Hinds’ Feet by Stuart Segall

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Life has never been a straight road for me. It has been a winding climb that has been marked by valleys of loss, stretches of loneliness, and moments where the ground beneath me felt too fragile to hold. Yet, just as often, there have been glimpses of light when I needed it most!  There were unexpected tender mercies and the quiet strength to take one more step upward when I thought I couldn’t.  My story is not one of ease, but of endurance.  In the world of psychology, I would be labeled a “survivor” profile.  One of stumbling and rising, of learning to trust the One who steadies my feet when the path at times seemed treacherous or a dead end.

It is in this rhythm of hardship and hope that the words of the psalmist and the prophet speak so deeply: “He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and sets me upon the high places.” These verses do not erase the valleys. My failings can testify to that, but they transform how we walk through them. They remind me that the climb itself is a spiritual one, almost as if it were holy ground. I slowly learned that even in the steepest places, God is not only present, but guiding, equipping, and lifting.

“He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and sets me upon the high places.” This is the shared heartbeat of Psalms 18:33 and Habakkuk 3:19. In both, the image of the hind, a graceful, sure-footed deer, becomes a metaphor for divine empowerment.

These verses do not promise the removal of hardship, but rather the transformation of our footing within it. The terrain may be steep, the path lonely, but God equips the soul to ascend.

The high places are not merely elevations of triumph; they are sacred vantage points where fear is met with faith, and weakness is clothed in strength. To walk there is not to escape the valley, but to be lifted within it, to find stability where others might stumble.

The hind does not rush; it moves with quiet confidence, each step guided. So too, the soul that trusts in God finds a rhythm of grace, a way through the wilderness that is not frantic but faithful.

These verses whisper to the weary: you are not abandoned in the climb. You are being fitted for it. And in the stillness of the heights, where the wind carries prayers and the light breaks gently, you will stand, not by your own strength, but by the One who walks with you.

No trumpet sounds, no crowd applauds, just silence, light, and holy air. The hind beside me lifts her gaze, and knows her Maker placed her there.

A little bit of truth and poetry.

He does not lift me from the valleys, no indeed. He teaches me to climb. With feet like hinds, I find the ledges where sorrow meets the transcendent.

Yes, the rocks are sharp, the winds are hollow, and still I rise. I am not swift, but I strive to be true.

Each step becomes a prayer, each breath, a pledge. He walks these heights with me, not through.

This is no hurried passage, but a quiet declaration of presence. He does not simply escort us through the hard places as if they were obstacles to escape.

He walks with us on them, in them, through them, but not merely to get us out.

The heights are not detours, nor trials to endure and forget. They are sacred terrain where companionship is forged.

And now the morning spills its golden mercy across the peaks I feared to tread. And there I stand, not by my power, but by the grace that goes ahead. 

You are not alone on this climb. The path is steep, but the light is faithful. And the One who gives hinds’ feet walks beside you.

We all have our valleys and struggles, but my oh my, let’s keep climbing, supporting, encouraging each other together.  

Contributing to many of the resources offered by Plain Truth Ministries, including the CWRblog, Stuart Segall writes from the state of Washington.  He has spent most of his adult life counseling, encouraging, inspiring and uplifting others.