The pit you are in

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:2

Long ago David said that God had lifted him out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, and set his feet on the solid rock. Was David using a figure of speech? We say, “This is the pits” or “she is in the pit of depression.” Or maybe something happened, such as a car accident or a disaster. Suddenly, you find yourself in a deep pit.

Another category is the pit that we dig for ourselves and then make ourselves prisoners in them – the muck and mire that can lead to habits. Drugs, alcohol, sexual addictions and other destructive habits become a prison that holds you as any maximum security prison in the world.

When you are in a slimy pit, it doesn’t matter whether you fell into it, were shoved into it, or dug it yourself. The bottom line is you became ensnared in the muck.

Here’s what David said of his experience: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).

Sometimes God lets you wait just long enough when you call on Him for deliverance so that you know it was He – not your clever ingenuity, not your dad’s money or influence – that lifted you from the miry clay and planted your feet on the solid rock! No dungeon is ever so deep that it shuts out the presence of God.

For this is what the Lord says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. Isaiah 66:12-14