Read the Bible
Today's Devotion
From Dr. David Jeremiah
Good Question, God’s Answer
May 18, 2026
Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches.
Psalm 73:12
Recommended Reading:
Psalm 73:1-28To such as are pure in heart.2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;My steps had nearly slipped.3 For I was envious of the boastful,When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4 For there are no pangs in their death,But their strength is firm.5 They are not in trouble as other men,Nor are they plagued like other men.6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;Violence covers them like a garment.7 Their eyes bulge[{{f}}] with abundance;They have more than heart could wish.8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;They speak loftily.9 They set their mouth against the heavens,And their tongue walks through the earth.10 Therefore his people return here,And waters of a full cup are drained by them.11 And they say, “How does God know?And is there knowledge in the Most High?”12 Behold, these are the ungodly,Who are always at ease;They increase in riches.13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,And washed my hands in innocence.14 For all day long I have been plagued,And chastened every morning.15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.16 When I thought how to understand this,It was too painful for me—17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;Then I understood their end.18 Surely You set them in slippery places;You cast them down to destruction.19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!They are utterly consumed with terrors.20 As a dream when one awakes,So, Lord, when You awake,You shall despise their image.21 Thus my heart was grieved,And I was vexed in my mind.22 I was so foolish and ignorant;I was like a beast before You.23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;You hold me by my right hand.24 You will guide me with Your counsel,And afterward receive me to glory.25 Whom have I in heaven but You?And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.26 My flesh and my heart fail;But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,That I may declare all Your works.
Psalm 73:1-28
A timeless question has plagued mankind: Why do the good suffer and the wicked prosper? That question surfaces in the Bible in two extended passages: Job 21 and Psalm 73. Job raised the question because he thought he was a righteous man who had been made to suffer. And the psalmist raised the question because it represented an apparent contradiction. Both writers resolved the question by encountering God and His purposes.
In the latter chapters of his book, Job encountered God and gained understanding about His sovereign ways (Job 42:1-6). The psalmist declared that the contradiction in God’s ways “was too painful for [him]—until [he] went into the sanctuary of God; then [he] understood their end” (Psalm 73:16-17). The “sanctuary” represents Job considering his questions in light of the sovereign purposes of God and the fact that God will balance the scales of justice in the end. For him, it was enough to put his trust in God and “draw near” to Him (verse 28).
Don’t let the carefree lives of those who don’t serve God be a source of frustration. Let Him be your only desire on earth (verse 25).
The humble Christian is far happier in a cottage than the wicked in a palace.
A. W. Pink
