"when my spirit is faint"

I read Psalm 142 this morning and it reminded me how far God's brought me. The memory of reading this psalm in a monastery church in England, while I was AWOL, crying, the drops wetting the stone floor...

I cry with my voice to the LORD,
with my voice I make supplication to the LORD,
I pour out my complaint before him,
I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit is faint,
you know my way!

In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
I look to the right and watch,
but there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me,
no man cares for me.

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, you are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.
Give heed to my cry;
for I am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors;
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me;
for you will deal bountifully with me.

I wrote an essay about that time; it appeared in this journal about two and a half years ago. (It's also available as an RTF file). It's good to stop and remember, from time to time, how far God's carried me. And through what.