Jonah 4

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

I like 4. That's a good question. Bad feelings feed that part of you that need them. Sometimes it feels good to be angry and get to be out of control and yell and complain. It feels bad at the same time, but still good to your ego that wants it. Of course it never does you well to be angry.

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

Interesting, I always thought it was a tree. I feel for Jonah in this situation. I was thinking yesterday that I forgave someone who doesn't care one whit that they hurt me. One thing that helps initially with coming to the decision to forgive is that they will have to own up to it on judgment day. But what happens if they repent before then and they don't have to "get theirs"? I guess I still have hurt in my heart because that bugs me, I want this person to have to pay for it! That is completely not charitable of me but it's the truth. It's the same thing with Jonah here.

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

I feel like there is a lesson here but I can't think of it. My mind feels like it's right on the verge of it but it's not there. If you know it, chime in please!

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

Ego!

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Now this is confusing because it doesn't seem that he was pitying the gourd. Chris said something interesting though.. The point (at least in part) of the gourd was to show Jonah that God has the power to create and destroy what he wants and when he wants.

And verse 11 is really confusing. What do hands and cattle have to do with anything?