Jonah 3:6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes
In the spring of 1950, my grandfather Bill Rice had the high privilege of having a brief audience with King Abdullah Hussein of Jordan. In July of 1951 King Abdullah was assassinated. We often think, “It would be great to be king for a day.” It would be great to be able to give a gift to a stranger, to give orders, and to live in luxury, but to be assassinated, not so much. We all think it would be great to be king, but is it really? The truth is that it is no fun to be king. Think about the times in your own life where you were the tensest, most discouraged, and most worried. Chances are it was probably when everything was on your head. You were king of your life. I thank God for choice, but many times our stress comes because everything is on our own head.
In Jonah 3 God gave His message through the prophet Jonah to the wicked Ninevites who would later become the Assyrian Kingdom. The Bible says in response to this message of judgment, “The people…believed God, and proclaimed a fast…from the greatest of them even unto the least of them.” Verse 6 says, “For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” The king basically abdicated his place as king in deference to a higher power, God.
The story of Jonah, as I said recently, is the story of God and God’s response to people. The Bible says in Jonah 1 that God prepared a great wind and a great fish. Later in chapter 4 God prepared a gourd, a worm, and a vehement east wind. God is in control. The Lord is king. In Jonah 2:8-9 it says, “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.” They that observe empty nothings, their idols, forsake their own mercy. They do it to themselves. Verse 9 says, “Salvation is of the LORD.”
The bottom line is that you can be glad that you are not king. You can be glad that Jonah was not king. You can be glad that the Lord is king. Jonah received mercy when he was swallowed by the great fish. He prayed unto the Lord out of the fish’s belly. God heard him and gave him mercy. By the way, this was the same mercy that Jonah begrudged the Ninevites when they responded to God’s call and judgment. So, you can be glad Jonah was not the king because Jonah wasn’t very merciful. He was pretty selfish.
You can be thankful the King of Ninevah was not the king. The Ninevites did turn from their wickedness, but eventually they went back to their old ways. Nahum is a record of God’s message of judgment on them after that time. Nahum 1:2 says God is jealous and revengeful. Nahum 1:3 says, “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.” God is a God of justice and judgment, but He is also a God of mercy.
You can be glad that the Lord is king. There are two words that come to mind when I think about this. The words are chances and choices. First, I’m glad the Lord is king because He often gives us second chances. Jonah 3:1 says, “And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time.” When Jonah ran, rebelled, and was in the depths of the sea, he cried from that place of death and judgment and God heard, answered, and gave mercy. When the king laid off his royal robe and put on sackcloth and ashes. He removed his claim to control and ceded that to God. God heard and gave mercy. So, God oftentimes gives second chances. If we were half as merciful to others as God has been to us, we would be much more gracious people. When we think, “They got what was coming to them” or “I hope they get what’s coming to them,” it is because we are blind to the ways God has given us mercy grace and forgiveness many times.
Second, I think of choices. Jonah 3:8-10 says, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, and that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
Whenever you think of the sovereignty of God, it is beyond comprehension. We do not understand it. If you could fit God in your brain, you would be God. You can’t, so you aren’t. God is God; I am not. But I do know that God says, “Turn to me and I’ll turn to you.” James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” In Amos 5:15 wicked people were challenged, “Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD…will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” God has chosen to respond to the choices of mere mortals. I can’t explain that, but I know it’s true. The Bible says so explicitly and repeatedly. God is sovereign and in control, but I do have choices.
The truth is, I can relieve my soul when I pray to God and realize, “God, this is not my life or my problem. I yield these things to You. I lay off the royal robes of my life. I give that to you.” I can be thankful that God is in control. I can also be thankful that I am not beyond hope, nor is anyone who turns to God. God chooses to respond to finite people. Can I explain that? No, but it is true. We serve a God of second chances and choices, a God who responds to our choices. We can be glad that the Lord is king, not Jonah, the king of Nineveh, Wil Rice, or even you. The Lord is king.