【双语灵修】忿怒 Wrath
“当止住怒气，离弃忿怒。不要心怀不平，以致作恶。” - 诗 37:8
不公正会使我们感到愤怒。这没有错，但我们必须小心。诗篇 37:8告诫我们，不要对我们所见所闻的邪恶心怀不平，以至于我们自己变成了作恶者。
一开始，我们观察到邪恶或不公，会为之心怀不平。因为有些人通过行恶获得权力和财富，这很不公平。倘若这种邪恶是针对我们的，会怎样呢？我们因此太过担心，于是就开始气愤。“为什么没有人阻止他们？”我们大喊。“应该把他们绳之以法！”如果我们继续生气，这种情绪就会发展为忿怒。在忿怒中，我们可能会被自己的怒火所吞噬。倘若我们头脑不能保持清醒，一不小心，就容易陷入导致邪恶的行动。
过去几十年的大量研究表明，很多犯罪活动的背后都有这种发展过程。有些人经历了不公正的事，还没等此事被人知晓，他已经在用不正当的方式回击了。也许一开始他们只是把邪恶指向伤害他们的当事人。但事情往往不会到此为止。
虽然忿怒不一定会导致犯罪，但它是有破坏性的。忿怒也会导致诸如嘲弄、欺凌和其他不公正的行为。
解决这一问题的办法是，避免对邪恶心怀不平。神会带来公义，祂也会供应我们的需要。我们可能无法阻止其他人的邪恶，但我们至少可以通过忍耐等候和在神里面得安息，来阻止自己作恶。
祷告
亲爱的神，请帮助我们相信，你会在你所看为合宜的时间带来公义。阿们。
诗篇 37:7-11
7你当默然倚靠耶和华，耐性等候他，不要因那道路通达的和那恶谋成就的心怀不平。
8当止住怒气，离弃愤怒，不要心怀不平，以致作恶。
9因为作恶的必被剪除，唯有等候耶和华的必承受地土。
10还有片时，恶人要归于无有，你就是细察他的住处，也要归于无有。
11但谦卑人必承受地土，以丰盛的平安为乐。
Wrath
"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil." - Psalm 37:8
Injustice makes us angry. That’s okay, but we must be careful. Psalm 37:8 cautions us not to fuss so much about the evil we see that we become evildoers ourselves.
First, we see evil or injustice, and we begin to fret about it. It’s not fair that by doing evil things some people gain power and wealth. And what if that evil gets directed toward us? If we fret about it too much, we can begin to get angry. “Why doesn’t anyone stop them?” we cry. “We ought to put them in their place!” And if we stay angry, that can grow and become wrath. In wrath, we can be consumed by our anger. If we are not thinking straight and are not careful, we can fall into behavior that leads to evil.
A lot of research in past decades has shown that this kind of progression is behind a lot of criminal activity. Someone experiences injustice, and before you know it, they are acting unjustly too. Maybe at first they directed their evil at people who were hurting them. But it doesn’t always end there.
Though wrath may not always lead to criminal activity, it is destructive. Wrath can cause things like mocking, bullying, and other unjust activities as well.
The solution is to avoid even fretting about evil. God will provide justice, and he will provide for our needs as well. We might not be able to stop everyone else’s evil, but we can at least stop ourselves by resting patiently in God.
Prayer
Dear God, help us to trust that you will provide justice fittingly in your time. Amen.