Do Not Rejoice When Your Enemy Suffers

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and do not let your heart be glad
when he stumbles;”
Proverbs 24:17

Human nature desires justice and vengeance. But the unwise do not stop to think that they too are deserving of punishment. We are all alike, born sinners, born with a fallen human nature, born to fallen parents, born into a fallen world, hurt by various fallen people, suffering injustice – and all of these things foster bitterness in us and draw us into further sin, the sins of hatred and unforgiveness. The Word of God says we are all in the same boat, that there is not one who is righteous.

“There is none righteous, no, not one;”
Romans 3:19

Rather than nurture a desire for vengeance, consider the end of the wicked. If one truly understood their end, they would drop all desire for vengeance because the Word of God tells us about hell, that it is forever, that it is a place of great suffering and eternal regret. One who truly understands this wouldn’t want it for his worst enemy.

“As I live,” says the Lord God,
“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
Ezekiel:11

Wickedness abides in each of us. But we have a Redeemer. That’s the only difference.

Therefore, let us have sympathy for those whose hearts have not been changed, let us pray for them instead of hating them. Let us be kind to them, considering that we could easily have been in their shoes. Let us do all we can, praying that they might have their eyes opened to see their hopeless state and to turn their hearts to the Redeemer – that they too might enjoy the hope of eternal life.

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