“Rage but do not sin; speak in your own hearts upon your own beds and lament. Selah!”

(Psalm 4:4 {4:5 in the Hebrew text})

“Be angry and do not sin! The sun shall not go down on the thing that provoked you nor shall you give the devil a place of habitation.”

(Ephesians 4:26-27)

Many Christians today have fallen into the trap of thinking that “niceness” is a virtue in Christianity. They are told that they must be pacifists, allowing their enemies to slap both cheeks and take advantage of their persons. They have been told that loving their enemies means tolerating the wickedness that their enemies do and throwing up their hands in cultural defeat. Yet, this is not how the Bible calls upon Christians, in particular, Christian men, to live. Yet, if this is the case, how are we to understand the many Biblical texts to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us?

To begin with, is it proper for the Christian to be angry? King David clearly says, “Yes,” as he looks upon the wicked in the land who dishonor the king and seek after the vain words of men rather than the Truth of God’s Word. In addition, we find the Apostle Paul quoting David’s words when he speaks to the church in Ephesus, in particular, when teaching them how to live in faithful community with one another.

Yet, David and Paul are not giving unrestricted permission for anger. They clearly teach two things about anger. First, we should be angry without sinning. Second, we should not let the sun go down on that which is provoking us. While the first addresses how we are (or are not) to express our anger, the second is an imperative command that we do not passively tolerate that which is sparking our anger. We should act.

The question that must be asked, then, is how do we properly express our anger without also sinning? Yet, in asking this question, two preliminary questions must first be asked. The first preliminary question is, “what kind of evil is provoking us?” The second preliminary question is, “against whom is this evil being afflicted?” 

The reason that these preliminary questions need to be asked is that they reveal the motive for our response. And, in some cases, the answer to these questions should dictate how we are to respond. For instance, is the evil simply a matter of personal offense or inconvenience? Perhaps you feel that your employer is demanding too much from you. How should you respond? In many cases, your response, as a Christian, should be to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42). Perhaps you have a neighbor who is belligerent and irritating every time you interact with him. Should you not express kindness towards him, and by doing so, “heap burning coals” upon his head (Proverbs 25:21-22; Romans 12:20)? Perhaps, by doing so patiently, you will bring a sinner away from his wandering and save him from death, covering a multitude of sins (James 5:20). When the enemy is truly our own or if the evil being done is merely a matter of personal frustration and inconvenience, the Bible is pretty clear that we must respond in kindness, patience, and even love.

Yet, there are also times when the enemy is not really yours and the evil being done is wickedness in the eyes of God. For instance, when the children are taunting God’s prophet, God sends out a pair of she-bears to maul them (2 Kings 2:23-25). When the Israelites are tempted by Balak to engage in sexual immorality with Midianite women, Phinehas is honored for running a spear through the sinning Israelite and his Midianite seductress (Numbers 25:6-13). In fact, because of Phinehas’ bold action, the judgment of God on the people was ended. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees who were perverting the Law for their own gain, he cursed them with a series of “Seven Woes” (Matthew 23). Our Lord goes as far as to prescribe capital punishment for those who would lead children away from His teachings (Mark 9:42). The Apostle John, known as the Apostle who speaks more about love than any other Biblical writer, strongly condemns Diotrephes for his arrogance (3 John 9-11).

The Biblical examples abound, but let us return to the question at hand in our modern context. What of those who flagrantly murder babies on a daily basis in abortion slaughterhouses? What about the wicked who lead our children away from the teachings of God? What about the Sodomites that flagrantly boast of their immorality all around us? What of the idolaters who set up icons to venerate? What of those who promote humanistic worship rather than the true worship of God? What of those who set themselves up as “kings” in the church rather than submitting to the one True King and His Word? These are not our enemies and these are not establishing an inconvenience to us. These are the enemies of God and they are practicing and promoting evil. How shall we be angry but not sin?

Indeed, God clearly states that “Vengeance is mine and recompense…” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30). That means we do not have the authority to take up a spear as did Phinehas, and run them through. Nevertheless, if we are men with any sort of backbone, we cannot ignore such wickedness all around us. How, then, do we properly express our indignation to God without sinning? God has given us an answer: imprecatory psalms. Arguably, the imprecatory psalm people often struggle the most with is Psalm 137 (Psalm 136 in the LXX). The language of verse 9: “Blessed is the one who holds and dashes your children against the rock!” Recognizing that this is not a prescription for action, but is an expression of outrage, I can think of no better language to teach Christians to express their indignation against the evil committed by abortion doctors throughout the land.

The task of the church is two-fold. First, it is to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). What does this discipleship look like? Jesus tells us that it is that the people would be baptized and be taught to obey all that Jesus has instructed (Matthew 28:19-20). Often, Christians only see this as a matter of evangelism. Yet, evangelism is only the first step towards disciple-making. In Jesus’ words, obedience is the real target. That is what it means to be a disciple.

Yet, there is another essential passage that instructs us as to the nature of the church. Namely, that of tearing down the gates of Hell (Matthew 16:18). Many see this as Jesus making a promise that Hell cannot destroy the church, but that understanding misses the metaphor that our Lord is using. Gates are a defensive structure and the location where most attacks take place (as they are more vulnerable than walls). Thus, what Jesus is teaching is that Hell cannot withstand the attack of the church when the church is healthy. We are to tear down the strongholds of hell and the devil that are all around us (2 Corinthians 10:4) and we do that by destroying arguments and every lofty opinion that is raised against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). Yet, our weapons are spiritual in nature (2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:10-20; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Hebrews 4:12-13) as are our ultimate enemies. 

As judgment begins in the church (1 Peter 4:17), we should take heed to examine our own hearts and even use the imprecatory psalms against the sins that so often ensnare our lives. Psalm 139 is a psalm that is beloved by many Christians, but that too, is an imprecatory psalm. Verses 19-22 calls upon God to destroy the wicked and then the psalmist boldly cries out that he hates the wicked with a complete hatred and he counts them as his enemies. Yet, pay close attention to what the psalmist writes in verses 23-24, in closing the psalm: “Search me, O God…see if there is any grievous way in me.” He not only cries out that he hates the evil, but he asks that if there is any evil dwelling in him that God would reveal it. Here, the imprecation helps us to look properly at self-examination and at how we are to develop our own hatred for sin.

People in the western world often wonder why the church has grown so weak and why the churches are dominated by women and not men. One of the reasons is that the church has emasculated much of its own worship. We have been taught that we must always be submissive and that loving our enemies means that we are to tolerate evil. Such is not what Scripture teaches when scripture is carefully studied. Often, when people speak of singing imprecatory psalms, the focus is on why they may be sung. Here, I argue why they must be sung. We will never raise up young men to be like Phinehas if we do not sing such psalms and we will never be able to be angry without sinning unless these war psalms of God are on our lips.