What Angers God?

Advent

December 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
   our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. –Psalm 80:1-7

What prayers make God angry? I do not remember who said it but after the Oklahoma City bombing someone said, God was the first to cry after that terrible event. I knew immediately how right that person was. I do not think I have every seriously considered what prayers make God angry or even that God gets angry at our prayers but surely if God weeps at our disasters, he gets angry at our, what?

  • Demonstrating through our prayers our love for other gods over God. While this sometimes causes God to be dubbed as a jealous god, I rather think it is sad anger God experiences when we pray for something that is clearly bad for us.
  • The Psalms is full of prayers asking God to smit our enemies. That makes me think it is better for us to call on God to deal with enemies than to do it ourselves. God wants us to love our enemies even do good to them*. God may get angry if we do not do our part.
  • Blindness to truth evident in our prayers perhaps is a source of anger to God. God’s people are notorious for sticking our heads in the sand avoiding obvious things that harm God’s children and total creation.

What would you add to this list?

Prayer: Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. Amen

*See Luke 6:27-36

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.