Is it wrong to be angry with God?

Jonah, instead of caring for them, thinks only of his own reputation as a prophet. Wretched heart of man, so unable to rise up to the goodness of God! If Jonah had been nearer to God, he would have known that this was truly the God whom he proclaimed, whom he had learnt to love by knowing Him. ... Jonah thought only of himself; and the horrid selfishness of his heart hides from him the God of grace, faithful to His love for His helpless creatures.

"And it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry." ... Sad, sad to say, it was with Jehovah Himself. Why was he so displeased and so angry? It was because Jehovah had not destroyed the city of Nineveh, because Jehovah had shown grace and mercy to these repenting sinners.

It reminds us of the elder son in Luke 15. "He was angry and would not go in." Angry with whom? Angry with his father. Why was he so angry with his father? Because he had received back his repentant brother, and not said a word about his sins — he had shown grace and mercy, instead of judgment. So the elder brother was angry and would not go in. He may have meant to insult his brother, but in reality it was his father whom he insulted.

Beloved friends, do we not see a picture of ourselves in these two men? Have you not known of a brother who has been angry and would not go to the meeting, because of something of which he did not approve? He may have meant to show that he was exceedingly displeased and very angry with one of his brethren, but in reality the insult is toward his Lord.

Like the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal, he was angry because those who had no claim upon God had found mercy. By this he only showed that he could not enter into the thought of grace. And how often is it so with ourselves! Spite of the fact that we ourselves have been the objects of mercy, and that, apart from the sovereign grace of God, we could have no standing before Him, we, in the folly of our natural thoughts and feelings, desire that others should be dealt with on the ground of justice.

There is in this foolish prayer the very essence of self and self-importance. To proclaim the message of judgment to godless Nineveh Jonah was quite willing — if he were but sure that it would be executed — for that would exalt Jonah both in his own eyes, and in the eyes of all who believed in the truth of his mission. ... For if, on the one hand, the annunciation of unsparing judgment exalted the preacher, the exhibition of grace set aside the messenger and exalted God.

Jehovah, instead of sharply disciplining His refractory servant, graciously condescended to reason with him, "Doest thou well to be angry?" Oh, the contrast between our God, Sovereign in the universe, and the petty despots of earth! Such peevish rebelliousness as Jonah manifested might have cost him his life at the hands of the latter. But God always seeks to win men's hearts, both in dealing with sinners without and with wayward saints within.

Could anything surpass the tender gentleness of the Lord with His wayward servant? For the moment, He contents Himself with a single word: "Doest thou well to be angry?" ... Like a mother with a petulant child, who knows that it is useless to reason with him when his temper is being displayed, and therefore pays no attention to his foolish requests, but waits until the passion has subsided, so the Lord dealt with Jonah. Ah, how often have we also in our folly ventured, in the spirit of Jonah, to arraign the ways of our God, and to prefer our foolish petitions, which, if they had been granted, would have entailed sorrow upon us for the rest of our lives! But the Lord loved us better than we loved even ourselves.

Foolish man! God in His grace did not take him at his word, did not answer that rash prayer. On the contrary, by a word of His mouth He illuminated the lessons of the gourd and the worm and the wind (which so far had passed unheeded), and in the most touching manner He deigned to justify to one of His own creatures His ways of grace towards the guilty city of Nineveh.

Job has not yet seen himself in the sight of God; and therefore he maintains, "Not for any injustice in my hands, also my prayer is pure;" and therefore he looks to plead with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour. He has a partial sense of God's greatness; but he has not the sense of His holiness; and the reason of this is, that he has never been near enough to God; for it is nearness to Him that produces the sense of His holiness.

"Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?" (Job 40.) Now it is that Job feels the force of the divine word. Then Job answered the Lord and said, "Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth."

Job now seeing God, forms a true estimate of himself, and repents in dust and ashes. The blameless man, in nature good, and as a man upright, when brought into the presence of God abhors himself. As a man, he has whereof he may boast; he may justify himself to his fellows, but not before God.

We cannot cease from seeing the sorrowful doings of the workers of iniquity; to do so would only be a shutting of one's eyes to facts, and a walking in a fool's paradise. We should not cease from feeling the wrongs and oppressions and strifes; that would be to crush all the divine sensibilities and sympathies which are within us, as being born of God. But we should cease from fretting, from cultivating anger or wrath concerning them; for that will only land us into what is wrong ourselves.

When anger and wrath take possession of our spirits — even though they be provoked by sin — we become fretful in our views and judgments, and ultimately are entrapped into something sinful ourselves. And what a tragedy that is! Sinning ourselves, because angry against something sinful!