Habakkuk 1-3 / Revelation 9 / Psalm 137 / Proverbs 30:10
All of today’s reading was heavy. I read everything from destruction and captivity of God’s people in Habakkuk to angels blowing trumpets and releasing plagues on the earth in a time to come. Whew! It is days like this that I am looking for that ray of Holy Spirit to come shining through, and I did find it!
I do not know if you have ever read the book Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, but it is a story that follows a young woman on her journey from her fearful place of existence to a full, mature relationship with her Savior and Shepherd. I have not read the whole book yet – too many books and too little time! But I would certainly love to finish the story at some point.
However, at the end of Habakkuk 3, I found my encouraging verse and it reminded me of the story of Much Afraid (the young woman in the book mentioned). Habakkuk 3:19 tells us this, “The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” The New Living Translation, (NLT).
I talked several weeks ago about the word surefooted because God had spoken that word about me through a friend. I love that this promise is for all of us, and I pray you will see yourself as the surefooted deer today. Let’s look more deeply at this verse to see what nuggets we can gain.
The LORD God is our hayil (khah-yil), meaning He is our strength, might, efficiency, wealth, and our army. I just love that last one saying He is our army. It makes me think of the much-used phrase from the 1950s: “You and what army?” A person from that era would use the phrase in response to a threat when they were not willing to back down. If we were aware that the Lord God is our army, we would never back down!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. It is interesting that when looking at the definitions for heights, or high places as read in the King James Version of the Bible; we find that one of the words that used is battlefields. Other meanings for the heights (Bama, pronounced bam-maw) are, ridge, mountain, and high places of worship. I cannot help but conclude from these two thoughts that the Lord is our army, and he makes us surefooted on the battlefield.
Perhaps one would find other scenarios, or Holy Spirit would offer other encouragement when reading this verse, but today, this is what I hear Holy Spirit saying to us: “We cannot lose with the Lord as our army.” We cannot falter on the battlefield with Him by our side. So, do not be afraid of the battle when it comes into your path; the Lord is with you, and He will make you strong!
