Wrath against the devil is mercy on sinners; Angels: Day 119

Why  does the Psalmist ask God to “arise in your anger”? St. Augustine suggests that this is actually a prayer of charity. The “anger” of the Lord should punish the devil by taking the souls of  sinners away  from him and bringing them back to God.

“Arise, O Lord, in your anger” (Ps. 7:6).

We say he is perfect. Then why does he incite God to anger? Shouldn’t we ask instead whether he was perfect who, when he was being stoned, said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60)?

Or is the Psalmist praying, not against human beings, but against the devil and his angels, to whom sinners and the ungodly belong? In that case, he does not pray against him in wrath, but in mercy.

When someone who is ungodly is justified, he is made just instead of un- godly, and he passes out of the possession of the devil and into the temple of God. If you want to rule over something, and the possession of it is taken away from you, that is a punishment. And this punishment—that he should no longer pos- sess those whom he now possesses—is what the Psalmist calls the “anger” of God against the devil. –St. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 7

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

How much time have I spent lately praying for the deliverance of sinners who have given themselves over to bondage to the devil?

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, remember your straying sheep, and all who need the tender care of your holy angels.

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