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When the Lovingkindness of God Leads to Disobedience
We often rightly rejoice in the lovingkindness of God. We see His goodness all over the place. His love for us is what compels the believer to obedience (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). It should go without saying that the lovingkindness of God is one of the most powerful themes of the entire Bible. In fact, in the Old Testament, when God reveals His own character, He specifically zeroes in on His own compassion and lovingkindness as definitional characteristics He wants His people to know about. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and…
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Psalms in Jonah 2
Sometimes we have the tendency to forget that the characters in the Bible had access to Scripture. If we are observant, we often see biblical characters relying on, and trusting in God’s written word. In particular, the book of Psalms is often referred to. Psalms have always been a favorite for the people of God. Although we see this all over the New Testament, the Old Testament has some pertinent examples of this as well. Take the story of Jonah. Having been thrown into the sea and finding himself in the belly of a big fish, what was his response? His first response was to come before the Lord in prayer. What it most interesting to me is that his prayer (which is recorded in Jonah 2) has many allusions and quotations from specific psalms. I think the following are four examples where Jonah shows knowledge of (and reliance on) the…