²³ The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
²⁴ When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.
²⁵ I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging bread.
²⁶ All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.                             Psalm 37:23-26

It need not be disconcerting that David says that we must expect that we will fall.  It is our life experience, confirmed to us every day all around us.  We are in good company.  It is the universal experience.

Very comforting, however, is the main clause of that sentence, “he will not be hurled headlong.”  We can tolerate adversity and failures and weather it out until it passes over.  But we dread irreparable disaster, resulting in permanent pain, loss, and grief.  It lessens the pain of our fallings just to know that our Father will break the fall before the benefit of the stumble is outweighed by irreparable damage.

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”                        1 Peter 5:10

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”                  Psalm 34:19

Lord, I trust You to dictate the severity of whatever needful suffering You assign to me, as well as the duration of it.  I trust You to remove Your hand when my time in the furnace has become sufficient to produce its desired effect upon my life.  Let me be patient, trusting You to do what is right, as my loving Father.