Like I mentioned in my earlier post Psalm 91 was now, not only a daily staple but, we enter a car, it was Psalm 91, we board a plane and soon as it starts taxiing there was Psalm 91…I really can’t say whether there was a day when we missed this prayer of protection. Somewhere in Dec 2011 I moved to Bangkok to work on a project and my office was on the banks of the river Chao Praya. The highlight of traveling to and from work was the stretch of travel on the Rama 9 suspension bridge. I would wait eagerly for that stretch just to see the vast expanse of water and the bustling traffic on the river, not to mention the sheer beauty of the river. The ride on the bridge was around 2 or more kilometres and I would be excited every single time, I was traveling to work. Fast forward to May 2013 and one evening I hailed a cab from my office to return home, the driver picked me up and I gave him my address in probably the only Thai (Naradhiwas Soi Ee Sip see) I picked up in my time there. We started and just before we left the office premises, a friend of mine called me to ask whether he could ride with me. I requested the driver to stop and turn around, to pick up my friend. He looked at me kinda funny, muttered something, drove just a tad faster, picked up my friend Raj and then it all went bonkers. He started to drive in an aggressive manner, accelerating, then braking suddenly, swerving and at one point speeded up and stopped just short of ramming into a wall. We were puzzled at couldn’t figure out what was happening, because it wasn’t a prepaid ride and he would get whatever was there on the meter. When Raj and I looked at each other kinda puzzled this chap turns to us, laughs and gestured to us as to whether we had soiled our trousers. It would’ve been nice to end the ride there, but guess the “masculine pride” or foolishness took over and we decided not to give the chap the satisfaction of showing our nervousness and continued the ride. Ah well the Rama 9 bridge was still a fair bit away, and away we went swerving and getting tossed around in the back. By the time we got onto the bridge it was too late to stop the ride, (coz you don’t get empty cabs on top of the bridge) moreover the driver seemed to be hell bent on putting the fear of God into us with his rashness on the bridge. Now suddenly the mighty Chao Praya river didn’t seem very attractive to me, the scenic ride on the bridge that used to end too quickly started to seem like a never ending ride and in some ways it started to feel like “this is it.” I remembered psalm 91 and started to pray it silently. “Whoever goes to the Lord for safety…ended with …I will reward them with long life, I will save them.” As soon as I finished this, we heard a thud and heard a whooshing sound, and the car came to a sudden stop atop Rama 9 iconic bridge. Drained of his bravado and smugness the driver was now a picture of helplessness, requesting me for my phone to make a call for help. We paid our fare, and immediately we see an empty cab that we flagged down and got into the same. Even if I’d learnt to speak Thai, I don’t think I would’ve learnt the proper words to ask someone about the state of his pants…I wiped away that slightly wicked thought, boarded the cab and headed home, thanking God for his protection and making sure his angels even sent us a cab to pick us up. Needless to say that every time I pray Psalm 91 I now know that, yes His protection is over and around me and my family.

Staying with the East, in my next post, I look forward to sharing about how my guardian angel was at work in Shanghai, China on a dark evening.