The pit you are in

Long ago David said God lifted him out of a slimy pit and set his feet on a solid rock. Do you think David was speaking figuratively or did God actually lift him out of it? In Israel you still find a few areas where there are slimy pits, usually composed of petroleum deposits mixed with unstable soil.

The prophet Jeremiah had his own pit experience when he was thrown into one by King Zedekiah. There he was left to die a slow death until a servant of the king rescued him. A similar pit, which was a teardrop-shaped escape-proof prison, existed at the House of Caiaphas in Jerusalem. Prisoners were lowered into this pit by ropes and could never get out.

The pit that David referred to could be a metaphorical pit. We say someone is in the “pit of depression.” Some of the things that drive us into the pit are not because of our doing. We may suffer from an illness, lose our jobs or be deserted by our spouse.

And sometimes we dig the pit ourselves. Drugs, alcohol or sexual addictions can become prisons that can hold anyone as fast as any maximum security prison in the world can.

But ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you got in the pit as much as who can get you out of it. Where is God? No matter how deep your pit, His hand can reach down to lift you up. No dungeon or pit is deep enough to shut out the presence of God. No darkness can overwhelm the light of His presence.

Sometimes God lets you wait until you call on Him for deliverance so that you know it was Him – not your ingenuity, money or connections – that freed you. When you know where you have been and who delivered you from the darkness, you can appreciate your wonderful Rescuer and Savior.