“The sins of some people are obvious, going before them into judgment, but for others, they show up later. Similarly good works are also obvious, and the ones that are not cannot remain hidden” (1 Timothy 5:24-25 NET).
“I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people” (Ecclesiastes 7:15 NLT).
When the guilty are punished, it’s not unusual to hear someone remark that he or she “got what they deserved.” Yet one of the great paradoxes of human existence is that people don’t always get what they deserve in life, at least as far as we can tell.
For instance, we might expect a God-honoring person who reflects the qualities of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 to receive the blessings of a long, healthy, and prosperous life. On the other hand, we might also expect those who are cruel, mean-spirited, and immoral to be repaid in kind. But that is not always the case. Instead, the honorable sometimes perish while the wicked appear to prosper.
This was a reality that Solomon, the human author of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes found senseless, (CEV), useless (GNB), and pointless (GW). Yet Solomon was not the only Biblical author to make this observation…
“… I almost stumbled and fell, because it made me jealous to see proud and evil people and to watch them prosper. They never have to suffer, they stay healthy, and they don’t have troubles like everyone else…Yet all goes well for them, and they live in peace. What good did it do me to keep my thoughts pure and refuse to do wrong?” (Psalm 73:2-5, 12-13 CEV).
Like Solomon, the Psalmist also struggled with this seeming contradiction- until he had a change of perspective…
“It was hard for me to understand all this! Then I went to your temple, and there I understood what will happen to my enemies. You will make them stumble, never to get up again. They will be terrified, suddenly swept away and no longer there. They will disappear, Lord, despised like a bad dream the morning after” (Psalm 73:16-20 CEV).
As the Psalmist began to seek the answer to this question from God’s perspective, the truth became evident. From our vantage point, it may seem as if some will never have to answer for their deeds but as we’re reminded in the New Testament book of Romans, “…each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).