A major difference I noticed when I moved here in 1990 is the amount of gravel that’s readily available. Ketchikan has big trees, lots of them. Piles of gravel in rock pits? Not so much. Rock has to be blasted loose and then go through a rock crusher to make gravel there.

Our driveway has gravel fill and is OK to drive on in the spring, but get off the driveway and my tires sank in the soft ground when it thawed. It wasn’t long and that ground became hard as pavement but for awhile it was quite soft and a trap for my vehicles. We added more gravel fill over road fabric which helped a lot.

Pits are mentioned in the Scriptures frequently.

Joseph was thrown in one and then pulled out to be sold to some merchants heading to Egypt. That story has a lot of ups and downs but a good ending as Joseph became a leader in Egypt and rescued his father and family in a time of famine.

David’s mighty men were warriors of valor. They demonstrated loyalty to the king in many ways as well as bravery in other situations. One of my favorites is Benaiah. His exploits include going into a pit after a lion on a snowy day. The pit was probably the lion’s den, with bones and bits of its prey laying around. The snow made following the lion easy but the ground must have been slippery. Two sets of tracks went into the pit but only one set, Benaiah’s, came out. How he managed to slay the lion and collect hide, fangs, and claws must be quite a story. Did he have any fearful moments in that pursuit?

The only time my knees shook from fright was when I was in a ditch backfilling gravel around a pipeline our crew was laying and a cave in started. I managed to keep jumping clear of the large chunks of solidly packed dirt and rocks falling around me but my knees were unsteady when I climbed out of the ditch.

The pit the psalmist wrote about probably wasn’t a literal one; although David may have felt like it was when being pursued by those seeking his life. Psalm 40:2 says, 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. The horrible pit is symbolic of the wrongs and guilt that we sink into because of a life of sin. The miry clay is hard to get free from, especially when we keep doing what we know brings trouble and tears of regret. How much better it is to be brought out of the pit and miry clay by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. He is the solid rock we can stand on and be established.

The next verse says he gives us a new song and praise to God as we trust him. That’s a much better life. The horrible pit and miry clay can become a distant memory as we live in God’s presence and power.

Mitch Glover is pastor of Sterling Pentecostal Church. Sunday services include Bible classes for all ages at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. Bible study is Thursday at 7 p.m. Visit the church services and sterlingpentecostalchurch.com.