Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 13
Scripture Focus: When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. (2 Samuel 13.21)
Devotional Thought: Amnon, the king’s son, raped his half-sister Tamar, the sister of Absalom. King David heard of it, but did nothing about it. It was simply said of him, “He was very angry." The anger of the king was understandable. It was justified. But, it was not enough. Absalom, seeing justice frustrated, decided to take the matter into his own hands and murdered his brother.
The anger of the king accomplished nothing. That’s generally how anger works, isn’t it? Not always, but generally.
The Bible says “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1.20). Anger may serve the purpose of getting us motivated, but anger by itself does not accomplish anything. That’s why James also wrote, “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (v. 19).
The Apostle Paul instructs us to “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 5.26-27). Instead, we are to direct our anger into godly responses. If we use our anger as a catalyst for correction, then it is transformed into good. If we simply seethe in our anger, letting it live on in our hearts from day to day, we give the devil repeated opportunities to tempt us and to defeat us. Jesus himself was angry at the money changers in the temple, and he “cleaned house”! In another place, Jesus was angry at the hard hearted attitude toward suffering that he found in the synagogue, and he healed a man on the Sabbath. Anger directed at a godly solution can be productive.
David paid a huge price for his anger. He lost Amnon to murder and Absalom to exile.
What price are you paying for your anger?
Prayer: Lord, I know that my anger does not produce the righteousness of God. If righteousness, however, bids me to be angry, then help me to channel my anger into a godly solution. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 104.1-9
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. 3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; 4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.
5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
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