Psalm 17:5 “Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”
To “slip” is to find ourselves on footing that is so unstable we cannot keep ourselves upright; and if we do not get support, we will fall. This Psalm seems to be a Practical Prophecy in which king David’s prayer applied somewhat to himself as well as unto the coming Lord. In this passage David is concerned about the path of life that he was on, he well knew that if the Lord did not “Hold” him “up” in his “goings” and direct him in the Lord’s “paths”, his “footsteps” would indeed “slip” and he would fall. Like king David, we are mere humans, weakened by our human nature and prone to “slip” and fall, doing great harm to ourselves and sometimes harm to those around us. We begin to “slip” when we fail to stay on the Lord’s paths, fail to pray, fail to read the word of God, fail to obey our Lord’s Commandments, fail to attend Church, fail to cling to “the doctrine of Christ” (II John 1:9), and fail to fellowship with and care for those around us. King David did “slip” and he suffered a great and miserable fall, read his lamenting prayer in Psalm 51! It is a most pitiful thing to behold when a Child of God slips and falls in this present life; for, their fall brings them pain, shame, misery, and great despair. It is impossible for Children of God to “slip” and fall away from our Lord’s love and Eternal Salvation (Romans 8:29-39); yet, we can surely “slip” and fall and make our lives a cauldron of misery. The Word of God is our Commanding-Guide in life; king David wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105); that is, the Word Of God reveals to us whether or not we are on the Lord’s prescribed “path” and it shows the Lord’s “path” that we should be on. If we feel ourselves slipping, let us earnestly pray to our most merciful Lord, “Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”!