It’s my daily practice to pray with the ninety-first Psalm from the Bible, as I was once told that it’s referred to as the “Soldier’s Psalm” because it is so filled with the thought of protection.
One morning, I felt particularly guided to pay close attention to this line in the psalm: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder” (verse 13). One modern-language Bible interprets this line as: “You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes” (Eugene Peterson, The Message). Then I went on with my day.
Later, I decided to go for a run with my dog. She was always exuberant when we went on these runs and was often way out in front of me. We were on our way back, when I noticed what I thought was a stick on the trail. As I recall, we had already crossed it on our way out. But I paid more attention to it on the return trip. I was running over the top of it when I looked more closely and realized it wasn’t a stick but a rattlesnake. My dog had already passed over it twice.
