Jonah 4:1

The salvation of a whole city, which should have brought rejoicing, instead displeases Jonah exceedingly, and he becomes very angry. The book's final chapter turns from the converted Ninevites to the troubled heart of the prophet himself. The same word for evil that described Nineveh's wickedness now describes Jonah's displeasure, a pointed irony. The mercy that spared the city is grievous to the man who announced it.

Here the story exposes a hard truth about the human heart: we can be glad for mercy toward ourselves yet resent it toward others. Jonah, freshly rescued from the deep by sheer grace, cannot bear to see that same grace given to his enemies. His anger reveals a heart not yet as wide as God's. The chapter that follows is God's patient effort to enlarge it. We are invited to examine our own hearts, to ask whether we truly rejoice when God shows kindness to those we would rather see judged.