Mine high places

Habakkuk 3:19

The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

The prophets were a folk that knew how to draw the very best out of the very worst. Most of them ministered during an evil time in Israel—a time in which things were not good, but bad. They ministered to a people who had strayed, and often were under the judgments of God. And those judgments brought great destruction to Israel. God sought to get their attention to bring them back to Himself. And they were so impoverished at times that there was no fruit in the vines, the labor of the olive failed, the flocks were cut off from the fold, there was no herd in the stalls, etc. But the prophets could not become forlorn and despondent over these things. Their ministry must continue! Their joy must always be found in the Lord! And so Habakkuk says, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Yet! Yet I will rejoice! I will joy! Even in the midst of all this that we are experiencing as a nation, he says, I may rejoice in the God of my salvation!

But Habakkuk does not end there. For you see, He further indicates where this joy is coming from. He says that “The Lord God is my strength.” Is the Lord your strength today? Please, my dear brother or sister, do not find strength in circumstances or environmental factors. For these things shall constantly and invariably be in flux. They shall not bring a steady stream of joy. But you see, the Lord may be your strength. And moreover, He will make your feet like hinds’ feet! As a deer! As a doe bounds around from one place to another, as if nothing is holding her down or keeping her back. The spring is still in her step! He, the Lord, will make me thus! And He alone shall restore the spring in my step and the joy in my heart, that I may walk upon my high places. My high places! Yes, there is a higher place, a higher plane, a more elevated plateau that is prepared for us to live on. Many of us never live there. It is a place of joy. It is a place of peace, tranquility, calmness, and serenity. It is a place where the insults, the annoyances, and the perturbations of life do not reach. It is a place of full comfort in the Lord. Are you on this high place today? Are you walking upon your high places?

As I close out my brief writing today, I want to give you a last word of encouragement. I hope that you will heed it. God does not intend that you should live in the marshes, the bogs, and lowlands today. God does not intend that you should be deprived and devoid of joy, peace, and hope. No! A thousand million times, no! He intends and desires and purposes that you should live on high places, rejoicing as if nothing was the matter. For the truth is, all is good from the Father’s side. Let us look to Him. Look to the Lord! Find your joy and peace in Him. For this day, He may make you as the hinds of the feet, and, if you will allow Him to work thus in you, shall make you to walk upon your high places.

“Father, we are so exceedingly and eternally grateful for the comfort acquired by your blessed Word. You have reminded us today that if we are living in the ditches and in the dregs we have missed that which you have planned for us. We should be above the world, living with you and in your presence. May we do this all day today, and in every circumstance. We know not what shall befall us, but if we are on our high places, how shall we be greatly moved? We shall be steady in Thee. Make our feet as hinds’ feet, and set us upon our high places today. And these things we pray and ask in the lovely name of Jesus, Amen.”