When you are walking along a narrow mountain trail or climbing a rock wall, the greatest fear is that your foot will slip and you plunge hundreds of feet. Years ago, I was hiking in Colorado and was attempting to climb onto a rock ledge, but it was a little icy and my feet started to slip. For a few moments, I froze in fear. I didn’t fall, but I still remember the brief feelings of terror. A few years ago, a student recounted the story of a friend who lost his footing on a trail and fell literally head over heels more than 1000 feet down a rocky slope. Miraculously, he survived and recovered. But hundreds of people fall to their deaths each year because they lose their footing while hiking or climbing.
So the Psalmist’s metaphor conveys a dire situation, one in which he is overwhelmed with fear. This Psalm has been a comfort to me at times when I have been overwhelmed by life. “My foot is slipping,” is the perfect description of those times when life is too much. Yet the words that immediately follow, “your unfailing love, Lord, supported me,” are the exact words needed to bring calm and comfort to a fearful heart.
Life comes at us very hard sometimes and it is easy to feel like our feet are slipping beneath us; yet when that happens, we need to realize that we are not alone in our situation. The Lord is there with us. In the midst of our fear, He will console us and will not let us fall.
Today, if you feel like your foot is slipping, know the Lord is right there to comfort you and to keep you from falling.
© Jim Musser 2016
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