“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.” -Psalm 4:4–5
The opening clause, “be angry, and do not sin” is familiar to the reader of the New Testament. The Apostle Paul draws from this passage as is it rendered in the Greek version of the Psalms that was in circulation during that time, called the LXX, or Septuagint.
Because “be angry”, is the Hebrew raghaz and is frequently translated tremble, theologians often find it easier to translate this passage “tremble and do not sin” which would seem to fit the flow of the passage better. David expressing that his enemies should fear God, stop sinning, and think about their condition makes perfect sense in light of vs. 5. Now that they have reckoned with God in verse 4, they need to make sacrifices and trust the Lord in verse 5.
However, if we understand this Psalm to be related to the incidents surrounding David’s son, Absalom, Paul’s interpretation of the passage remains preferable. Absalom was angry with his father for not dealing with Amnon’s (his half-brother) sin of raping their sister (Absalom’s full-blooded sister), Tamar. After Absalom kills Amnon, flees for his life, and finally comes home after Joab convinces David to bring him home, David relegates Absalom to the suburbs of forgiveness and refuses to see him. Angry at being treated unjustly, Absalom stirs up the people to rebel against his father (2 Sam 13-19).
If this is in David’s mind when he pens the Psalm, we can understand the passage much the way Paul seems to understand it when he pens Ephesians 4:26. Let us not become the enemies of God because we do not deal properly with our anger. Righteous indignation is real, but it usually turns carnal very quickly (James 1:19-20).
Praise the Lord.