At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: But when they perish, the righteous increase.
Proverbs 28:28
The wicked and the righteous cannot occupy the same space. They are incompossible. One of the first things that God did after the Fall was to establish this as the foundational antithesis—the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent were not going to be able to “just get along” (Gen. 3:15). The history of the world is bound up with the history of this long war.
In this proverb, we see that when the wicked are in the ascendancy, other men need to take shelter. This is a natural consequence of the wicked exhibiting either their cruelty or their vainglory. When they are being cruel, they destroy the lives of others on purpose (Ps. 71:4). The impulses of malice provide their own justification. But when they want to be known as “benefactors” (Luke 22:25), they do all their damage by means of blundering and incompetence. In either case, reasonable men must take measures to protect themselves. Gideon has to thresh wheat in the wine vat (Judg. 6:11), hiding from the Midianite IRS.
The alternative is not found when the righteous and unrighteous work out a deal. The alternative is found when the wicked perish. And when the wicked perish, often done in by their very own bad ideas, the righteous are able to flourish and increase.
And this is what our basic prayer should be, that God give His people room to grow. But this is not going to happen apart from the wicked being removed—either by removal, or by conversion.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4).
