“Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
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….…But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.“
Have you ever looked at someone and thought,
“Why do they seem to have it so easy?”
Maybe it’s a dishonest businessman who keeps succeeding. Maybe it’s a celebrity who openly mocks God yet appears to have everything. Maybe it’s someone who has hurt others and never seems to face consequences.
Meanwhile, you’re trying to do the right thing, and life is hard.
That’s the struggle at the heart of Psalm 73.
The psalmist, Asaph, is honest about it. He admits that he envied the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. He looked around and began comparing his life to theirs. And the more he looked, the less fair things seemed.
Many Christians have had the same experience.
We know God is just and good. Yet there are moments when the world doesn’t seem to reflect that reality. Evil appears to prosper. Faithfulness appears to go unnoticed.
Asaph wrestled with those thoughts until, as he says, he entered the sanctuary of God.
Something changed there.
His circumstances didn’t change. The wicked were still prosperous. and the problems he saw in the world had not disappeared.
Standing in God’s presence, Asaph began to see beyond the immediate moment. He remembered that this life is not the whole story. God’s justice may not always arrive according to our timetable, but it will come.
What changed was his perspective.
That realization transformed his envy.
I’ve watched many movies with my kids. Sometimes, especially when they were younger, they would become frustrated because the villain seemed to be winning. The hero was struggling, and everything appeared to be going wrong.
As an adult, I understood something they didn’t.
The story wasn’t finished.
That’s the mistake Asaph was making. And it’s a mistake we can make, too.
When we focus only on the present moment, it’s easy to become discouraged. But Christians know how the story ends.
Jesus died and rose again. Sin, death, and evil do not get the final word. The resurrection guarantees that God’s justice and God’s mercy will ultimately prevail. And what is to come puts anything anyone has in this life to shame.
So when you find yourself wondering why the wicked prosper, remember that God is still writing the story.
And His ending is better than anything this world can offer. In fact, not only can that help you overcome envy, it can motivate you to share God’s Word with those people whose lives are “so much better” in this world, because you know this world is coming to an end and judgment day is coming.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
When I see evil prosper and faithfulness struggle, help me not to lose heart. Keep my eyes fixed on You and remind me that Your justice and mercy will prevail. Strengthen my faith through Jesus and help me trust Your timing and Your promises. Give me a heart to share the Gospel with all people.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
