When Your Enemy Falls: Guarding Your Heart (Proverbs 24:17–18)
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Proverbs 24:17-18
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
The truth of this verse is so obvious. No need to dig for gold here. It’s right there visible to see:
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
We should never rejoice when another falls. You know many people (myself included in this & maybe you too) have thrown out the ‘praying on X person’s downfall’ quote before, and although this verse is not saying you shouldn’t do that — I do actually think when you look at the Psalms there are very clearly instances of people like David praying on the downfall of his enemies — though we see that, it's clear you should never rejoice over its reality.
Let’s stick with David. Look at his reaction to Saul’s death in 2 Samuel 1:
“11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”
That blows me away. Sure, David’s good friend Jonathan was involved, but it's clear David mourned for Saul. I can tell you right now that would be really hard for me to do. Think of someone who has greatly wronged you and imagine how you’d respond if their threats came back on them.
And I bet those threats were never death! It’s crazy to see David’s heart here. But it’s him living out this Proverb.
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles…
Now look at our verses’ close:
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
Now what does this mean?
It means God watches not only the fall of the wicked but the posture of the righteous. If our hearts turn a courtroom into a carnival, the Lord may close the case altogether.
We’re seeing that God cares as much about our compassion as He does about their correction.
So how do we respond?
We bring our enemies — and our emotions — to the mercy seat.
We pray for justice with clean hands, and for compassion with a clean heart.
Let’s pray.
