Lyrics
Nineveh
Oh Nineveh
The Lord is turning toward you
Compassion or calamity
Will you heed the warning
Fall on your knees
Tear down your idols
When you choose surrender
You choose survival
Call on His Name
Turn from your violence
Out of the ashes
He will revive You
God have mercy
God have mercy
I know You are a gracious God
I know You’re slow to anger
But I misunderstood Your love
Forgive me God for running
You sent a wind
Stirred up the ocean
Still I rebelled
My heart wasn’t open
But when I prayed
You were there waiting
I made a vow
To speak Your salvation
Nineveh
Oh Nineveh
The Lord is turning toward you
Holy Spirit help me see
Where there is Nineveh in me
Turn away Your wrath once more
God have mercy
Perfect prophet, priest, and King
Christ became the reckoning
In His body bore my sin
Now to all who trust in Him
God has mercy
God have mercy on us
Nineveh
Oh Nineveh
The Lord is turning toward you
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
‘Nineveh’ retells Jonah’s story as both a warning and a prayer for mercy. The opening addresses the city with a choice between compassion and calamity, calling for surrendered idols, an end to violence, and repentance. The perspective then shifts toward Jonah: wind and sea expose his rebellion, yet God remains ready to hear when he prays. This retelling preserves the biblical tension between deserved judgment and the Lord’s patient compassion.
The lyric also turns Nineveh inward through the prayer, ‘Holy Spirit help me see where there is Nineveh in me.’ Repentance is no longer only an ancient city’s need but a personal acknowledgment of sin and resistance. The final movement points to Christ as prophet, priest, and King who bears sin in his body, grounding the plea for mercy in his saving work. Jonah’s confession that God is gracious and slow to anger supports the song’s central theme: divine mercy calls sinners away from violence, idolatry, and flight toward trust and obedience.
Related Scripture
- Jonah 3:8-10 Nineveh turns from violence, and God shows mercy rather than bringing the announced calamity.
- Jonah 4:2 Jonah confesses that God is gracious, compassionate, and slow to anger.
- 1 Peter 2:24 Peter says Christ bore sins in his body on the cross.