Psalm 73 / Why do the wicked prosper?

What do you do with your questions?

How do you respond to situations in life that seem unfair? Or when people who are far from God seem to prosper and succeed when you are walking with God and but continue to struggle.  

One of the beautiful things about Scripture is it’s relevance. Read the struggle from one of the writers from Psalms:

73 Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart. 

He acknowledges who God is and His goodness, but then gets real…

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

The author is honest in his lament – he almost walked away from the Lord, almost doubted. 

He saw the prosperity of the wicked and sensed jealousy and anger start to creep up in his heart. 

The author starts to get bitter at God, because he had worked so hard to be pure:

13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
    and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
    and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

The more he tried to figure it out on his own, the more tired he got. Have you ever felt that?

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,

But then, he went before the Lord. 

He went to sit with His Savior, and the result was miraculous:

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their end. 

God began to give him perspective on the future awaiting those who reject Him:

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

God will bring justice – righteous, perfect, holy justice.

The author begins to realize this, AND, recognize how he was unfairly blaming God:

21 When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
    I was like a beast toward you.

He was bitter, angry, treating God unfairly and immaturely. 

DESPITE THAT, the author comes back to this truth about God:

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

When confronted with situations that seem unfair, with moments in life that are hard, or when jealousy begins to creep in, LEAN INTO GOD.

Frustrated, bitter, angry, the author comes full circle in recognizing God’s goodness and faithfulness. Even in hard times, when God seems far, he is CONTINUALLY WITH US.

He holds our hands, He guides and counsels, He brings us to Heaven, even when we fall short, God gives us strength and holds us up. 

After all that anger, and all those questions, the author lands on this:

28 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.

So, here is the encouragement in all of this:

When the weight of the world seems heavy.

When those who are far from God seem to unfairly prosper.

When your heart begins to get bitter, and you begin shaking your fist at God.

Enter His sanctuary, get quiet before Him, recognize His goodness and sovereignty, and understand that it is good for you to be NEAR GOD.

Stay near. 

Much love, 

Pastor Dave

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