INTRODUCTION

The Bible says that God is angry every day. Yet, at the same time He may display His anger, the Bible also says that He is love (1 John 4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
See All...), and righteous (Ezra 9:15O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
See All...), and compassionate (Psalm 86:15But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
See All...), and just (Deuteronomy 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
See All...), and merciful (Deuteronomy 4:31(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
See All...). The source of God’s anger and the means by which He acts upon His anger sets the standard for what is truly a righteous anger. If man’s righteous acts provoked God to anger, this would signify a sinful nature. The Bible is clear that the opposite holds true. God is provoked to anger by sin (1 Kings 16:2Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;
See All...), vanity (1 Kings 16:26For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
See All...), and idolatry (1 Kings 22:53For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
See All...). His righteous anger in each case plainly declares God’s righteous nature. The source of His anger sets forth the only sources by which men should become angry.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For children): The Lord says there are occasions when we can be angry, but our anger must result from the right reasoning. Consider Matthew 5:22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
  See All...a and Ephesians 4:26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
  See All.... The Lord always has the right reason (Matthew 21:12-13 [12] And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, [13] And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
  See All...; Psalm 78:55-58 [55] He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. [56] Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: [57] But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. [58] For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
  See All...).
• (For everyone): Why is God righteous when He becomes angry with sin and with sinners? How does the fact that God can be angry plainly teach believers that anger is not in itself sinful?
• Have you assumed that anger is a sin? What led you to that conclusion? How has your viewpoint changed based upon the fact that God gets angry?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask God to give you a scriptural anger.
• Ask the Lord to give you an understanding of His anger.

HYMN

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

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