Righteous Anger

-July 17, 2022-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still” (Psalm 4:4).

“‘Be angry, and do not sin.’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26).

One of God’s attributes is righteous anger. Time and time again, God was angry with Israel’s sin, especially of their repeated idolatry. The only anger that is justified is this type of anger. In both of today’s verses it says, “Be angry and do not sin.” How do we take the sin out our anger? The only way is to take self out of our anger. Righteous anger gets angry against sin, the devil, evil, wickedness, corruption, and injustice. Righteous anger is getting angry at what makes God angry.

Unrighteous anger is when we are wronged; righteous anger is when God and His cause and kingdom are wronged. Moses got angry on God’s behalf when the Israelites made and worshipped the golden calf. Jesus got angry in the temple twice when the money changers sold their wares and the house of the Lord was turned into a house of merchandise. Righteous anger should cause us to pray for the offenders not seek vengeance or revenge upon them for ourselves.

In our country today, we should be angry when we hear of shootings and mass shootings, injustice in any form, taking prayer out of schools, hearing the Lord’s name taken in vain, evil, wickedness, and corruption. We can’t be complacent and accept things as, “just the way things are.” We need to pray more for our country and those in authority, Both Ezra and Nehemiah were both angry with the Jews who married foreign women, some even had children with them. They had just come out of a seventy year captivity. Because sin affects the church, it affects all of us.

May the Lord help us to only have righteous anger not unrighteous anger. Stay safe and healthy.

Standing for God’s kingdom and righteousness,

Dean