Bible: 5 Poetic Books

Lesson 4: The Book of Psalms, part two: Passionate, but not Positive!

Anger

Want to see strong words involving God's anger? Check out Psalm 11:

5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.

Now, which would you rather face--fiery coals, burning sulfur, and a scorching wind, OR seeing God's face?

It is interesting to see that God does indeed show emotion. He does get angry--at evil. It is okay to hate evil and to love good; that emulates God. But we must take care not to judge--remember, that is God's job.

So if you hate something, it had better be clear-cut evil (like Satan), where there is no question about it. In most situations in our lives, there is a bit of good and a bit of evil. Hate only the evil, and embrace the good. Learn to separate the person from the behavior. Hate the evil behavior, but love the person.

David not only is aware of the LORD's ability to be angry, but he often calls upon God (rather impulsively) to act on that anger:

Psalm 7:6

Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God, decree justice.

In other places in Psalms, we are reminded that, although God is capable of anger, it usually is fleeting:

Psalm 30 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Most humans do not have that ability--to let their anger dissipate easily, so Psalms also contains warnings about anger:

Psalm 37 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Holding onto our anger could keep us from God. Remember to find peace in the LORD, not justification for your quick temper!

Assignment:

Write a rhyming poem for children that teaches them not to be angry. Here’s mine:

ANGER

The next time you’re angry, you can show you’re unhappy,

You can have a conniption and really get snappy,

You can be in a rage, in a snit, in a huff,

Be mad as a hornet or other tough stuff.

You can get boiling mad, get hot under the collar,

You can yell, you can scream, you can shout, you can holler,

You can throw up your arms, you can storm all around,

Stamp your feet, gnash your teeth, and roll on the ground.

You can foam at the mouth, spit venom, breathe fire,

But I have just one small thing to inquire:

When you’re angry and use every trick in the book,

Just how silly do all of these things make YOU look?

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