ANGER THAT BLINDS!

I Samuel 20:25-34

INTRODUCTION: Sadly so many people chose to walk in their anger, not realizing that man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires: James 1:19-25. Even dear friends and family members can become fierce enemies because of anger that is not dealt with properly.

I. OUR ANGER BLINDS AND DESTROYS WHAT WE LOVE!

Mankind’s anger destroys friendships, marriages, families, and even entire nations. That is exactly what happened to the first king of Israel, King Saul. King Saul’s anger destroyed his family, even to the point of calling his wife a perverse and rebellious woman and trying to kill his own son that he loved! 1 Samuel 20:31; 1 Samuel 20:32-34. Because Saul’s anger flared against his own son and blinded him to his own actions. He actually tried to pin Johnathan to the wall with a spear in his blind anger. Because the priests at the tabernacle had helped David as he fled from Saul, Saul destroyed the city where the priest lived: 1 Samuel 22:18-19. King Saul was not a good man and it was because of his blind anger. Saul felt justified in his anger. After David killed Goliath and brought a great victory for Israel, King Saul became blinded by his anger as the young women praised David more than him: 1 Samuel 18:6-9. A man who stays angry all the time will self-destruct: Proverbs 25:28; Proverbs 16:32; James 1:19-21; Ephesians 4:30-32.

II. WE CAN CONTROL OUR ANGER!

We must learn how to control our anger or it will destroy every good thing in our lives. Proverbs 29:11. Believe it or not, with God’s help you can control your anger! Cain was the first example of a man whose anger destroyed his life: Genesis 4:6. You can control your anger. We must decide that it is not worth the cost of letting our anger control our life. Ephesians 4:26-27. There are things in life that should make us angry, but we dare not allow our anger to last beyond one day or we give the devil a foothold in our lives.

III. WE NEED TO REFUSE TO BELIEVE WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR ANGER!

We need to refuse to believe that we have a right to be angry and stay angry about whatever it is that got us angry in the first place. King Saul felt justified in his anger with young David. Cain felt justified in his anger against his younger brother. But men felt justified and both paid a terrible price. King Saul never learned to trust God when things went wrong in his life. He felt he himself had to make everything right. Never once did King Saul ask God for His help. Never once did King Saul live in faith that God could make things right. Instead of turning to God with his anger King Saul felt justified in his anger and tried to fix things his way! David, unlike King Saul turned to God with all his problems: Psalm 31:1-5. When we stop looking to God to take away the darkness in our hearts the same thing that happened to Cain and King Saul will happen to us: Isaiah 59:9. Without God, everything appears dark, hopeless, and empty but it doesn’t have to be that way: John 8:12. One of God’s greatest promises to every believer is Romans 8:28-29. The question is do we believe that? We live in a fallen world and many things that happen to us frustrate us unless we really believe that our God is working in our lives even through the trials of life to make us like His Son, Jesus Christ. It is time to make the decision to put away our anger and start walking in the love and peace of God. You can control your anger: Philippians 4:13.