We are not to gloat, make fun of, ridicule, rejoice over, etc., our enemy. In other words, we do not go to them or others to gleefully mock them for their downfall. But, as you show, we can go to the Lord and rejoice in His victory over His enemies. This is very closely linked to imprecatory praying, and is actually the other side of it. We might call it “imprecatory praising.” I am not to take vengeance on my enemies (Rom. 12:18-21), but I can pray to the Lord to do so. Similarly, I cannot go and rejoice over my enemies when they fall, but I can thank the Lord who made them do so. This spirit is what we see in Christ, who asked His Father on the cross to forgive His persecutors.

Yesterday, I preached from Isaiah 14 and addressed verse 29, which reads,

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,

    that the rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

    and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.

This article is not about the difficulty in interpreting the imagery here of the serpent, adder, and flying fiery serpent. (For that, I followed Keil-Delitsch’s insight in seeing, given the context, a surprising but Biblically-based reference to the Messiah. Listen here if you want to hear more.)

Rather, in this post, I’m addressing (with the help of a friend!) God’s command to the nation of Philistia not to rejoice because King Ahaz had died, meaning their old nemesis, the Davidic kingdom, had taken a blow.

In the message, I developed the Biblical principle that we should not rejoice over our enemies when they fall. As Proverbs 24:17-18 says, “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.” I then applied this principle to the church, urging them not to develop a spirit of gloating when we see judgment fall on our enemies.

I’m always glad when people interact with me about a sermon, so this morning, I was encouraged to see the following email in my inbox. With his permission, I want to share Deacon Gib McCracken’s insightful question and my response to him. I trust this interchange will encourage you.

Good morning Pastor,

Here is what you said (in bold), as accurately as I can represent:

The scriptures warn against rejoicing over the downfall of others, even your enemies. Proverbs 24:17-18 says, “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.” We can’t be that way. Remember when David’s great enemy, King Saul, was put to death? Remember what David did in his godliness before the Lord? He wept, and sang a lament over the one who had taken so much away from him. That should be our posture. 

You then gave the example of the abortion doctor who died in a skydiving accident: in our response it’s tempting to be gleeful, to mock, and ridicule. When we do that, we have more in common with Westboro Baptist Church. What happened when the abortionist fell from the sky? His time to repent was over. He faced judgment, eternity away from God. So we’re not to be gleeful over the death and punishment of the wicked, but rather we are to call them and warn them of their pride and arrogance, really to plead with them with tears in our eyes to repent, even as they rejoice in their wickedness. That’s to be our posture. 

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