Ecclesiastes 7:9; Proverbs 14:29; James 1:19,20
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
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.
A. W. TOZER (1897-1963): The fury of man never furthered the glory of God.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Intemperate anger deprives men of their senses.
THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677): Nothing makes room for Satan more than wrath.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): I have no more right as a Christian to allow a bad temper to dwell in me than I have to allow the devil himself to dwell there.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Anger may rush into a wise man’s bosom, but it should not rest there.
WILLIAM ARNOT (1808-1875): The best practical specific for the treatment of anger against other people is to “defer it.” Its nature presses for instant vengeance, and the appetite should be starved. A wise man may indeed experience the heat, but he will do nothing till he cools again. When your clothes are on fire you wrap yourself in a blanket, if you can, and so smother the flame: in like manner, when your heart within has caught the fire of anger, your first business is to get the flame extinguished.
ISAAC WATTS (1674-1748): Suppress rising passion early.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): When passion is on the throne reason is out of doors.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): The next warning is directed against hasty words—let the children of God remember that a hasty spirit condemned the meekest of men, Numbers 20:1-12.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): What was the offense for which Moses was excluded from the promised land?
JAMES HAMILTON (1814-1867): “They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips,” Psalm 106:32,33. Angry he certainly was; and when the Most High directed him to take his rod of many miracles, and, at the head of the congregation, “speak to the rock,” and it would “give forth its water,” in the heat and agitation of his spirit he failed to implement implicitly the Divine command. Instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to the people, and his harangue was no longer in the calm and dignified language of the lawgiver, but had a certain tone of petulance and egotism. “Hear now, ye rebels; must we—must I and Aaron, not must Jehovah—“fetch you water out of this rock?”
ADAM CLARKE: It seems Moses did not think speaking would be sufficient, therefore he smote the rock without any command so to do. He did this twice, which certainly in this case indicated a great perturbation of spirit, and want of attention to the presence of God.
JAMES HAMILTON: He was angry, and he sinned. He sinned and was severely punished. Water flowed sufficient for the whole camp and the cattle—clear, cool, and eagerly gushing, enough for all; but at the same moment that its unmerited bounty burst forth, “a cup of wrath was put into the hand of Moses.”
CHARLES BRIDGES: The world judges very lightly of a hasty spirit except when it touches themselves: “it is a fit of passion, soon over and forgotten.” But does God judge so? See how His Word stamps the native rooted principle: it is giving place to the devil and grieving the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:26,27,30; contrary to the mind and example of Christ, Matthew 9:29; Philippians 2:3-5; I Peter 2:23; inconsistent with the profession of the Gospel, Colossians 3:8,12,13; degrading human nature, Proverbs 17:12; 25:8; 29:20; a work of the flesh, that shuts out from heaven, and condemns to hell, Galatians 5:19-21; Matthew 5:22. Surely then, to be slow in wrath―such a fruitful source of sin and misery―is a proof of great understanding.
JOHN HOWE (1630-1705): Can the love of God live and grow in an unquiet, angry, uncharitable breast?
WILLIAM ARNOT: A great part of the danger lies in the suddenness of the explosion; to obtain a delay of a few moments is half the victory. Some knowledge of human nature is displayed in the advice given to a passionate man, to count to a hundred after he felt the fire burning within, before permitting it to blaze forth by his lips.
JOHN TRAPP: It is not a sin to be angry, but hard not to sin when we are angry. Ask permission from God before you dare do anything in an angry way.
ISAAC WATTS: Guard against every word that savours of malice, or of bitter strife; watch against the first stirrings of sudden wrath or resentment; bear with patience the contradiction of others, and forbear to return railing for railing.
C. H. SPURGEON: On one occasion, when John Wesley was preaching, he said, “I have been falsely charged with every crime of which a human being is capable, except that of drunkenness.” He had scarcely uttered these words before a wretched woman started up and screamed out at the top of her voice, “You old villain!―will you deny it? Did you not pledge your bands last night for a noggin of whiskey, and did not the woman sell them to our parson’s wife?” Then she sat down amid a thunder-struck assembly. Wesley lifted his hands to heaven, and thanked God that his cup was now full, for they had said all manner of evil against him falsely for Christ’s name’s sake.
BENJAMIN KEACH (1640-1704): As Solomon saith, “a soft answer turneth away wrath,” Proverbs 15:1.
ISAAC WATTS: Bury resentment and be deaf to reproaches.
C. H. SPURGEON: There was one woman in the village of Waterbeach who bore among her neighbours the reputation of being a regular scold, and I was told that, sooner or later, she would give me a specimen of her tongue-music. I said, “All right; but that’s a game at which two can play.” I am not sure whether anybody reported to her my answer, but, not long afterwards, I was passing her gate one morning, and there stood the lady herself; and I must say that her vigorous mode of speech fully justified all that I had heard concerning her. I made up my mind how to act, so I smiled, and said, “Yes, thank you; I am quite well, I hope you are the same.” Then came another outburst of vituperation, pitched in still a higher key, to which I replied, still smiling, “Yes, it does look rather as if it is going to rain; I think I had better be getting on.” “Bless the man!” she exclaimed, “he’s deaf as a post; what’s the use of storming at him?” So I bade her, “Good morning,” and I am not sure whether she ever came to the chapel to hear the deaf preacher who knew it was no use to give any heed to her mad ravings.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “The God of Patience” is one of the Divine titles—patience is one of His perfections. When tempted to be disgusted at the dullness of another, or to be revenged on one who has wronged you, call to remembrance God’s infinite patience and longsuffering with yourself. “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus,” Romans 15:5.
