THIS verse expresses joy in the Lord. It is a heartfelt expression of thanksgiving to God for his salvation and for his saving love and grace. As we consider this verse it is difficult to determine when it was expressed, whether at the moment of death in the fishes belly, or at the time of deliverance from the fish, when the fish vomited Jonah on to the dry land. If I have to make a decision I would say it is joy expressed both from the belly of the fish, and when saved from the belly of the fish.

This verse can be and is the expression of assurance of faith and resolve in faith that Jonah showed in the moment of his trial in the fish, and it was also the expression of joy that filled his soul when he was deposited on dry land.

What Jonah expresses in this verse is the joy every true believer in Jesus has in the times of danger and at the moment of death. Martyrs going to their death, though facing not only death but the severe trial of dying in a cruel way, can face it, and do face it, with this assurance that they are saved through Christ, and so death is the gateway to life and joy. Believers, even when they are unable to feel assurance, have the assurance of the word of God that whosoever believes in Jesus has eternal life, and this they resolve to hold on to with the thought that God cannot lie and will not fail in his promises, and so death can be faced with courage and calm assurance. It is the joy of all believers that death is the beginning of life and everlasting joy.

UNDERSTANDING THE VERSE.

It will be helpful, I think, to first of all look at just what Jonah is expressing in these words he utters.

Jonah contrasts his situation with those who cling to idols. He says “But I”. He is in a privileged condition because he worships the one and only true God, and has put his trust in him, and so in spite of his sin and disobedience he can rely on the grace of God, and so know from God his mercy and love. This is the condition of all who truly trust Christ as their Saviour. We are not perfect. We sin continually. But we hate sin and repent of sin, and trust in Christ's work and death for us, and so we know we are safe in the arms of Jesus.

Because of this, we have thanksgiving, heartfelt and joyful thanksgiving, filling our hearts and minds, and this is our sacrifice which we offer to God. We do not offer sacrifices of animals, nor do we bring the sacrifice of service for this is our duty and not merit we can offer to God. But we offer our praise and thanksgiving to God. We have also already brought the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a contrite heart to God, and from this we have vowed to turn from sin and be obedient to the Lord. This is the vow which Jonah brought to God, and in the immediate future this was a vow to do the will of God and go to preach to the people in the city of Nineveh. All this joy and thanksgiving Jonah expressed from the knowledge and experience of the fact that he knew that salvation comes from the Lord. He had experienced it and was assured of it.

In this verse it would seem that Jonah was putting substance to his words in verse 7, where he says he remembered the Lord, and his prayer rose to God in his temple of the heavenly glory.

JOY IS THE GIFT OF SALVATION.

The joy of the Christian comes from the gift of salvation. God has saved us from our sins through Christ. We have been saved from death and hell, and we have been recreated in holiness and true righteousness, and from this we are reconciled to God, and have been given the privilege of becoming the children of God. The gift of salvation has filled us with joy because it has brought us into fellowship with God, and under the guidance and protection of God, and given us membership of the realm of God in heaven.

Let us look more deeply into the source of our joy in Salvation.

1. Joy of salvation is being saved from death.

This was the experience of Jonah. Jonah had believed this before because he was a prophet of the Lord and God was his God, but now through his experience he knew this salvation in a much more full and positive way.

Jonah had faced death, and even experienced death. His prayer and thoughts while drowning, expressed in chapter 2 of Jonah, bears testimony to the horror and fear and desolation he had known. The horror of death had encompassed him, with all the thoughts of desolation and separation from all that is good and lovely, and the horror of loss of life. God had saved him from this. Jonah had experienced resurrection. God had given him life, and this assurance supported Jonah while he died. He had a joy which those who worshiped idols had not got, and knew nothing about. Even at the moment of death, even though his soul was at its lowest point and fear filled his mind, yet he had this assured joy that God had promised to save his life, and all would be well.

This is Christian joy in its most basic form. Through faith in Christ we have the promise that we have received, through Christ, the gift of eternal life. Even though our sins deserve eternal death and damnation, yet we know the promise of God, that is his gift to all who receive Jesus, the gift of eternal life. This joy can not be taken away even in the moments of severest trial and terror. We believe and know that Christ has risen from the dead. He has finished with the punishment for sin, so death is vanquished by him for his people, and so he is the first-fruits of those who rise. Because he rose we who trust in him will rise too. It is assured because Christ has conquered death for all his people. He has exhausted all it necessity.

2. Joy in the Lord is being saved for the Lord.

Joy is found through knowing we are saved from the great enemy death, but joy is fulfilled and intensified because we have the privilege of friendship of Jesus and fellowship with Jesus. The whole purpose of salvation is that we may saved for the Lord, not just be saved from death. It is absolutely necessary that we be saved from death for us to be saved for the Lord, but the purpose of salvation is that we may be saved for the Lord and his joy in us whom he has saved.

Jonah knew this joy. He says he will sacrifice to the Lord. He could sacrifice to the Lord because he was in the love and grace of God testified to by the fact that he had been saved from death. From the assurance of salvation from death, Jonah knew that he was loved by God and cleansed by the Lord, and so he rejoiced in the presence of God and in the fellowship he had with the Lord through grace.

To be saved from death is wonderful, but to know real joy we need to be loved and belong, and this is what Jesus died to bring us to know. We are saved from death and hell that we may be brought by a new creation into the family of God. God is our God through Christ, and we are his family. We are heirs together with Christ of all the blessing of heaven. In this life we have in Christ a loving Shepherd who is bringing us most surely to the heavenly sheepfold of heaven. This a joy in salvation that can never be lost even in our most unhappy moments.

3. Joy in salvation finds expression.

Jonah expresses his joy here in our text. Because he knows God and God has saved him, Jonah finds in his heart a fountain of praise and thanksgiving which is springing up continually. Jonah finds tremendous gratefulness in his heart toward God which he wants to express. He does it in praise and thanksgiving. This is not just the action of his lips, but is an action that is expressed in his life. He returns to obedience to the Lord as an expression of his love for the Lord's favour and goodness to him.

Likewise, we who have experienced the joy of salvation find we have to express that joy in thanksgiving to God who has bestowed such blessing on us, and this is expressed with our lips, but much more so in our lives. We empathize with Paul in his words in Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, in view of the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship."

We have this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving worked out in the example of the woman recorded in Luke 7:36ff who expressed her joy in salvation by sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. It was done by entering the house of Simon, the Pharisee, who she knew would despise her, and coming to Jesus and anointing him with precious ointment, and washing his feet with her tears. We show our joy in salvation when in a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving we give generously to the work of God in this world, so that other may come to know this salvation joy.

4. Joy in salvation produces a life of devotion to Jesus.

For Jonah this was expressed in the fact that he submitted to the will of the Lord and went to preach salvation to Nineveh. His joy in salvation expressed itself in that he could say that what I have vowed I will make good. In repentance at the moment of affliction and death as he remembered the Lord and lifted up his prayer to heaven, he expressed his vow that in being saved he would be obedient to the Lord on whose grace he depended.

This is the fact about salvation joy. It produces commitment to Jesus and devotion to Jesus. We cease to live for ourselves, but now live for him who has suffered and died to save us from everlasting death, and save us for eternal glory.

Joy in salvation cannot be counted as real unless it changes our lives and makes Jesus the beginning and end of our being.

CONCLUSION.