Psalm 13:1-6 - "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me."
In this passage, David was in the midst of a very difficult season of life. The promises he was faithfully waiting on God to fulfill were not coming to pass. While he was suffering immensely despite his faith and obedience to God, his enemies were in great delight over David's misery and their ability to torment him. These circumstances brought David, the man whom Scripture describes as being a man after God's heart, the man whom God had used to slay Goliath, the one whom had seen the Lord protect him against wild beasts and massive Philistine armies, to begin questioning God. Not only did he inquire why God had seemingly abandoned him, but also why He was allowing his wicked, unrighteous enemies to prevail.
Many of us can or have at one point related to David's difficult questions. While we can confidently express our faith in God's power over all things, it is admittedly challenging to hold fast to this truth at times where evil people are prospering or even allowed to negatively impact our lives. While it is easy to trust God's sovereignty during peaceful and prosperous times, the rise of a threatening adversary, wicked leader, or unjust circumstance can cause us to question God's ability to fight evil and protect us. Such is where King David found himself in Psalm 13:1-2, questioning whether God had abandoned him while being at the mercy of a powerful and exalted enemy. However, as the Bible repeatedly demonstrates, our God truly reigns sovereign over the evil that has permeated this fallen world.
An important point to consider is that the Lord Himself created evil and permits its existence.
In Colossians 1:16, the Lord is identified as the Creator of all things; furthermore, in Isaiah 45:7, the Lord Himself even directly states that He is the Creator of both good and evil. While reading this could lead us to question God's goodness and holiness, it is imperative to understand the reason for why evil exists. When God created man and woman, He desired for them to worship Him by choice; thus, He gave them free will, which gave them the choice to serve or reject Him. Unfortunately, as Genesis 3 shows, Adam and Eve chose to sin and allowed evil to enter the world. Man was no longer perfect, and his nature was corrupted by sin. This sinful nature passed down to his descendants and, as Romans 3:23 states, caused all of humanity to fall short of God's glory. Furthermore, Satan was created by God and was initially His servant. However, in pride and arrogance, Satan chose of his own volition to rebel against God and became an evil spirit alongside the angels he convinced to follow him. As the Lord is the creator of all things, He ultimately is the creator of evil and permitted it to exist when Adam, Eve, and the fallen angels used their free will to rebel against God.
However, even before the beginning of time, the Lord had a plan to defeat sin and death for the salvation of humanity. As God is holy, He cannot commune with sinful humanity, for Psalm 5:4 states that evil cannot dwell in His presence. As Hebrews 9:22 states that the shedding of blood was necessary to atone for humanity's sin, the Lord sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to enter the world as God Incarnate, live a sinless life, and die as our Savior. It was this perfect and spotless sacrifice that bore the penalty for our sins and made the way for us to commune with our Creator once more. Furthermore, through His Resurrection, Jesus overcame the grave, proving His sovereignty over death, which is confirmed in Revelation 1:18. Even though the Lord created evil, He, being our omniscience Creator, always had a plan to defeat it and save humanity from its consequences.
Even though evil still exists and is very prevalent in this fallen world, the Lord still proves His sovereignty over it in other ways.
The Lord employs many ways to establish His sovereignty over evil, which He can use for our benefit, discipline, and repentance.
As we faithfully wait on the Lord when evil people prosper and persecute us as David experienced in Psalm 13:1-2, God will clearly reveal to us that because He is the creator and sustainer of all things, He is perfectly omnipotent and omniscient, He triumphantly reigns sovereign over every instance of evil, and will bring it to justice in His timing, no matter how domineering and destructive it may be. As Scripture reveals, God makes perfect use of evil circumstances and people to work all things together for our good, discipline us when we fall into sin, and restore our relationship to Him through driving us to repentance. Furthermore, the Lord's ultimate victory over all evil has been perfectly won and finished through the triumphant death and resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. By remembering His perfect sovereignty over the evil that permeates this world, we can be like David in Psalm 13:5-6, trusting in His love and praising His name in all circumstances.