HIND’S FEET
____________
AN ALLUSION
PRESENTED TO
DR. PAUL SORRELLS
FRUITLAND BAPTIST BIBLE INSTITUTE
____________
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE
ENGLISH 402
____________
BY
MICHAEL LONGSON
FEBRUARY 10, 2011
He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. – Psalm 18:33
An assortment of animals finds themselves among the pages of Scripture, each uniquely chosen for the specific purpose of teaching some spiritual truth to God’s people. These animals range from common everyday animals, to ones we have never seen before, extinct long ago. Attributes of each animal serves to enlighten the reader about attributes of God, His people, or the World. In this verse, the Psalmist suspected to be David[1], uses something called a hind to illustrate some important truth to his reader. To understand what David is saying, we must study the word hind to determine what it is and what we can learn from it.
We find the most obvious clue in the text itself. In verse thirty-two, David writes, “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” In this verse thirty-three, David writes, “setteth me upon my high places.” It appears that from these verses, whatever a hind is, the reader gets the understanding that the second part of verse thirty-two stands in addition to the first part, understood in light of verse thirty-three. [2] If attempting a paraphrase of these passages for clear readability, one could rewrite the passages as, “It is God that girded me with strength, and it is God that maketh my way perfect because He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, when He setteth me upon my high places.” At this point, a hind appears to be an animal that lives in high places that possesses a sureness of feet that stands apart from the rest of God’s creation. It would also need to be one with which David had familiarity.
In his book, Insights into Biblical Times and Customs, Weiss explains that a hart is a deer. He compares it to a red deer, a little smaller in stature than the type currently inhabiting Syria and some areas of Africa and Europe. The name hart applies to the male of the species over five years of age, where hind refers to the female.[3] Living in the wilderness during his exile years, David would have become most familiar with this animal. In the wilderness, food and water priorities are paramount. Given the Levitical Laws on food consumption, maintaining a pure spiritual life before God compounded the problem of finding food. The hart falls into the list of animals permitted for food consumption in Deut. 12:15. King Solomon’s provision list included the hart in the daily provisions for his household.[4] This removes any doubt that David would have made every attempt to catch these harts as food. Being a delicacy in the Middle East one can expect that David studied them for hours, waiting for the opportunity to snare one.[5]
Watching the hart one cannot fail to be amazed at the nimble agility this creature possesses. Many creatures have a natural ability at surefootedness, but none like the hind, which even surpasses the hart. Nothing scientific supports David’s suggestions that the hind is the surest of foot, compared to the hart, yet they concede his observations may be more subtle and not necessarily scientifically quantifiable. However, the prophet Habakkuk may have made similar observations, or he simply referred to David’s musings in Habakkuk 3:19. He uses almost the same words in describing his need and his trust in the Lord.[6] The hind has the ability to place its hind feet in the exact same spot as its front feet.[7] To some this may seem inconsequential; however, given the rocky crags this animal calls home, this ability becomes an essential survival skill against predators as the hind leaps fearlessly through the Negev placing its feet within inches of a deadly fall. One cannot conceive of how it knows instinctively where to place its front feet, but the rear follows the front quickly, in perfect symmetry.
After hours of watching this graceful animal leaping from precipice to precipice, David would easily recall those images as he moved quickly through the mountainous wilderness fleeing from King Saul leaping from, rock to rock and ducking behind outcroppings and in crevices. He later drew upon those recollections when writing his Psalm of praise to the Lord. Instead of bragging about his prowess as a military commander or superior soldier, David rightly gives credit for his successful campaigns and narrow escapes to the Lord Jehovah.[8] In speaking of the high places that David mentions, scholars look at two possible applications or interpretations to David’s time. Some believe David is speaking of the nimbleness and fleetness of foot the Lord provided him in traveling through the high and dangerous route through the Negev while fleeing King Saul.[9] Other scholars believe that the high places refer to the moral elevation that is only attainable from God alone through His directing of our steps.[10] More importantly is the application for Christians today. This Scripture points portrays the image of faith, the essential aspect of salvation. David speaks of his faith in God. Watching a hind or hart leap, with apparent abandon from rock to rock, risking death at every turn shows their complete trust in not only their judgment at analyzing the distances of the jump and the effort required, but also their complete surety that their rear feet will land in the exact same spot as their front feet. This serves as a lesson to Christians everywhere that despite the apparent risks or dangers in following the Lord, we need to follow in faith that He will make our feet like that of hind’s feet, following the precise steps of our front feet as they follow the Lord. The Christian should leap with wild abandon trusting the Lord for the placement of their feet.[11] Whether considering this passage from the point danger point of view or the moral or spiritual heights we can reach in the Lord, either way it suggests that we can trust in the Lord to direct our steps to keep us from falling as the apostles and members of the early church did 2000 years ago. They had faith: faith that Got would guide them and protect them. Henry Halley says in his Pocket Handbook of the Bible, that “Faith is the ability to feel so secure of God, that no matter how dark the day, there is no doubt as to the outcome.”[12]
Bibliography
Clark, Glen. I Will Lift Mine Eyes. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1937.
Gill, John. "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible: Psalm 18:33." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).
Halley, Henry H. Pocket Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 17th. Chicago, IL: Henry H. Halley, 1946.
Hart, Henry Chichester, and Andrew Dickson White. The Animals Mentioned in the Bible. Oxford University: The Rligious Tract Society, 1888.
Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/habakkuk/habakkuk-3.html (accessed January 24, 2011).
Parker, John. The Bible Cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the Civil and Natural History of the Sacred Writings. London: Harrison and Co., Printers, 1841.
Spurgeon, Charles H. "The Treasury of David." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).
Weiss, G. Christian. Insights Into Bible Times and Customs. Lincoln, NE: The Good News Broadcasting Association, 1972.
[1] Charles H. Spurgeon "The Treasury of David." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011)
[2] Context Clues from Psalm 18:32-33 (KJV)
[3] G. Christian Weiss, Insights Into Bible Times and Customs (Lincoln, NE: The Good News Broadcasting Association, 1972), 123.
[4] Henry Chichester Hart, and Andrew Dickson White, The Animals Mentioned in the Bible (Oxford University: The Rligious Tract Society, 1888), 121.
[5] Weiss, 123.
[6] John Parker, The Bible Cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the Civil and Natural History of the Sacred Writings (London: Harrison and Co., Printers, 1841), 594.
[7] Glen Clark, I Will Lift Mine Eyes (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1937), 11.
[8] Spurgeon
[9] Ibid.
[10] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/habakkuk/habakkuk-3.html (accessed January 24, 2011).
[11] John Gill, "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible: Psalm 18:33." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).
[12] Henry H. Halley, Pocket Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary, 17th (Chicago, IL: Henry H. Halley, 1946), 332.
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