At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
Proverbs 29:22
An angry man is a blow torch, and he always carries his fuel around with him.
We live in an imperfect world, and this means that if we want to get angry about something, there is always material available. If we have that blow torch, and our can of lighter fluid, then we should not be surprised to discover that the entire world is flammable.
But the proverb does not represent this angry man as simply passive, as one who is put upon by irritating forces. No, he is an agent. He is a carrier. He is the arsonist.
There are things wrong in the world. That fellow ahead of you on the highway is driving too slowly. The ticket agent was not as helpful as she should have been. The line at the bank was unconscionably pokey.
But one of the bigger problems in the world the fellow who can make anything into a larger mess than it was before. The angry man stirs up strife. The furious man abounds in transgressions, and when he is done we have a much more complicated snarl than existed before.
Man’s anger does not accomplish God’s purposes (Jas. 1:20). We are commanded to be slow to anger (Jas. 1:19). Our mouths are not to be filled with anger (Eph. 4:31). Anger can be righteous, but even then it will rot like manna if we try to keep it overnight (Eph. 4:26). We are not told that Jesus was angry when He cleansed the Temple, although He probably was. Certainly He was filled with zeal (John 2:17). We are told that Jesus was angry when He healed the man with the withered hand (Mark 3:5). But note the difference. When Jesus got angry, the end result was a man with a withered hand who was healed. When we get angry, the end result is a hole in the sheetrock and a distraught family in need of comfort.
