Miraculous Rescue in the Jungles of Honduras - Thanks to a Chapter of Psalms: "Everything Dwarfs in Comparison to This, Everything"

Six years ago, Nir Palaya traveled through the dense jungles of Honduras, where a miraculous event occurred that saved his life thanks to a chapter from Psalms.

In a deeply moving post on social media, Nir recounted his experience writing: "Yesterday, I hiked through the jungle in the Mosquitia region, an untamed, pristine area akin to the Amazon, teeming with black pumas and bird of paradise from another world. Toucans and birds I had never seen before... I walked the orderly path leading to the summit of one of the mountains, and upon reaching the peak, I stepped off the path for a moment to explore my surroundings."

In hindsight, he explains, this was his biggest mistake, because inadvertently he began descending to the other side of the jungle, and as night fell and rain began to pour, he lost his way. "It felt like a fear of Hashem", he recalls. "I didn’t know where I was, but as I descended the mountain, thinking it was the way back to Trogillo, the settlement I had set out from, I only ventured deeper into the jungle, into a thick, inescapable valley."

At this point, his clothes were soaked, and he wandered anxiously from place to place, "like a free bird forced into a cage against its will. I was trapped in a thicket that only a serious machete could cut through. I climbed back and tried a different path through the mud, but the large trees and the snakes resting on them surely pointed out this was not the way. At this point, a wave of anxiety surged through me. I understood I was heading towards a dead end, and I began to pray to Hashem. The fear was immense. Wild animal sounds reached my ears from afar, and I wasn’t prepared to end my life in this place. I screamed 'help', but apart from the monkeys and thick trees surrounding me, there was no one around. I knew definitively that I lost my way."

"I Never Stopped Believing Help Would Come"

At this point, despite not being a religious person, Nir understands he is in a life-threatening situation and begins to lift his head up. "I started saying 'Shema Yisrael' several times and felt protected and safe as those words left my heart. I walked and ran back and forth in panic, and the large thickets of the tropical forest only grew more intense. My greatest fear was venturing into a place no human foot had ever reached.

"Feelings of suffocation and pressure filled my chest. I was trapped in the jungle and didn’t know how to get out of it. I was imprisoned in this endless, wild, and boundless nature, but I kept trying. Something inside me held hope even when there was no tangible reason to. I never stopped believing help would come. My inner compass couldn’t navigate and had completely quit. The high vegetation and trees enclosed me from every direction, and I couldn’t see where I was. The roars of tigers reached my ears from afar, and I knew the greatest danger was not from the pumas and tigers for whom this was a natural home, but from losing my way and not surviving more than a few days in this place."

Nevertheless, even in a seemingly impossible situation, the blessed Creator does not leave anyone entirely alone. Even there, Nir suddenly discovers the wonderful providence in the form of abundant water, flowing in small sweet waterfalls along his path, quenching his thirst.

Despite this, negative thoughts tormented him: "In my mind, I saw Yonit Levy and her colleagues on Israeli news channels reporting about a young Israeli who went missing in the rainforests of Honduras, and they couldn’t find him. I imagined many of my friends in Israel who wouldn’t believe it. I myself wasn’t ready to believe this was it, that my life would end here, in this dense jungle. I knew I still had much to achieve in my life, and I knew I was walking on the path of truth and light, and that no harm would come to me, but the anxiety was still very strong."

"I Finished Reading the Chapter of Psalms and Something Turned My Gaze to My Right"

At this stage, Nir surrendered from his race.

He sat on the ground, soaked in mud, a bitter sense of despair climbing up his throat. Night fell, and he was in the middle of nowhere. "I began planning how to spend the night there and asked for help from my guardian angels. I shouted for help again, but my echo returned to me in great silence. Suddenly, I remembered the small book of Psalms my mother always pushed into my pocket before my journeys around the world. I rummaged through my wet pants pocket, and there it was. I took it out and told myself if these words helped King David when he fled from Absalom, then I should read a chapter. I opened intuitively to a chapter in Psalms about salvation from dangers and King David's pleas to Hashem to save him in distress. In an instant, my thoughts clarified, and my head filled with a tranquility and immense sense of security I hadn’t felt in years. I felt protected. I finished reading the chapter of Psalms, and something turned my gaze to my right, as if an angel or hidden messenger of light was there. I didn’t see him, but I felt his presence, and something pushed me in that direction. With quiet and deep confidence, I knew I was being led out, so I stood up and walked and walked, not understanding what was happening. I just felt safe and protected. My legs moved on their own, not knowing where to go. I made my way through the mighty fern branches, climbing from here to there, down and up, continuing to walk until suddenly, I saw a path.

"I fell to the ground. I was exhausted and spent, but I felt I was close to the path I came from and that this path must connect to the main path. I remembered that when I left the orderly path, I made a sign of two branches on top of each other as a way to recognize my path if, heaven forbid, I got lost. I searched for this sign with confidence, knowing that the Creator of the world himself walked there with me hand in hand, bestowing upon me a deep peace. It was a feeling beyond words or emotions, a sense of inner stability and peace emanating from the bubbling wellspring of my soul."

He was not mistaken.

He continued walking as he gradually recognized more of the sign he had left at the path's edge in the corners of his eyes. "I walked towards it and, within minutes, breathed a sigh of relief. I found the way back and thanked Hashem. I am not a religious person, but I believe in the Creator of the world and His great spirit manifested in this mighty nature. What happened to me after reading a chapter of Psalms in a time of trouble is something I have no explanation for, but there is no denying that there are incredible powers of protection and salvation in this book. Hashem responds immediately when ego surrenders with an open heart, before these words. I experienced in these wild forests tremendous teachings of trust and faith in the Creator, and I know I will not be abandoned to wickedness and that He will be with me even in times of darkness, whenever I call out to Him from the depths, because that's exactly what happened. It was an open miracle and I am grateful for the great kindness that happened to me and for not losing faith, even in the great trial. Life is not to be taken for granted. We must always remember to live them with love and faith. Even when the darkness around is very great, we must continue to love, trust, believe, and give thanks. That's what truly matters, and everything else pales in comparison. Everything. Not wars between people and not trivialities. Be good to yourself and others and take everything in life in perspective. Love the path of peace, not the path of war, because that is the strongest energy that connects us to life", he concludes.