You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. Psalm 18: 28-36, NIV.
Gracious God, we give You thanks for the blessings we enjoy daily, at Your hand. We know that we can enjoy life because You are with us. May we never have to face life by ourselves. And now as we enter the study of Your Word, please come divinely close and speak to us, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Although we highlighted this portion of our Scripture yesterday, we never got to it. There is so much good food for thought in God’s Word that You never know what He will feed You from one day to another! The thing is to keep feasting on His Word! “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119: 165), is one of my favorites. Note it does not say that nothing will bother you, but it will not cause you to stumble! As the chorus goes, “I shall not be moved!” Another favorite is “You will keep [them] in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because [they trust] in You” (Isaiah 26: 3). When we get into God’s Word and allow our minds to stay on Him, praise God, we will have peace, so deep down in our souls, that circumstances cannot reach us, to disturb it! Hallelujah! Listen to another favorite of mine, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15: 16). Isn’t that wonderful that we can eat His Words? Another day we will speak on that subject; perhaps, for several days!
Today let us go to the portion that we have highlighted. “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.”I made a rather interesting discovery as I was preparing this devotional, everywhere I found hinds’ (deer feet) it was accompanied by, high places! That just moved me to the depths of my soul! Here we are, children of the Most High God, walking on the low lands of life, when God has predestined us to tread on high places! Hallelujah! Remember the plans He has for us? God has plans to give us “a future with hope!” Scripture informs us, that when Jesus took Peter, James and John, to the top of the mount and “was transfigured before them,” Peter was not interested in going back down! He suggested building three tabernacles, but this is how the conversation really went, “Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘ “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—’ ” (Mark 9: 5). That us included Peter, he had experienced life in high places, and the valleys had lost their splendor! No doubt, the climb to the top of the hill may have been difficult, but when he reached the heights, it was all worth it! We read in Scripture that when he blurted out those words, it was “because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid (6, emphasis provided). Some of the experiences of the Christian life, to which we owe our greatest growth, can be traced back to a very frightening beginning! I speak from my reality! So do not fear the heights, as long as God is leading, as He was in the case of Peter, James, and John!
Deers obviously like high steep places. But for them to be able to tread safely, they need special feet! First of all, a hind is a female deer. Because she has the ability to place her hind leg exactly where her front leg stepped before, she is able to stay the course! God, who knows the end from the beginning, knew that we would encounter obstacles in our way. He knew that many times we would want to throw in the towel and simply give up, but just as He did for David, He desires to do for us: Give us deer feet and enable us to stand on heights, steep as they may be, and stay the course! Some parts of the Christian’s journey may be extremely difficult, or, dangerous, or both! You may wonder if there is a difference between the difficult and the dangerous – there can be! We will talk about this difference in our next devotional.