Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Reading through the 31 chapters of Proverbs each month can give us an understanding of how to serve God.

Proverbs 19:3,11,19; 16:32; 20:22; Matthew 5:38-39 ESV

Proverbs 19 ³When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD. ¹¹ Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. ¹⁹A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

Proverbs 16 ³² Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Proverbs 20 ²²Do not say, "I will repay evil"; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Matthew 5 ³⁸ "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

The Scriptures give us the principles by which the particulars are determined. In Proverbs 19:3, the origin of man’s anger is identified. It begins with rage against God. As love for God must precede love for our neighbors, so anger at God precedes anger toward our neighbors.

In Proverbs 19:11 two important particulars are stated. One is the rule of the spirit identified in 16:32. The second is the commitment to non-retaliation, to “overlook an offense.”

Another particular is in the warning Proverbs 19:19 gives us. The rage previously stated will be repeated. When the wrathful person is excused, you can be sure it will happen again.

The Lord Jesus explains in Matthew 5:38-39, one of the centerpieces of a believers’ conduct. Retaliation, as a result of anger, is not an option. Faith in God must issue in the conviction and conduct that, “vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord” . The Lex Talonis is not in play for a Christian.