Article March 19, 1932 Issue

"Like hinds' feet"

VIVIAN CARLSON

As recorded in II Samuel, David sang in vividly descriptive verse his triumphant song of deliverance from all his enemies. This song, repeated in the eighteenth Psalm, depicts in varied figure the adaptation of God's saving care and power to the necessity of the righteous in any afflictive experience. As it progresses, the tone of the song changes from that of conflict to one of release and mounting exaltation: "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places."

The inoffensive and harmless hind, enemy of no living creature, must often protect herself from foes, such as preying beasts of the forest, who would take advantage of her apparent defenselessness. What, then, is the means and manner of her defense in those encounters, when, according to material evidences, the odds seem against her? The sheer speed of sure-footed flight by which she clears every obstacle that would stand between her and freedom, the dense and thorn-spiked bramble, the rocks, sloughs, and yawning chasms—this fleetness is the unretaliating defense by which she gains the refuge of secret forest fastnesses and the security of high places safely elevated above the reach of the adversary.

When Christian Scientists, intent upon their Father's business, encounter the seemingly hurtful suggestions of mortal mind, the figure of the hind offers a valuable lesson. It may be that the untimely word, arising out of some petty annoyance in the day's routine, threatens to foment ill humor and discord; or it may be an unexpected onslaught, which is wholly unmerited and unjust. But whatever the occasion of error's seeming presence, the Christian Scientist knows that, so far as he believes himself to be involved, the realm of the conflict is strictly within his own thought. Who has not learned in such moments that the foe he has had to combat, "the strong man" he has had to bind, was the temptation to indulge in untoward retort, unspoken perhaps but rankling in thought, the response which, whether audibly expressed or mentally entertained, arms error's attack with the power it seems to have to make one unhappy or cause him to suffer?

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"Like hinds' feet"

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access