You know the saying, “the grass is always greener on the other side”? Well, that seems to be the case, even when, I dare say, especially when, the owners of the green lawn extract its colour at the expense of others!
Asaph, the psalmist here, almost lost his footing by holding on to the notion that the arrogant prosperous, the wicked well-to-do, were getting a better deal from God.
Evil often seems to pay; but it’s just that. Appearances. Another saying goes, “all that glitters is not gold.”
The psalmist checked out the good looks of the violent ones whose bodies were “sound and sleek,” not bruised, broken and tattered like the ones on which they had inflicted pain. It certainly looked as if “5They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.”
Viewed from his perspective, the unjust ones seemed to be wrongly rewarded for their unjust doings, so they branded their pride around for show. “6Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.”
That’s it. They have a cover that is not sufficiently durable. It is only temporary; and since nothing is permanently hidden, if only when their deeds come to light will they face their self-inflicted judgement. That should be worse that any injustice they would have meted out to others. All their scoffing and malice, threats and oppression (verse 8) their boasting and blasphemies (verse 9) will meet their horrible end.
It might seem for a while, that you get the hard end of the stick and want to cry, “13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 Fir all day long I have been plagued and am punished every morning.”
Hey, even the worst disaster will come to an end. Hold on. Think again. The psalmist noted his error in the first verse of the psalm, “1 My feet had almost stumbled my steps nearly slipped” because I thought this way at first.
And then, he sought wisdom to think again.
“16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end…19How the are destroyed in a moment swept away utterly by terrors!”
Hey! It’s never easy to go through the grind, but if you go through hold on to the hard to beat truth that God goes through the stink with you. Don’t let go. Don’t let wicked ones rob you of hope. There is light at the end of that dark tunnel, and it will shine brighter than ever- so bright, you will not even have the desire to rejoice at the downfall of those who tried to set you up for destruction. You’ll shine alright. God bless you