Jonah 2:2

Jonah 2:2 records that Jonah cried to the Lord in his affliction and was heard, even from the very depths. This prayer rises from inside the great fish, after Jonah had fled from God's call and been cast into the sea. From the most hopeless place imaginable, he turns to God -- and discovers that distance and rebellion did not put him beyond the reach of God's ear. "He heard me" is the heart of the verse: the cry of the desperate reaches the throne of God.

The phrase "out of the belly of hell" uses a word that means the realm of the dead, the deepest pit. Jonah felt as good as dead, swallowed up and lost. Yet from that lowest point he prayed, and God answered. There is rich comfort here. Jonah was in trouble largely of his own making, having run from God. But when he finally cried out, God did not turn away. This teaches that no situation is too deep, no failure too great, to cut a person off from God's mercy when they turn to Him in prayer. The verse moves from "I cried" to "he heard" to "thou heardest my voice" -- a steady assurance that the God who seems far in the darkness is in fact listening. Honest prayer from the depths is never wasted.