Psalm 119:78 – Get the Bad Guys!

Let the arrogant, who wrong me with lies, be put to shame.
I will meditate on your precepts.

The Psalms are very real. You’ll get all the emotions represented. “Get the bad guys” is a common prayer, though it’s often disguised as praying for them, asking God to change them into someone we would like better.

I’m taking a bit of a side-trip with this verse, because the question is so familiar. When people ask about God and what God does for/to people, there are two big questions. First, why do such bad things happen to good people? Second, why do the wicked (or the proud or arrogant) prosper?

Both of these questions come from comparing ourselves to others. The question is why don’t we do better than people who are not as good as we are, and why do people who are nastier than we are prosper.

And thus the prayer to get the bad guys is most often a prayer for God to make people who are worse than we are prosper less than we do or suffer more. After all, they deserve worse than what we do!

I don’t blame the psalmist for praying that his enemies be put to shame. From time to time I’ve joined him. I don’t think God goes along with that plea. God’s more interested in getting through to me. And I expect to them.

Let those who boast, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who recommends himself who is genuine, but the one the Lord recommends.

2 Cor 10:17-18 (Author’s Translation)

Whose recommendation are you seeking?

Due to the connection to theodicy, I’m embedding my own interview in my series on that topic, just for fun!

(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)