“Just as it was three years ago, I was sitting comfortably at home with my family when a searing chest pain spread from my lower chest up to my neck with a suffocating sensation. Probably originated from a clot in my leg again, though this time there was no leg pain to warn me.”

With these two words on Friday evening, the ER doctor soberly explained that I have blood clots in both my lungs again (Bilateral pulmonary embolism for the medically minded).

Just as it was three years ago, I was sitting comfortably at home with my family when a searing chest pain spread from my lower chest up to my neck with a suffocating sensation. Probably originated from a clot in my leg again, though this time there was no leg pain to warn me.

After a couple of days in hospital, I’m now home, stable, and on blood thinners to dissolve the clots and prevent further ones.

I’m taking some time off blogging and other public activities to rest, to spiritually process what’s happened, and to prayerfully discern God’s message to me in this painful yet merciful providence. This post is just to briefly explain my absence.

In my shock and confusion in the early hours of Saturday morning I opened YouVersion on my phone to find the verse for the day was Psalm 68v19:

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation!

I then read verse 20.

Our God is the God of salvation; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.

What more can I say?

David Murray is Professor of Old Testament & Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. This article first appeared on his blog, Head Heart Hand, and is used with permission.