This series of articles is written by John Trapp and is taken from https://metropolitantabernacle.org/articles/anger-is-a-tender-virtue/.
Five measures to rule anger
How, then, are we to rule anger so that we ‘sin not’, and how are we to curb and restrain anger, and bring it to a good end?
1. ‘Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil’ (Psalm 37.8). You do evil in fretting; you do worse in venting the feeling and allowing the fire to break out. When therefore you find yourself incensed, and annoyance growing, immediately bind yourself to silence until you are able to speak in a quiet and composed way; until the rushing heat be over – as Ahasuerus walked for a time in his garden before he passed sentence upon Haman.
A good way to reduce the heat of anger is to repeat some grave sentences of Scripture, such as – ‘Be angry, and sin not; be slow to wrath; avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; submit to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you.’
The devil of anger, if resisted by Scripture, will surely flee, for he cannot abide it (Matthew 4).
We must also set ourselves to pray it down, as David did in Psalm 39. When Job’s temper broke out, even Eliphaz knew enough to say, ‘Surely you have restrained prayer, or else you would never be like this.’
2. Get your heart purified by faith, for the faith of Christ brings patience. Learn it and love it; read it and retain it as your own, for cleaving to this will make you a better man or woman.
James says that wars and fightings come from lusts that war in our members, giving rise to internal unrest and disorder, and making us perverse and discontented with others. The wicked are as the raging sea, troublesome and tumultuous. The covetous person troubles his whole house.
Nabal was such a son of Belial, so fierce and furious, that there was no speaking to him. And David, when he had defiled his conscience and not yet repented of his adultery and murder, how cruel was he in his handling of the Ammonites for their behaviour to his ambassadors. He ‘put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln’.
The faith of Christ, however, moves us to the opposite way of behaving, for, ‘of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.’ And James says that – ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits.’
3. ‘Study to be quiet, and to do your own business.’ Do not meddle with squabbles that do not belong to you, lest you take ‘a dog by the ears’ (Proverbs 26.17). Avoid contentious, angry company (Proverbs 22.24), for like mad dogs they bite and make others as mad as themselves.
Do not listen to talebearers for they separate even good friends. Do not pry into other people’s faults. Seldom is a patient man inquisitive, or an inquisitive man patient.
Make up your mind that you will put up with many ills and wrongs while you are here in this world, because if you cannot bear injury, it will be necessary to pack up and be gone out of the world, for here is no place for you!
Many things are to be ignored and winked at, just as the lion takes no notice of the barking of curs. Pills must be swallowed down whole, not chewed, and so it is with injuries. So, by meekness, we may prevent many outbursts of anger. It requires much care to live quietly!
to be continued . . .