He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91
Psalm 91 is a favorite of many people. I’ve heard of some who have memorized it, and meditated on it when facing danger. A while ago as I was helping to lead a Bible study in the prison, I had an inmate tell me he’d learned it, and demonstrated by reciting it to me and his fellow inmates. I figured if he could memorize it, so could I. On a good day I can usually get it right without looking at the text.
There are some powerful words here.
The above picture shows a turkey feather hanging on a barbed-wire fence that I saw whilst hiking. Apparently Mr. Turkey didn’t see the fence in time to avoid a bit of a collision. I can relate to that.
Years ago a friend of mine – Gary Lee – and I were monkeying around in a new house that was still under construction. It was at the end of a road, and no one else was around. Then we heard a car approaching, and figured either the new homeowner or the construction folks probably wouldn’t appreciate us climbing about their partially constructed home. So we jumped to the ground and took off into the woods. I happened to be first in the race to get away. The backyard went up an embankment into the dark timber.
What I didn’t see was a nearly invisible strand of barbed wire at the top of the rise.
I hit that wire head-high while on a dead run. My feet went straight out in front of me, then I landed with a thump, flat on my back. I don’t remember too much right after that, other than looking up at the sky and wondering what had hit me. I didn’t even have a scratch on me from the barbed wire.
It wasn’t until things cleared up a bit and we managed to find my eye-glasses that the truth of the situation began to settle in. The wire had hit straight across my glasses, and a barb had taken a chip out of one lens directly in front of the center of my eyeball. Had I not had my glasses on, I probably would have lost an eye. Had the wire hit just slightly above or below where it did, I might be still carrying a scar from it.
Most of the time I doubt I even know when the Good Lord has protected me. I think He has a full-time job just guarding me from myself, let alone other things. But when I do realize His protection, I am truly grateful to Him.
How about you?
To read more about my misadventures with my childhood friend, please see the “Gary Lee” tab in my blog.
Hope you have a great day.