Anger from above or below

When Nehemiah heard about the injustice which their Jewish brothers committed against the people, he was very angry. Sanballat and his allies had responded to reports about the progress on the wall by becoming very angry (Nehemiah 4:7). There is an anger in Scripture that is righteous before God (Psalm 4:4; Ephesians 4:26) and also an anger that is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20). Sanballat’s anger resulted in plotting to fight against God’s people and even to cause confusion (Nehemiah 4:8), the latter being a characteristic work of the devil. Nehemiah’s anger, on the other hand, caused him to sit back and consider what the Lord would have him do (per Psalm 4:4–5). As we witness anger in ourselves or in others, we do well to consider its source: is it from God or from the devil? Determining its origin informs how we are to respond.