Thirteen months ago a family member of mine had what can only be described as a “life-threatening medical emergency.” This family member has asked me to keep their personal identifying information and medical details confidential. Those details aren’t relevant anyway within the context of the story I am about to tell.
This particular family member is careful about their health and what they eat. They take care of themselves physically but before this incident, this family member was having a health issue that wasn’t viewed as serious. The health problem was in the process of being diagnosed and when the incident occurred it was not suspected to be life-threatening, though it was painful. For this reason, this person waited before deciding to go to the emergency room when this incident happened.
I believe a time period of about 15 hours passed before the trip to the hospital took place. Remember, this was a life-threatening medical emergency. I wasn’t personally there at the hospital initially, so I don’t know the details about what took place upon this person’s arrival. I was at work at that particular time and it’s what happened while I was at work that afternoon that is remarkable.
While I was at work, I was under the impression that the decision to go to the hospital had to do with something else. There had been discussions about the suspected health issue and its potential treatments. One of those treatments was surgery. Surgery is always the last option in my book. It has risks. One of those risks is death. That’s sort of a big deal. However, a person of faith such as myself realizes that Jesus conquered the grave and His example frees me from fear. So I am not fearful of death. However, the medical industry seemingly wants to use surgical procedures to treat everything. I don’t like it.
So, at the time I thought this trip to the hospital may involve a surgical procedure. Again, I still had no idea this person’s life was at serious risk. Then something happened. Psalms 23 verse 4 kept repeating in my head. I couldn’t get it out and I couldn’t recall any other part of Psalms 23. Verse four was on a self-reinforcing feedback loop inside my head. I began to tear up, asking God, “Could you please not take this person from me today? Not today, please. Please…”
This played out over a time of about 20-30 mins. I finished my work as quickly as possible and then went to meet with my family as soon as I could. That’s when I was delivered the news about the serious nature of what was taking place. When I learned everything was going to be okay, I was relieved.
I finally went to the hospital and spoke with this person. I learned that this person lived through something they shouldn’t have and that the doctors could not explain it. This family member told me that when they arrived in the hospital Psalms 23 verse 1 entered their mind. This family member could recite all of Psalms 23 at any other point in their life but not that day. This person couldn’t get past the first verse.
Psalms 23:1
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
The family member told me that at some point they were arguing with God for about 20 minutes over the first verse of Psalms 23. They told me they stopped wanting comfort despite being in pain. They told me they realized God was saying, “I have you.”
This is remarkable because God was comforting this person in their hour of need and He sustained this person’s life, delivering them from death. God does this because he loves this person, just like He loves the rest of us. God loves all of His Children.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but He was also comforting me. A recent conversation with this person, before the writing of this article, revealed that I missed something at the time.
Psalms 23:4
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Though I felt comforted by God at the time, I didn’t fully understand the deeper meaning behind the verse. Walking through the valley of the shadow of death does not equate to death. This equates to LIFE. God was really telling me that He was sustaining the life of this individual. Looking back, the Divine Comforter was comforting us both as only He can do.
I don’t think every day about Psalms 23 but I have it memorized. I learned it when I attended Sunday School as a kid. It is very powerful and it has a new meaning to me, which is, God always has our backs. Death is not something to fear when we have the promise of eternal life. The important thing to remember is that God is with us and watching over us at all times. I am not only grateful for this, I am humbled by it. There isn’t a day that I don’t wake up giving thanks to God for everything. I cannot count how many times He has come through for me and my family. I owe everything to Him.
Psalms 23:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
If you like reading my articles and articles like this, then please like, share, and subscribe. If you’d like to donate to help support my work, you can do so through a paid subscription here on Substack or by going to Buy Me A Coffee and donating there. Thank you for reading and for your support. May God be with you.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall. Where We Go One, We Go All.