Psalm 37:8 Anger, Wrath & Forgiveness
With life comes a lot of hurt, pain, rejection, misunderstanding, anger and even sometimes rage. People lie to us, they betray us, they wound us with their words and sometimes their actions, they reject us and even deny us at times,
Hurt and wounded by someone you thought loved and cared for you? Perhaps it may have been a spouse, a child, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a coworker or even a church brother or sister.
Regardless of who it was that may have hurt or wounded you, the question become, “is holding on the the hurt or wounded heart worth it? Is holding on to what happened to you at the hands of others benefiting your or hurting you worse?”
If we look throughout the bible, we will see where God’s people suffered the same type of hurts we experience today.
David, a man after God own heart declares that he too was wounded. He spoke about how he had been lied on and hated by evil men who came against him.
Let’s listen to: Psalm 109-22-For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
David said his wound was within. He suffered from a painful heart ache at the hand of others.
Outward wounds hurt but inward wounds hurt worse. Outward wounds are seen and they eventually scab up and heal but inward wounds can sometimes last for days, weeks, months or even years.
Inward wounds take longer to heal, but we must allow them to heal through forgiveness.
Holding on to, being preoccupied with our past hurts, pain and wounds only causes resentment, anger and bitterness to linger in our hearts.
Do not allow your mind to be a place of rehearsal of past hurts and wounds. Do not allow your mind to keep returning to the scene from which the hurt was done.
LET IT GO!!! Pray and ask God to help you forgive.
We are reminded of this one thing in Ephesians 4:26-Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outbursts, and blasphemies, with all malice, be taken away from you. 32 And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
Unforgiveness hold us back and keeps us from our future and from God’s work that He has assigned to our hand.
Unforgiveness keeps us from being able to fully focus on and serve God in the capacity we could because we allow our mind to remain in the past, which leaves us right there in the past as we miss out on the great possibilities of now and the future.
Forgive and let it go!
Today is the day to let your past hurts and woulds know that you will no longer carry them with you. You are closing the door to that chapter of your life.
How do you get started in letting go of past wounds, pain and hurt? I believe it starts with making the decision to forgive the person or persons who have hurt and wounded you. Will it take time? Of course, but there must be daily progress towards forgiving those who have hurt you.
Jesus forgave those who had just murdered Him when he hung there on that cross. He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Others may have murdered us with them words from their tongue, but we too must forgive and move on.
Perhaps you may be saying to yourself “it is easy to say forgive and let go, but they wronged me”. I am sure we all have wronged others too, either knowing or unknowingly.
Forgiving and letting go must begin now in the hearts of the wounded. Jesus commands that we forgive, for it we do not, the Father will not forgive us.
Forgiveness is a pain reliever. it is the road to the beginning of recovery. It is the road of new beginnings.
Unforgiveness, resentment and anger is not for the other person, it is for us. it is ourselves that we are hurting when we choose to hold on to unforgiveness because of past hurts and pain.
Psalm 37:8-9 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
For your own sanity and peace of mind, “FORGIVE AND LET IT GO”!
Learn to manage your anger or it will destroy you!
Are you holding on to past hurt and pain that you need to let go of on today? Are you still holding anger and hate in your heart for the person or persons who have wronged you? LET IT GOD, FORGIVE AND MOVE ON.
No, forgiveness is not denying the pain, nor does it change what has happened to you in the past, but forgiveness breaks the chain of unforgiveness that keeps us bound to the hurts and wounds from past hurts.
The key to overcoming your pain is to invite God into the situation. Let Him help you in doing what He commands of you in forgiving your offender.
Satan uses offense as a bait to hold us captive to the past, but God uses forgiveness to heal and push us into our future.
Do you truly want relief from past, hurt wounds and pain? Apply to your life, Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not count myself to have attained, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
To those of you who are still holding on to unforgiveness from past hurts, pain and wounds, forgiveness is calling you to let go and move on.
The heart that forgives is the heart that lives set free from the past.
God bless.
Psalms 37:8 – Meaning and Commentary
Cease from anger
Either at these wicked men who are so prosperous, or at God, who for the present suffers it; see ( Jonah 4:9 ) ( Proverbs 19:3 ) ;
and forsake wrath;
which is anger wrought up to a greater degree; and the rather to be shunned and avoided, as being very disagreeable to the character of a good man;
fret not thyself in any wise to do evil;
evil may be done by fretting at the prosperity of wicked men, or by imitating them, doing as they do, in hope of being prosperous as they are; from which the psalmist dissuades by reasons following.
Psalms 37:8 In-Context
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Thanks be to God!