JONAH AND THE WHALE
Anonymous
Listen, my friends, I’ll tell you a tale
How Jonah the prophet got caught by a whale.
That fish caught Jonah, and bless your dear soul
It not only caught him, but swallowed him whole.
Now part of my story is awfully sad –
‘Twas about a great city that had gone to the bad.
When God saw these people with such wicked ways
He said, “I can’t stand them more than forty more days.”
So He spoke to old Jonah and said, “You go cry
Against all those people, and tell them that I
Give them forty days only to get settled down –
And if they don’t heed you I’ll tear up the town.”
When Jonah heard God speak, he answered Him “No,
It’s against my religion, and I just won’t go;
Those Nineveh people mean nothing to me –
And besides, I’m against foreign missions, you see.”
So he went down to Joppa. In that city he found
A ship bound for Tarsus, paid the fare and went down;
Found a comfortable spot there and fell fast asleep.
But soon came a storm raging on the great deep.
Then Jonah confessed it was due to his sin.
So the crew tossed him out, and the fish took him in.
Said the fish, “See here, Jonah, now don’t you forget,
I was sent here to bring you in out of the wet.”
On a bed of green sea weeds the fish tried to rest,
But Jonah was tough and just would not digest.
That fish became nervous and sorely afraid,
As he rumbled inside while the old prophet prayed.
He blinked his big eyelids and wiggled his tail,
And made for the shore to deliver his male.
Then coming near to shore he looked all around,
And coughed up old Jonah right out on the ground.
Jonah first thanked the Lord for His mercy and grace,
Then turned and looked that fish square in the face.
“Old fellow,” he said, “after three days you’ve found
When you tackle a good man, he’s hard to keep down.”
Jonah thought how much better his preaching would be
Since from Whale Seminary he had his degree.
Although the old prophet was several days late,
He preached from the time that he entered the gate;
‘Til the whole population repented and prayed
And the stern hand of justice and vengeance was stayed.
Now this is the lesson: God’s Word cannot fail.
When you think of backsliding – look out for the whale.
