God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on God.
Sometimes it seems evil is more powerful than God. Especially when we see and hear of brutal and devastating beheadings of Christians in the Middle East. The rise of Islamic State group and their ghastly, violent acts is particularly disturbing. If we look at the world, or even our own sphere of influence, it may appear that the wicked prosper, and the Lord has little control over the events of the day.
The problem of evil and suffering is one of the chief reasons people abandon their faith and belief in God. The psalmist in Psalm 53 echoes Psalm 14, reminding humanity of its deep sinfulness and shame. The Lord specifically calls out those who persecute and harm His people. The author even mentions in the text that those who devour the Lord’s people are lost and vile; they consume them as “though eating bread.” They possess no thought or pause for their destruction of human life and heinous acts. With the brutal beheadings of Coptic Christians in Libya this year, Bishop Angaelos, head of the Coptic Church in the United Kingdom, prayed the evildoers “that the value of God’s creation and human life may become more evident to them.” Those who have no fear of the Lord have little comprehension of the severity of their ways.
The larger point in this passage is that without grace, we are left to our own sinful devices and destruction. Verse 6 declares a prophetic word, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” The Gospel firmly stands as the good news and answer to evil. We fully learn that the innocent do indeed suffer, but that God has entered into human flesh to take on suffering and deliver us from a meaningless suffering and death.
Everywhere today it seems most people do whatever they want without much of a belief in a higher purpose. But God will exact justice and send judgment for those who wrong His people or continue in unrepentant rebellion. The answer to the plague of sin and evil is, of course, Christ. He is offered to humankind freely, and His birth, life, death, and resurrection, enable us to transcend this world and unite with total love and goodness. The cross of Christ reminds us just how much God enters into suffering for us and how low he is willing to go to reach us. We can cling to its hope and promises and flee from the coming wrath for those mired in the ways of the world.
