Laughing at the demise of your enemy is never a good thing. The Lord desires that all come to Him, and if we laugh at our enemy who has not turned to Him, how much better are we?
"Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown; lest the Lord see it, and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender]." Proverbs 24:17-18, Amplified
I have been in this very same place where I watched as someone I did not like get exactly what they deserved. I was so very happy to see them fall. Not soon after, though, they began to prosper again because I found such great pleasure in their demise. The Lord does not enjoy disciplining, this is not His heart, but His nature must exact justice on all evils.
Just for the record, however, this is the first time in 697 verses that I disagree with the translation of the Amplified Version. At the end of verse 18 it seems that the translators thought that the Lord would turn His wrath away from the deserving to those who found pleasure in the other's demise. There is no hint of that in the original language.
I agree with your estimation of the Amplified version. It seems to me the motivation to not rejoice when your enemy falls, is so that the Lord's wrath WILL REMAIN on your enemy.
ReplyDeleteThe imprecatory Psalms come to mind...
- Doug