The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken…

— Psalm 37:23–25a (NKJV)

Though he fall… I fall daily. Hourly. My immeasurable weakness is so vast that at times I can’t see anything else. At the mercy of my own ability, I would be utterly lost and overwhelmed. In fact, at times, when my faith in my own frailty eclipses the glory that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I am overwhelmed; I do feel lost.

For I know that nothing good dwells in… my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing… Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

— Romans 7:18–19,24 (ESV)

This internal struggle is one that resonates in my heart with each reading as I recognize all too well the frustration of one who desperately desires the holiness of God, but who is at every turn buffeted by their own broken humanity.

But this struggle is not meant to be the place that I stake my hope. It ought to be acknowledged, yes, but then used to feed continually the deep wells of gratitude that erupt within my being at the subsequent truth:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

— Romans 8:1–5 (ESV)

In light of this truth, where do I place my trust? If the answer to this question is in my ability to be all that I ought to be, then I am without hope. If the answer is in the love and acceptance of others, I may feel temporarily secure, but everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and I have seen enough of humanity to know that this pillar will crumble beneath the full weight of my dependency.

No—in light of this truth, I must place my hope entirely in Jesus Christ and the righteousness that He imputed to me when He took on “the likeness of sinful flesh” and was crucified in my place.

And it is because of this gift of righteousness that the following promise is mine: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. I am free to entrust myself to the steadying hand of my Savior, who, though I fall, will not allow me to be utterly cast down, but promises to uphold me by His own incomprehensible wisdom and strength, and to refine me continually until the day that I am transformed in His presence.

I fall daily, but I am not cast down.