What does Proverbs 24:16 mean?

Here, Solomon expresses confidence that godly people can recover from setbacks. Those who do evil fall when struck by adversity. In an earthly sense, this is generally true yet not an absolute guarantee (Psalm 73:2–3). In an eternal sense, however, this principle is universal. Those who reject God are inescapably doomed when this life is over (Proverbs 11:4; 16:4). Honoring God and His will leads to wisdom (Proverbs 8:12–14; 14:32) which draws a person towards salvation (Proverbs 1:7; 15:24; 23:23 James 1:5; John 14:6). The person claiming Christ's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) can be forgiven of any moral stumbles (1 John 1:9; Matthew 12:31; John 3:16–18; Jude 1:24–25).

The book of Daniel includes two dramatic, miraculous examples of this idea. Evil did not prevail when Daniel's three friends were tossed into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to a colossal idol (Daniel 3). God protected them so well that there was not a trace of smoke on them. Evil did not prevail against Daniel when he was thrown into a den of hungry lions because he prayed to the Lord instead of to the king (Daniel 6). King Darius commanded that Daniel's accusers be thrown to the lions, and he acknowledged that Daniel's God was the living, eternal, and almighty God. The book of Esther, also, describes God's people rebounding from trouble while their enemies fall.