HE MAKETH MY FEET LIKE HINDS’ FEET

Different species of deer were common in Israel in Old Testament times. They were well known for the speed with which they could run, sure-footed, almost skipping over the ground. God is the source of the psalmist’s strength, v. 32, and it is God who makes his feet like the feet of a deer. In God’s strength he joyfully runs towards his high places, the places of spiritual development, of victory over ungodly influences and of a vital communion with God. ‘He … set me secure on the heights’ ESV. This is not an up and down experience, a dramatically fluctuating life, but one that is stable in the Lord. It is not a boast of self-sufficiency, but rather of total dependence on God as the context highlights.

Is our quiet time with God each day a chore, a burden, something we do because we are expected to do it? Do we attend the church services anticipating God’s blessing or is it simply a tradition? Do we read the Bible mechanically, or do we read it to hear God’s message for us? Do we run towards these moments with ‘feet like hinds’ feet’?

Paul comes to mind again. Looking older than he really is, his body carries the scars left by stoning, by floggings, by shipwrecks, by robbers and so many other serious dangers he encountered. Yet near the end of his life he almost startles us by stating, ‘I press on’, Phil. 3. 14 ESV. That is, he is running towards the ultimate prize - to be with Christ and, in Christ, to be what God always wanted him, and all of us, to be. There is passion in his words. There is no sense of drudgery. As the deer runs, Paul is running lightly, beautifully, powerfully, and in the ‘high places’ he is solidly committed to Christ.

At the end, he shares with Timothy, ‘I have finished my course’, 2 Tim. 4. 7. In the previous phrase he writes, ‘I have fought a good fight’ and, in the following phrase, he comments, ‘I have kept the faith’. These two statements compel us to recognize that he finished the race well. Like the deer, he ran over all the rugged events of his life. God can give us ‘feet like the feet of a deer’, ESV, and keep us in the high places of His love and grace.