February 20

Pits and Prisons

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.

––Psalm 40: 1-2, nkjv

I love Psalm 40 because it exemplifies the kind of difficulties David experienced in real and raw form. Have you ever walked across wet clay, or tried to climb up a slick embankment? The imagery here is of vertical walls slick with mud, impossible to climb. But then David acknowledges the miracle of God’s deliverance.

The Bible is full of folks stuck in pits and prisons, both figurative and real. One of the most vivid images of a pit is mentioned in 2 Samuel regarding one of David’s Mighty Men:

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian [and] … killed him with his own spear.

––2 Samuel 23:20-21

I can’t imagine jumping into a pit on purpose to fight a lion. In the snow. And then there’s Joseph, who might be the only person in the Bible to both be thrown into a pit and to spend time in prison. Peter was imprisoned by King Herod for refusing to stop preaching the Gospel. Paul spent two years in prison by order of Emperor Nero, and wrote four of the epistles from behind bars (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). John the Baptist was in prison before Salome asked for his head on a platter.  

When we make the conscious decision to live for God, we will encounter pits and prisons. They will come in one of three ways: through the world, the flesh, or the devil. In all cases, the best and fastest deliverance is when we cry out—like King David—and ask for God’s help. Whether we place ourselves in these pits or prisons, or whether circumstances beyond our control place us there, our deliverance is the same. Like King David, we can call on the Lord and He will surely answer.

Lord, thank You for lifting me out of the miry pits of my life. I can’t imagine life without You. Help me to help others climb out of their pits as well.