong words, we believe he just doesn’t care!

Yet, if we looking for consistency, it is only found in God and his concern for those he has created. The characteristic of God that is shown in 4:2 and throughout the book of Jonah occurs again and again in the Old Testament![4]  That’s what we see in the book of Jonah, God is the only constant throughout!  Even Jonah acknowledges this and we should acknowledge it too and look to one who is consistent and a real foundation when we face times of trouble.  It may be hard, due to our sinfulness, but we are not to put conditions on God!  Jonah had prayed: ‘Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love (2:8) but he had made an idol of his theology regarding Jews, Gentiles and sin!  He hadn’t learnt the right lessons from his experience.  The question for us is have we made, or are we in danger of making, idols of questionable personal beliefs about God that have little or nothing to with the Bible?  If so we need to repent and change.  Let’s pray that from this point on we are aware of, and avoid, Jonah’s mistake so it never becomes our mistake!

[1] Jesus references the: ‘sign of Jonah’ again to the Pharisees and Sadducees again in Matthew 16:1-4.

[2] Hugh Martin, Jonah, The Geneva Series of Commentaries, (London, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1870), 221-2.

[3]James Bruckner, The NIV Application Commentary, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2004), 109.

[4] See Exodus 34:6-7, Nehemiah 9:17 b, Psalm 86:15: Psalm 103:12, Psalm 145:8 and Joel 2:13.