Chuck over in C&S, that’s the Comfort and Solace Department, just left. He’s fairly shaken. In our ministry we often have to deliver bad news to our clients. I had to stamp a big #FAIL on the draft of Chuck’s new manual. Good thing. He was going to take it upstairs for a final review. The guy wanted to use the Psalms as a basis for his new anger management manual.
#FAIL. #FAIL. #FAIL.
Chuck was thinking that he could take Psalm 4:4 and use it to help people who were angry to be angry appropriately. Are you really going to tell people to
Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
“Selah” my wings! Like that’s going to help! “Take your anger to bed with you.” I was thinking, “Is Chuck trying to give humans more heart attacks and high blood pressure instead of giving them ways to manage their anger?”
I tried to explain to Chuck that using vengeance as a means of anger management might not really go over too well. Short term, yes; but there could be some nasty unintended consequences. I mean, does he really want people to take Psalm 58:10 as a model?
The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
And how are the passages in Psalm 10 that go and on about the bad guys going to help people chill out?
8. He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;9. he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.10. The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.11. He says in his heart, God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.
He even wanted to use something like the “payback” in verse 15. What! Is the guy nuts?!
15. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.
Verdict: #FAIL.