"You have delivered my feet from stumbling"

I love the Lord for He heard my voice;
He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow,
Then I called on the name of the Lord,
'O Lord, save me!'

The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The Lord protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, He saved me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,
For the Lord has been good to you.
For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

Psalm 116:1 - 11

First, let me say, I'm not David - no one named Saul is pursuing my life, and yet, this Psalm seems strangely apt considering some of the adventures of the past week (and I'm not even out the country yet!). In what will probably go down as one of the most ill-fated camping trips on record, my friend Mandy Nelson and I spent last Tuesday night in a tent, in a pouring rain that even put out our campfire, at The Narrows campground in the Poudre canyon. The following morning, we hiked Greyrock and got caught in a seriously scary thunderstorm, which at one point included a flash of light right over our heads and a clap of thunder we could feel in our sternums. I will spare you the hours of the running, crouching, sliding, and panting that followed, but we eventually made it to my car at the trailhead.... Only to discover that my car had been broken into and my wallet and cell phone stolen.

Now, I'm not usually one to over-spiritualize things, but given that all this happend at the WORST possible time - 10 days before I head to Lithuania, a day before my supposed-to-be-relaxing trip to Minnesota - I couldn't help but remember what I am about to undertake is something our Enemy opposes. There would have been no greater victory for him than for Mandy and I to have gotten lost on that hill, gotten struck by lightening or injured ourselves in the bailing down the ravine - but none of those things happened. The Psalmist is so right in capturing that cry of our hearts that day - "O Lord, save me!" He is good, and protects the simplehearted (and simpleheaded, who hadn't gotten themselves off the peak very early!).