Saturday, May 6
Righteous anger
Scripture: 1 Samuel 11-12, Mark 6
1 Samuel 11:6 The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry.
Observation
The Ammonites had surrounded the village of Jabesh Gilead and were planning to gouge out the right eye of every person in the village and enslave them—all to humiliate Israel whom they assumed powerless to resist.
When Saul heard about this, the Spirit of God rushed upon him and he became very angry. He called Israel to arms, formed an army and attacked the Ammonites and delivered Jabesh Gilead. Victory!
Here is a rare example in Scripture of righteous human anger. It was clearly inspired by the God’s Spirit against evil and resulted in positive action and results.
Paul tells us to get rid of all anger (Ephesians 4:31) and James tells us that human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1:19-20). In other words, righteous anger is hard to come by among humans. Our anger is almost always selfish, misdirected, unrighteous and harmful.
However, there are exceptions. This passage shows that the Holy Spirit could move us to righteous anger, and this motivates righteous action and benefits others. Rare…but possible.
Application
Because of the teaching of the NT, I am cautious about so-called “righteous anger.” Most of my anger is not righteous. I’d like to think it is, but that’s because I create a narrative that makes me look righteous even when I’m not! So I’m cautious and generally try to let go of my anger.
However…there are exceptions. I acknowledge that anger can be righteous, inspired by God, when it opposes evil, motivates positive action (rather than just negative brooding), and produces good results. I think some social change has been motivated by righteous anger.
But be careful. We humans easily corrupt good things, and righteous anger can quickly turn selfish if we’re not careful.
So, if I feel anger today, before I act or speak, check my heart. Spirit-inspired or selfish? Good actions or bad?
Prayer: Lord, I love You. I don’t trust my anger. But I’m open to Your Spirit if You want to move me to action for the good of others. Help me recognize when my anger is selfish and to let it go, or when it is righteous and to act redemptively.