Let's Go Back to the Bible

Be careful not to ROFL

There is a certain “satisfaction” (shall we call it?) when one of our enemies falls into hard times or experiences some calamity in life. There is a sense in which we may think, “They had it coming! Serves them right!” But we need to be ever-so cautious.

Read these words from Proverbs 24:17-18. “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.”

Notice that these verses teach that God’s “wrath” may be headed the way of our enemy, which is exactly in God’s purview, for “vengeance” belongs to Him (Rom 12:19). But, if we “rejoice” at his misfortune, such an action may “please” us but, simultaneously, “displease” the Lord. Let us be careful how we respond and remember that agape “love” (Matt. 5:44) is “kind” (1 Cor. 13:4), which should lead us to “pray” for our enemies, rather than ROFL at them.