Jonah 2:2, I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me.
The Christian calls out to God, and He answers. The Christian recognises his heart is curved in upon itself—full of the dark, self-serving, and malicious part of us called sin—and in this recognition calls out to God. The Christian confronts an angry God, acknowledging she deserves the just verdict of eternal fire and sulfur for every thought, word, and deed that served only her evil desires rather than God and neighbour. Thus, Christ answers this Christian with the verdict: “Take, eat, this is My body, which was given into death for your sins. Take, drink, this is My blood, which was shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We come before God to cry out in confession, which is like walking through a garden of thorns where we meet His anger, but He then meets us with the living waters of Christ, in whose blood our thirst for righteousness is quenched (John 4:14), wherewith He justifies us poor, miserable sinners.
