Read To Me Daily Semester 3ናሙና

JONAH 3-4:
As we heard yesterday in the first two chapters of Jonah, running from God didn’t work out well for Jonah. As we will hear today, once saved from the ocean, Jonah grudgingly obeyed God.

For most of my life I have been fooled by Jonah's prayer in chapter 2, and I am not alone, because others have called it, “One of the great prayers in the Bible.” For most of the prayer, Jonah simply borrowed verses from the Psalms. And there is nothing wrong with that! However, if you look closer, Jonah prayed a me-centered and self-righteous prayer. The worst thing about it is there is no hint of repentance or asking forgiveness.

PSALM 137:
Today’s poem, Psalm 137, is not about Jonah’s audience— the Assyrians who lived in Nineveh— but might still act as a commentary about how Jonah felt about Israel’s enemies. As a musician, I can imagine what the musician who wrote this poem felt. The imprecation at the end of this poem should be taken in view of God’s justice. Compare the thought here with Rev. 6:9 and following verses (the cry of the saints under the altar), and also the ending chapters of Revelation that portray the vengeful judgment against ‘Babylon’— which in that book is used as a figurative name.

Rereading JOHN 17:
As we re-read John 17 today, note again the importance of the organic bond of union between the Father, the Son, and we who believe in Jesus. Consider again the bond of love. Note that our Savior actually prays for us. And this is because we live in a world that is not our home.

Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You that you have loved us so much. You included us in your prayer before your darkest hours on this earth. And according to other Scripture, You still pray for us now. Lord we pray that we will remain in your love and joined as one to You. Lord, you made it clear about our relationship with the world. We no longer belong here, but are like aliens in this world. We feel that, Lord! Keep us safe from the Evil One. Lord, we dedicate ourselves to You. May we be on task with the work You mentioned for us here— that of sharing about You, so that others will believe because of our messages. Lord, we are doing such a terrible job of living in unity with other believers and loving one another. Please help us, because living in that manner is the means by which we show your glory to the world. And Lord, thank You for the wonderful hope You give us here, of enjoying your glory forever.