Most of us have come upon situations where a person has done something (or many things) that are simply evil. Take abusers, murderers, and those who swindle the elderly, for example. In our righteous indignation, or simple anger, we might wish that those people were dead so that they could not hurt anyone else. Or maybe we wish that someone would inflict on them the same suffering they have caused others... ...is it the way God’s people should conduct themselves?...

This year we have examined joyful endurance, and for obvious reasons we have spent a lot of time examining joy. But the question arises: are there times when joy is not preferable? Are there times where joy is inappropriate or not helpful? To examine this, let’s look at Ecclesiastes 7:1-6...