“Make no friendship with an angry man; And with a furious
man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.”
(Proverbs 22:24–25)
This is obviously a very serious
thing. We are called to not keep close company with people who are of quick
temper and who are peevish and soon wroth, so that we do not become like them.
Sinful anger is a dangerous and contagious thing.
First
of all, we must understand that sinful anger is dangerous simply because it
does us no good, thus being harmful. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20) There are probably
numerous ways in which man’s sinful anger and wrath fail to accomplish God’s
righteousness, but sinful anger certainly fails to be righteous in two
important ways.
The first of these ways is that
sinful anger is a usurpation of God’s authority. We are warned that we should
yield to God’s wrath, as it is His prerogative (See Romans 12:19.). God is the
one lawgiver who has the right of judgment (James 4:10-12), and He judges
righteously (1Peter 2:24).
The
second important manner in which sinful anger fails to accomplish that which is
right is that it is a failure of faith in God. We are told that Jesus Himself
did not exercise wrath, when He was mistreated, but trusted in God. “Qho did
no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:22–24) It is our sacred duty to walk in
the footsteps of our holy Savior, and trust God to judge, rather than trying to
do so in our own wrath.
In Genesis 4:1-6 we see Cain’s anger toward his brother, Abel, which
led to him murdering Abel. Cain was first angry with God before he was angry
with his brother. Stop and think of that, because we must see that sinful anger
is first about our relationship with God. We must take our attitudes seriously,
as they are reflective of our relationship with God. The person who is angered
quickly and often is often out of sorts with God. Let us examine ourselves.
Not only did James warn us that our sinful anger does not
accomplish God’s righteousness, he also warned us that angry words are
inflammatory. “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the
tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on
fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (James 3:6) Sinful
anger is contagious. It is transmitted especially by the words which we speak,
so we must be very careful both how and what we say.
Remember,
sinful anger is catching. This is why our text warns us about keeping company
with wrathful people. The Geneva Bible of 1560 renders our text thus: “Make
no friẽdship with an
angrie mã, nether go with the furious man, Lest thou learne his wayes, and
receive destruction to thy soule.” (Proverbs 22:24–25) The Puritan
preacher, Matthew Henry said, “Though
we must be civil to all, yet we must be careful whom we lay in our bosoms and
contract a familiarity with. And, among others, a man who is easily provoked,
touchy, and apt to resent affronts, who, when he is in a passion, cares not
what he says or does, but grows outrageous, such a one is not fit to be made a
friend or companion, for he will be ever and anon angry with us and that will
be our trouble, and he will expect that we should, like him, be angry with others,
and that will be our sin.[1]” We must be careful of the
company we keep, lest we become people of sinful anger and wreck our own lives.
Finally, we need to consider what
the Scriptures tell us about the character of the person who habitually
indulges in sinful anger and wrath. He or she:
1. Acts like a fool. “A fool’s wrath is presently known:
But a prudent man covereth shame.” (Proverbs 12:16) “Be not hasty in thy
spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” (Ecclesiastes
7:9)
2. Exalts folly, rather than understanding. “He that is
slow to wrath is of great understanding: But he that is hasty of spirit
exalteth folly.” (Proverbs 14:29)
3. Must suffer punishment, and needs to learn his lesson. “A
man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: For if thou deliver him, yet thou
must do it again.” (Proverbs 19:19)
4. Is arrogant and scornful. “Proud and haughty scorner
is his name, Who dealeth in proud wrath.” (Proverbs 21:24)
5. Sins much and stirs up trouble. “An angry man stirreth
up strife, And a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” (Proverbs 29:22)
I honestly know of none of God’s people who would want to
wear labels such as these.
All
of the above things being true, let us make it a priority to grow out of sinful
anger and into godly attitudes and actions.
[1]
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary
on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody:
Hendrickson, 1994), 1005.
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