When the Clay Gives Way

    I was reading in my Bible tonight, and I just happened to notice that I outlined Psalm 40:2.  I decided to dig into it again.  

    There are moments in life when we find ourselves trapped... not just in hard circumstances, but in the thick, confusing darkness of the soul. This verse describes it pretty well! 

"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."  Psalm 40:2

David doesn't describe a simple struggle. He paints a desperate picture!

• A "horrible pit" (bor sha'on in Hebrew) — a place of roaring confusion, overwhelming noise, and dark, swirling chaos.

• "Miry clay" (tiyt hayyaven) — a sticky, unstable ground where every attempt to rise sinks us deeper.

    When David says "horrible pit," he isn't just talking about a low point in life. It is a spiritual and emotional storm where nothing is clear.  

A storm where fear and despair roar louder than faith.

And the "miry clay"? It represents false security — the slippery unstable ground of trusting in anything or anyone other than God.

If you've ever tried to climb out of a life crisis, an emotional breakdown, an addiction, a season of deep grief — you know the feeling:

Every movement feels like sinking further.

The world around you sounds like crashing and unbearable noise.

Your own strength feels betraying and helpless.

........BUT GOD......

David said, "He brought me up." Not, "I climbed out," or "I figured my way through it."

Deliverance wasn't because of SELF; it was God reaching down. 

God lifts, God sets, God secures.

As you read on, you see that He doesn't just pull David out halfway.

He doesn't leave him hanging on the edge of the pit.

He sets his feet on a rock!  A ROCK!  A rock that is immovable.  A rock that is permanent.  A rock that is unshakable.

In Hebrew, the word for "rock" (tsur) refers to a massive boulder or a cliff face — something no storm can move. 

Prophetically, this Rock points to Jesus Christ, our ultimate stability!

He also said that God established his goings.  His "and then...."!
He doesn't just rescue the past ... He stabilizes the future. He makes the next steps firm. He restores direction and destiny.  

How exciting is THAT!? I don't know about you, but when I read that, I get an excitement up my spine!  It gives me HOPE! 

Sometimes, the "horrible pit" is:

• Anxiety.

• Betrayal.

• A health battle or scare.

• A spiritually dry season (the wilderness).

• Grief/loss.

• A collapse of everything we thought was "secure."

The miry clay might look like:

• Trusting in relationships that failed us.

• Building on careers that crumbled.

• Leaning on emotions that deceived.

I still remember the pit that brought me back into the arms of God in 2014.
My husband's ex was deep into meth addiction, and his daughter was caught in the middle of that darkness.
When I say "in the middle," I mean it — she was just a young girl with spoons taped to her nightstand along with meth and needles hidden in her sheets.  The house was full of needles lying around.  

It was horrifying and heartbreaking.

To make matters worse, his daughter had been alienated from her father by her mother.
We had to fight for her in a courtroom that tried its best to make my husband look like the villain — even though he hadn't been with her mother for over seven years.  

They did this to keep that child in their county with an open case to continue to bring county revenue. 

The actions of a woman I didn’t even know suddenly threatened my home.

They were planning to strip my husband of his rights to his daughter, and, as a result, could have even called for the removal of our children from his care.

It was an incredibly unfair and terrifying situation. And I wasn't about to let it happen.  I knew EXACTLY who to call on and God knew EXACTLY what He was doing.

That pit of desperation turned my heart fully toward Him.

I began to cry out for Him to make a way — and step by step, I saw His glory and grace unfold before my very eyes.

In every "pit" season, we are invited to stop struggling and start calling....trusting that God is already stretching out His hand.  

When I reflect on Psalm 40:2, I realize that 

The pit was not the end. It was the place where I finally looked up!

In the noise, I heard His still, small voice.
In the sinking, I learned to stop fighting and start surrendering.
In the darkness, I met the Light.

God doesn't just save us from something....He saves us TO something: a firm place, a future, a walk forward with Him.

Do you find yourself in a pit?..... or perhaps you've just been pulled out of one?

Wherever you are, please know that God is not distant. Your struggle is not too big for Him.  It doesn't scare Him or worry Him.

Your pit is not too deep.
Your clay is not too sticky.
Your confusion is not too loud for Him.

He is the God who brings up, sets firmly, and establishes.
He is the God who transforms the "horrible pit" into a testimony of mercy.

Lean into His rescue. Plant your feet on the Rock. Let Him establish your steps.