When we look around and see the wicked prosper, we begin to grow tired of being good. We start to ask why we bother to live godly lives when the bad ones do otherwise. We wonder why they thrive despite the wicked deeds they do.
It was the same picture that Asaph saw. And he was bitter. He wrote a psalm about it and we have it in Psalm 73.
Asaph knew that God is good and that He cares for the righteous. But he confessed that he nearly lost faith in Him when he envied the proud. He looked with sourness at the sight that they succeed while they do mischief.
What Asaph did not know was the fact that life is not that trouble-free for the wicked. It is not true that they make it at all times. They are not always strong. They also feel pain like other men do. They also have struggles as all men have. They do not have all their hearts could wish.
Asaph understood the plight of the wicked only until he came into the presence of God. There he realized what would befall them in the end. God impressed upon him that their end is tragic.
Hence Asaph wrote, “Surely You set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind…” (vv. 18-21)
What Asaph thought of wicked men is also what we have thought of them. And like him, we lose sight of faith at
times. We may think that God is doing nothing while the wicked prosper in the face of their evil deeds. We may think that He has forgotten us.
But He Himself is our sure reward. He wants us to stay in the path of faith – where He is. He wants us to fix our eyes upon Jesus – the One who gave us the faith and will likewise bring an end to it. (Hebrews 12:2)
What happens in the world is not bound to stay forever. God has the final say. Only what He has affirmed to stay will stay. As His Word said, “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous. But the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:4-6)
We need to see things the way God sees them. When we do, we will not need to envy the wicked. Hence we shall be able to say with Asaph, “Whom have I in heaven but You? My flesh and my heart fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)
Reflection:
1. What do you think you have that a wealthy and wicked person may not have? Why?
2. Make a list of all kinds of blessings that you have received from God since the time you came to know Him. Write down what you felt afterwards.
The best way to fight envy is to count our blessings.
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