Laughter to save the situation.
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Proverbs 17:22.
After having just become engaged to be married, my fiancée and I were out for a walk along a riverbank. As we walked hand-in-hand, I had a sudden sinking feeling, as the riverbank gave way underneath me and I slowly slid down the muddy embankment.
Just as I was thinking, 'Thank goodness I haven't got wet', I blurted a bible verse out of my mouth. I didn't remember the reference but I clearly remembered having memorised the words. Psalms 69:1 and 2, "… the waters have come up to my neck, I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters."
I looked up at my fiancée who, fortunately, had let go of my hand, and could see that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As it was imperative that one of us save the situation, although my 3-piece suit was ruined and I had a muddy climb ahead of me to get out of the water, I began to laugh. This eased the tension considerably and we now look back at that episode with a smile.
King David wrote this Psalm during a very difficult time in his life, far more difficult than me sinking into the mud.
