Proverbs 29.16
“When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall.”
Malicious people work hard to use public sentiment and popular narrative to promote their self-serving agendas. Because they understand that there is strength in numbers, corrupt people do everything possible to foster and stimulate groupthink, and then they use the growing popular sentiment to justify their distorted opinions and practices.
This proverb warns us to be aware of this and not let evil gain momentum in society.
Consider the evil of abortion. In the beginning it was prohibited in our country, then it was tolerated, then it was promoted, then it was protected by law, and then it has proliferated and done so gruesomely. Since the 1973 Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion in the US, more than 60 million unborn children have lost their lives to due to this ghastly procedure.
Wicked people seek the power and protection of popular opinion in order to promote their rebellion against God and his standards. The effect is a geometric increase in wickedness and corruption. When a combination of factors come into play, wickedness can explode, and that is precisely what we are seeing in our culture today.
However, we must not let the increase of the wicked and their corruption steal our hope and joy. Jesus said this to His apostles and to us: “These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16.33)
Do not let the increasing iniquity in the world cause your trust in God to turn lukewarm or cold. While the wicked take comfort in their swelling ranks, remember that God has already declared the world’s wisdom to be foolishness.
An essential truth in today’s proverb is that there are righteous men and women in the world. They are not perfect people; rather, they are people who have been transformed by Jesus. They are the people all over the world who faithfully walk with Jesus, and they are agents of God’s kingdom in the midst of the darkness and decay.
I leave you this week with these words from Psalm 37:
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.” (Psalm 37.1-13)
