Rerouted: 30 Days Through the Book of JonahSample

Getting Unstuck

Melissa Spoelstra

Psalm 3:8

During my first year of marriage, my husband moved with me to the seventh-snowiest city in North America. I quickly learned about navigating frozen roads. The first time I got stuck, I felt trapped — unable to move forward or backward — and this was before cell phones. Thankfully, a friend from church spotted me and pulled my car out of the snowbank.

I think Jonah could relate to feeling stuck when he found himself on a sinking ship in Jonah 1:4-6, with no way to call for help. In his dark hour, he recalled Scripture. So today, and once each week during our study of Jonah, we will set aside part of our reading to focus on a biblical psalm that offers a different perspective on his story.

Based on the Scriptures of his time (eighth century B.C.), Jonah likely knew many psalms, including King David’s prayer in Psalm 3. In Jonah 1:5, pagan sailors “each cried out to his god” amid the storm, but in Psalm 3:4, David said, “I cried aloud to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he answered me from his holy hill.” Unlike false gods, the Lord hears His people when they cry out in faith.

While Psalm 3 is the third numbered in Scripture, it acts like a first in several ways. It is the first psalm ascribed to David. It is also the first lament psalm: David wrote it in distress while fleeing from his son Absalom (2 Samuel 15-17). Perhaps Jonah recalled this psalm as he identified with David’s experience of exile. Later, in Jonah 2:1-2, Jonah prayed, “I called out to the Lᴏʀᴅ, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice." This echoes David's prayer in Psalm 3:4.

David also concluded his psalm with, “Salvation belongs to the Lᴏʀᴅ; your blessing be on your people!” (Psalm 3:8), a sentiment mirrored in Jonah 2:9. In the end, God rescued David from Absalom (2 Samuel 18:9-15) and delivered Jonah both from the storm and even from the belly of a fish (Jonah 2:10). Both men cried out to the Lord in their troubles, and God saved them.

And God still delivers His people when we cry out in faith. We can trust that He will rescue us.