While my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to thee into thy holy temple, those who regard lying vanities, forsake their own mercy.
Jonah 2:7-8 KJV
NIV ~ Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love to them.
Amplified: Those who regard and follow wothless idols turn away from their
[living source of] mercy and lovingkindness
NASB 1995: Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness
CSB: Thos who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love.
We did some word studies last week on ‘observe lying vanities’ and noted the numerous other translations rendering the phrase lying vanities as idols, as noted above. These other translations give us a different thought as well as to what is forsaken. While the KJV uses the word mercy (Hebrew is Hesed which we had studied) these other translations give us pause to consider whose faithfulness is being forsaken.
The Hebrew word forsaking is to leave behind (to loose) especially to abandon or leave destitute. Do we abandon our faithfulness to God or do we abandon His faithfulness to us.
As we consider the Hebrew word for mercy, Hesed, we see once again, it is preeminently, God's perfect loyalty to His own covenant. Since covenant is always between two parties we saw from this word The Lord also requires full loyalty from believers who enter it to share unlimited blessings – even as disloyalty to His covenant brings condemnation. We find Old Testament and New Testament alike the covenant is conditional. His Covenant-Love never meant 'kindness' in general, to all and sundry.”
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, Deut 7:9
If you love me you will keep my commandments…John 14:15
Our part of the covenant requirement is to love Him. While God is good to all and makes his rain to fall upon the just and unjust He has chosen us to be His own special possession. ‘I will be your God and you will be my people’ comes with the promise of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places becoming ours as we keep covenant with Him. We know God is faithful, the question to us becomes our faithfulness to Him. If you love me, you will keep my commandments…..
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Tm. 2:13
Jonah said, observe lying vanities (which in reality become worthless idols as we give time and attention to them) and forsake faithfulness, forsake the covenant. Did you notice Jonah said his soul had fainted observing these lies? We cannot allow ourselves to give time and attention to any lying vanities that would create and give misplaced worship. With time and attention given, we begin to serve them. Our lives adapt to the lies we hold to. As we obseve the lies, they become bigger than our God, noted in our phraseology of ‘ I know what the word says, but…’ Lies becomes an idol by the amount of thoughts, words, time and money they demand. Where do these stand between us and the word God has decreed?
Jeremiah 32: 37-41 I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.