Deer’s Feet: Stability on Shaky Ground | Strength for the High Places: A 10-Day Journey Through Habakkuk 3:19

Habakkuk 3:19 in the New International Version reads: “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

This verse uses the picture of a deer’s feet, and it is more than poetic language. 

In ancient times, people were familiar with mountain deer or gazelles—animals known for their ability to climb steep, rocky, and dangerous terrain.

They could leap and move with balance and confidence in places where humans would surely stumble. Their feet were designed to grip narrow ledges and sharp inclines. 

The prophet Habakkuk, inspired by God, chose this imagery on purpose: it reminds us that God equips us to stand firm and move forward even when life feels unstable, risky, or dangerous.

Think about this: when life throws trials our way, it can feel like we are standing on shaky ground. 

One phone call with bad news, one unexpected financial loss, or one broken relationship can make everything beneath us feel like it’s giving way. 

Habakkuk knew this feeling well. His nation was in decline, judgment was coming, and nothing felt secure. Yet in that moment, he declared that God would make his feet like the deer’s feet—steady, agile, and sure, even on treacherous terrain.

This imagery appears more than once in Scripture. Psalm 18:33 (ESV) says: “He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.” 

David composed this psalm after God delivered him from his enemies, acknowledging that true stability comes not from human strength but from God’s empowering hand. 

Likewise, 2 Samuel 22:34 (NKJV) declares: “He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.” 

This verse is part of David’s song of praise, where he celebrates the Lord as his Rescuer and Strength after being saved from all his enemies, including Saul.

These consistent images remind us that with God’s strength, we are given supernatural ability to navigate what would otherwise cause us to slip and fall.

Think of how this applies today. 

Life is full of “slippery places”—temptation, discouragement, fear, anxiety, or even the pressure to measure up to others. Left to ourselves, we stumble. 

Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV) says: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” 

God doesn’t promise that we will never face shaky ground, but He does promise that we can rise again because His strength holds us steady.

So we may ask the question: why the deer? 

Because, unlike other animals, deer thrive in places of difficulty. They do not just survive on the heights—they are built for it. 

Likewise, God does not just want us to barely make it through trials. He equips us to thrive, to be resilient, and to develop a kind of spiritual agility that allows us to keep moving forward even when life is uncertain. 

Isaiah 33:6 (NIV) tells us: “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” 

God Himself becomes our stability.

But to walk with “deer’s feet,” we need to practice self-awareness. Many of us try to steady ourselves by clinging to our own strength. We overwork, overthink, or distract ourselves, and allow others to distract us, but these are not foundations that last. 

Emotional intelligence reminds us to be honest about what shakes us, to name the fears, the pressures, or the wounds that threaten to make us slip. 

David often modeled this honesty before God, as in Psalm 61:2 (NKJV): “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” 

The first step to stability is admitting when we feel unstable.

When we identify the things that drain us—stress at work, emotional wounds from the past, unhealthy comparisons, or unconfessed sin—we can then bring those shaky places to God. That is when His strength becomes real in our weakness. 

The Bible says in Psalm 73:26 (NKJV): “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Just as the deer does not climb in its own strength but with feet designed by its Creator, we don’t endure life’s trials by self-effort but by God’s design and empowerment.

Jesus Himself spoke of this kind of stability. 

In Matthew 7:24–25 (NIV), He said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” 

Family, notice that the storm still came, but the foundation determined whether the house stood. 

But catch this: Stability is not the absence of storms but the presence of a solid foundation.

So what does this mean for us today? 

Well, it means that when life feels unstable—when the ground under our feet shakes with uncertainty—we can rely on God to give us stability. We must intentionally pause, look up, and declare like Habakkuk did: “The Sovereign Lord is my strength.” 

Stability comes from looking to God, not to ourselves, not to others, not to fleeting solutions. 

Psalm 46:1 (NKJV) reminds us: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

So today, the challenge is simple but powerful: take inventory of what feels like shaky ground in your life. Name it. Then surrender it to God and ask Him to give you deer’s feet—to walk with confidence, agility, and balance, no matter how unstable things seem. 

And as you do, remember the promise of Jude 24 (NKJV): “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…” 

Family, God is faithful to keep us steady until the end.

So, just like Habakkuk, we can stand tall, even in hard places, because the Lord Himself is our strength, our stability, and the one who enables us to walk securely on the heights.