The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
_______________________________________________________________
The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: The Lord loveth the righteous.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote: As a concluding thought in this eclectic and very personal selection from the psalms, perhaps nothing could be more fitting “for times of trouble” than this last promise. We began with the assertion that God is for us. We end with the assertion that He can and wants to and will “raise all those that be bowed down”—and all of us are bowed down sometime. If we are bowed down with worry or sorrow or tribulation, we can be lifted up. If we are spiritually blind or spiritually deaf, or spiritually lame, or spiritually dead, God can heal all those imperfections and restore us to strength and solid standing. If anyone falls we can be raised from it.
Nothing is more certain in the scriptures (and in the psalms) than that God will not falter or fail us, that He sleeps not neither does he slumber, that when we are weary and can run no longer He will lift us on the wings of eagles. The intent of this book is to show that divine love for us, to show God’s light shining in the dark places of our lives. But such an outreach to those in darkness or difficulty would not be complete (or even responsible) if it did not conclude with the understanding that we should never choose darkness, we should never wallow in despair, we should never make a habit of courting trouble or looking for it if we haven’t had any recently.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are indeed there to “[uphold] all that fall,” but we should never keep falling intentionally nor should we just lie there—again—waiting for the grace of God to pick up the pieces—again. In short, through all our trials in life we must truly strive to be righteous. We may not ever be free from pain. We certainly won’t be free from problems. We won’t always have bright, sunny days. Sometimes money, talent, opportunity, and tempers will be short. The Psalms have reminded us that much of the time there will be trouble enough to go around with headaches and heartaches in every direction.
But through all this we can be righteous! While we are waiting for help, we can try to help ourselves. While we are struggling with a problem we can look for the chance to relieve another who faces an even greater challenge than our own. We know we can’t escape trouble, but we should do everything humanly possible to escape sin. Heaven deserves at least that much from us in gratitude for our being raised up when we are bowed down, for being upheld when we fall. “The Lord loveth the righteous,” and no amount of difficulty in life should keep us from qualifying for that designation. ~ Jeffrey R. Holland, For Times of Trouble (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012). 152-53
