Don’t gloat.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

lest the Lord see it and be displeased,

and turn away his anger from him.

Proverbs 24:17-18

Wisdom calls for mourning over the devastation done by sin, even if the painful discipline falls on a perceived enemy. We should not rejoice in the fall of those who may have opposed us. Why? We are sinners deserving swift justice as well. It is an affront to the mercy of God to gloat and rejoice at another person’s humiliating stumble. Gracious people grieve over the consequences of sin and realize that God’s grace alone is the only thing that saves them from being in the same place.

I admit that my darker self wants to gloat when someone who has hurt me in life is then hurt in their life. I have to fight the secret desire to high-five myself and then find someone, anyone, to share my joy with... ecstatic that the tide has turned against an enemy. I need to see this twisted thinking for what it is: self-promoting self-righteousness. My sin looks like this: I think I am the better person. I see my actions vindicated, not because Christ saved me from sin, but because I want to stand tall and look good, like I am the victor in the boxing ring and my enemy is a foe I somehow vanquished with a knockout punch. And I believe this attitude totally displeases God.

Lord,

You do not delight in punishing sinners. And there is nothing good in me worth my self-vindicating pride. Forgive my willingness to readily gloat over an enemy’s downfall. Keep me grieving over the results of all sin, and always aware of my own heart.

Amen