Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

Many scholars think that our Psalms today, Psalm 9-10, originally constituted one Psalm.  There are several reasons for this.  First, the Septuagint, the ancient, Greek translation of the Old Testament, presents these psalms as one psalm.  Second, the two Psalms together make up an acrostic poem.  In other words each stanza of psalms 9 and 10 starts with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Psalm 10 picking up with the letter after where Psalm 9 left off.

Whether Psalm 9 and 10 are originally one Psalm or not, they do deal with a common theme: why do the righteous suffer at the hands of the wicked?  Why do the wicked prosper when the righteous have lives of pain and trial?  This was a particularly pertinent question back in the time of the Old Covenant.  God had promised his people blessings if they obeyed the Law and served Him.  Yet very often, the Law keepers seemed to struggle while the Law breakers seemed to do well in spite of their disobedience. 

Psalm 10 highlights the problem, giving a description of how the wicked operate in verses 2-11.  The opening verse wonders how God can stand far off when His covenant is being violated and the wicked are emerging victorious.  In many ways, the Psalmist never provides an answer to this theodicy.  Instead, he models what the righteous should do when the wicked seem to thrive.  First, they should pray.  Verses 12-15 are a petition for God to intervene on behalf of the weak and the powerless who suffer at the wicked's hands.  God is asked to act because of the arrogance of the wicked and because of His compassion for the weak and suffering.  Second, the righteous should still have faith.  The seeming prosperity of the evil should not cause the righteous to question God's character.  In verses 16-18, the Psalmist states unequivocally that God will come to the aid of the innocent who suffer.  His observations of verses 2-11 do not shake His faith in God or His understanding of God's character. 

Today, there are times where we still see the wicked prosper.  The guy who cheats on his taxes has extra money we don't have.  The woman who is unethical at work advances her career and gets all the promotions.  The guy driving 65 in the 35 zone makes the light while we get the red and get stuck behind the school bus.  In those times, we shouldn't let anger get the best of us.  We shouldn't decide to behave like everyone else because our observations of life teach us our commitment to God just isn't worth it.  We should pray seeking God's justice and we should maintain our faith in God unshaken.