Psalm 73:2-3, 12: But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches.
The psalmist Asaph in this passage, though he lived in ancient times, was experiencing a struggle familiar to many throughout history—the seeming immunity of the evil from trouble while they are doing their wrongs. In verses 4-11 Asaph details his observations of these people. To summarize, he felt that the wicked always seem to do well, even though their actions are evil and they blaspheme God. Among other things, we would say nowadays that it seems like the bad guys always get away with their evil deeds. Indeed, throughout the course of humanity’s existence on planet earth it has frequently been the case that the wicked have prospered while the good have suffered. Multitudes have felt the frustration that Asaph experienced as he penned this psalm. I have felt it myself a lot of times. As already said, often the good have suffered. The psalmist also addressed that fact:
Psalm 73:13-15: Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
Think about our lives in these times. Average criminals might get the book thrown at them while criminals from wealthy and affluent families only occasionally receive tough punishment. Government officials work to undermine America’s foundations yet are not tried for treason, security breaches, or anything else. The uber rich want to control the world via The Great Reset, undaunted by the deaths and misery they are already causing as the money keeps pouring into their coffers and as they continue traveling all over the globe with their I-know-better-than-you agendas. These are but a few of many examples. And what about over the course of history?
Royalty had more money than could be comprehended while peasants did well not to starve to death. Numerous corrupt governments have existed while many innocent and good people were framed for crimes and other acts they did not commit and were sometimes even murdered in order for them to be out of the way. Even churches have not been immune, and moving back to the present are still not immune. Back in the Dark Ages and even later, the Church burned people at the stake. Things are less harrowing today, but still, evil is done behind church walls, seemingly with impunity. The love of Christ is preached while persons with certain things in their background, such as drinking, prostitution, or prison time, are gossiped about or even excluded from the churches they wanted to join, while the leadership, walking in this brazen hypocrisy, are lauded for being excellent preachers, singers, and so on. What is fair about this? Nothing.
Furthermore, it does so often seem to be a waste of time to do what is right. The person who returns several thousand dollars in lost or stolen money might be praised by some, but most will insult or ridicule him or her. Crooked corporate executives might be embezzling loads of money while those at the bottom of the ladder might be slaving away, working fifty, sixty, even seventy hours a week while earning peon wages. They work and work, being honest, showing up on time, doing the best job they can, yet they never seem to rise, while the thieving superiors keep lining their own pockets. The student who excels in school is picked on and is frequently accused of being the teacher’s pet. He or she may be making the good grades, but their not-so-good friends are the ones getting the dates and the party invitations. Like the wicked prospering, many more examples could also be given of how it seems to be useless, even harmful, striving to be good and to do the right things. So what do we do? Is there anything that can be done at all? If not, what is our response to be as Christians to all this injustice?
To start with, we would do well to remember who rules this world: Satan. When God created Adam and Eve, He intended for Adam to have dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28). Once they transgressed God’s commandment not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam forfeited this right, and now the devil rules the world. Do not misunderstand—God is still in control. He keeps Satan on a leash, so to speak, not letting the devil and his minions do just anything they want (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6). That does not change the devil’s current status, however:
Luke 4:5-7: Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
John 14:30: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
Satan also has help running things down here, with fallen angels to assist in ruling and demons to attack people (Ephesians 6:12; Daniel 10:10-13, 20).Between this dark lord’s influence and the presence of sin in the world, it is no wonder that so much unfairness and injustice exist. That may be small consolation, but it is the truth and we would do well to bear this in mind. Doing so helps keep things in perspective. Also—and this is crucial—we must never forget that God is good and that He makes His goodness known:
Matthew 5:45: “…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Psalm 27:13: I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
When we are those who are suffering while the evil are seemingly getting away with everything imaginable, we must, as Christians, remember that God has great mercy. He hates sin, but He loves the lost and wants them to have the chance to repent. We, likewise, must love these wicked individuals and pray for their salvation and deliverance. We can protect ourselves from them when necessary, but we also must not forget the mercy and grace that God has shown each of us. Also, when our brothers and sisters do wrong we must maintain the proper attitude with them as well:
Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Matthew 18:21-22: Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
There is yet another thing for us to remember: The day of reckoning will come to the evil eventually (Psalm 50:16-23). Asaph had his “aha” moment concerning this, when he had contemplated the prosperity of the wicked and the seeming vanity of being good:
Psalm 73:16-20: When I thought how to understand this, it wastoo painful for me—until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image.
We can take consolation from the fact that injustice will not prevail forever. While God is longsuffering with the wicked, His patience will not endure indefinitely (2 Peter 3:10-12). Throughout history, all these same evil people whom others suffered at the hands of or otherwise were vexed about, came to bad endings. Some did so in this life, as when Nero and Hitler committed suicide and Joseph Stalin might possibly have been poisoned, for example. All of them met a bad ending on the other side, finding themselves in hell; for some their ending is not immediately apparent to others (Luke 16:22-23; 1 Timothy 5:24). But that ending did come, regardless.
When wrongs are being done, we are not to participate in them. We are to do what is right in God’s eyes no matter what the world is doing, even if it means suffering. That is not an easy thing to do, but God can give us the strength to endure, and He will reward us (1 Peter 3:13-17; Matthew 10:40-42). Those who are lost in the world need our prayers. We must not excuse their wrongdoing as if it is okay, but forgiveness and unconditional love are mandatory (Matthew 5:43-48). If we can put a stop to evil, that is good, but do not give in to the Social Justice Gospel. Elements of social justice are built into the way we are to live as Christians, so there is no need to resort to a manmade religious construct in order to make a positive difference in the world. In fact, SJG is a gateway to all kinds of unbiblical and evil activities and doctrines, such as progressive Christianity and Critical Race Theory.
Practically speaking, often there is little or nothing we can do to stop the wrongs and injustices in the world. That is especially true these days as we are most certainly living in the ever-darkening end times (Matthew 24:12). This does not still the cry of justice in our hearts, though. Even the lost have a conscience and want to see such justice and fairness (Romans 2:14-15), though they are far from being right with God. We are salt and light in the world no matter what (Matthew 5:13-16). And what of those who are saved who wrong us? There are Scriptural procedures to deal with believers in various stages of sin as well as the mandate to restore the repentant among them (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:3-11). Always be ready to forgive and to show love.
Indeed, there is a cry for justice in our hearts. It can seem as though evildoers will never be held responsible for their wickedness, and that being good is an exercise in futility. A day will come in which God will bring an end to all the evil that is in the world, and He will judge all the unrepentant and condemn them to the lake of fire for all eternity (Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 20:11-15). We must live righteously and pray for others, including these lost and evil ones, and we must walk in love and in one accord with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Justice will be served. Meanwhile, we would do well to remember our blessed hope:
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, 5:16-18: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
