Psalm 10:12-14 - Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"?
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits
himself to you; you are the helper of the
fatherless.
David’s emotions were not frozen in one mode. Some days he
experienced the highs of victory and success.
Some days he felt the pain and grief of loss and war. And still others he looked around him and saw
the affliction of others less fortunate than he and wondered why God would
allow them to be treated so bad…by people who did not even love God.
David did not let his anger manifest itself into some
useless action….or tirade. Instead…he lifted up his voice to Heaven in a
beautiful prayer to God to not forget them….to shorten the time of their
suffering…. to bring justice to the evil men that caused their plight. David
used the energy from his questioning heart…to ask God to help him understand
and trust why so many around him suffered so at the hands of evil people who
did not even believe in God.
David models for us how to correctly manage our anger at
everything we see happening around us that seems totally out of whack with what
we think God wants for the world. It is especially hard for us when it hits our
families…or close friends….or church. Satan tries to trick us into letting the
anger grow and explode into a scene…but God calls us to quietly bow our heads
and lift all that makes us angry to him.
Jesus felt the weight of the world’s sin on the cross. He could have at any moment called down an
uncountable number of angels to rescue him and right the massive wrong that had
him nailed to a cross for being innocent of everything he was accused. But he
chose to lift his voice up to heaven in a prayer to his father. In Mark 15:34 we can read his cry… asking God
to explain why he was having to suffer so… “And at three in the afternoon Jesus
cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which
means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Maybe that is what he really meant when he used the phrase “turn
the other cheek”… in Matthew 5:39. It says… “But I say, do not resist an evil
person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”
When anger tries to capture our hearts and manifest itself in righteous indignation…that
will damage the testimony God has built in our lives so far….we need to
remember to lift our faces to Heaven…and pray for them instead.
I’ll just bet that is how Shadrach… Meshach… and Abednego
were able to walk around in that fiery furnace in Daniel 3. They had taken a stand for God…and were ready
to die serving him rather than cave in to the world around them. And that must
be how Abraham found the strength to walk with his son in Genesis 22 …knowing
he would be sacrificing him to God when they arrived at the mountain. I bet
he lifted up a silent prayer the whole walk there…trying to trust…trying to
understand. I bet he wasn’t surprised when that angel grabbed his hand either…and
God provided the goat for them to sacrifice.
He
Father…thank you for the reminder that you gave us the
emotion of anger. Help me to learn to
pray to you when I feel it rising up in my soul…because I see the injustices of
the world around me…and want to right them…and ease the suffering it causes.
Help me to wait on you to fix things…to pray to you for peace and understanding…so
I can release the seed of bitterness that satan is trying to plant in my heart. teach me how to stand
courageous and strong like your three servants Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Help me learn to quietly walk anywhere you tell me like Abraham. Help me learn to cry out to you in my questioning
heart like David…when I see things happening around me that I don’t understand.
Amen.
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