Psalm 4:4-5 "Be angry and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrfices, and put your trust in the Lord."
This is a verse I struggled to understand for a long time.
To futher explain my confusion, and possibly yours, I couldn't understand how to be angry and not sin. Because any time I was angry it was for selfish reasons- someone did me wrong- that's unfair- I don't lie this.
It was idolatry of self that led to my anger and sin.
I. Be angry:
In Matthew 5:21-26 we hear more instruction on anger. Jesus puts being angry with our brother onn the same level as murder. He even says calling them harsh names in anger brings on judgment.
Jesus says that is someone is angry with you to be reconciled before offering your gift.
So, we shouldn't be angry with our brothers. Who, or what, then should we be angry with? To be a Christian you must be like Christ- you must hate what God hates.
Proverbs 8:13 says, "the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech, I hate."
What is evil? Whatever God says it is. And He says sin is. So, we MUST hate sin. God, in Proverbs, specificially talks about His hatred for pride and arrogance. Why? It's because these things are the means which other ones are born. To think more highly of self than you ought is to think you have the right to decide what is best, not God. The original evil shows us this. In Isaiah 14 we get a glimpse of satan's mind. vs. 13 "I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high."
His sin was pride and arrogance. Because of his inflated pride he chose to do as he pleased.
Go to Genesis 3. What does satan tell Adam and Eve in order to tempt them? He doesn't offer things to them. He tells them they will be LIKE God. The same pride that consumed satan caused Adam and Eve to throw away all the promises and relationship of God. They gave up their purpose in life- to worship Christ, in order to worship themself.
Sound harsh?
Ezekiel 14:3-5 tells us that 'these men have taken their idols in their heart and set the stumbling blccok of their iniquities before thier faces.'
This is why God's first commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before me." -Exodus 20:3 And why the first five verses are about worshipping God. It is our purpose and what we were created to do.
And the great commandment in Matthew 22:37-38 says, "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind."
Romans 12:2 tells us 'do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may decern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Like every ruler, God has His commandments. He is ruler of all so He has the right to demand your worship.
So, what does any of this have to do with being angry? I'm getting there. B
Track me, our purpose and reason for creation is to worship God. But, after we fell from grace and sin entered our hearts, our sinful nature has been rebelling ever since.
Romans 7:14-18 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
So what stands in between us fulfilling our purpose? Ourself. Our sin. Sin is the divide between God and man. Sin is the reason the veil ever existed in the temple. Sin is what made Christ suffer and die.
Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your meembers than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go to hell.
Jesus calls us to be violent, not towards people, but towards the very sin that dwells in us.
The only way to fulfill your purpose, the only way to fulfill your joy, is to make war on sin.
DON'T get me twisted, this isn't something you can earn. You couldn't just do this and win. See, Christ has already done this. Think about the cross. It screams violence. And it was all because of sin.
I don't know what you deal with specificially, I may have dealt with it, I may not have, but I know that it all has its foundation on idolatry. When we choose to sin over God we choose our will.
Whatever it is, it isn't worth it. Christ is.
