This book would be a great read for anyone who is dealing with head trauma in their family, is experiencing marital conflicts, wants to have a successful marriage, or for anyone who simply loves a good story.

Kim and Krickitt are very honest about their own struggles and failures and I appreciated that their book wasn’t overly simplistic. They demonstrated that life is sometimes hard in the long run and everything doesn’t get neatly solved in a half an hour.

Kim was committed to his wife, even though she didn’t love him anymore, even though she didn’t LIKE him anymore, even though she didn’t even remember him anymore. Krickitt had to learn to trust God to give her love for a man that she no longer knew. Their true story is an inspiration because it shows ordinary, everyday people, being heroic simply be doing the right thing; day after difficult day.

The book was made into a movie that hit the theatres in early 2012. http://www.thevow-movie.com/ I have not seen the movie, but from what I can gather, there is little to no emphasis on their Christian faith reflected in the new film. To hear a bit about the real story, check out this interview:

On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this a 3.75 overall.

224 Pages.

The Vow
(The Kim & Krickitt Carpenter Story)
By Kim & Krickitt Carpenter, with John Perry (and Dana Wilkerson
Copyright 2000 & 2012
Broadman & Holman
ISBN#0-8054-2130-0
ISBN# 978-1-4336-7579-9

The person making the statement was implying (I believe) that there is no objective standard by which to determine what is, or is not, proper worship. That is simply not true. On the other hand, WE as mere humans are NOT that plumb line. The scripture says “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth.” (John 4:24)

True worship must be intellectual. We must love our God with all of our minds (Luke 10:27). It should not be shallow or meaningless repetition (Matthew 6:7), but should be directed to God, and must reflect accurately who He is and what He has done.

True worship must be Christ-centered. There is no other name that has been given under heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Apart from the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the totality of life, all worship is devoid of purpose.

True worship must be heart-felt. We should not fall into the trap of going through the motions in an attempt to psych ourselves up emotionally, or trying to impress God with our stalwart devotion. We are to LOVE God with ALL of our heart (Luke 10:27).

Worship is not about what we like. It is not about style. It is about worshiping God in the way that He wants to be worshiped. Worship is about giving all that we are, for all that He is. Worship should not be a narcissistic expression of us and how great we are. In worship (which is much more than just music or singing), we should respond to God out of a heart of gratitude for how great He is, and for what He has done for us.

While we cannot help but express our thankfulness to God in culturally diverse ways (we are, in fact, culturally diverse), true worship is ultimately not about culture, or Art, or expressions of talent (although these factors are sometimes involved). Worship is about the God who is there. It is about knowing Him, and being known by Him.

Worship should never be divorced from sound theology. Worship should not be divorced from church history. Worship should never be about preference and style, and most importantly, worship must NEVER be about us.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who serves with Wisdom’s Gate Ministries.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Asaph said in Psalm 77:

6I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders:

7Will the Lord reject forever?
And will He never be favorable again?

8Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His promise come to an end forever?

9Has God forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?Selah.

10Then I said, “It is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

11I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

It is in remembering the faithfulness of God in the past, that we have strength and hope for our future.

By Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek,  is a modern-day Christian apologetics classic. I have to place this book in the top ten books written so far on regarding understanding a Christian philosophy of of all of life.

This is a very linear, comprehensive work that seeks to answer the major questions of life and religion. The book begins with Epistemology and the fact that truth can be known. It then moves to Cosmology and addresses the origins of the universe. It addresses the questions of morality, the existence of miracles and the supernatural, the historicity of Jesus Christ and His claims to divinity, the compilation and canonization of the New Testament texts, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and includes some good appendix chapters that address things like “If God, Why Evil?” and “Isn’t That Just Your Interpretation?”

Another outline could be:

• Origin:Where Did We Come From?
• Identity: Who Are We?
• Meaning: Why Are We Here?
• Morality: How Should We Live?
• Destiny: Where Are We Going?

To give you an idea of the general acceptance of the overall soundness of this book, it is endorsed by: Ravi Zacharias, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Phillip E. Johnson, Cal Thomas, William A. Dembski, Hank Hanegraaf, John Ankerberg & J. Buudziszeski.

As with all of the Hovel audiobook titles, the narration is excellent and the quality is superb.

Hovel Audio
ISBN: 978-1-59644-399-0
Copyright, 2006.
www.ChristianAudio.com

Crossway Books
ISBN: 1-58134-561-5
Copyright, 2004.
www.crossway.com

448 pages. On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this a 4.5 overall.

Review by Israel Wayne.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who works with Wisdom’s Gate Ministries, publisher of the Home School Digest magazine.

Some folks have made some major false assumptions. Since I have dared to critique the Secular Humanist worldview behind the Objectivist-style Libertarian philosophy; many have concluded that I must, therefore, be a warmonger who loves big government, exalts Federalism, despises State-sovereignty, worships the Federal Reserve, dislikes cats and wants to institute a Christian version of Sharia Law on the American people. Allow me to rest your fears. None of those things are true. Quite the contrary. (Well, okay, I don’t like cats.)

Before I address a few of the problems with Conservatism, let me tell you what I don’t like about Liberals (just because this is my blog and I can!). Liberals are Utopians. And Utopians are bad.

The Liberals think that government can fix everything. The government needs to do everything for us. It needs to raise our kids, feed us, provide us with free education, housing and healthcare, give us clean air, regulate the internet so we never see any bad things (like “hate speech”), manage our retirements, and protect us from being hurt (by taking away our guns). There is only one little problem with this worldview; It is wrong.

Okay, so with that out of my system, the reason I have a problem with Conservatism is that Conservatives tend to be Utopians as well. Their view is that government is bad. Unless they are in leadership, and then it is good. Big government is really bad; unless they are in control, and then it is really good. For whatever reason, once a Conservative gets elected, nine times out of ten, he becomes what he hates.

I like how Reagan put this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Government is not the solution to our problem government IS the problem.”

Do you remember when George W. Bush was elected? We had endured eight miserably intolerable years of the Clinton regime, and the Religious Right had enough! So, we elected perhaps the most outspoken Evangelical Christian to ever serve in the White House. How did that work for us? Now please don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to bash Bush. That’s been done enough, especially by the current administration! I can’t think of anyone with whom I’d rather play horseshoes, and barbeque steaks, than former President Bush (Go Rangers!).

George W. Bush

But just because someone loves Jesus and says his bed-time prayers, that DOESN’T mean that he knows how to think according to a Biblical worldview (or apply a Biblical Ethic to matters of public policy). For example: “The cumulative debt of the United States in the fiscal years 2001-2007 was approximately $4.08 trillion, or about 40.8% of the total national debt at the time of that completion of approximately $10.0 trillion.”  Unemployment also rose in January 2009 (his last month in office) to 7.8%, the highest level in more than 15 years. (See Source)

And it’s not just the economy. Over those eight years, Americans did NOT become a more moral or religious people. In 1990, 86% of Americans identified themselves as being Christian. In 2001, that was down to 78.6%, and in 2009 it was down slightly to 78%. (See Source)

During the W. Bush administration, there were still millions of abortions, there were thousands of cases of adultery and murder, there were hundreds of thousands of violent crimes, parents yelled at their children, people kicked their dogs, and the Cubs didn’t win a World Series.

Now you may say, “Hey, that’s not fair to blame all of that on the President!” Exactly. Now you’re catching on!

Here is the gist of the problem: “We have met the enemy, and it is us.” In a Constitutional Republic, America is US!  WE are the problem. I love what the British author, G.K. Chesterton, once said when a newspater asked “What is wrong with the world?” He wrote a short note to the editor and said, “I am. Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton.”

Government can, and should, restrain evil.

1 Peter 2:14 says the role of the Civil Magistrate is to: “Punish those who do evil, and promote those who do good.”

Despite the popular Postmodern mantra that “you can’t legislate Morality,” the truth is that you can’t NOT legislate morality. (It just becomes a matter of WHOSE morality trumps someone else’s!) The guy who likes to steal cars doesn’t think that the police should impose their morality on him, but that’s how it works (unless you simply revert to mob rule).

What you CAN’T, and SHOULDN’T even attempt to, legislate is Holiness. The end goal for us as Christians is not to make people be moral. Yes, we need morality to help keep our streets safe and our prisons empty. People shouldn’t be allowed to molest children, engage in credit card fraud, or kill their neighbors. The Civil Magistrate does not bear the sword in vain:

“For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:4)

But Jesus didn’t die for us to become moral. He died for us to become Holy. That is something that can only happen by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. You can threaten someone with punishment, and modify his outward behavior (and sometimes this is vitally important), but you can’t change his heart. Only Christ can do that.

As Christians, we must never think that a strong government (or a complete lack of it) will solve all of our social and moral problems. We can’t fix all of the problems. WE ARE THE PROBLEM! That’s why we need Jesus. We need to stop being Utopians and believing that we can ever have perfection here on earth. We can, and should, seek to be salt and light here.  We should seek to apply righteous justice for the betterment of the weak and oppressed. We should try to limit evil. But don’t be deceived into thinking that anything other than the Kingdom of God will last forever. The kingdoms of this world, as good as they may be, are still a reflection of our fallen humanity.

Personally, I’m longing for the day when:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15b)

My ultimate goal, as a Christ-follower, is not to convert someone to becoming a moral Republican. At the end of the day, he will still die in his sins and go to hell. My chief concern is to share with Him the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ, that will not only modify his behavior, it will save his soul. That is where my hope lies.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker. This article reflects his own personal views and are not necessarily those of any organization with which he is affiliated.

First of all, it would be helpful for you to see visually, a basic graph revealing the current political spectrum.

The Political Sprectrum - Left to Right (Source: http://woody.typepad.com)

Most Christians who call themselves “Christian Libertarians” don’t really know much about the roots or true ideology of the Libertarian political philosophy. They like the idea of small government, reduced taxes, gun rights, property rights and a free-market economy. So far, so good. I’m right there with them.

The problem is in the inherent presuppositions embedded within the Libertarian worldview. One of the foundational beliefs of Libertarianism is the idea that “Anyone should be allowed to do anything they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Ever heard that? That is a Libertarian conception of Freedom and Liberty. That is NOT, however, a Christian view of Liberty and Freedom. That is a view of moral bondage.

For example, Thomas Jefferson said:

“A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.“ Thomas Jefferson (1801)“

Or:

“It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.” Henry George

The Biblical definition of the role of government is found in 1 Peter 2:13-14:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. “

The civil government, according to Scripture is supposed to “punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right.” How do you determine what is right or wrong in a certain society or civilization?

You really only have a few options:

1. The majority of people in a society determine it for themselves for that time and place. (Cultural Relativism)
2. It is determined by the ruling elite (Monarchy, Republic, Oligarchy, etc.)
3. There is a higher moral law to which all people are accountable.

This is where Libertarianism falls short. Ayn Rand and other Libertarians have tried to create a moral order called Objectivism. It teaches that you can have a moral law, without a Moral Law-Giver (i.e. God). Libertarianism and Objectivism (concepts that are joined at the hip) are both deeply rooted in Secular Humanism and the Epistemology of human reason alone being sufficient to determine Ethics.

Despite their protests to the contrary, a pure Libertarian can never truly say that anything is Objectively right or wrong.

This is why Ron Paul (whose worldview is Libertarian) will not say that homosexuality is a sin:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Any political philosophy that does not begin with Theism (a belief in a personal God) as THE FOUNDATION of all Law, will end up eventually in the ditches of Totalitarianism or Anarchy. It is important to view the political spectrum depicted above as a circle. Without the restraining influence of Biblical morality in our culture, Libertarianism quickly turns into Anarchy, which then quickly leads all the way back to Totalitarianism. Anarchy is not sustainable for any society, and only order and structural rule can hold it together.

There are only two forces that can keep a society from plunging itself off into the abyss of Egoistic Hedonism (the ethical theory — promoted by Libertarianism — that achieving one’s own happiness is the proper goal of all conduct) and Anarchy:

1. The rule of a Totalitarian regime (whether internal — as in an oppressive dictator — or external — as in IslamoFascism)
2. Individual Self-Government

The Christian concept is NOT Libertarianism (nor is it Theocracy). The Christian concept is Individual Self-Government. You may say, “But that sounds like what Libertarians want! The ability to govern themselves.” Yes, but the difference is, they have cut off the source of all Objective Moral Ethics (i.e. God).

There is a quote that is often attributed to James Madison (and equally disputed), that I think sums up this idea quite well:

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.”

In the Libertarian view, Abortion, Drugs, Prostitution, Illicit Sex (including Homosexuality), Pornography and Suicide are all morally acceptable. They have, within their Epistemological system, no mechanism for denouncing these actions. A culture who embraces these things will NOT last long. These are the steps to Anarchy (and ultimately to Tyranny, the very thing Libertarians are hoping to escape!).

The only real solution is that people’s hearts must be changed, by the Holy Spirit, through the hearing of the Word of God as it is faithfully proclaimed by the True Confessing Church. Yes, people should be given political freedom and liberty, but without Ethics that are based in the Fear of the Lord, that “freedom” will quickly dissolve into Anarchy and Hedonism (as we are observing in rampant expansion in our culture).

Libertarianism cannot provide the Utopian dream of the good life because it is disconnected from the only source of all Good, which is God alone. Libertarianism (which is not rooted in Christian thought, but rather in the anti-Christian Enlightenment) could only work for a Christian society, that is guided by the Fear of the Lord. That is not our current cultural situation.

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, They may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. They will only exchange Tyrants and Tyrannies.
Letter from John Adams to Zabdiel Adams (21 June 1776)

“(W)e have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.“  — John Adams, (11 October 1798)

My goal here is not to tell you which political candidates to vote for (or not to vote for). I am also not directing these statements toward any particular political candidate(s), but rather at the entire philosophy as a whole. My goal is to help you to understand these issues from a Biblical Worldview.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker. These views are his views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organizations with which he is affiliated.

By Dan Wooding

Chuck Smith

The congregation at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, were stunned today (Sunday, January 01, 2012) when Pastor Chuck Smith, its senior pastor, announced during his Sunday morning services that he has lung cancer and will have a biopsy on Tuesday and surgery the following week.

Chuck Smith, now in his eighties and the father of the Jesus People Revolution in Southern California, said that he has never smoked in his life.

At at the end of the third service that was broadcast on KWVE 107.9 FM, his son-in-law, Brian Brodersen, joined with other pastors at the huge church and anointed him with oil and prayed for his healing.

Karl Corcoran, evangelism pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, posted on Facebook, “Update: Pastor Chuck Smith having surgery this month for lung cancer after a series of tests this week. Estimated recovery time is 3 weeks.”

In response to the posting, Kathy Buckley Keys said, “We were stunned with the news of Pastor Chuck. His ways are higher than ours and He is able to keep that which is committed to Him so we commit Pastor Chuck and all that is related to him, family, doctors and treatments to the Great Physician who knows Pastor Chuck intimately and ask for His guidance, favor, love and support through this time.”

Shortly after the announcement, the KWVE Facebook page was flooded with goodwill messages for Chuck Smith.

Joni Barger wrote, “I’m praying for a miracle. I’m an avid listener to the radio program. Pastor Chuck I’ve learned so much from you. God is with you Sir.”

Kim Krabbenhoft-Ancora posted, “Oh I am so sad…tears…we will be lift him up in prayer…but as said above, Pastor Chuck of all people will use this to bring Glory to The Lord!!!”

Adrianna Kneefel added, “We love you Pastor Chuck…the Lord uses your life daily to feed thousands of His sheep. Praying that much fruit would come out of this and that the the sickness would be removed in Jesus name…we speak words of life! Lord let your servant live and continue to bring the Word. Chuck is a bright light in a dark age…Lord let his light shine!”

Rachel Fret said, “I was floored when I heard the news this morning. Praying for Papa Chuck and his family. .. my husband had an aunt who died of lung cancer a few years ago. She never smoked in her whole life. Doctors assumed that it was due to where she was living…Redlands, Ca…air pollution. Don’t know but yeah, we found out then that it’s not a cancer caused by smoking.”

And Cassandra Voight Estes posted, “Praying… Please Lord keep Chuck with us so that others might hear your precious word. You have blessed Chuck all these years. I know he will not waste his cancer and you will use it for you glory.”

In a previous tribute to Chuck Smith, ANS correspondent, Brian Nixon, who for several years co-hosted Pastors Perspective with Chuck Smith, wrote: “Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel Movement and one of the key figureheads of the Jesus Movement, has touched the hearts and lives of countless of people in his six decades of ministry.

“Not to mention his influence upon the fabric of Christian culture: from the 2,000 plus Calvary Chapel churches spanning the globe to the praise-and-worship phenomena initiated in the 1960’s. His impact looms large in the halls of modern Christian history.

“Sadly, however, Pastor Chuck had a brief setback, suffering a couple of what were described as ‘mini-strokes’ at his home on December 27, 2009.

“I was blessed to have worked side-by-side with Pastor Chuck for almost eight years, covering numerous fields: education, publishing, radio, and television.

“Not only was I able to glean from his words, thoughts, answers, and actions, on a weekly basis, but I was also able to watch him in a variety of situations: answering questions on a radio program we hosted together, cooperating with him on books, brainstorming and praying with him through tough educational situations. And, most special of all, to watch his interaction with other human beings.

“Let me say that … Pastor Chuck is a true gentleman. He is a man who understands God’s grace and the need for people to experience that grace in the love of Christ.”

I ask all of our ANS readers to pray for a swift recovery for this great Man of God, that he may be able to continue his amazing ministry for many more years to come.

I received this via email and am re-posting it here for people to pray.

Matisyahu

World-famous Reggae / Hip Hop artist, Matisyahu, shocked his fans recently by posting a picture of a freshly shaved version of himself on Twitter. Most people don’t make news when they shave, but this iconic pop star has become known for his close ties to Hasidic Judaism, and his traditional, almost Orthodox garb.

His explanation on his website said:

“No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process.  It was my choice.  My journey :to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life.  At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth.  I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart.  I am reclaiming myself.  Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.“

He told Rolling Stone magazine:

“The group I was heavily into said you can’t cut (your beard) even if you want to. Besides, it’s a representation of God’s mercy. If you cut that off, you’re like, cutting of God’s mercy. So I bought into that, for a long time…Then I realized that some of my ideas, at least for me at this at this point, were not true anymore. I think it’s a symbol, and symbols aren’t the thing itself. If I’m connecting with God internally, if I believe in my own goodness and God’s goodness, than that idea (not cutting his beard) just didn’t resonate with me anymore.”

In an interview with WNYC Radio, he said:

“What happened was that I recently realized that God’s mercy can’t possibly be connected to me shaving or not shaving. Over the last few weeks I went through a pretty major transformation, probably bigger than any in my life, due to several things, but a lot of revelations and a lot of realizations starting coming clear to me. The idea that God’s mercy is connected to whether or not I shave, is ludicrous. I need to just trust myself. If I’m deserving of God’s mercy, I’ll get it.”

From my point-of-view, I’m glad to hear that Matisyahu is wrestling and grappling with his faith. I think it is important for all of us to continue to grow, to reexamine, and to struggle. A faith that can’t handle such searching certainly is a crippled and impotent faith.

For me as a Christian, I feel that Mayisyahu is getting very close to the truth. He is sensing the inadequacy of law-keeping as a means to making you holy. He realizes that it is not his outward expressions of devotion or worship that makes him right with God, but rather his heart.

“For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

“Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
 Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

I delight to do Your will, O my God;
 Your Law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:6-8)

My hope for Matisyahu is that he will recognize the logical contradiction in his view of God. Indeed, if we can deserve God’s mercy, then it is no longer mercy. I hope he will discover, as did the radically Orthodox Jew, Saul of Tarsus (who became Paul the Apostle), about two thousand years ago:

“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:16)

We are unworthy on our best days, and unworthy on our worst. But thankfully, for our sakes, God has shown mercy on us, not because of our merit, but because of the sinless life of His son, Jesus Christ, and our trust in His payment for our sins. When Paul came to grips with this, he wrote:

^“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:2-4)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who works with Wisdom’s Gate Ministries.

Muammar Gaddafi

In the recent news of the reported death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, I was able to catch up with a couple of well-known Bible scholars to get their perspectives on this situation. First, King Solomon had this to say:

King Solomon (c. 1011- c. 931 B.C.)

“Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man’s house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity. Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him. Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for those two will send sudden destruction upon them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?” (Proverbs 24:14-22)

When I asked Matthew Henry to comment on Solomon’s perspective, he added this:

Matthew Henry (1662 – 1714)

1. The pleasure we are apt to take in the troubles of an enemy is forbidden us. If any have done us an ill turn, or if we bear them ill-will only because they stand in our light or in our way, when any damage comes to them (suppose they fall), or any danger (suppose they stumble), our corrupt hearts are too apt to conceive a secret delight and satisfaction in it-Aha! so would we have it; they are entangled; the wilderness has shut them in-or, as Tyrus said concerning Jerusalem (Eze. 26:2) I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste. “Men hope in the ruin of their enemies or rivals to wreak their revenge or to find their account; but be not thou so inhuman; rejoice not when the worst enemy thou hast falls.” There may be a holy joy in the destruction of God’s enemies, as it tends to the glory of God and the welfare of the church (Ps. 58:10); but in the ruin of our enemies, as such, we must by no means rejoice; on the contrary, we must weep even with them when they weep (as David, Ps. 35:13, 14), and that in sincerity, not so much as letting our hearts be secretly glad at their calamities.

2. The provocation which that pleasure gives to God is assigned as the reason of that prohibition: The Lord will see it, though it be hidden in the heart only, and it will displease him, as it will displease a prudent father to see one child triumph in the correction of another, which he ought to tremble at, and take warning by, not knowing how soon it may be his own case, he having so often deserved it. Solomon adds an argument ad hominem-addressed to the individual: “Thou canst not do a greater kindness to thy enemy, when he has fallen, than to rejoice in it; for them, to cross thee and vex thee, God will turn his wrath from him; for, as the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God, so the righteousness of God was never intended to gratify the wrath of man, and humour his foolish passions; rather than seem to do that he will adjourn the execution of his wrath: nay, it is implied that when he turns his wrath from him he will turn it against thee and the cup of trembling shall be put into thy hand.”