God is Slow to Anger

Meditations on the attributes of God.

Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in steadfast love and faithfulness.

This doesn’t mean that God never gets angry. He does, but He doesn’t fly off the handle as we tend to do.

Proverbs 14:29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms a dispute.

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

Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Nahum 1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

Because God is slow to anger does not mean that He overlooks sin. There will be a time of furious judgment.

Something that can help keep anger in it’s proper place is James 1:19-20. It says: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness that God requires. Listen well, ponder your words and take prudent action.

Ephesians 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger (wrath). The first anger is “righteous anger.” The second is when that anger gets out of balance and moves towards revenge. There is a right anger about sinful things. We must use that anger properly to motivate us beyond passivity and to proper rhetoric and action.

Philip