Psalm 91:13
Good News Translation (GNT)
13 You will trample down lions and snakes,
fierce lions and poisonous snakes.
fierce lions and poisonous snakes.
On a pleasant Saturday afternoon in the late 1970s I took
the family walking on the slopes of Helderberg Mountain. We were on a logging
road with a tall bank on one side and a steep downhill slope on the other. I
was curious about what was on the bank, so I ran and jumped and hooked both
hands on the top. Then I pulled myself up until my head came up level with the
top.
There, staring me straight in the face no more than six
inches from my nose was the face of a puff adder. It was looking me straight in
the eye, and its tongue was frantically flicking in and out. This puff adder
was fully grown, maybe three feet long and as big around as my wrist. Its
bright yellow color showed it had recently shed its old skin. Puff adders can
strike from any position without coiling first and have the reputation that a
person or animal, once bitten, dies very quickly.
Deciding instantaneously that I had seen enough, I pushed
myself back away from the bank and dropped onto the logging trail below. Although
they strike extremely rapidly, they are otherwise somewhat slow and methodical.
So we walked away from the spot and enjoyed the rest of our outing.
That evening we invited a bunch of science and math students
to our home where we made popcorn and homemade ice cream with a hand cranked
White Mountain freezer. This was a favorite Saturday night entertainment, and
many students came and brought their current romantic interests. While we were
talking and playing games, I mentioned my close encounter to the group. Some of
them got very excited. One of them used to catch puff adders and turn them in
to a place where they were milked for venom to make anti-venom serum.
The next afternoon about four or five students came to our
house and then hiked up to where I had found the puff adder. One of them
carried a forked stick, and another brought a hessian sack to put the snake
into. We climbed the bank at a different place and then crept up on the snake.
It was still lying in the same spot soaking up the sunshine. One of the boys
pinned the snake down behind its head with the forked stick. Then another
brought the sack up. I took one side of the sack opening while he held the
other, and we brought it up to the head of the snake.
Being more careless than I should have been, I allowed my
hand to get close enough to the snake’s head so that it struck at my hand even
though it was still pinned down by the forked stick. I felt the edge of its
mouth strike the end of my thumb. Fortunately my thumb was not quite close
enough for a fang to pierce my skin. Needless to say, my thumb did not remain there
for a second attack. The students and I quickly got the snake into the sack,
and we hiked back home.
Thank you, Lord, for
being ready to rescue me even when I’m being careless with a death dealing
snake!
[i]
https://www.pinterest.cl/pin/353251164519422743/?lp=true
[ii]
http://itsnature.org/ground/reptiles-land/puff-adder/
