Gloating Over Your Enemy's Downfall
Proverbs 24:17-18 says,
"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him."
Our enemy's are the one's who have wronged us in some shape or form. In another way, we sometimes create enemies in our minds because of certain prejudices or wounds we hold from the past (think of Hitler and his sentiment toward the Jews). If we are breathing on this earth, we all have enemies, whether they are real or imagined. The day that we see our wrong-doer caught in a dire or destitute circumstance, we tend to inwardly rejoice. As people made in the image of God, we all have a sense of justice. So sometimes, we exult in the downfall of our enemy because we feel as though justice has been satisfied. This is the sentiment that Proverbs 11:10 captures:
"When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy."
This verse seems to illustrate the collective rejoicing of people who value justice. Justice is a wonderful concept because it encapsulates man's desire to be free from evil's influence, free from oppression and violence, free to rejoice with what is pure and good. Our legal system, though it is flawed, was created to adjudicate between right and wrong and ultimately penalize wrongdoing. Why is the legal system flawed anyway? It's because it is run by flawed human beings. Usually, our moral deficiencies as sinful people tend to lead us towards a skewed view of justice. Usually the result is that we tend more towards a malicious type of revenge upon our foes rather than mercy. Prov 24:17-18 is a warning from the wise man to avoid this type of leaning, even in our private thought world. So we indignantly challenge the Bible's words,
"Why are we warned against something that seems so justifiable? After all, don't those who commit acts of injustice, especially toward me, deserve to stumble and fall? Aren't they receiving their just wages?"
It's always instructive to inquire as to what God thought about when he inspired this verse. In other words, what is God's attitude towards those who oppose and sin against him? A good verse from Ezekiel on this states,
"Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! " - Eze 18:23,32
When God's enemies stumble and fall, what's on his mind is the salvation of their souls, not in rejoicing in their downfall. The Bible says that towards us, he shows unbelievable patience and forbearance, not treating us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10). Even when we were his enemies, rather than destroy over us and gloat over our downfall, he instead gave us his One and Only Son to make us his sons and daughters and clear our ledger of the red ink which our transgressions are cast in. The reason why Jesus can command us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:44) is because 1) his heart is to save others from their acts of injustice, just as he saved us from ours and 2) because he himself forgave and prayed for us, while we were still his enemies (Rom 5:10, Lk 23:34). There are other problematic verses that seem as though God does rejoice in the downfall of his enemies. But John Piper handled this well and concludes the contrary; God does not take delight in punishing those who oppose him. These are some tough, but logical verses given by Paul:
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
The result of practicing this will be freedom in our own hearts, instead of bitterness, rage and eventually malice towards others.
More than feeling restricted by this verse from Proverbs, it instead serves as a sobering reminder to me of God's grace over my own life and the lives of my past, present and future enemies. I pray to examine my heart deeply so that I may 1) forgive those who have ever wronged me and 2) pray for them to be shepherded by God that he may either restore, correct or renew them according to his sovereignty and good will.
Proverbs 24:17-18 says,
"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him."
Our enemy's are the one's who have wronged us in some shape or form. In another way, we sometimes create enemies in our minds because of certain prejudices or wounds we hold from the past (think of Hitler and his sentiment toward the Jews). If we are breathing on this earth, we all have enemies, whether they are real or imagined. The day that we see our wrong-doer caught in a dire or destitute circumstance, we tend to inwardly rejoice. As people made in the image of God, we all have a sense of justice. So sometimes, we exult in the downfall of our enemy because we feel as though justice has been satisfied. This is the sentiment that Proverbs 11:10 captures:
"When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy."
This verse seems to illustrate the collective rejoicing of people who value justice. Justice is a wonderful concept because it encapsulates man's desire to be free from evil's influence, free from oppression and violence, free to rejoice with what is pure and good. Our legal system, though it is flawed, was created to adjudicate between right and wrong and ultimately penalize wrongdoing. Why is the legal system flawed anyway? It's because it is run by flawed human beings. Usually, our moral deficiencies as sinful people tend to lead us towards a skewed view of justice. Usually the result is that we tend more towards a malicious type of revenge upon our foes rather than mercy. Prov 24:17-18 is a warning from the wise man to avoid this type of leaning, even in our private thought world. So we indignantly challenge the Bible's words,
"Why are we warned against something that seems so justifiable? After all, don't those who commit acts of injustice, especially toward me, deserve to stumble and fall? Aren't they receiving their just wages?"
It's always instructive to inquire as to what God thought about when he inspired this verse. In other words, what is God's attitude towards those who oppose and sin against him? A good verse from Ezekiel on this states,
"Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! " - Eze 18:23,32
When God's enemies stumble and fall, what's on his mind is the salvation of their souls, not in rejoicing in their downfall. The Bible says that towards us, he shows unbelievable patience and forbearance, not treating us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10). Even when we were his enemies, rather than destroy over us and gloat over our downfall, he instead gave us his One and Only Son to make us his sons and daughters and clear our ledger of the red ink which our transgressions are cast in. The reason why Jesus can command us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:44) is because 1) his heart is to save others from their acts of injustice, just as he saved us from ours and 2) because he himself forgave and prayed for us, while we were still his enemies (Rom 5:10, Lk 23:34). There are other problematic verses that seem as though God does rejoice in the downfall of his enemies. But John Piper handled this well and concludes the contrary; God does not take delight in punishing those who oppose him. These are some tough, but logical verses given by Paul:
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Rom 12:17-21
The result of practicing this will be freedom in our own hearts, instead of bitterness, rage and eventually malice towards others.
More than feeling restricted by this verse from Proverbs, it instead serves as a sobering reminder to me of God's grace over my own life and the lives of my past, present and future enemies. I pray to examine my heart deeply so that I may 1) forgive those who have ever wronged me and 2) pray for them to be shepherded by God that he may either restore, correct or renew them according to his sovereignty and good will.
Comments
Post a Comment