Jonah 2:9 is a short, but powerful, declaration of God’s sovereignty that boldly proclaims: “Salvation is of the LORD.” Why is this the case? Man, by nature, is spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins”. This fact is clearly described in Ezekiel 37:1-2, “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.” That whole chapter pictures the desolation, decay and utter deadness of man’s spiritual condition. This is a description of you and me prior to salvation.
But, lest we despair, it is also a stupendous illustration of God’s magnificent salvation by grace alone, which He sends forth by means of His Word, the Bible, to save His elect people: Ezekiel 37:12-14 teaches, “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live…”
Jesus said in John 17:2-3, “As thou [God the Father] hast given him [God the Son] power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Many, many verses in the Bible testify to the fact that “salvation is of the Lord”, such as Psalm 62:1 “…Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.”