Today’s proverb is one many of us would do well to heed.
Proverbs 19:19 – “A man [lit. a great man; noble; mighty] of great [harsh] wrath [anger; fury; rage; indignation] shall suffer [bear] punishment [Fined; disciplined; rebuked]: for if thou deliver [defend; rescue; save] him [angry man], yet thou must do it again [lit. “again and again; continue; increase].”
Proverbs 19:19 has a very personal application for many given to bearing an angry, contemptuous spirit. Let’s be honest–it is the bent of many men and women to have what some call a “short fuse”. The tragedy of that malady is too often evidenced in our homes, churches and communities. Solomon warns those given to harboring an angry spirit that you [and I will add, your loved ones] will suffer punishment again and again! Some reading today’s devotional have a “chip on their shoulder” and a black hole in their heart! Not only are you unhappy, you have also isolated yourself from loved ones with your angry outbursts!
Before I turn to another application of this proverb, I invite you who struggle with a malady of anger and malice to confess your sin and stop—stop being filled with anger and accept your responsibility. The apostle Paul exhorted Christians to confess their anger and choose to put on love.
Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32 – “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil….31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Proverbs 19:19 offers a lesson for those forever bailing their loved ones out of the consequences of their anger.
Proverbs 19:19 – “A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver [defend; rescue; save] him [angry man], yet thou must do it again [lit. “again and again; continue; increase].”
Sparing an habitually angry son, daughter or spouse from the consequences of their angry spirit not only enslaves you, it also provokes in them contempt and disdain for their deliverer [often a mother and father].
Mom and dad, when you side with a child against the authorities in his life you enable him to continue in a pattern of sin that demands greater and greater punishment. As difficult as it is to watch a loved one bear the shame and humiliation of their sin, it is the way they learn to appreciate the consequences of sin.
Copyright 2014 – Travis D. Smith