What Do You Do When Evil Men Succeed?
Reflections on Psalm 73
When was the last time you felt so much injustice you wanted to cry?
Have you ever felt like life is just so unfair?
Why do the wicked succeed? Why are the violent ones in power? Why is it that good men suffer?
Just seeing other people suffer is enough to break our hearts in two. Students who are bullied, employees who are cheated of their wages, children who are abandoned and abused. We may not have lived at the time of Christ’s passion, but we see His suffering almost every day.
Here are some video clips you may want to watch:
The scourging of Jesus at the pillar.
Here is a video about bullying.
Just watching the first 3 minutes is enough to feel the injustice of it all (be sure to turn on the English captions if you don’t understand Korean). The whole series is available for free on the official YouTube channel of KBS World (see here). It is also available on Viu.com and Netflix (click here).
While there are no easy answers, we can’t just sit back and let these questions linger at the back of our minds like wounds that constantly hurt our hearts. As believers in a good God, in a God who is both just and merciful, we must somehow lift up our concerns to Him who alone can answer our deepest cries.
Today, I’d like to share with you Psalm 73 (I’ll be quoting from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition). When I read this Psalm, I was instantly able to relate to its message. Why? Because it’s about how the wicked seem to prosper. It’s about the many questions we have when evil seems to triumph before our eyes.
Psalm 73
Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to the upright,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
It can be very tempting to be envious of evil men. We see them having their way and bullying their way to success.
We see them all around us - in huge organizations, in politics, in school, in our neighborhood.
4 For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
In our hearts, in our sense of inner justice, we feel that it just isn’t right.
There should be a consequence to everything. The good should be rewarded, and the wicked should be punished. But why aren’t we always seeing this kind of justice in the world?
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
There is something that really hurts inside whenever we see the wicked even boast against heaven itself.
We hear people cursing Him who is most good. We see them walking proudly as though they could lengthen their days through their pride.
What’s worse is when other people even praise them!
They are regarded as righteous. It’s as though all the rest are blind and couldn’t see the evil that they do. Why admire those who commit wickedness? Why give praise to those who lie and walk in deceit?
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
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 They are like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.
In God’s mercy, there are times when He allows us to see the end of wicked men.
He allows us to see that their end is not at all how we thought it to be. Their success is only temporary, all their happiness are fleeting. However they may try to, they cannot avoid their own ruin, for such is the consequence of their sins.
What we see about their lives that make us envious or bitter are but the external appearance of things.
Deep within, the wicked have no true peace and no true joy. Their days pass by quickly and all their works amount to nothing.
Who could ever be truly happy by being wicked?
When you are constantly angry or envious of others, how would you feel inside? Could a person who kills his neighbor and hates other people find the sweetness of love within his soul? How do you even sleep well at night when nothing could ever satisfy your greed or when all you could think about is being afraid somebody may still your power or your riches from you?
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast toward you.
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 with honor.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
to tell of all your works.
Let us not be disheartened when evil men seem to succeed.
Their victory is empty and their souls reap the eternal consequences of their actions and evil intentions.
“The revelation of Fatima is a reminder that we live in a moral universe, that evil is self-defeating, that good is self-preserving…”– Fulton Sheen
Let us remember that God is aware of their deeds and that He is Just. There is a time for everything, and He is still the One in control.
Yet let us be careful also to keep our hearts free from sin. We are not perfect and we cannot look down on others who fall. At any moment, we could also fall. We need God’s grace in every moment to stay in His path.
The wicked should not draw from us our hatred but our mercy.
For while they seem to triumph on earth, what awaits them forever is eternal ruin if they do not change their ways.
In this way, we can pray for those who seem lost. In this way, we can love others by desiring what’s good for them instead of what is bad.
“There is very much in the world that is bad. But usually the attempt to defeat evil engenders more evil. I advise you to do good; that is the only way to win the victory.” – Sergei Lukyanenko, Last Watch
“Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21 (WEB)
Download “7 Days of Healing Love” when you subscribe:
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” - Psalm 147:3-4
-When you feel broken
-You are God’s beloved
-You can trust His wounded heart
-When God looks at you
-When you look at Jesus
-To forgive and to let go
-Will you ever smile again?
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” - Psalm 147:3-4
If you choose to support Catholic Diary and become a paid subscriber, you will also get the following:
Why Subscribe?
Read more about Catholic Diary and the freebies you can receive by subscribing to our Newsletter. Click here.