“Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, ‘I am your salvation.’” -Psalm 35:1-3
The book of Psalms includes many Scriptures that teach us what to do with our anger.
Did you know that only a quarter of the Psalms are actually happy? I’m actually very sad that churches generally only pick the happy Psalms to sing and speak about. Yet, most Psalms are of lament of some kind or another. And many of those Psalms are Psalms of anger. “God, I’m angry at you!” Many Psalms, especially to Christians, seem violent and heated. It may cause one to think, “How can this be God’s word? How can something so angry, even hateful and vitriolic, be God’s word?”
The answer is “catharsis.” Catharsis is the Greek word for cleansing. God uses these Psalms to help us process the anger that we so often hold onto and to cleanse it from our hearts.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, take this anger from my heart. Help me to forgive and embrace the peace that comes with knowing you. Amen.
REFLECTION: What is the one thing that pops to mind when you think about being angry?
One Response
At first I was unsure if such a young Pastor would be relatable to me being that I am just a tad bit older than him, but then as I sat and listened and watched it occurred to me, he like me, is a child of God and another quite obvious fact was that he was anointed by God he was meant to preach God’s word