There’s a similarity between Psalm 7 of Midday Prayer and Psalm 86 of Night Prayer, speaking of God as ‘slow to anger’.
God is the shield that protects me,
who saves the upright of heart.
God is a just judge
slow to anger;
but he threatens the wicked every day,
men who will not repent.
he has braced his bow and taken aim.
For them he has prepared deadly weapons;
he barbs his arrows with fire.
conceives evil and brings forth lies.
He digs a pitfall, digs it deep;
and in the trap he has made he will fall.
on his own head his violence will fall.
I will thank the Lord for his justice:
I will sing to the Lord, the Most High.
ruthless men seek my life;
to you they pay no heed.
slow to anger, O Lord,
abounding in love and truth,
turn and take pity on me.
and save your handmaid’s son.
Show me the sign of your favor
that my foes may see to their shame
that you console me and give me your help.
God’s anger is fierce and lasts long vs. God’s anger is slow and lasts only for a moment.
Jeremiah 17:4
the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn forever.”Psalm 33:18
Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
But here, just like the Psalms above, God’s anger lasts only for a moment.
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
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God’s anger lasting for a long time and only for a moment also has no contradiction. With ‘a long time’, that’s just in people’s time standards, just like metaphorically saying ‘forever’. Also this was a result from particular instances that these people did. In the Psalms, we bear in mind that God is slow to anger which does not contradict with the Israelites’ and Judah’s cases. And with God’s anger ‘lasts for a moment’, we know that Psalms is poetry , so what does a ‘moment’ mean poetically? Could this be a way of saying that God is immeasurably forgiving than angry?
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To summarize, God is slow to anger, forgives fast, but can show fierce anger when induced by grave or global sin.
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I had just wanted to read for myself the significance of the number 40 in the Bible last night, until I saw the common complaint of Bible haters of this ‘contradiction’, unaware this would be related for today. But what I know is that His voice is reaching us through the Liturgy of the Hours. There are no coincidences in God!
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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