Answered Prayer

I've been out of the hospital for nearly 2 full months now. That's almost as long as I was in the hospital. I have come a long way physically, but I still have a long way to go. Few, if any, can comprehend the ordeal my husband and I have been through. There were times when we despaired for our children's lives. We even discussed what we planned to do in case the worst happened...

But the worst didn't happen. The Lord has been merciful to us.

So often we turned to the Psalms for comfort. Early on I hoped and prayed that I could celebrate with the Psalmist in what my Bible calls "Praise for Answered Prayer":

I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!"

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.
I believed, therefore I spoke,
"I am greatly afflicted."
I said in my haste,
"All men are liars."

What shall I render to the LORD
For all His benefits toward me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people.

Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His saints.

O LORD, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the LORD.

I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people.
In the courts of the LORD's house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

--Psalm 116