Psalm 112: Bad News and Good News

I know this is a somewhat cliche question, but have you ever noticed how much press time is given to wicked people?

I spent a few minutes this morning looking through news sites and found the majority of press given to people who have lied, cheated, blackmailed, and stolen their way into the news. There were reports of infidelity, rape, murder, and horrific examples of violence. Pictures and names of the perpetrators, as well as details, often steamy and lurid, accompanied each report. One such report even made it to a national news channel where a self-professed adulterer and porn star claimed to have a sexual liaison with a high-level political figure over a decade ago, who, as the case may be, has never been known for his proper moral judgments. But you know what I didn’t see much of? News reports about good people.

Maybe this is because there aren’t any good people anymore. But, more likely than not it is because the news of the behavior of a good person doesn’t seem to sell as much as the news of the wicked. I mean, think about the headlines for reports that might come as a result of “good-person” news…

Man selflessly gives his time and money to help his aging mother.

Woman anonymously donates her food money to help a homeless shelter.

Children team up in local high school to put an end to peer-level bullying.

Firefighter gives his life to save family from a burning building.

I know, some of these have been, and are, headlines, but such occurrences are rare. I also know the news wouldn’t survive if all it reported were normal people doing normal things as they normally should be done. The vast majority of people perform more good deeds than bad during the course of a day, and the news, as it currently exists, points out anomalies and aberrations. In fact, the news really is the modern version of a circus side-show. People flock to see the bearded lady and very soon forget how normal and good it is that women are not bearded (my apologies to all the bearded ladies reading this, I mean no offense.) But, I think there is a negative consequence resulting from this sort of reporting that I’ve not heard many people discuss.

Somehow this over-emphasis on the bad makes us, (at least me) think that the evil ones have achieved a sort of immortality that the rest of us can never attain. We remember the names of Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin, Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson, Pol Pot, David Berkowitz, Omar Mateen, Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold for a very long time. And if not these names, I’m certain there are others that come to mind when you think of evil. But the names we don’t remember are those of the people these individuals have killed.

I would love to blame the press for this, but I think the blame lays with us. I remember the guy who cut me off on the road the other day. I remember the friend who cut me with their words. I remember those people who have betrayed me in the past. And to be fair, I remember most of the times when I did all those things to other people. But the people I have a difficult time remembering are those people who have treated me kindly. Maybe I’m the only one with a short memory when it comes to how others help me, but I suspect I am not.

Even now as I write these words I have to force myself to remember times when my parents, friends, and others went out of their way to do something kind for me. But I don’t think I should have to force myself to remember these things. I shouldn’t keep the wickedness of the world readily on my tongue while forgetting the goodness like yesterday’s news. I shouldn’t do this because in reality, when looking at the big picture, I don’t think it’s how it actually is. The immortality of the wicked is a short and grave fiction.

The psalmists often state that the righteous will persist eternally and the wicked will soon vanish. This theme is first stated in Psalm 1 where we are told the righteous are like trees growing strong by streams of water while the wicked are like chaff being blown away by the wind. It is further developed in other psalms, namely, Psalm 112. Psalm 112 tells us the man who fears the Lord and delights in his commandments will be blessed and endure forever. Psalm 112 describes the righteous man as one who acts justly, with grace and mercy, and is generous, giving to those in need. In short, the righteous man exhibits behavior that wouldn’t make the headlines today. And yet, he is the one whose righteousness will endure forever, not the wicked. The wicked, as Psalm 112 says, will melt away and quickly perish.

I suppose we have to endure the persistence of evil in the newspaper headlines for the time being, most likely for the rest of our lives. But we must not give into the subtle lie we so often believe that their “immortality” somehow eclipses the promises of God. While in the midst darkness, the light seems difficult to remember, but when that light comes, the darkness is no more: there is no memory of darkness in the light. It is this truth in which we must rest as we await the coming of the light.