We recently visited Chaney’s Dairy Barn near Bowling Green, Kentucky. On a tour of the farm, there was an old cistern with a fence built around it to keep people from falling into the cistern hole. The cistern had filled up with silt and eroded dirt over time, so the depth was unable to be easily determined. I considered how deep the cistern might have been when it was constructed in the 19th Century. The brick lined cistern would have been nearly impossible to climb out of without help if someone would have fallen into the pit. They would have been waiting for assistance because the lined walls did not have cracks or bricks protruding.
In Psalm 40, the Psalmist begins the psalm stating, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (vv. 1-2). The Psalmist’s predicament is one he is unable to overcome with his own power and ability. He is desolate, alone, and unable to overcome the miry bog. We can name the miry bog as a variety of areas in life where we become bogged down with anxiety, fear, anger, uncertainty, sin, etc. No matter the cause, there are miry bogs we fall into in our lives.
The Psalmist, though, is not writing a psalm of despair, he is writing a psalm of thanksgiving whereby the emphasis is placed not on the way life used to be, but on the way life is in the present. This is a psalm of victory because the Psalmist points to the one who lifted him out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
God as the One who is acting in this psalm, does not leave the Psalmist’s feet near the miry bog or the pit of despair. God places the Psalmist’s feet on a rock and makes his steps secure. The Psalmist has previously written, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). When God removes the Psalmist from the miry bog, God assures the Psalmist’s life is not teetering on the precipice of the deep pit any longer. The Psalmist’s feet are securely placed on the foundation of God, the rock. This is the rock that cannot be shaken. This is the rock that cannot be broken, split, or overcome. This is the rock that cannot be moved. This is the rock that protects, delivers, shields, and saves.
In this Thanksgiving season, I wonder if we should stop to remember the times in our lives where God lifted us out of the miry bog. Do we recognize the rock on which our feet stand securely in God as the one who provides the firm foundation for our lives? Or, maybe we are in the miry bog and feel as though we cannot find our way out. Are we willing to lift our hands to God, knowing God will lift us out of the miry bog and place our feet on the rock? As we continue in this season of Thanksgiving, let us give God thanks for being our rock where we can stand securely amid the struggles of life, knowing He will make our steps secure.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for lifting me out of the miry bog. I looked for ways to get myself out, but realized I was unable to save myself. Thank you for placing my feet on the rock where I can stand securely without fear of falling back into the miry bog. In Jesus’ name. Amen.