October 14, 2012 (Psalm 4:4)

Author: Andrew Comiskey
October 14, 2012
‘In your anger do not sin’ (‘tremble with awe and do not sin’ NAB) (Ps. 4:4)

How do we transform our anger into awe? Through prayer and fasting. What begins in us as unrighteous indignation can become a galvanizing of our heart for the good. Take ‘gay marriage’, for example. We can be right in upholding marriage and yet so wrong in the attitude of our hearts toward its detractors.

Before the presence of the living God, weakened by hunger and yet at rest, we align ourselves with God’s heart for marriage. We discover His truth—the truth of His love manifest through man and woman for all, those far away from Him and those near. We cry out for the marriage covenant as an expression of His goodness to all, and so begin to cry out for those deceived ones who fight blindly for the misinterpretation of that covenant.

In prayer, God refines our cries with His. He wants everyone to come to repentance, especially those currently opposed to His purposes.

‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.’ (Jas. 1: 19, 20)

‘Refine our anger, O God, with Your mighty love. May our prayers be as a crucible that burns off alloys from the gold. Only prayers aligned with Your will endure the fire. Teach us to pray, O God. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we confess our sins of cowardice and compromise. We have violated Your holy commands in regards to what we have done to our bodies and other bodies. And in our compromise we have become cowards, unwilling to stand for what we know to be true for the dignity of all. We ask that You might have mercy on Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington; uphold marriage in these states, and in our nation, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on ‘gay marriage.’
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