What Place Does Anger Have in Worship?
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
– Psalm 104:35
I kid you not, that's one of the lectionary texts for today that I'm supposed to use as inspiration for writing this devotional.
There's a lot of weird and violent stuff in the Bible that we mostly skip for sermons and pulpit reading as I'm sure you can understand. But today as I read my Bible and attempt to write a devotional to uplift and inspire my FBCD congregation, I mostly just feel like "letting the wicked be no more."
Does that sound too harsh? It does to me, but apparently it's not too harsh to make it into the Canon.
Today as I watch the news and scan my social media, I'll be honest and tell you: I've got nothing. Everything I start to write about hope or love or God's goodness feels hollow today.
Some of my loved ones are saying insensitive things on the internet, friends of mine got tear-gassed while protesting, and many seem more invested in buildings than the deaths of people who sparked the protests to begin with.
I feel tired and disappointed with the state of the world, and I can't even imagine how my black friends and neighbors must be feeling.
So yeah. "Let sinners be consumed from the earth."
Because it feels like earthly justice is a long way out of reach.
I don't always need an imprecatory Psalm to voice my anger, but I am glad they are there. The psalms contain all kinds of unsavory thoughts and ill wishes about the things that the Psalmist would like God to do to his enemies, including lots of bloodshed and the like. It's ugly stuff, but it's there for a purpose.
We are invited to level our anger and frustration at God because God can take it. God knows what is in our heart, isn't surprised by it, and wants us to experience the catharsis of vocalizing our feelings before God. God can handle our cussing and our frustration and our fed-up tears.
We can let loose our anger, we can process it with God, rather than acting on it and saying or doing something we might regret later. This processing will refine and direct how we proceed to act. God can take your anger and show you what to do with it. So lay it all out. As the Psalmist shows us, this too is an act of worship.
Kelsey Lewis Vincent, Pastor for Youth and Families, First Baptist Church of Decatur