Walking Life's Craggy Cliffs - February 2 Readings: Exodus 19–20, Matthew 21:18–46, Psalms 18:33–39, Proverbs 4:3-4

Links to Today's Readings

On my first trip to Israel, in October of 2013, we visited Ein Gedi, where David hid from Saul. It is a spring in the middle of a barren desert, surrounded by steep cliffs and caves. David hid in one of those caves when Saul was pursuing him and Saul entered the cave to relieve himself. David could have killed him, but did not. God gave him protection from the king there at that beautiful desert oasis.

As we walked along the path toward the springs, I noticed something on the craggy cliffs on both sides. Deer (or goats or ibex or whatever they are called). They were walking along on precarious paths through those treacherous hills. It amazed me that they did not fall, but they didn't. Step by step they made their way, sure-footed on ground I could never negotiate.

Psalm 18 was written by David, "when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." It is not specific as to which incident he refers, but it cannot be a coincidence when David gives this description in verse 33.

He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights. 

Certainly, as David hid in the caves of Ein Gedi, as he drank from its springs and wandered its beautiful valleys, he would have seen the deer, or ibex, walking those cliffs. It may well have been these ibex that he refers to in this passage. Every day they walked on unsteady ground but their steps were secure.

In the same way, David lived in danger every day. There were few times in his life, from that moment that Samuel showed up to anoint him as the next king, that he was not pursued, oppressed, opposed, betrayed, assaulted and persecuted. He was like those deer wandering the craggy cliffs. But God made his feet secure every day. Step by step he negotiated the treacherous terrain guided by the hand of God's power.

There are two lessons for us, as we follow Christ in this world. We are not guaranteed a life of easy paths. Too often we carry the belief that if we are faithful to Christ our paths will always be smooth and easy. But the servants of God often find themselves on the rugged cliffs with unsteady footing, where every step is precarious and threatening. We live for Christ in a world that hates him.

But in that perilous terrain, God is our security. He created the ibex with the natural ability to negotiate those cliffs. We have no such natural ability. We have to depend on the power of Christ and the Spirit of God every day make our way through the challenges and trials of life in a hostile world. "He makes my feet like the feet of a deer," David said. It was not natural, it was supernatural.

Serving God in this world is going to put our feet on high cliffs where the going is rough. But when we depend on Christ and walk in the power of God's Spirit, God will set our feet securely and guide us through every difficult step.

Lord, I do not ask for easy steps or smooth ways. All I ask is for what you promise - that you will guide my feet on the craggy cliffs of life.