שְׂאֵ֣ת פְּנֵי־רָשָׁ֣ע לֹא־ט֑וֹב לְהַטּ֥וֹת צַ֝דִּ֗יק בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃
악인을 두호하는 것과 재판할 때에 의인을 억울하게 하는 것이 선하지 아니하니라
Rabbeinu Bahya
Onkelos believes that our verse speaks of G’d repaying the sinner generously for his relatively insignificant good deeds so that He will not have to use unrewarded good deeds as ameliorating the eventual punishment of such people in the hereafter. G’d chooses the inferior world to be the arena in which such sinners receive their rewards, a world which is brief and transient. By doing so, He is free to deny such people any share in the world to come, a world which is unending. It follows that what the onlooker perceives a the “good fortune” of the sinner in this life is actually part of his ill fortune, seeing it is the cause he will not enjoy life in the hereafter.
This is what David alluded to in Psalms 92,7: “a foolish man cannot know, a fool cannot understand זאת, this.” Such people as the ones David refers to do not understand the workings of the attribute זאת, the way the attribute of Justice works. This is also what is meant when the psalmist describes in the following verse: בפרוח רשעים כמו עשב ויציצו כל פועלי און—להשמדם עדי עד, “when the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers blossom; it is only in order to destroy them forever.” G’d often treats the righteous in the opposite way by punishing him for his relatively few sins through inflicting pain and discomfort on him in this life so as to preserve his life in the hereafter fully intact.
This is what David alluded to in Psalms 92,7: “a foolish man cannot know, a fool cannot understand זאת, this.” Such people as the ones David refers to do not understand the workings of the attribute זאת, the way the attribute of Justice works. This is also what is meant when the psalmist describes in the following verse: בפרוח רשעים כמו עשב ויציצו כל פועלי און—להשמדם עדי עד, “when the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers blossom; it is only in order to destroy them forever.” G’d often treats the righteous in the opposite way by punishing him for his relatively few sins through inflicting pain and discomfort on him in this life so as to preserve his life in the hereafter fully intact.