When the Wicked Win

St. Charles | Scott Grossenbacher
October 25, 2026
Psalm 73:4-12

“For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, ‘How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?’ Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.” Psalm 73:4-12 (ESV)

When the Wicked Win:

1. Their COMFORT Seems UNDESERVED

“For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.” Psalm 73:4-5 (ESV)

“And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (ESV)

“…For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45b (ESV)

“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:20-21 (ESV)

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:20 (ESV)

When the Wicked Win:

2. Their CONDUCT Seems UNCHALLENGED

‘Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.” Psalm 73:6-9 (ESV)

"Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.” Micah 2:1 (ESV)

“And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42–45 (ESV)

When the Wicked Win:

3. Their CORRUPTION Seems UNPUNISHED

“They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.” Psalm 73:9-10 (ESV)

“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11 (ESV)

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Galatians 6:7 (ESV)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” Romans 3:23-24 (ESV)