Why Do The Wicked Prosper?

Updates:

By the grace of God I survived last week. My friend Matthew came and though the week wasn't what I'd hoped, Matthew and I made the best of it. It was good to go to the gym together, hang out, watch Left Behind movies, and go witnessing Friday night. My manager is officially gone and therefore I get more hours. I've sent an email to apply for a call center job at an energy company paying about what I'm looking for. I'll do some more job hunting and Lord willing I'll find a job soon and in less than a year I'll have my own place. Trusting God to order my next steps. I've applied for the Young Adult Pastor position at James MacDonald's church in Naperville, IL. I'm still barely in contact with a small Baptist church in NY. I'm also in contact with a rural church in MI which I was referred to, but they may have roots in the Free Will Baptist Denomination. If that's true... they would NOT like me. I'm displaying 2 of the 5 Solas of the Reformation on my hat and computer right now in public as I type!


Why Do The Wicked Prosper?

I've been humbled recently by the reminder of just how human I am, how human we all are. We may think ourselves spiritual, mature, and above certain things, but man... pain, emotions, and circumstances can sure derail our focus on Christ, a sovereign God, and a biblical worldview. Our emotions sometimes help us forget what we know to be true about God and what His Word teaches. As I was out witnessing with Matthew this past Friday night I saw so many couples... as I always do. It's quite the date spot. I began asking myself... why do all these guys (most of whom are likely not saved) get all these beautiful women? Yes, I actually thought that! We're never above those kinds of thoughts, especially in times of weakness. Lately it's been hard as I see parents with their children, husbands with their wives, people living the life I want so much. Lately I feel like if I were to walk through a door into someone else's life with a wife and kids that the transition would be in most respects smooth. It FEELS as if I'm already living that life and am ready to live it, though... it seems God doesn't think it's time yet. But I've wondered, Lord why have you chosen to bless the wicked with these things and yet though you've taught me so much and made me the man I am today, you've yet to bless me with such gifts?

I knew the Psalms had something to say about this idea somewhere so I asked my friend Matthew about it, had he seen anything in Scripture that readily came to mind on this subject? HE said there were times when he felt the same. He pointed me to Psalm 73.

Asaph is the author of the psalm. He says in v.2-3, "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." I find rays of hope in his words "almost" and "nearly." He recounts for us a time he struggled and hints to us that hope is on its' way before we even hear the struggle. He saw the prosperity of the wicked and wanted what they had. He continues, "For they have no pangs until death, their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind." By "fat" here he seems to mean "full/having plenty." They seem to have all they need and possibly more than they need. He then shifts to reality and tells us of how they mock God with their lifestyle. He says in v.12-14, "Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning." Asaph says the wicked are prospering and seemingly with no difficulty and yet he has been faithful to the Lord in His walk and is full of pain.

I can identify with Asaph... as I go about my days I wonder why God has yet to grant me the things He has granted those who don't know Him and further, those who actually mock Him. Asaph expressed a familiar difficulty in v.16 as he says, "But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task." Amen Asaph! To think on these things is a full time job with little progress made. It hurts to wonder why God would bless others and seemingly leave us in the dust... with closed doors, long waiting periods, and so much pain. Asaph tells us now though of his hope and as I share this with whoever is reading I must confess that though truth is presented to us... we may not always FEEL like receiving it. There are times when the hurt is too great, the situation seeming so big, that we hear these things and it doesn't change the pain. So if that's you... if you need perseverance to even be able to start persevering, as I've needed lately. I encourage you not to read with me what Asaph did, but to do with me what Asaph did. It's the only when we can do this that faith is refreshed and our hearts renewed in the Lord.

In v.17-19 he says, "until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!" Asaph saw that though the wicked seem to be prospering in this life, this life was all they had to look forward to. When we hurt in this life on earth we forget that this is not our home. When we experience pain here, we forget that a day is coming when there will be no tears except tears of joy in the presence of God. Asaph met with the Lord in the sanctuary and was reminded of the sweetness of the presence of God in only a glimpse. But that glimpse pointed toward an eternity. The wicked may enjoy this life, but they will exist longer after death than they will before it. We may struggle in this life, but we won't receive the spiritual death they will, we get spiritual life.

Asaph is reminded of his state before the Lord got ahold of him as he says in v.22, "I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you." We must also remember that while the wicked prosper on earth, they do not prosper inside. They are beasts; monsters of sin clothed in outward prosperity. As I began to think about all these couples Friday night I was reminded that physical appearance is not what it's cracked up to be. You can be beautiful on the outside and yet full of hatred toward God and love for sin on the inside. Lord, how could I forget such obvious truth!? The Lord looks on the heart! The Lord chooses the Davids who are men after God's own heart and rejects the Sauls who stand a head above the rest but lack the things God blesses!

Asaph's final words in Psalm 73 are all we need, "Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works."

The Lord is with us. He holds us. He guides us. He brings us up to be with Him when we leave this fleeting life. He strengthens our heart when it's weak. We can only see this though as we take our eyes off the world and off this life and lift them up to heaven. I challenge you as I challenge myself... to be near to God. To be in His presence in song and prayer. It's by doing this that we may take our eyes off this world... the difficulty we're facing and the prosperity we seem to lack, and REMEMBER Who we will be with one day. Thank you God that your Word is living and active and relevant. Thank you for friends who remind us of your character and point us to your word...