I Love the Lord

 

Psalm 116:1-9

 

September 31, 2022

 

I Love the Lord

 

I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.  The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.  Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.  The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.  Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.  For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

 

As I read this it brought me back to the beginning of 2022, January 26, with this simple one being brought low.  God has blessed me with good health, and both Jan and I have been thankful for all of God’s blessings, being healthy was at the top of the list.  And that brings me to my testimony, 

“I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.  The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.  Then I called on the name of the Lord.”  (Sheol is a Hebrew word meaning the grave.) 

 My first stay at the Hospital was for sodium deficiency below 100 and God sent one very special lady Dr. Hillary Banks, to minister to me.  That first day I do not recall much but early the next morning Dr. Banks came into my room and said; “Mr. Rice I am Dr. Banks, and God woke me at 1:30 this morning praying for you.  I lost it, I was overcome with thankfulness that God was sending the right people, His doctor to care for me.  It hit me a little later that I had been close to death, and was told they had never had anyone with sodium that low and lived.  My prayer was dear  Father, I am not fearful of coming home, but if you will leave me to care for Jan. I Came home after 10 days in the hospital, and on the 14^th day home, I began to have trouble breathing.  Back to Christus Santa Rosa hospital in New Braunfels, and this time it was double pneumonia, on my second night they called my daughter and asked for permission to put a tube down my throat, as I could not breathe on oxygen, and they put a tube down my throat and bag me.  A device was being used to keep me breathing, yet I was not aware of any of this.  The lung doctor told my wife and daughter to stay home and get some rest so that I would not know they were there.   On the third day, they were told I was not responding.  I believe it was on the fourth day they removed the device and I was breathing on oxygen.  The Lord had dealt bountifully with me as the psalmist stated.  

But that was not the end of the story, for the Psalmist's words became my own,  “For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”  I forgot to tell you that the enemy of my soul had a plan to remove me from planet Earth, it began with Covid 19, and God used doctors who are friends to help me in that area, and when I went to the hospital I thought it was for Covid.  

 

A man who I had met at I believe a Christian men's group was named after a great Indian Chief Geronimo, and he took me from ICU to a Christus rehab center, and put me in a very nice room, in fact, it was the nicest and biggest room I had been in.  But I was having what they called covid brain fog and I believe the people were being mean to me.  My daughter tells me it was the drugs that were doing it to me, I know it was not good.  I went to a doctor rehab called Pam and stayed for 21 days, and had some of the best nurses, nurses that would talk with me, pray with me, and encourage me.  I was too weak to do much therapy, and when I got to Sundance they weighed me at 126 lbs.  There was a nurse practitioner and two of the best therapists anyone could ask for.  I came home still weak on April 18, and once more I went with Christus home care, and it was great.

 

I love God, the Father, and His only Son who is my Creator and yours, his name is Jesus the Messiah, and He bought me out of eternal death, by paying for my sins and yours on the Cross.  I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit that lives in me and encourages and often rebukes me.  So, Jesus has many titles Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and Master.  I Love you, Jesus!

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice