Welcome to the PoG blog! Please pray:
Dear Jesus, my Lord and Savior,
I love you, Jesus! I love you, Jesus! I love you, Jesus! I adore you and
I give you praise and worship. I confess to you all of my sins, and I ask you to
forgive my sins in the name of Jesus. Help me not to sin again. Thank you for
your great sacrifice for me on the cross of Calvary. Thank you for this time of
worship, prayer, and meditation on your Word. Please give me an open and receptive
heart as I read your Word. Please help me to hear your voice now and throughout
this day.
In the precious and powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen!
Psalm 4:3 – 5
3 Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.
4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.
In our worship this past Sunday, Delton continued the preaching on Ephesians that he had started before Easter. Toward the end of the message time, he started getting into the second half of Ephesians 4. In verse 26, Paul quotes from Psalm 4 above as he writes, “In your anger do not sin”.
As I look at these three verses from Psalm 4, I’m thinking that maybe the psalmist is giving me some ideas on how one can be both in a state of anger and yet not sinful, perhaps a sort of “righteous anger”? First, verse 3 tells me the Lord will hear when I call to him. The operative word here is WHEN. God expects us to call out, to cry out to him when we are angry. Who else could help us in our hour of need? Second, in verse 4 he encourages us to get away/alone, look within ourselves and (most challenging to me!) to be silent. This time of anger is a time for us to be quiet, reflective. Third, we are told to offer sacrifices and trust in the Lord. I’m not quite sure what to make of the part about sacrifices, but I know God is trustworthy. God is saying: “Trust me! I know what you are angry about. I hear your cries for help. I’ll be with you and we’ll get through this together.”
The next time you feel yourself getting angry, think about the words of Psalm 4, take a deep breath, get off by yourself, look into your own heart, cry out to God and then trust Him. He is faithful and He will be there even in your anger!
May God bless your day!
Mark