The Angry God

I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.  O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.  Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.  For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.  Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

----- Psalm 30:1 - 5

I like that this psalm is honest in saying that God becomes angry. It clearly states a measure of the duration of His anger: it is but for a moment. We need to recognize that our great God will become angry...even angry with us. But God's anger is directed at sin. When God is angry with us, it is because we have chosen to live with sin...and not with Him

In our "God is love" culture, there may be a confusion between the anger of our earthly fathers and the righteous, saving anger of our Heavenly Father. Unlike the fathers who gave us birth, God the Father is not easily frustrated when His children disobey. Unlike our earthly fathers, He is incapable of feeling like a failure when His children do not do as their told. The fathers of our birth are subject to this kind of anger.  God the Father has more patience, more endurance, more willingness to give the wayward children another chance. We must accept that though He loves His children, there are times when God will become angry with them (us).

This psalm, however, was sung to celebrate God's faithful saving work. It reminds us that it is not God's anger, but His work to save us that is eternal. His anger does not last forever, but His saving work does.  He is the God of second and third and fourth and perhaps infinite chances. What we must realize is that even in the darkest times, in the pit and the all-night wrestling sessions...God is working to save us.

O Father, I know there have been times when I have caused you to be angry.  I know you have been angry with the sinful choices I have made.  Yet I am confounded that in those times, you did not abandon me.  Though I may have been as far from you as I could possibly be, you did not give up on me.  You still strived to save me.  Father, help me to see that your saving work is greater than your anger.  May I praise you always for that.