Verse of the Day for November 20

There is no congregation inside a fish. No one to see Jonah lift his hands, no one to say amen. And yet this is where he says But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.

He is still inside when he says it. Verse 10 has not happened yet. He is giving thanks in the dark, in a place that smells of seaweed and death, with no sign that he will ever see daylight again.

Verse 8 explains what he has learned. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. Chasing empty things means walking away from the mercy that was yours. Jonah had run from God and nearly lost everything. Now he turns back, with nobody watching.

Then he says the line that may be the heart of the whole book. Salvation is of the LORD. Not of Jonah's good behaviour, not of the sailors, not of luck. And straight after, God speaks to the fish.

Much of your faithfulness will go unseen. The prayer whispered on a night shift, the thanks said over a plate of cold food when you are eating alone. Nobody notices. The one who speaks to fish does.

Thanksgiving offered where no one can see is still a sacrifice.

Turn from the empty things and you turn back toward your own mercy.