Soothe and Pacify

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SOOTHE AND PACIFY

Prov 21:14

14 A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

NIV

This seems to speak to lust or someone who covets. Anger is a very strong emotional feeling, but here we see that a gift or a bride given in secret will sooth such emotion. The reason it is done in secret is to conceal the sin of lust of the one filled with anger and wrath.  If it were done openly then all would know the reason of the bride. Yet sometimes that is done openly such as the case of Jacob and Esau. Jacob certainly was giving a bride to soften the heart of Esau. But how does this relate to our lives? What can we learn about either ourselves or the people we need to interact with? Perhaps the lesson we could learn would be to first always seek peace with others. This would prevent having someone angry with us and in need of some sort of pacifying. But the fact remains some people get angry over the dumbest things. If that anger is directed at us because of something we did or said, then it is up to us in secret to make some form of gift to soothe this anger. That would be a secret meeting to express regret in creating a situation which caused them to become angry. It is always best to ask to be forgiven in secret, so as to not draw public attention to their angry feelings. Sometimes people get angry for good reason, although it seems there should never be a good reason for anger. Maybe righteous indignation, but not anger. Righteous indignation is when someone is offensive in their manner or speech about Jesus. Anger is about someone offending someone else. Nevertheless if we are to be blessed then we are the ones who should be the peacemaker. We are always responsible to make peace. We are told as far as it depends on us, live in peace with all people. So then it will always fall upon us to make the effort to soothe anger, to pacify great wrath regardless of the reasons they exist.