“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 (KJV)
Mighty- one who is powerful; by implication a warrior, tyrant: – champion, chief, X excel,
giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man.
One who has the ability to be slow to anger and control his temper is more powerful
than a giant warrior champion.
One of the most well-known and feared giant warriors in the entire Bible is a man by the
name of Goliath. (1 st Samuel 17:4-7) Goliath is estimated to have been over 9ft in
height, his armor to have weighed in the neighborhood of 125lbs with a spear head
weighing around 17lbs. In addition to his enormous size and massive weaponry one
bearing a shield would go before him. This mighty warrior champion would taunt the
children of Israel; threatening and challenging them. (1 st Samuel 17:8-10)
“When Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and
greatly afraid.” (1 st Samuel 17:11)
Proverbs 16:32 teaches us that a man who is longsuffering in regards to his anger is
stronger than Goliath. He or she is more powerful than this Philistine champion.
Defeating this giant campion was no small task and I would suggest that neither is
exercising dominion over our anger. Anger is like a cunning wild animal seeking after its
prey. It’s for this reason that anger is one of the hardest emotions of all to manage and
therefore becomes a “Goliath” to us.
How then can we have dominion over this giant?
Every man in the camp of Israel shuddered at thought of facing Goliath, except for one;
David the son of Jesse. David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him;
your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." (1 st Samuel 17:32) Saul was certain
that David was inept and ill equipped for the task before him, however David wasn’t
trusting in himself but rather his faith was in GOD. David informed Saul in regards to the
LORD, “He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1 st Samuel 17:37)
Like Goliath anger is a massive warrior champion that defeats us more often than not.
However, we may rule over it if we are willing to do what David did. After being mocked
by Goliath David said to the Philistine giant, “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” (V45) “This day the
LORD will deliver thee into mine hand…” (V46) “…the battle is the LORD'S, and he will
give you into our hands.” (V47)
David trusted in GOD… David understood that if he was to be victorious in this battle, it
would be by trusting in the power of GOD. If we are to have the strength to let go of the
dominion that anger has over us we must be willing to trust GOD.
The battle belongs to the LORD; He will provide deliverance and victory if we will only
trust. However, that may be difficult because some of the things that GOD asks us to do
goes against our human will. GOD says, “…turn the other cheek…” (Matthew 5:32)
GOD says, “When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.” (Proverbs
19:11) GOD says, “Humble yourself before the LORD and I will lift you up…” (James
4:10)
Conversely our human will is to retaliate… Our Human will is to settle the score… Our
human will is to defend our pride…
Who can we look to for an example of how to forego our will and thus trust GOD?
Jesus…
Did Jesus, have a justifiable reason to be angry? Certainly! For one, He had to die,
because of something that I did. He was crucified by the very men that He was dying to
save and He was innocent. Prior to that, He was beaten by those men, He had a crown
of thorns placed up on His head by those men and He was mocked by those men.
However Jesus turned the other cheek… Jesus displayed great virtue by ignoring
the physical personal attacks so that He could address the death sentence that
was upon the souls of all humanity… Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted by
GOD.
Anger is certainly a Goliath and defeating it is no easy task, however if we are willing to
trust GOD we can be victorious. Remember, the battle belongs to the LORD.