Prov 25:21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.
It starts in the heart
I’ve noticed there are some wicked men and women in positions of influence in the world. I came across this verse the other day which spoke to my attitude regarding those who might be removed from power either by the direct hand of God or by the processes of justice.
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.
Prov 24:17,18
Interesting that God so hates enmity in our hearts that He will even turn His anger away from the wicked because of the wrong attitudes of our heart. To me this speaks of God’s heart for the defenceless – He will, in a sense, rise to defend the wicked from the hatred in our hearts shown when we rejoice at their downfall.
We want God to judge the bad guy, but He will always favour mercy over judgment. (James 2:13)
It’s the same principle that the righteous Job knew:
Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy, or exulted when evil befell him? No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse. Job 31:29,30
We can rejoice at God’s justice, the display of His character, and His deliverance of us (several examples in scripture) but we should never rejoice at the downfall of the wicked – slight difference. The first is rooted in worship because our focus is on God and what He has done, the second is rooted in arrogance and hatred as our focus is on what has befallen the wicked person. Our hearts are tempted to say of Pharaoh “He got what was coming to him”, but instead we should say “Praise you Lord for your justice and deliverance of Israel.” Beware lest a wrong attitude in your heart delays God’s hand of justice.
Matthew 5:43-45 You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
To paraphrase – God does good to all so you must be like Him and do what he does.
Note: this verse has often been taken out of context to define “rain” as negative life circumstances which seemingly happen equally to the believer and nonbeliever. In an agricultural society rain is a blessing and the majority of references in the bible to rain are as a blessing from God for their crops. Yes sometimes the rain causes damage (as any good thing can and does in a fallen world) but that’s not the meaning here. God is good, His blessings are for everyone and we are to have the same generous and loving heart of our Father.
The rain, it raineth on the just, and also on the unjust fella;
But mostly on the just because the unjust steals the just’s umbrella!
-Ogden Nash