One of the recurring questions throughout scripture is, “Why do the wicked prosper?”  I(f there is a just God in heaven who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, why do the wicked seem to fare so well in this world.  If you are wired in a way that justice is a strong theme in your life, it is even more troubling.  

We live in a world now where the rich and powerful seem to be able to get away with anything.  People acknowledge corruption at the highest levels of government and yet little seems to be done in concrete ways to deter that corruption.  No one goes to jail.  And yet, scripture cries out for justice.

Through the prophet Amos, God declared to Israel, “Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:22-24).  For God. justice has a higher value than sacrifices at the temple. 

The psalmist brought this complaint before the courts of heaven: 

But as for me,  my feet had almost slipped, I had nearly lost my foothold. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. for they have no struggles, their bodies are sound and sleek. They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. Therefore, pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning (Ps. 73:2-14).

That text certainly seems to describe our world.  Men and women go to Washington to “serve their country” but soon are worth millions of dollars and their only concern is maintaining power.  There is a huge amount of corruption being uncovered now, but it is hardly being reported on by most news agencies and many doubt that anyone will actually be punished for wrong doing.

That was the psalmist’s complaint.  Not only did he complain about how the wicked thrived but that because of their affluence, many people praised them and wanted to be like them.  On top of that, the psalmist was a man who was trying to live for God and his life was difficult every day,  So, what do we do with this paradox?  There is a just God in heaven, but he seems to keep his hands off the injustice in the world. 

The psalmist went on to say, ” When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply 

till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin” (Ps. 73:16-18).

What the writer understood was that justice would be served inevitably and perfectly when these men stood before God in the final judgment. Some will certainly reap what they sow in this life, but all will face judgment in the end. One of our frustrations is that we want God to do what he has assigned us to do. Psalm 115:16-17 declares, “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.”  

The Lord commissioned Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth. He has given man authority in this world.  He does intervene, but often only in response to our prayers.  It is up to us to ensure that justice is done. The kingdom of darkness is not interested in justice, only in power.  The kingdom of light is the domain of justice and so as the kingdom of heaven spreads across the globe, so will justice.  Bringing the world to Jesus is the sole cure for injustice.  To be sure, there will be pockets of culture now where Christians have influence that will dispense justice, but we cannot depend on the systems of the world to express the values of heaven.  We must bring those systems under the influence of the kingdom.

Our frustration is that we want to see justice now.  That is a worthy goal.  So we need strong believers sitting on judicial benches, making laws in Congress, imparting godly values in universities, and pointing out injustice in the media.  The wicked will continue to prosper in this world until the kingdom of heaven engulfs them.  If our frustration begins to affect our faith as we ask where God is in all of this, we need to adopt an eternal view of life.  God lives in the eternal.  He knows justice will be dealt out.  Paul says. “God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to those who are troubled. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire” (2 Thess. 1:5-7).

God calls on us to work for justice in this world, but he also promises that whatever has been left undone, he will see that justice is done at the return of his Son. Again, Paul says, “¹ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord” (Rom. 12:17-20).  

God does not ignore injustice or wickedness or betrayal or those who have unjustly persecuted or wounded you.  All things will be set right when Jesus returns.  Should we strive for justice in this world?  By all means, that is our assignment.  But those who seem to be beyond our reach, will not be beyond his.

This past Sunday I was teaching our monthly class for those who want to be water baptized at our church. I was covering the spiritual symbolism of baptism but also talking about the pre-requisites to baptism which should include belief and repentance.  Everyone seemed to be fine with the repentance part until I mentioned forgiveness.  There was an audible gasp in the room which seemed to say, “Do I really have to forgive those people before I am baptized?!!!

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by the response. After all, Jesus had to speak to the issue of forgiveness on numerous occasions and even Peter asked how many times he had to forgive someone.  I also know from leading years of Free Indeed classes that most believers have forgiveness issues with someone.

At the same time, most of these men and women were familiar with the teachings of Jesus declaring if we don’t forgive those who sin against us, then our heavenly Father will not forgive our sins against him. But knowing that, these believers still found reasons to hold onto their bitterness and anger, as if their circumstance was unique and exempt from Christ’s command.

This is a very serious issue and I believe often rests on the assumption of many wounded people that somehow forgiveness benefits the perpetrator rather than the victim…which flies in the face of justice!  They assume that if they forgive, there will be no real consequences for the person who harmed them. I counseled with a woman years ago who had been severely abused both physically and verbally by her husband.  She had run away in terror, moved to another state, divorced him and then remarried.  She had married a good Christian man but frequently flew into rages at him and sliced and diced him with her tongue. She admitted he did not deserve any of that, but she couldn’t help herself.   

Her second marriage was on the brink of ruin when I started meeting with her. She was clearly taking the rage from her first marriage and dumping in on the new spouse.  Her bitterness from her previous marriage was poisoning her current marriage.  It wasn’t hurting her “ex” at all, but was destroying her and those she was trying to love. Eventually, I asked her when she was going to forgive her first husband.  She quickly and firmly informed me that she didn’t plan to forgive him and hoped he burned in hell for what he had done to her.  Ultimately, I discovered her deep-seated belief that if she ever forgave her “ex,” then God would forgive him and justice would never be served.

We then talked about Paul’s admonition to the church at Rome.  “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:17-21).

Paul knew some things about being persecuted, betrayed, abused, slandered and even stoned. And yet, he counseled forgiveness.  What he knew, however, was forgiveness is much more for the victim than the perpetrator. If the abuser does not repent of the wrongs they did to another person, God will deal with them.  Justice will be done.  You forgiving them does not get the perpetrator off the hook with God, it keeps Satan out of your living room.

Paul also wrote to the church at Ephesus saying, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:26-27). The idea here is to resolve anger and bitterness quickly.  Forgiveness makes that possible.  Holding on to anger opens a door so that Satan can gain a foothold.  The word “foothold” in the original language means to give someone a territory, a status, or even a sanctuary for worship.  Paul warns us that unresolved anger and unforgiveness brings us into agreement with Satan and gives him a legal right to set up shop in our hearts.

Forgiveness may bless the person being forgiven, but it is primarily about guarding our own hearts, keeping Satan at bay, and not hindering the blessings that God would want to send our way.  It is about letting go of the pain we keep resurrecting in order to maintain our feud with the other person. It is about keeping bitterness from our hearts so that the bitterness does not destroy our other relationships.  Ultimately, it is a huge weapon in spiritual warfare because it prevents the enemy from gaining access to us and poisoning our own hearts which leads to other sin and more pain in our lives.  

If you are holding onto a hurt or a grudge, give it to Jesus.  Let him judge and dispense justice.  Move ahead with your life and close the door on an enemy who rejoices in your misery.