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JULY 31
CEASE FROM ANGER
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not
thyself in any wise to do evil.” (Ps. 37:8)
Cease – literally, let go, “Let go of anger!”
Interesting that this word “anger” comes from a
Hebrew word that means “a snorting.” It speaks of
that fleshly eruption, self’s own defense, when the
inner soulish nature and self-emotions are agitated,
stirred up, defensive, seeking to protect the rights
of self. No wonder God’s “apprehended ones” are
hearing the Spirit challenge them to let go of all
self rights, till as a lamb before its Shearer’s is
dumb, and openeth not its mouth, so also we will no
longer seek to defend ourselves, but will submit and
bow under the mighty hand of God.
Jesse Penn-Lewis once wrote, “If you discover that
you are disappointed in your self, it is ample
evidence that self isn’t dead.” How can self be
disappointed if all its rights have been nailed to
His cross, and you rise to walk in the newness of
the life of His Spirit!
In fact, even self-condemnation hold within itself a
form of anger against self, and a disappointment
that self could not, or did not do better. Some are
angry with God for making them the way they are,
some are angry at self for not being different. Some
are angry with others for treading on their
self-rights, but in all cases – CEASE, LET GO OF
ANGER, and forsake wrath.
To bow to God’s sovereignty means that we cease all
our fussing and fuming and complaining against God
for all that He allows, the circumstances wherein He
has placed us. Nor will we be angry with God for the
way He formed us with all our inherent weaknesses
and individual characteristics. It is obvious that
as long as we are not at peace with ourselves,
neither are we at peace with our Creator who formed
us.
It is in the daily travail appointed to the sons of
men, that this is being worked out in us. As long as
we go snorting and blowing our way through, it
indicates that there remains a fragment of anger
that needs to be let go.
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