People! With all the changes in our world, in our society, andtoo oftenin our behavior, in some fundamental ways, we never change. Always, God acts too slowly! Always, some people give themselves to wicked behavior! Always, people who give themselves to wicked behavior harass the defenseless and the weak! Always, the arrogant wicked prosper at the expense of the humble righteous! Always, the behaviors of the wicked generate faith crises for the righteous! Why does it seem the wicked prosper as the righteous struggle?
Stress that in some basic ways people have NOT changed throughout recorded history.
Sound familiar? As much as has changed this past generation, those situations have not changed. Those situations are true right now, and those situations were true three thousand years ago! Those situations will continue to be true in the future!
Stress the basic confusion/struggle of the righteous as they endure the opposition of wicked people has not changed. The question, How could this be? remains and the struggle to understand continues.
Have you not found those situations to be true in your experience and observations? Is it not true that those situations are the basis for some of your largest faith crises? Hopefully, the awareness that the basis for faith crises always have existed will provide you with a fresh perspective. If you struggle to be righteous, these struggles are not newnot in any way!
Stress how easily this question can become a faith crisis when righteous people endure difficult moments that are caused when wicked people cause a righteous person unfair struggle.
Can you hear the palmists agony as he begins the psalm? Things were not well! Lord, why are You distancing Yourself from us believers? When troubled times remind us of our great need for Your closeness, why are You so difficult to locate? The wicked are overflowing with self-confidence as they bear down on defenseless us. They make our existence miserable, and they are never the victims of their own plots. We suffer and they laugh! It is not fair!
Stress the agony the psalmist expressed.
Then the psalmist began a long, graphic description of the wicked people who caused them so much trouble. The wicked bragged because if they wanted it, they had it. They were so proud of themselves and their accomplishments that they laughed at God in the conviction that He did not even exist.
The value of this powerful description will be found in presenting it realistically. Do not ignore or slight the struggle as the psalmist seeks to understand and thus maintain faith in God.
Those who were wicked were always prosperous. Gods judgments were so above them that they never saw them. They ridiculed those who opposed them. They were so self-confident they feared nothingnot even the future!
The wicked lived what society calls the good life and were enormously confident that nothing would change for them. They were extremely confident they always would be the dominating force. Nothing would change for them!
They could not speak without cursing. They were constantly deceiving others. All they wanted to do was to oppress people. They were constantly plotting how to cause others heartache. When they were around peoples living places, they lurked about and hid in order to find and destroy the innocent. They were constantly on the lookout for the defenseless; they were as dangerous as a lion hiding in the brushes ready to pounce on the unsuspecting. They constantly set traps for the weak and vulnerable.
The wicked were foul-mouthed, intimidating, and never to be trusted. They were constantly hurting others, and were never the victimsthey were the cause of hurt who successfully avoided suffering. They searched for people they could take advantage ofthey, themselves, were never at risk. However, people who easily could be taken advantage of were at great risk.
Their victims were no match for those who attacked them! Their view of God was so idolatrous! They thought God was so involved with His own interests and affairs that He had neither time to see nor interest in what they did to others.
The wicked were careful to make certain they always had the advantage. They never were at risk; they won every time. God was too self-absorbed to pay attention to what they did! (That was a common view of idolatrous gods. See 1 Kings 18:25-29.)
Next, the psalmist pled with God to take action against the wicked oppressors. Notice what the wicked are doing to us! Do not forget our struggle! Be offended by how they view you! They count on the fact that You will not get involved!
The psalmist is seeking to motivate God to action. People have been known to plead, to promise, to remind, and even to try to force God to act as they want Him to act. The psalmist was not trying to go out of the bounds of righteous conduct, but he was seeking to move God to act. Do we not often seek to do that through prayer requests?
I know You are involved. I know You do see what the wicked do. I know you will act. You are the only protection we have, our only defense. Please let the wicked experience the misery they have caused those they oppressed. Make them know what it is like to suffer! Oppose them until wickedness no longer exists!
The struggle of the psalmist is evident. He was seeking to move God to act, but He was also seeking to affirm faith in God in a difficult situation. Can you not identify with the psalmists struggle?
I know who You areYou are the King, and You always will be the King! You decide the destiny of nations (the wicked are no match for you)! Never let the oppressed righteous doubt that You hear us! Give us strength to endure! Be the champion of the defenseless! End the reign of terror of the wicked oppressors!
Though the psalmist struggled with the dilemma of how righteous people could suffer so much at the hands of wicked people, he had not lost faith in God or Gods identity. He did not want any other righteous person to lose faith in God.
Begin by noting the dilemma that caused the oppressed who are righteous to struggle in all ages: How can people who are righteous in their devotion to God be oppressed by wicked people who ignore God? Is the answer to be found in a weakness in God? Is the answer to be found in the oppressed having an incorrect definition of righteous devotion to God? Is the answer found in neither? This unanswered struggle is not a new problem!
Acknowledge that the dilemma of righteous people suffering exists, and has existed for thousands of years. Avoid the temptation of offering an over-simplified answer. Be certain the students understand the dilemma caused when the wicked cause the righteous to endure suffering.
Continue by noting that there are numerous factors involved in this complex struggle.
1. What is your view of God? What is the source of your concepts of God?
2. Is more happening in this struggle than just the conflict between good and evil in this physical world? (Consider Pauls statement in Ephesians 6:10-12.)
3. Is the source (are the sources) of the consequences which produce the physical struggle obvious and easily recognized? (Is it possible for the righteous to endure physical suffering as a result of consequences to acts that the suffering righteous do not even know about?)
4. Will devotion to the values of righteousness produce struggle as those devoted to the values of wickedness oppose the values of righteousness?
5. For what reason are you a Christian? (If your answer is some form of avoiding pain and struggle in this physical world, you need to examine your motives. Consider Hebrews 11:13-16.)
6. Did Jesus perfectly do the will of God? Did he suffer? Was He executed? Did God fail in Jesus? Do you see a contrast between those who seek to avoid struggle turning (in their quest) to a Savior who endured physical suffering?
Be certain to help the students understand it is a complexnot a simpleissue. Use the questions as an illustration of how complex the matter is. There are some matters that are beyond the human ability to understand or answer. Few people realize how much their religious answers/views are based on traditional approaches or handed down answers which have never examined scripture. There are moments that it is shocking to learn our assumptions are nothing more than thatassumptions!
Consider this suggestion: The prayer of the righteous person is not focused in escaping physical struggle, but it is centered in the request for the strength to endure physical suffering. In the physical world, the righteous will be subjected to the assaults of the wicked.
It is disturbing to see how often our prayers are (a) an attempt to manipulate God (b) to achieve a specific physical outcome we desire RATHER than an expression of faith in God regardless of what happens. Never forget that we trust God no matter what Satan does or does to us as he opposes God and His purposes. If God could produce a universal Savior from the cross, He can produce your salvation from anything that happens to you!
For Thought and Discussion:
1. Discuss the struggle, in all ages, to grasp why the righteous suffer because of the acts of the wicked.
The discussion should include this understanding: the power of God figures prominently in the dilemma.
2. What was the psalmists description of the wicked who were causing the struggle?
They were arrogant, haughty, wealthy, condescending, foul-mouthed, distrustful, oppressive, sneaky, dangerous, hurtful, conceited, and impressed with themselvesnot God.
3. Discuss what the psalmist knew. How does that intensify the struggle of the righteous?
The psalmist knew who God was and that He listened to the oppressed. It intensified the struggle of the righteous because they must ask, How can God listen and the suffering continue?
4. What were the six questions given to illustrate that this is a complex issue?
a) What is your view of God? What is the source of that view?
b) Is more happening in this struggle than the conflict between good and evil in this physical world?
c) Are the consequences that produce this struggle obvious?
d) Will devotion to the values of righteousness produce a clash when they encounter devotion to the values of wickedness?
e) For what reason are you a Christian?
f) How do you explain Jesus, his suffering, the cross, and Gods triumph in all of that?
5. Discuss the prayer suggestion made in this lesson.
The discussion should include the awareness that the focus of prayer is not escape from physical suffering, but strength to endure physical suffering.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 5