Bottles from the Springs
Bottles from the Springs... 6/30/19 Just thought that before we get into today's summary of Jonah 2 exposition by Ryan McBride, I (and my life partner, Lillian for this was what sprang to her mind as she listened to the Sunday AM teaching) a rendition of the 139th Psalm, which we think runs parallel to the Psalm Jonah sang from the Nadir-the Bottom-of the Belly of the Beast! And if you have ever been to the bottom of the pits of despair, maybe there, you have found-even there-you were not alone! If so, maybe you can relate...
Nothing Beyond You, Rich Mullins
Where could I go, where could I run Even if I found the strength to fly And if I rose on the wings of the dawn And crashed through the corner of the sky If I sailed past the edge of the sea Even if I made my bed in Hell Still there You would find me 'Cause nothing is beyond You You stand beyond the reach Of our vain imaginations Our misguided piety The heavens stretch to hold You And deep cries out to deep Singing that nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You Time cannot contain You You fill eternity Sin can never stain You Death has lost its sting And I cannot explain the way You came to love me Except to say that nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You If I should shrink back from the light So I can sink into the dark If I take cover and I close my eyes Even then You would see my heart And You'd cut through all my pain and rage The darkness is not dark to You And night's as bright as day Nothing is beyond You You stand beyond the reach Of our vain imaginations Our misguided piety The heavens stretch to hold You And deep cries out to deep Singing that nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You And time cannot contain You You fill eternity Sin can never stain You And death has lost its sting And I cannot explain the way You came to love me Except to say that nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You Nothing is beyond You Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Mitch Mcvicker / Rich Mullins / Tom Booth Nothing Beyond You lyrics © Music Services, Inc
Jonah 2 New International Version (NIV)
2 1 [a]From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b] the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
This morning at 12 Springs, Ryan told us a story about a Sail boat ride his family took across the Potomac River. On the way there was a patch of stormy weather! It defined for all time for Ryan why you do not mess about in boats in Stormy Weather! Call it lesson learned! But Jonah also had learned what happens in a boat (my Naval Brother-in-Law and his family would be shouting “Ship, Ship!”) And even in what passed for a Ship in that patch of history, it was nothing compared to the chaos of the storm on the sea. But God had the ability, once Jonah was tossed into the chaotic Water World which the ancient Ninevites would give the name Tiamat to, to account or count off (mathematically assign like a bookkeeper budgets) a Great Fish to come along and scoop up Jonah at the bottom of the Sea-the Pit-even in the story, Jonah, was calling where he was: Sheol. But inside the fish, Jonah began to worship, to sing this Psalm to his God. He didn't sing it to Tiamat nor Enlil nor Marduk, Jonah got that he had been saved from destruction by the living God of Israel-the self living one-Yahweh! Can your God have that much control in your life? In Jonah, He crushes all other voices. All through the story of Jonah God appoints a lot of things in Jonah's life! Look for them in the weeks to come or see if you can find them for yourself in the Book of Jonah! Jonah spends a lot of time going Down. Here Ryan points out the Hebrew Le Mah tah. Jonah goes down to Joppa, gets on a ship and goes down into the bottom of the ship, and then the sailors do what he asks and throw him down to the bottom of his world. He puts a lot of energy into running away, or just down, from God. But God spends a lot of energy on Up or Hebrew le Mah lah! God throws up a storm, He gets the Big Fish to throw up a prophet, and then Jonah Goes Up to Ninevah! And this after Jonah's Prayer/Song/Psalm Went Up to God. Jonah's rescue, his deliverance was the Storm, the Fish. God's salvation came from Jonah winding up in a pile of Fish vomit and from there he went UP on God's Mission! Jonah rose up to do God's Mission God said Go-Do! And Jonah Went and Did. May you also Go and Do! All that from Jonah 2...