Ecclesiastes 7:15

"I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is. righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is. wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness."who perishes" -that is,. very godly man who dies prematurely, or whose faithfulness to God is the reason why he is persecuted or killed. The Bible is filled with such men, Abel, John the Baptist, Jesus, James the brother of John, etc…Compare with Psalm 73. Righteous men often have suffered (Matthew 5:10-12;. Tim. Ecclesiastes 3:12). At times, being righteous actually keeps you from prospering in. physical sense (Hebrews 10:32ff). Thus the argument which says, "If you are right with God, then why aren't you rich?", is both foolish and naïve.

"prolongs his life" -that is, prolongs his physical life by being wicked, i.e. by compromising his principles or by having no principles at all. While the wicked at times do die young (Exo. Ecclesiastes 20:12; Deut. Ecclesiastes 4:40), there are exceptions. And these exceptions shouldn't bother us, or move us to question our faith or God's justice. The friends of Job were under the impression that being righteous would automatically protect you from any bad thing (physically) happening to you (Job 4:7-9; Ecclesiastes 8:20; Ecclesiastes 34:11-12; Ecclesiastes 36:6-7).