The Soldier Prayer

As you read from my last post we had one very interesting night last week. The night has been relatively quiet this week in our neck of the desert, however our teammates down in Kandahar haven't been so lucky. They are fine, but it seems their area is a bit more exciting than ours.

Unless you have served in a place like this you really can't imagine what it's like to be awakened to bombs...not that you would want to imagine that. Sometimes the possibility of being awakened like that is worse than it actually happening; someone in the intelligence field will get a lead or have a wild hair and we'll all find out that there is "credible evidence" that we could be attacked tonight. This same thing happened on my very first night in Iraq...just try to sleep after someone tells you that on your first night in a war zone. The unknown can be somewhat paralyzing...you expect a bomb so you sleep light (if you sleep) or maybe you sleep with your clothes on...or if you're like me you lay everything out just right so you know it will take only a few seconds to be fully clothed and operational.

This past Sunday at church the Chaplain spoke at great length regarding a subject that put my mind at ease...my toes got stepped on, but I can sleep better now. For those of you who don't know "The Soldier Prayer" it can be found in the Bible, it is Psalm 91. As the Chaplain read aloud the words of King David (who never lost a battle) I felt a sense of peace come over me. The Psalm is as follows:

"He that dwelleth in the place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; In Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand may fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample underfoot. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and him my salvation."

These words now hang on my wall and I read them at night...just like a child feels safe when they have a certain blanket or a bedtime story, these words wrap me in the comfort of knowing that man cannot destroy my spiritual body.

Good night and God bless.