Why Do The Wicked Prosper?
Life is unfair. There are so many things about life that don’t make sense. I had a great childhood. My father was a police officer here in Nashville. My mother was a CPA in Green Hills. We lived in what the time seemed like a mansion. Now looking back I realize it was a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house in Hermitage. My parents loved one another and we lived….together. My mother would make breakfast before he she had to head to work. My dad would take me to school…sometimes in his police car. And for a kid in first grade….that was as cool as it gets. I played t-ball and then little league. My parents were the team mom and dad. I was so happy with my existence. We attended the assembly every Sunday and Wednesday. My mom was on every committee in our church family. At one point…I never noticed that my Dad stopped coming with us on Wednesdays and then later he even missed Sundays. I just assumed it was because of his job. A police officer is very important. And then one day in the second grade my mom picked me up from school in our mini van that had been to little league and family reunions. We went home and all my stuff was in boxes. Mom told me that we were moving. I went into every room in the house saying goodbye to my wonderful life. But as I noticed in many of the rooms…My dad’s things were not in boxes. The pool table that I had learned how to hold a cue on was still there. His entertainment system that I had watched all of my favorite shows on was not in a box. I was confused. I innocently asked my mom why dad’s things weren’t in boxes. She told me that we were moving but dad was staying. It took some time to realize what the word divorce meant. I still hate the word. Since that time I have learned what divorce means to a family, to a husband and a wife, but also to a son. I have never spent more than three nights with my dad in a row since then. For a period of two years I never saw him. Why did that happen?
One of the most frustrating things about the whole situation was the fact that we were consistently at worship with the church. Not only did church life go on, so did secular life. I switched schools, leaving all of my friends behind. I have felt the whispers about my mom and about my dad in my classroom. Even though today divorce is common, then I was one of the first who came from a broken home. The counseling, the repetitive questions, the whole situation made me angry. It still makes me angry. Because I only have a taste of what my mother faces on a daily basis. Even in the body of Christians I heard the rumors, was asked the questions, and felt the criticism my mother faced because she couldn’t keep her marriage together. These consistently insensitive people and situations made me question where God was. Why in the world did he let that happen? My mother was as faithful a person that I have ever known. Through the criticism and the questions and the distrust and disdain, she kept her faith in God. And she would always tell me that our ship was coming in. She told me that people aren’t always nice, that my dad loved me, and that God loved me. I could stomach the first two for a while….but if God loved me, why did my mother and I go through this. As common as divorce is, what it does to the children should be treated as anything but common. Life is unfair.
I met a kid in middle school that upset my thinking once again. This boy openly told me that he hated his parents. He hated that they gave him rules. He hated that they continually told him what to do. He hated his curfew. He hated his house. He hated his dog. He hated his chores. He said with his own words that he hated his parents. I tried to ignore him. I didn’t like him. I didn’t like his attitude. And then one day he rode in a brand new 600 dollar bike. He already had top of the line clothes, shoes, he even had top of the line pens and pencils. And then one day he told me that his parents had been on a weekend trip to East Tennessee and had found a car for him. This kid was 14, and his parents bought him a brand new car. He went on to say that he was going to suck up to his parents until the new wore off. Obnoxiously he asked me what kind of car I was going to get. I told him whatever I could afford. As long as it got me to school and work and church it would be fine. And his response: church and God are a waste of time! Life is unfair.
My mom and my brother and I consistently went to worship and still my parents were divorced. We faced the ridicule of so called friends. And this kid, who said himself that he hated his parents, had everything. His parents were married, he got everything he wanted. And he believed that church and God were a waste of time. Why did God let that happen?
I understand how the Psalmist felt in the 73 Psalm. My feet were slipping, I envied the wicked, and I don’t understand to this day why.
In my reading of the 73 Psalm I ended with more questions than answers. Why do the wicked prosper? Why do the faithful face trials? Where is God in all this? Why is life unfair? I don’t claim to have the answers to all these questions. I don’t claim to understand why a young minister is shot to death, while idolatrous and worldly people thrive and prosper in this world. I don’t claim to understand why faithful people die of sickness that unfaithful people are cured from. I don’t claim to understand why my mom and dad were divorced while atheists live in comparative luxury. I do know one thing…I don’t like it, and neither did the psalmist. But the psalmist taught me a valuable lesson that I needed to learn.
This principle in this Psalm isn’t exclusively about the wicked, which is what I like to focus on. Its not so much about the have and have nots in this world.
This Psalm is about going into the sanctuary of God. For the Psalmist and for us the sanctuary of God is the place where we recall what God has done for us. We recall the times that God has been good to us. We remember the times of deliverance and salvation. In this place we can think about how much God has done for us and how much he longs for us and how much he loves us. In the sanctuary we know that we will all give an account to God about how we lived and what we did. In this place we have peace. Peace of knowing God.
The more I learn about God, the more I realize I don’t know. The wicked prosper, and I don’t have an answer for it. They live according to their own desires and their own wishes. They do what they want. And sometimes followers of God face trouble and enemies. I don’t like it, and don’t understand it. But I do know that they will answer for the way they live, as will I, and as will you.
We shouldn’t focus on what you don’t have in comparison to what others do. Life is not fair. But we all have the opportunity to enter into God’s sanctuary and be near to him. And when we are near to him, it doesn’t matter what anybody else has. He holds us up, he helps us endure, he is faithful to us. Through our failings He is our refuge. Regardless of what the wicked do or have, let’s go into his presence, into his comfort, into his sanctuary, and find peace. Life is not fair, the wicked prosper, but God will always be waiting for you and I.
