Proverbs 24:18

His wrath. At first this may seem to be a selfish reason for an unselfish attitude. To pity a man in trouble just because the Lord may remove the trouble from him in displeasure at your selfish attitude, and perhaps place it upon you instead, seems an appeal to hypocrisy and egotism. One who has been completely filled with the self-sacrificing love of Christ will be glad to come into calamity and even under the displeasure of God if a sinner were thereby to be saved from wrath. Christ did it (Isa. 53), and Moses was ready to (Ex. 32:31-33). But Solomon’s warning is not to a good man who loves his enemies; it is for the evil man who rejoices in another’s sorrow. For such a person the reason given is a very valid one. True mercy cannot be constrained. It flows freely from the heart of love to all in need.