“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.”-Proverbs 24:16
We have most likely heard a quote that sounds very similar to that passage: “Life is not about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up."
The quote is attributed to several people online, but none go back as far as King David. Amazingly, the truth has remained mostly intact even though it has been secularized to remove its spiritual overtones. Nevertheless, it’s the spiritual overtone that creates the context for this passage that I want to speak about today.
When King David wrote this verse, I can’t help but think the he was rehearsing the times that he had failed. King David knew a thing or two about failing? How many of you know a thing or two about failing?
David’s list was long but included some major infractions like committing adultery with Bathsheba, murdering Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband), took a census, in disobedience, that led to people’s death and repeatedly failed to discipline his sons.Yet, in the midst of that he writes: “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.”
Remember that spiritual overtone that I told you was so important? Although the truth is impactful for everyone, it is directed in this passage toward the godly. Those people that profess to follow God and live according to His Word. Somewhere we have convinced ourselves that failing means failure and that as a Christian the mistakes we make somehow disqualify us from the race.
The godly, however, are just as prone to fall and make mistakes as anyone else. What I have noticed in over 20 years of ministry is that the people hardest hit by the consequences of making mistakes are new believers and seasoned saints:
New believers feel as if they will never make it, because of their failings. They get some traction and fall, get some traction and fall, causing them to feel like they will never cross the finish line.
Seasoned saints, those who have walked with God for a long time, will often have a good run before stumbling and making huge mistake. This failure causes them to feel like they will never recover from their bad decision.
Can I let you in on a little secret: Failing has no favorites! Truth is, you are likely going to fail more than you anticipate. Do you think that David chose the number seven because that is how many times he could remember failing? Was he limiting the number of times we can fail as believers and still make heaven? Not likely.
Seven is the number of completion in the Bible. To have fallen “7” times could mean that you have failed God as much as someone can fail God. Ever felt like that?
None of us start out our walk with Christ anticipating that we are going to make wrong choices and bad decisions. The whole concept of repentance is to turn from our wicked ways to follow Christ. Yet, here we are covered in the aftermath of poor choices and some still living with the consequences.
As believers we can’t be naive enough to think that we will never fail. We should anticipate failing. Anticipating failure in no way excuses making poor decisions, but rather it keeps us humble so that we don’t get tripped up by our own pride.
Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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