Notice the close of this passage. Despite his circumstances, Jonah is thankful to be alive. He knows that his sins deserve death but he acknowledges God’s saving grace. He also knows that God is able and willing to deliver us from the direst circumstances – even those we bring upon ourselves.
John Newton was born in London in 1725. His mother, a pious woman, died when he was only seven years of age. His only “schooling” was from his eighth to his tenth year. He was engaged in the African slave trade for several years and was even himself held as a slave at one time in Sierra Leone. He bragged of his sinful nature but was converted in a storm at sea while returning from Africa. He married a devout Christian in 1750 and became a minister in the Established Church in 1758, preaching at a church in Olney, near Cambridge.
William Cowper (1731-1800) was born in Hertfordshire, England. His father, Reverend John Cowper, was a chaplain to George II. He spent ten years in Westminster School and then began reading law; abandoning it for literature after a very brief practice.