The wicked are harmed by the consequences of the paths they choose. God’s commandments lead a person in the most direct path possible to what they desire. Only in complete obedience to God can a person be assured that any suffering they encounter is absolutely necessary to obtain what they seek and precisely calculated for their greatest benefit.
God is graceful in consistently providing us evidence of the benefit or harm of the paths we take. Through faith, the Lord teaches all those who seek him how to obtain what they seek, and how to avoid all unnecessary suffering along the way. The righteous are not disappointed in their hopes, and they obtain everything they seek and more through God’s love, knowledge, and justice.
God has given us the gift of choice, and we can choose to notice the ample evidence of good and evil all around us, or we can choose to ignore or act contrary to that evidence. Those who persist in harmful desires, flawed reasons, dishonest reasons, or unwise actions will fail to obtain the outcomes they seek. Instead, they will encounter increasing portions of the consequences of their suboptimal paths, whether in the lack of what they seek or the violent removal of what they thought they already had:
17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. (Psalm 107)
Although God delays the full weight of the consequences of both beneficial and harmful paths to enable faith and repentance, the consequences of life’s choices are always eventually revealed, whether gradually or suddenly. While a surprising number of people have an astonishing capacity to hide from the truth in life, whether here or hereafter, every person will come to an inescapable realization of things as they really are. The righteous will thrive in a constant joy fueled by a knowledge of the trust in and love of God they exercised in life, as well as a full view of the benefit others received from their sacrifice on their behalf. The wicked will be constantly tormented by the revelation of the harm they have caused, the evidence of the greater good they could have done, and the comprehension of what they could have had if they hadn’t rejected abundant opportunities.
The revelation of the truth causes pain to the wicked because it causes them to experience the loss of what they thought they had—either by its removal or the revelation that what they have is less than they thought. In contrast, the truth causes rejoicing in the righteous, either because it delivers to them the fruit of their faith, or if not, still shows them a better path to obtaining what they seek.
Those who choose paths that lead to unnecessary suffering will unavoidably experience the sorrow of the wicked. The outcomes they obtain will differ from what they expected:
But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. (Mormon 2:13)
Harmful desires cause unnecessary suffering. Paths that deviate from things as they really are will always result in misery, not happiness:
Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. (Alma 41:10)
Flawed reasoning causes unnecessary suffering. Flawed reasoning can be sincere, but its incorrectness or incompleteness will make it just as ineffective as willful rebellion from truth. Those who follow inadequate reasoning will find themselves surprised by the outcomes they obtain, which will differ from what they desired. They will be disappointed by not receiving what they thought they would, and pained by what they receive instead.
Dishonest reasoning causes unnecessary suffering. Those who deceive themselves turn away from the suggestions of honest reason, preferring the sweet lie that they can somehow break the relationship between cause and effect, obtaining a different outcome than that of anyone else who did the same thing they plan to do. Those who lie to themselves achieve nothing except the temporary denial of reality, and even this fleeting pleasure comes at the cost of the future debt of disillusionment, where the pain of violent reconciliation to reality and the undeniable knowledge that you lied to yourself are suffered in addition to the consequences of walking a suboptimal path. Additionally, for dishonest people to remain in their delusion requires them to flee from or push away any situation or person that sheds light on things as they really are. Unfortunately, people in this situation fail to realize that their situation is far from unique. It’s an extremely common reaction pattern known from the foundation of the world:
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3)
The sorrow of the wicked comes from obtaining the consequences appointed for the desires and actions they choose—consequences which are dictated by the immutable law of cause and effect declared by God before the foundation of the world, and which differ from what the recipient wishes were true.