"He that is glad at calamities shall not be held innocent" (Prov. 17:5 JND).

When calamity comes upon another, if, in place of loving sympathy, we cherish gladness in our hearts because of their griefs, an impartial Judge is looking on who will see that we are visited in our turn.

FRAGMENT "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth; lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him" (Prov. 24:17,18).

Love does not gloat over the sorrows of others, even though richly deserved, and although the one who is suffering has been a bitter foe. Remembering that he is himself a subject of grace, the humble, contrite soul walks softly, having tears, not sneers, for the afflictions of his enemies. When it is otherwise, the eye of the Lord will note it; He will see that he who is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

FRAGMENT "Thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen:as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head" (Obad. 12-15).

When the hour of calamity struck the kingdom of Judah (descendents of the patriarch Jacob), Edom (descendents of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother) stood complacently to one side, delighting in the ignominy to which his brother was subjected. The desolation of Jerusalem caused him not grief, but joy. He joined with the Babylonians in casting lots for a division of the spoil. All this Jehovah’s eye had seen, and it was an offense to Him, as being the very opposite of that love which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth (1 Cor. 13:6). Because of having acted so contrary to every brotherly instinct, he should reap as he had sown, and judgment unsparing would soon overtake him, until of Edom it could be said, "They shall be as though they had not been" (Obad. 16). When other nations, such as Egypt, Assyria, and even Sodom and Gomorrah, are restored and brought into blessing in the millenial kingdom, Edom shall have fallen to rise no more.

(From Notes on Proverbs and Notes on the Minor Prophets.)

FRAGMENT
Let grace our selfishness expel,
Our attitudes refine;
May kindness in each bosom dwell,
As free and true as Thine.