Gloat Not

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.          Proverbs 24:17-18

We all have a nemesis that continuously frustrates us. They tend to grate on our last nerve based upon their actions or words. While we strive to show Christian love to all, there are some that it seems almost impossible - based upon their behavior towards us. While we know that it would give us great satisfaction just to set them straight, just once, we know it is not the right thing to do.

And then, finally, they get what is coming to them! My immediate reaction is to rejoice in their sorrow or pain. But Solomon cautions us above to refrain from gloating over their misfortune lest the Lord turns His wrath away from them.

Such action on my part is not easy to do but I have taken a slightly different approach. David experienced the same frustrations from his enemies in Psalms 35. However, he did not gloat when the wrath of God fell upon his nemesis. Rather, he praised God (Psalms 35:28). And so should we - when God takes care of our nemesis, we should not gloat but praise Him for answering our prayers of protection!