The fact that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer continues to bother us much as the psalmist.  We long for a world of true retribution, where what one sows is what one reaps.  At least we think we do.  This longing is actually a sign of our recognition that God is incompatible with evil and that any world he created ought to reflect the rejection of wickedness and blessing on the righteous.  He is not a God “who takes pleasure in evil” (Ps. 5:4).  How could it be otherwise?

…

The psalmist of Psalm 36 offers one way forward beyond cynicism and despair.  It is only one way, because Job and Ecclesiastes find other, darker avenues of faith in the face of suffering and apparent meaninglessness.  Here, however, the psalmist offers a vision of a future where God’s original intention for his creation actually works.  In that future, the wicked “lie fallen – thrown down, not able to rise!” (36:12).  Although the world is currently broken, sufering under the consequences of human sin and evil, the time will come, says the psalmist, when God will set all things right and the wicked will get their just due. (Wilson)

Psalm 36

 For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD.

 ¹ I have a message from God in my heart
   concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:^[b]
There is no fear of God
   before their eyes.

 ² In their own eyes they flatter themselves
   too much to detect or hate their sin.
³ The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;
   they fail to act wisely or do good.
⁴ Even on their beds they plot evil;
   they commit themselves to a sinful course
   and do not reject what is wrong.

 ⁵ Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the skies.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
   your justice like the great deep.
   You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.
⁷ How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
   People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house;
   you give them drink from your river of delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light.

 ¹⁰ Continue your love to those who know you,
   your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ May the foot of the proud not come against me,
   nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² See how the evildoers lie fallen—
   thrown down, not able to rise!

Questions

1. What are the wicked unafraid of?
2. Why should the wicked be terrified?
3. When is a person transformed from wicked to righteous?
4. How do wicked people prosper in their wickedness today?
5. Why are we mocking of phrases like ‘wicked’ or ‘evildoer’?