What Do We Do When The Wicked Are Winning?

"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” - Psalm 11:3 

It feels like everything is falling apart.  Daily the news media tells us that everything foundational is being destroyed.  All we hold dear is slipping away.  It appears our enemies have gained irreversible ground.

In Psalm 11 David responded to the bad news media of his day.  An unnamed source was encouraging David to "flee like a bird to your mountain” (11:1).  His enemies posed a real threat toward the "upright in heart" (11:2).  David was being tempted to give up because his enemies had surely won.  He was being told that the damage was beyond repair.  Verse 3 echoes a question many of us may be asking, "if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  

Psalm 11 instructs believers on what to do when the wicked are winning.  

First, we must build our hope on the reality that God rules over all nations and all His enemies.  As David was being tempted to flee, God was right where He always is.  Psalm 11:4 says, "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven."  Simply put, God is unmoved as King over all.  The nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain; but He who sits in the Heavens laughs and is unconcerned (Psalm 2:1-4).  If our faith is not in an unshakable God, then the world will shake us with its violence.  While the wicked may advance on earth, God's kingdom in Heaven is unmoved.

Next, we must have confidence that God will judge.  This is where David spends most of the psalm.  At the end of verse 4 we read that God "sees".  We read in verse 5 that the Lord's soul "hates the wicked and the one who loves violence."  Then we read David's prayer in verse 6, "Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup."  

God's enemies will never triumph against Him.  Believers live in light of certain victory.  God's people play on the winning team.  We do not have to worry about being on the "right side of history" because Christians are on the right side of the Author of history!  God sees and God will judge; we are called to faithfulness in the in-between.

Finally, we must rest in God's righteousness.  He will do what is right.  His Word is truth and we follow His commands.  God will not simply be with the upright, but will reward them with Himself.  Verse 7 reminds us, "For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face."  Because we will dwell with God forever, surely we can live in faithfulness to His Word in the present.  

Psalm 11 answers the question "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?"  The solution is really very simple: God's people are to continue to do what we always do.  We must continue to worship, to make disciples of the nations, to establish our families, and to fight to build the Kingdom of God.  Psalm 11 is a call to righteous deeds (which God loves) in a culture of unrighteousness (which God hates).  

I know what the headlines say.  The wicked appear to be winning.  But all their victories are only temporary.  The Kingdom of Heaven remains unphased.  Through the righteous deeds of its citizens, God's kingdom presses forth, though not without courage.  May we be found faithful in continued service to our King.