“Go and inspect the city of Jerusalem. Walk around and count the many towers. Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations.

For that is what our God is like.

He is our God forever and ever and He will guide us until we die.”

-Psalm 48:12-14

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This week, Benaiah was admitted Monday through Wednesday at the Children’s Hospital for intracranial pressure monitoring (he’s doing good). An hour and a half after arriving home, Cody walked out to our shed to get some work done and was struck twice on the foot by a copperhead.

One ambulance ride, 6 vials of antivenom, and an ICU stay later, it’s Friday, Cody’s okay, and we’re finally back home again. With a mix of emotions, I opened my Bible this morning and lingered with these verses in Psalm 48.

Our God is like a fortress. And his unfailing love is where our sense of safety comes from.

There was a time Jesus said to his disciples,

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome the power of the enemy. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”

-Luke 20:18-20

I guess the word trample sat with me. 

It is the language of victory, not caution. One book later, Paul the apostle was hit with a snakebite that should have killed him. And he shook it off. 

Today, I am meditating on the Lord as our protector. It‘s not that it’s safe out there. It’s not. But our protector is adequate for the danger, so we can say “I will not fear.” He has us. And whatever hits we take along the way, He will keep giving the grace to overcome them.

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the break of day, God will protect it.”

-Psalm 46:1-5

My Savior willingly took the snakebite to the heel (which came with a pain level we have a whole new appreciation for). He stood in the gap and took that venom for me, so he could crush the head of the one who would destroy me, and give me life that no threat or harm could ever touch.

The person who was willing to do that, and then came back from the dead to overthrow death itself? He can be trusted with what tomorrow holds, even if our yesterdays have held snakebites and shipwrecks. 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh the joys of those who take refuge in Him!”

-Psalm 34:8

“And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.”

-John 3:15

“O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple. As your name deserves, Oh God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth. Your strong right hand is filled with victory…”

-Psalm 48:9-10