✦ Back in Caldas da Rainha
The pilgrims have returned to Portugal — to the city where the mornings were faithful, where the journal was born, where the Word was opened day after day in the room that is now being left behind. And tonight, in Caldas da Rainha, Le reads her favorite psalm. Not a new author. Not a new teaching. David. Psalm 18. The psalm that describes her life.
Every verse hits different when you read it in the room where the mornings happened. 🙏
I love You, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears.
✦ He Heard My Voice
The cords of death. The torrents of destruction. The snares that confronted. David names the worst — and then names what happened in the worst: I called. He heard. The cry came before Him, into His ears. Not lost. Not ignored. Not delayed. Heard. From the hospital at midnight. From the apartment in Caldas. From the motorhome on the road. The cry always reaches His ears. 🙏
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
✦ Because He Delighted in Me
He reached down from on high and took hold of me. Father Joe James walking in at midnight. The hand of God disguised as a priest. He drew me out of deep waters. The 500 denari — the debt too deep for any human to escape. From my foes, who were too strong for me. Too strong for Le. But not for Him.
He brought me out into a spacious place. From Lubbock to Dallas to Portugal to France. The spacious place that keeps expanding. Read tonight in Caldas da Rainha — where the spacious place began its Portuguese chapter. And now the chapter is closing, and the spacious place is expanding again — toward France, toward whatever God opens next.
And the reason — the only reason David gives for the rescue: because He delighted in me. Not because she earned it. Not because she deserved it. Not because she was good enough. Because He delighted. 🙏
"He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me."
Psalm 18:19 · Read in Caldas da Rainha — the spacious place expanding againAs for God, His way is perfect: the Lord's word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He causes me to stand on the heights.
✦ Feet Like a Deer
His way is perfect. His word is flawless. He shields. He arms with strength. He keeps the way secure. And He makes the feet like a deer's — sure-footed on the heights. Not because the ground is easy. Because the feet were made for this terrain.
The pilgrim leaving Caldas tonight — packing, closing, saying goodbye — has the feet of a deer. The terrain ahead is steep. The heights are unknown. But the feet were made for exactly this road. And the Rock does not move. 🙏
Therefore I will praise You, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of Your name.
✦ Among the Nations
I will praise You, Lord, among the nations. David wrote it three thousand years ago. Le lives it tonight — praising Him in Portugal, having praised Him in France, preparing to praise Him wherever the road leads next. Among the nations. The pilgrim whose worship knows no border. 🙏
"I love You, Lord, my strength."
Psalm 18:1 · Le's favorite scripture · Read in Caldas da Rainha — where the mornings were faithful