What is the "fierce anger" of the Lord? How does this fit with God as a merciful being? Mosiah 12:1

What is the "fierce anger" of the Lord? How does this fit with God as a merciful being? Mosiah 12:1

I actually found a really interesting quote from Brigham Young which nicely answers this question. I will include it here with some additional commentary. Also, DBY stands for "Discourses of Brigham Young." I had to look that up.

In this probation, we have evil to contend with, and we must overcome it in ourselves, or we never shall overcome it anywhere else (DBY, 265).

 Evil is a part of life. You have to deal with inner evil if you ever aspire to deal with outer evil.

A righteous person will never be discouraged, but will constantly contend against his evil passions, and against evil in his family and neighborhood (DBY, 267).

The definition of a "good person" is someone who constantly tries to fight against evil, both without and within. Totally agree. 

Many men will say they have a violent temper, and try to excuse themselves for actions of which they are ashamed. I will say, there is not a man in this house who has a more indomitable and unyielding temper than myself.

Yeah, I bet Emma Smith would wholeheartedly have agreed with that (she did not get along very well with Brigham Young). 

But there is not a man in the world who cannot overcome his passion, if he will struggle earnestly to do so. If you find passion coming on you, go off to some place where you cannot be heard; let none of your family see you or hear you, while it is upon you, but struggle till it leaves you; and pray for strength to overcome.

Good, sound advice. I will try to follow it. I sometimes find myself really struggling with anger, and that's a practical piece of advice for how to deal with it. I appreciate that.

As I have said many times to the Elders, pray in your families; and if, when the time for prayer comes, you have not the spirit of prayer upon you, and your knees are unwilling to bow, say to them, “Knees, get down there”; make them bend, and remain there until you obtain the Spirit of the Lord. If the spirit yields to the body, it becomes corrupt; but if the body yields to the spirit it becomes pure and holy (DBY, 267).

There have been times when I have knelt in prayer on my kitchen floor because it was where I was, and I just really needed some help with whatever problem I was dealing with. Almost certainly it was some struggle dealing with childcare.

Do not get so angry that you cannot pray; do not allow yourselves to become so angry that you cannot feed an enemy—even your worst enemy, if an opportunity should present itself. 

That is really saying something, from Brigham Young, who literally was forced to leave home after home. A man who literally saw people tarred and feathered, raped and murdered, for practicing their religion. The worst "enemy" I've ever had in my life was a really lousy school administrator who halved my pay while doubling my course load. It isn't that apt of a comparison.

There is a wicked anger, and there is a righteous anger. The Lord does not suffer wicked anger to be in his heart; but there is anger in his bosom, and he will hold a controversy with the nations, and will sift them, and no power can stay his hand (DBY, 269).

This^. This is the description of God's "fierce anger" that I needed.

When my feelings are aroused to anger by the ill-doings of others, I hold them as I would hold a wild horse, and I gain the victory. Some think and say that it makes them feel better when they are mad, as they call it, to give vent to their madness in abusive and unbecoming language.

Like on social media? ;-) 

This, however, is a mistake. Instead of its making you feel better, it is making bad worse. When you think and say it makes you better you give credit to a falsehood. When the wrath and bitterness of the human heart are moulded into words and hurled with violence at one another, without any check or hindrance, the fire has no sooner expended itself than it is again re-kindled through some trifling course, until the course of nature is set on fire (DBY, 266).

Now I charge you again, and I charge myself not to get angry. Never let anger arise in your hearts. No, Brigham, never let anger arise in your heart, never, never! Although you may be called upon to chastise and to speak to the people sharply, do not let anger arise in you, no, never! (DBY, 265).

Great advice, and it feels so heartfelt and personal the way he has written it here.

Cease your anger, and sullenness of temper, and serve the Lord with cheerfulness, and singleness of heart. You need not expect salvation, except you can administer the same salvation to others, both in precept and example. If you expect compassion from me, administer the same to me. If you wish kind words and kind treatment from me, give me the same blessing you desire yourself; and that is the way you will be saved (DBY, 268–69).

A little bit of a 19th-century-ish way to say, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." 

If you give way to your angry feelings, it sets on fire the whole course of nature, … and you are then apt to set those on fire who are contending with you.

Here's a secret. Sometimes I feel really proud of how fiercely nasty my words and arguments can get when I'm angry. I'm always ashamed of it later. But in the moment, the power is very...alluring? I often have felt as though my "angry voice" is powerful, compelling, loud, and fierce. I guess part of me admires it. But the better part of me is disgusted by it, and wants to divest myself of it.

When you feel as though you would burst, tell the old boiler to burst, and just laugh at the temptation to speak evil. If you will continue to do that, you will soon be so masters of yourselves as to be able, if not to tame, to control your tongues—able to speak when you ought, and to be silent when you ought (DBY, 269).

Being "silent when you ought" is definitely challenging for me. But I've discovered that it is at least as powerful as a fiercely angry voice. At some point in my motherhood journey, I just got really tired of yelling at little children and realized that they listen a whole lot better if I am firm but quiet. They also are totally like mirrors and so if I want them to speak quietly, I had better model it.

Being silent on social media is a big challenge for me, personally.

We want the spirit, knowledge, power and principle within us to govern and control our tempers; there is no danger of having too much [anger] if we will only control [it] by the Spirit of the Almighty. Every intelligent being on the earth is tempered for glory, beauty, excellency and knowledge here, and for immortality and eternal lives in the worlds to come. But every being who attains to this must be sanctified before God and be completely under the control of his Spirit. If I am thus controlled by the Spirit of the Most High, I am a king. I am supreme so far as the control of self is concerned (DBY, 264–65).

I think that any of my friends, including those who don't believe in God, would likely agree that the principle of self mastery is an attainable, desirable quality for anybody to strive to have. It's not a particularly popular message in today's media, but logical people around the world understand that hedonism is not a path to success.

Self mastery is a learned skill. It takes a lot of practice. But it is learnable.

In my opinion, self mastery is desirable because it is a divine attribute. God has all knowledge and power, and he controls that power perfectly. When we control our emotions, bodies, and actions, we, like my little children who I mentioned above, become reflections of God.