HE - Motions " Anger "

Scripture

Psalm 37:5–9 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,The justice of your cause like the noonday sun.Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.For evil men will be cut off,But those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

What Is Anger?

Anger is a feeling of displeasure at events in our lives or at the behavior of others that causes tension and often an attitude of hostility toward the offender.

In Psalm 37, David first felt irritated, then angry, at the wickedness of dishonest and evil men. The Lord told David to control his anger, not because it was wrong in itself, but because in this case it was pointless – the Lord will deal with wicked people in His own time.

Anger in itself is not wrong.

In fact it can sometimes be helpful.

Anger can arouse courage and master fear to enable a soldier to overcome his enemy or to enable a journalist to expose corruption.

Since the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden, however, anger usually is wrong since it is a reaction to opposition to our self-will

If it is not controlled it can lead to hatred, as evidenced by the biblical examples of Cain, Saul, and the Pharisees.

Like all emotions, anger can be constructive or destructive.

It is destructive if it harms someone, either ourselves or someone else.

It is constructive if it leads us to take action to resolve or improve a situation.

If we suppress our anger, we hurt ourselves; if we let it explode, we hurt others.

Symptoms of Anger

There are a half dozen words for anger in the Bible. The basic meaning of one is ‘nostrils’, because one of the symptoms of anger is the flaring of nostrils!

Other physical symptoms are bulging eyes and tightening of muscles, which shows in the face by the tightening of the mouth.

Caucasians show anger more clearly than blacks, because their faces may turn red or pale.

Sometimes we clench our fists. Our heart may beat faster and our pulse may rise. Often our voice rises as well, and sometimes that is the first awareness we have that we are in the grip of angry emotion.

The symptoms vary somewhat according to our temperaments, and the rate at which people become angry also varies. Sometimes it can be a slow burn, with others it is like a volcanic eruption.

Occasions for Anger

One of the most common occasions for anger is offensive behavior by others, such as

cruelty to children

Injustice and oppression can provoke us to anger

nice people who get in our way or interfere with our plans

sometimes anger is our response to what someone said or did to us. The playwright Congreve made the famous statement: ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ Biting comments, name-calling, even a look, can ignite the fires of rage.

A person may become angry over the lack of deserved praise from a spouse or gratitude from the children or a promotion at work. There are many occasions for anger, but most stem from interference with our will and desires, which results in pain or insult or threat. We can even become angry with ourselves for doing something wrong or stupid, so that we feel like beating our head against the wall as just punishment for our folly.

Is Anger Right?

Romans 1:18 tells us clearly that God is angry with the wickedness and corruption of mankind.

Psalm 7:11 goes further and says that God is angry with the wicked every day.

Deuteronomy 9:19 “ Moses told the Israelites after they made the golden calf that the Lord was angry enough to destroy them

1 Kings 16:13 informs us that God is provoked to anger by worthless idols.

Thankfully, when God expresses His anger to mankind in history, His anger is temporary and modified by mercy. Psalm 103:10-12

Do not confuse the discipline that the Lord metes out to us from time to time as arising from His anger; rather such discipline is the expression of His passionate love to us, a love that is determined to mold us in the image of His Son, a love that uses both blessings and discipline to achieve that goal.

Jesus expressed anger. He expressed anger against temptation when He said to Simon Peter, ‘Get away, Satan!’

Jesus Christ expressed anger against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees: ‘Woe to you, bunch of snakes!’ He voiced His anger against hard hearts (Mark 3:5).

Jesus Christ demonstrated His anger against idolatry when He made a whip and drove out the crooked merchants from the temple courtyard, violently pushing over their tables and stools. John says that Jesus was filled with anger (John 2:16–17).

If it is right for God the Father and Jesus Christ to be angry, what about us? Do we have a right to be angry?

In the Book of Revelation we are told that the Devil is angry because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12). That is self-centered anger, illegitimate anger. May we be legitimately angry?

There are many biblical examples of legitimate anger expressed by God’s people, such as

Jacob’s anger in Genesis 30:1–2,

Moses’ anger in Numbers 16:14–15,

Samuel 1 Samuel 8:7

Abner 2 Samuel 3:8-21

Eliab 1 Samuel 17:28

David 2 Samuel 12:5

Anger itself is not so much the problem, as what we do with it.

When Anger is wrong

Managing Anger