Proverbs 24:17-22: a reflection

17Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown, 18lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. 19Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked; 20for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. 21My son, fear the LORD and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious, 22for their calamity will rise suddenly. Who knows what destruction may come from them both?

Among these proverbs is a word about how we regard the wicked who seem to prosper: Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the wicked; for there will be no future reward to the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. It is easy, when we see the wicked prosper and get ahead, to be consumed with resentment, or even to envy their success; but the proverb tells us not to, for their success is temporary, and their end is sure.

Notice the two temptations the proverb addresses: fretting over evildoers, and envying the wicked. When the wicked seem to prosper, to get ahead by wrong means and enjoy the fruits of it, we can become consumed with resentment, fretting over the injustice of it; or we can even begin to envy them, wishing we had what they have gained. But the proverb steadies us: do not fret, do not envy, for their prosperity is temporary; the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

That is a needed word for hearts troubled by the apparent success of the wicked. It is a real temptation, when we see wrongdoers prosper, to be consumed with resentment or to envy their gains, as though they had the better portion. But their success is temporary, and their end is sure; the wicked's lamp will be snuffed out. Do not let your heart be consumed with fretting over the wicked who prosper, or with envy of their success. Their prosperity does not last, and their end is in God's hands. Keep your heart free of the resentment and envy that the apparent success of the wicked can breed; trust God's justice, remembering that the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out, and do not envy those whose gains cannot last.

Lord, your word tells me not to fret because of evildoers, nor to envy the wicked, for their reward will not last and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. Give me that steadying word for my troubled heart. When the wicked seem to prosper, to get ahead by wrong means and enjoy the fruits of it, I can become consumed with resentment, fretting over the injustice of it; or I can even begin to envy them, wishing I had what they have gained. But you tell me not to fret, not to envy, for their prosperity is temporary, and their end is sure. Keep my heart from being consumed with fretting over the wicked who prosper, or with envy of their success. Their prosperity does not last, and their end is in your hands. Help me keep my heart free of the resentment and envy that the apparent success of the wicked can breed; help me trust your justice, remembering that the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out, and not envy those whose gains cannot last. Guard my heart in your justice.