The Slipping Feet Of The Righteous vs. The Slipping Feet Of The Wicked

The slipping feet of the wicked – their fate is sure and God will be vindicated. Their feet will not hold firm forever in rebellion against the living God:

35  Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’ (Deut. 32:35)[1]

The feet of the wicked are made to slip – finally – by God Himself:

18  Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19  How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors! (Psalm 73:18-19)

How about the feet of the people of God – shall they “slip?” No. Not in the least.

Psalm 17:5 -My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. 

Psalm 18:36 – You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

Psalm 37:31 – The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. (“his” is the one who is righteous in v.30)

Psalm 66:8-9 – Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. 

Psalm 94:18 – When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.

Why do the feet of the righteous not slip? Because there is One who keeps them from slipping and stumbling:

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

Solomon speaks to the feet of the righteous not stumbling as well – feet which the Lord will keep from being caught:

21  My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22  and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
23  Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
24  If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25  Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
26  for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught. (Proverbs 3:21-26)

The help of the righteous comes from outside himself, from one who never slumbers nor sleeps:

1  I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2  My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

3  He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4  Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:1-4)

He not only keeps these feet from slipping, he guards them:

9  “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail. (1 Sam. 2:9)

God is faithful. Does He command His people to be faithful? Yes, He does. Repeatedly. He also, however, provides what His people need (cf. John 3:27; 1 Cor. 4:7; James 1:17).

Praise God for His loving faithfulness in preserving a people for Himself – in keeping their feet from slipping!

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[1] This verse – actually, one phrase from the verse – was the subject of one of the most famous sermons delivered on American soil – Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” in the mid 18th Century.