Psalm 119:53 says, “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.”

As I sit at my desk, I see some contraband that was seized in a cell search. It is two cigarettes rolled from the pages of a Bible.

Portions of the Scripture that were both ripped from the Book of Luke can be read. One passage is the angel telling of our Savior’s birth; the other is of His temptation in the wilderness.

Many times horror takes hold on us. We house, feed and clothe those that at least at one time have forsaken God’s laws and man’s laws. Horror is defined as “a passion compounded of fear and hatred or disgust.” It may be fear for fellow officers or fear for what other inmates will face due to the actions of certain offenders. Hatred and disgust arise at the sometimes vile and perverse crimes that bring them into our custody.

When horror does attack and take hold, there is only one thing that will relieve that horror—the Word of God. Peace and comfort are found in the pages of this life giving Book. Let us not be as the inmate that thought no more of the Scripture than to roll it up, set a flame to it, and satisfy his fleshly urge for the moment. How much truth and victory this man lost because he forsook God’s law. “I have remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself.”

(Psalm 119:52).