Year 8, Day 315: Proverbs 24

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The proverbs in this chapter are all over the place, although like much of the proverbs they do all share the idea of wisdom and righteousness.  By wisdom a house is build.  With knowledge a house is filled.  Wisdom gives us strength; knowledge increases our might.  After all, how many times is the victory not the one who is physically strong but the one who is mentally strong?  Who become the commanders and generals?  Is it those who are physically strong or the ones with enough wisdom and intelligence to rise to the top?

In the middle off all of these proverbs on wisdom and knowledge there is a challenging passage.  “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let knot your heart be glad when he stumbles.”  Proverbs 23:17 gives must of us more challenge than we can handle.  Isn’t it our human nature to celebrate when those who are most opposed to us go down?  Isn’t it our human nature to cheer when those who stand in our way get knocked down a few pegs?

While it is in our nature, Proverbs 23:18 puts a great light on our nature.  “Lest the Lord see it and be displeased.”  Remember, we are all sinners in the eyes of the Lord.  As Paul teaches us, no one is righteous – not even one.  None of us can truthfully claim to deserve God’s love.  If we were all to be judged on our merits, we would all come up guilty.

Yet, God loves us all.  We all make mistakes.  Sometimes we place ourselves in opposition to other people.  We assume that means that God chooses up sides, too.  The truth is, He doesn’t.  He desires for all of us to know Him.  He is rooting for us all in our fight against sin.

Don’t get me wrong, though.  God does occasionally come and punish.  He does come and lay out consequences before the stubborn.  I’m not saying that God is not a God of justice.  The Bible tells us that, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”  But the truth is that what God really wants is repentance.  What He wants – even from the greatest sinner on the face of the earth – is for that sinner to look to Him and say, “I was wrong, please forgive me.”

If God is cheering for our enemies, shouldn’t we be doing the same?  No, we don’t need to root for the products of their sin.  But should we not be cheering for their repentance and forgiveness?  Should we not be rooting for even our enemies to come to know God and to see life through His eyes?  We should not rejoice at the downfall of our enemy, we should prepare to rejoice at his redemption.

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