"God's anger will burn against you… You should place these words of Mine on your heart." God's anger is not meant solely to punish. Rather, it is a means of awakening a person to return to God so that he can begin to heal. Thus, verse 18 begins with the word ve-SaMtem (ושמתם, you should place). The Torah possesses two powers: it can be a SaM (סם, elixir or potion) of life, or a SaM of death (Yoma 72b). One must learn to accept the Torah for life. The same applies to one's fear of God. One should strive to accept God's anger and the fear of punishment as being for his benefit, as an elixir of life (Likutey Halakhot III, p. 322).
