”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.“
Proverbs 24:17-18
As members of humanity we are to respect and love our fellow man. This is a divine decree. It is so important in fact that when asked what the greatest commandment was, Christ said it was to love the LORD, your God with all our heart, soul and mind.
He then added the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Seems like he was taking the opportunity to make a point of loving each other.
One of the basic elements in the book of Proverbs is the instruction to treat our fellows, whatever rank they hold, with respect. It goes so far as to say if we do not we are offending the Creator.
Therefore we are to respect everyone, even our enemies. We are not to be happy when our enemy falls.
Personally, I do not think we are precluded from celebrating when we win.
However, we are not to celebrate the loss, to revel in the hurt of others, to watch with pleasure as they are suffering.
The LORD created us all. We are all his children. He mourns the suffering of everyone of his children.
When he watches some of his children jubilant over the suffering of his other children it displeases him.
The passage insinuates he, the LORD, is in charge of the battle. If we rejoice when our enemy falls or are glad when our enemy stumbles, the LORD, may be displeased and turn away the wrath from the enemy.
Meaning, he wanted the enemy destroyed but because of our actions he will allow the enemy to escape judgement.
This opens so many questions and leaves so many topics open about war, conflict, and everyday life. Is there games of chance? Is war chaos? Or is there an unseen hand moving?
This is not the direction to take the current discussion but it is something to ponder.
Currently, the passage above admonishes us to be respectful of others.