Why Do the Wicked Prosper While the Righteous Suffer? What the Psalms Say |
Why Do the Wicked Prosper While the Righteous Suffer
The Psalms are the most powerful prayers ever created in the history of humanity. There are no prayers stronger than the Psalms—none exist. They were spoken and written more than two and a half thousand years ago, yet this does not make them “ancient” in the sense of being obsolete or left behind. What was uttered by David and Asaph does not belong to the past. These words continue to live in the present—and perhaps today they sound sharper, clearer, and more piercing than ever before.
The Psalms have not merely retained their relevance; with each generation they draw closer. The world changes, the forms of evil change, the names of rulers and empires disappear, yet the inner question remains the same: why do the wicked so often prosper, while the righteous appear to suffer? Why does injustice so frequently look confident and stable, while goodness seems fragile and exposed?
This question does not belong only to “antiquity.” What took place in the days of David can hardly be called a distant past—it is the same reality in which human beings live today. And the Psalms do not shy away from this question. They do not smooth it over or hide it behind pious formulas. They offer answers—not superficial or comfortable ones, but answers that demand careful reading and inner labor.
A Question Scattered Throughout the Psalms
If Psalms 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, and 92 are read as a single sequence, one thing becomes clear: the question of evil is not posed all at once. It is scattered throughout the texts—in images, rebukes, calls for judgment, and affirmations of God’s sovereignty.
These Psalms begin from the same foundation: the world belongs to God, and justice lies at the heart of the order of creation. And yet reality looks otherwise. Evil is present. It does not hide. It acts openly and often with impunity.
Psalm 94 speaks of the pain of the oppressed and of injustice that seems unanswered. Psalms 24 and 48........