The Prayers in the Psalms Can Comfort You

Few persons have known the sensation of drowning, have been swallowed by a huge fish and have survived to tell about it. One man who did so was Jonah. The situation in which he found himself was indeed unique among humankind. Yet he was able to use thoughts expressed in certain inspired Psalms in making his prayerful appeal while undergoing his most unusual experience. Compare the following words of Jonah with those found in the Psalms.

“Out of my distress I called out to Jehovah, and he proceeded to answer me.”​—Jonah 2:2a.

“To Jehovah I called in the distress of mine, and he proceeded to answer me.”​—Psalm 120:1.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help.”​—Jonah 2:2b.

“Out of the depths I have called upon you, O Jehovah.”​—Psalm 130:1.

“You heard my voice.”​—Jonah 2:2c.

“O Jehovah, do hear my voice.”​—Psalm 130:2.

“When you threw me to the depths, into the heart of the open sea, then a very river encircled me.”​—Jonah 2:3a.

“I have come into profound waters, and a flowing stream itself has washed me away.”​—Psalm 69:2.

“All your breakers and your waves​—over me they passed on.”​—Jonah 2:3b.

“All your breakers and your waves​—over me they have passed.”​—Psalm 42:7.

“And as for me, I said, ‘I have been driven away from in front of your eyes! How shall I gaze again upon your holy temple?’”​—Jonah 2:4.

“As for me, I said when I became panicky: ‘I shall certainly be exterminated from in front of your eyes.’”​—Psalm 31:22.

“Waters encircled me clear to the soul; the watery deep itself kept enclosing me. Weeds were wound around my head.”​—Jonah 2:5.

“Waters have come clear to the soul.”​—Psalm 69:1.

“To the bottoms of the mountains I went down. As for the earth, its bars were upon me for time indefinite. But out of the pit you proceeded to bring up my life, O Jehovah my God.”​—Jonah 2:6.

“O Jehovah, you have brought up my soul from Sheol itself; you have kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit.”​—Psalm 30:3.

“When my soul fainted away within me, Jehovah was the One whom I remembered.”​—Jonah 2:7a.

“Before him I continued to tell about my own distress, when my spirit fainted away within me.”​—Psalm 142:2, 3.

“Then my prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.”​—Jonah 2:7b.

“Out of his temple he proceeded to hear my voice.”​—Psalm 18:6.

“As for those who are observing the idols of untruth, they leave their own loving-kindness.”​—Jonah 2:8.

“I do hate those paying regard to worthless, vain idols; but as for me, in Jehovah I do trust.”​—Psalm 31:6.

“But as for me, with the voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed, I will pay.”​—Jonah 2:9a.

“Offer thanksgiving as your sacrifice to God, and pay to the Most High your vows.”​—Psalm 50:14.

“Salvation belongs to Jehovah.”​—Jonah 2:9b.

“Salvation belongs to Jehovah.”​—Psalm 3:8.

Just as Jonah could apply the language of such Psalms to his own circumstance, so can we. That is why, regardless of what your situation may be at present, you can find comfort and encouragement in the prayers recorded in the book of Psalms.