Wickedness on the Earth

Dr. Couch, sometimes it seems as if the wicked will prevail on this earth. But what does the Scriptures say about this? I cannot help but think of our present President! What do you think? And by the way, do you see a lot of false pride in our leader? ANSWER;  God allows things to happen for specific reasons. For example, I love Psalm 17. It reminds us that God will have the last word! David pleads with the Lord and says: "Keep me [O God] as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings" (v. 8). Without the Lord's protection the "wicked will despoil me" (v. 9a), and "My deadly enemies will surround me. ... Because they close their unfeeling heart; and with their mouth they speak proudly" (vv. 9b-10).    When the lost go about they have no perspective as to what life is all about. They just go about with their eyes cast "down to the ground" (v. 11). They do not look up and know what is happening all about them. They are blinded to the reality of living! And they certainly know nothing about the Lord. They think they are smart but in reality, they are not!    They love to harm and rule over the Godly. They are "like a lion that is eager to tear; and as a young lion lurking in hiding places" (v. 12). They for the moment look so majestic and at peace but this is not so! They are quick to pounce on the righteous.    The psalmist David then pleads with the Lord: "Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low; deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword" (v. 13).    The lost, the men of this world, have their portion only in this life (v. 14). With God's goodness and His treasure, they fill their stomachs (v. 14b). They live out their life and have children, but they leave their abundance to their next generation, "their babes" (v. 14b). But then David, a righteous and Godly man, pleads: "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake" from the sleep of going home (v. 15).    On David's Psalm 17 Unger writes: "David calls upon the Lord to hear his righteous cause, to attend unto his cry, to give an ear to his prayer, to let God's eyes see things that are equitable. Though David was not perfect yet he still walked in obedience to the Word of God, "the Word of Your lips (Psa. 119:9) that is, that which came from the mouth and the heart of the Lord! David's steps must hold fast to God's steps and His path.    By the way, the "apple" of God's eye is actually in Hebrew "the little man, that is the pupil" of the eye. When you look closely at someone's pupil, you see looking back at you "a little man." The Word of God has humor!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (7-10)