Today's Bible Reading: PROVERBS 22:17-24:34
Proverbs 24:16
for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
We all fall. Being tripped up by trouble is enviable, unavoidable and universal. Whether we are faithless or a person of founded faith we will all falter and fall. We all stumble. We all fail. Life brings troubles that can cause us to topple. The problem is not that we fall or even the number of times we fall, but what becomes of us after we fall. We will either remain fallen or rise up. Our hope is that our fall is not final and there is a way to get back up after we have fallen.
Solomon contrast two types of people that fall into trouble and what becomes of them. He presents the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are defined not as those that are good or better than the wicked, for each of them has fallen. The Bible affirms that in and of ourselves, there is “none righteous, no not one” (Rom 3:10). The righteous are rather designated as those who have been made right with God through repentance and faith in Him. It is by their relationship with Christ that His righteousness has been imputed to them and they are declared righteous before God. But the “wicked’ of our text, have no relationship with the Lord and thus are declared by Him to be unrighteous.
This distinction affects the outcome of their fall. The “righteous” are the Lord’s and as such He will assist them when they fall. He will help them to regain their footing and “rise again”. Their defeat doesn’t leave them defeated. Like a loving father aiding their toddler who is learning to walk, the Lord helps us to get back up and keep walking. He picks us up, puts us right and puts us on our way. The righteous repent and He raises them up again. But the “wicked’ in contrast, have no such helper. When they fall, they are left to their own devises. They are left to lie there defeated and in despair. There is no hand to help them. There is no strong arm to aid them. There is no one to pull them up and put them on their way. Their unrepentant heart leaves them lying there with no help or hope. This is the plight of the wicked when they stumble.
The text doesn’t limit the quantity of our failures. The phrase “seven times” suggests an enumerable number of times. God is not keeping a record of the amount of times we fall into trouble. That is not a consideration when He it comes to assist us. We crash all the time and He comes to our aid all the time. We fall into ruin every day and everyday He helps us rise again. Our constant stumbling leads to His continual salvation. The Psalmist agrees when he writes, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Ps 34:19). The wicked are not afforded this same privilege. One fall can produce their failure. Their aid is absent. Their help is unavailable. Their defeat is certain and their demise is inevitable.
The righteous man falls but not finally and fatally. He is loved in the heart of His Father and he is lifted up by the hands of His savior. He is ruined, but rises again. He stumbles, but stands again. He falls, but finds his footing again. He arises not in his own power and strength, but by the strength of the Lord. It matters not how he falls, how long he falls or how many times he falls, by pardoning grace and the power of His God he will rise again.
Today thank the Lord that tough you fall you will rise again. Praise the Lord that He doesn’t leave you lying in your failure. Thank Him that every time you stumble into trouble, He is there to save you. Rejoice that regardless of what has brought about your ruin; you will rise again. Thank Him that no fall that you encounter is final and fatal. Praise Him for His powerful presence that is there to help you no matter if you fall “seven times.”
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