James 1:19-20: Slow to Wrath
2024-06-08
James 1:19
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: (James 1:19)
Because we are His creatures, as we saw previously, certain behaviors become us. They are: “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” This is an allusion to Old Testament passages, which we will visit shortly. However, how do these behaviors help us exhibit God’s character and new creation?
Swift to Hear
Many people, including myself, have at one time or another listened to others with the intent of making a response. There is no attempt to really understand the other person, but to respond with thoughts of our own position and righteousness. We want to win the argument, lift ourselves up, and push the other down. If we are thinking in terms of source, whether from above or from the world, surely this way is the way of the world.
If we are relating with someone else from the “above” ground, this new approach will be forthcoming. We lay aside the flesh agenda of self-promotion and seek to understand the other person. This fulfills that royal law of Scripture, to love other people as ourselves. We are not so worried about preserving ourselves; we care if the other person has communicated what he wants to be heard.
“Swift to hear” implies eagerness to hear. It is not just about speed, though we ought to do so immediately. We want to listen to the other person. Sometimes people just want to be heard because they feel like nobody is listening. We all have felt that way at one point. If that is what we want, we want to give to others what we want.
Sometimes there are important things that we will miss if we are not “swift to hear.” Imagine if the audience did not stop their ears at the preaching of Stephen and simply looked up! Imagine if Jehoiakim and his men truly listened to the words of Jeremiah instead of cutting up the scroll and burning it. All the long ages of preaching of impending doom that could have been avoided if they simply listened.
Even in smaller matters, Euodias and Syntyche were disagreeing enough to be mentioned by name in the apostle’s letter. Perhaps Barnabas and Paul would not have parted ways. We will look at strife again in this letter again. However, listening to one another will go a long way in minimizing conflict.
Slow to Speak
We eagerly and swiftly listen to another person, not calculating our answer ahead of time. “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13). If we judge the saying without hearing it all, it is foolishness and shameful.
“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards” (Proverbs 29:11). We use words once we truly understand a situation. You can utter your mind, but after the fact!
“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him” (Proverbs 29:20). Someone who is eager to just speak is worse than a fool. This is reason enough to be slow to speak.
Slow to Wrath
Why slow to wrath? Another proverb reads, “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly” (Proverbs 14:29). It is a case of wisdom versus folly. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord; folly is contrary to the Lord.
“A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Proverbs 15:18). If someone is confrontational, but you do not respond in anger like he does, the conflict simmers down. I have been in this situation before and saw it work!
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32). The one who can control their anger is the mightiest of all. We will see this again in James 3:2. The question is, who can control their anger? This power comes from above. This is like taming the tongue in a later chapter, which we will discuss later.
Being quickly angry disqualifies potential pastors: “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre” (Titus 1:7).
The Lord is slow to anger; therefore, we also need to be if we walk in the “above” path.
“But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not” (Nehemiah 9:16-17). The people, now restored to their land (albeit under tribute and foreign authority), recognized how their ancestors rebelled at every opportunity, but God in His patience bore with them because He loved them and wanted them to learn and turn from their sins.
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:8-10). Not only is God to slow to anger, but He also does not remain angry forever even when He does get angry. He does not punish according to that anger, but rather punishes less than deserved.
“The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:8-9). Here, like the last verse, God’s mercy, grace, and compassion are related to His slowness to anger. This applies to all people in all creation.
“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil” (Joel 2:12-13). We will see this concept again with James 4:9. Here, we see that turning towards God with a truly penitent heart will cause Him to stop judgment on His people.
Consider Jonah’s anger and the Lord’s slowness of anger in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was “very angry” at the sparing of Nineveh. Just as we saw in the case of Joel, if the wicked truly turn to the Lord, God spares His wrath on them. He forgave the vile wickedness of Nineveh. This contrasts with Jonah’s excessive anger and lack of forgiveness. The prophet wanted destruction; God wants restoration.
Jonah’s anger was assuaged when he received shade from the gourd, only to be even angrier when the gourd withered. He was “angry, even unto death.” Jonah only had pity on those things that helped him. God has pity on anyone who turns to Him. This is what slow to anger looks like.
However, later, with the Ninevites, God is still slow to anger, but He does not remain without anger forever. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet” (Nahum 1:3).
This is a key here: Slow to anger does not mean never angry. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). If God can be angry, surely anger is not a sin. There is a time to be angry, and that is for a righteous cause.
When his father the king would not listen to Jonathan’s cause on behalf of David, and was exceedingly mad, Jonathan was angry. “And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame” (1 Samuel 20:32-34). I would say this is righteous anger; Saul wanted to kill a man that only helped him, and because of his jealousy, he would not listen to reason.
About the matter concerning Amnon and Tamar, the king was very legitimately angry: “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth” (2 Samuel 13:21).
Recall when the poor were oppressed when returning from exile: “Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words” (Nehemiah 5:5-6).
These are reasons for being angry, and other times there are not. “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:22). Here, we see that being angry without cause has dire consequences. All the more reason to be calm and rest in the Lord.
James 1:20
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. (James 1:20)
Here, we see the comparison of the sources: wrath of man (from below) versus righteousness of God (from above). Any righteous anger that we would have would not be as a result from something burning within our natural desires. It is not because I did not get my way, or someone is blocking my goal or agenda. It is not because something or somebody violated my intrinsic righteousness, which is non-existent. It is not because the other person injured me.
If we are righteously angry, it is because God’s standard has been violated. There is a real injustice that occurred that must be righted. We may not even be involved in the given situation that warranted anger. We would be righteously angry because God would be angry.
Righteous anger might not be full of emotion. It is not likely going to be explosive. It will be controlled. God controls His anger. He doesn’t just “fly off the handle.” His anger is controlled, and our anger, if it is righteous will also be controlled, because the anger would be from above.
I calmly sit here and can write the following... I hate Pride Month. I hate abortion. I hate the transgender agenda that is increasingly being forced upon us. I hate cruelty to people, especially to the innocent. I hate it when the weak are exploited. I hate racism. I hate drugs and alcohol. These things make me angry, but I am not out of control. God hates these things, and I believe I hate them because He has placed that hatred within me. If I were not a Christian, or even if I were but not walking with Him by faith, I would either be indifferent to the above or even embrace them. Or perhaps I would hate those things for the wrong reasons and lash out.
The Righteousness of God
The phrase “righteousness of God” appears throughout the Bible. It means it is a righteousness that comes from Him. For example, He says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). This is written about Israel according to the flesh. The righteousness of God is in direct contrast to “their own righteousness.” Once again, it is a matter of source. The righteousness of God is righteousness that comes from God. It is from above. All other righteousness is from ourselves or somewhere else, which is imitation and false righteousness. We are not righteous! We can only derive righteousness from God by being in Christ.
Righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith”: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). This is essentially the theme verse for Romans. The “from faith” is that we are established as and declared positionally righteous when being born again, as we see in Romans 1:18 through Romans 5:21. From Romans 6:1 through Romans 8:39, we see the “to faith” aspect, where we learn to live righteously. Whether it be by justification or sanctification, this righteousness of God is revealed by faith.
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:21-22). Righteousness of God cannot come from the Law. We work (or don’t work, rather) the works of the Law. It would be our own earned righteousness. But we already established that this is not righteousness. We need His righteousness. Here, we see that righteousness from God comes first from Christ’s faith. It is by His faith that we receive it, but it is by our faith that we can realize it.
“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). Again, we see that we received faith by the righteousness of God being instantiated in us.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because we were joined to the Lord at the cross when He paid for our sin, we also received of His righteousness. This is the great exchange. He received our sin penalty; we received His righteousness. Because He paid it in full once, and rose again, the sin debt is eliminated, and we are still left clothed in the righteousness of God. Are we willing to believe it?
So the righteousness of God is not established by us in any way, which includes “the wrath of man.” We need His righteousness, and proper anger at injustice only comes from Him.