By Will Kynes, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
Redirecting Anger
Psalm 35:1–3, 13–18
As John Calvin argued, the psalms are “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul,” which reflect “all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.” That includes anger. The imprecatory psalms, in which the psalmist calls for God to bring misfortune and disaster upon his enemies, are some of the most difficult to read and apply.
Didn’t Jesus command us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek (Luke 6:27–29)? And yet, anger was not a foreign emotion to Jesus. He was incensed at those who turned the temple into a marketplace (Matt. 21:12) and at the Pharisees, who distorted God’s law (Matt. 23).
When you face opposition, take your anger and desire for vindication to God. (1–3)
Imprecatory psalms, like Psalm 35, help us deal with our anger by encouraging us to bring it to God. The psalm does not oppose the psalmist’s anger or desire for vindication, but it does redirect them. The psalmist is so incensed at his enemies that he wants to grab his weapons and go to battle, but instead he trusts God to “draw the spear and javelin” and fight for him.
However, he doesn’t pretend that this is easy. He asks God to remind him, “I am your salvation.” The battle with his enemies that drove the psalmist to prayer has become an internal battle to trust God. Too often we allow our external altercations to prevent us from coming to God, when the internal struggle of praying with the Psalms would have saved us from them.
Treat others with love and grace, not anger. (13–16)
The enmity the psalmist is facing is all the more painful because when those who now oppose him were ill, the psalmist showed loving concern for them. He put on sackcloth, fasted and prayed and even grieved for them. His response is an example of the type of treatment Jesus commands of His followers: “Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27–28).
It’s also an example of how we should be prepared for our enemies to respond to our love. They repay his concern with slander and mocking in his day of distress. If we only love others for the love they may give us in return, we are not truly loving them at all.
Leave matters in God’s hands. (17–18)
Loving our enemies does not mean forsaking a longing for justice, but it does mean relinquishing the responsibility for determining that justice to God, who in His righteousness must judge wickedness. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Christians in Rome (Rom. 12:19–21), some of whom may have been forced to give up their homes when the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews in 49 A.D. and some who would likely suffer even more terribly during the emperor Nero’s brutal persecution of Christians in 64 A.D. Trusting God to bring ultimate justice, even if it may take time, enables believers to escape the cycle of violence without giving up their commitment to what is right.
As Martin Luther King Jr. declared in his 1957 sermon, “Loving Your Enemies”: “Why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate … . Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
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