The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 69

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

69

The Shepherd.

How often is our Lord Jesus set before us in the
Scriptures under the title of the shepherd! As the
good Shepherd, John 10, 14, He came down from
heaven to seek and to save that which was lost; a
the smitten Shepherd, Zech. 13, 7, He endured the
wrath and bore the judgment due to sinners; and
as the great Shepherd, Hebr. 18, 20, He is now the
Risen One watching over and caring for His flock,
leading and guiding them upon their way, and sup-
plying their every need out of His unsearchable
riches. Happy is' he who can
say with a believing heart: ‘‘The
Lord is my § Shepherd; I shall not vs
want.”’ é

——

“Read That Again.’’

I have been a sailor for many
years, writes one who is now a
pastor, and have served in both
the naval and merchant services.
In the latter service I filled the
position of chief officer on board
a large vessel off Old Calabar, on
the coast of Africa, at a time when
“Yellow Jack’’ (fever) was com-
mitting fearful ravages among our
poor fellows. It was my melan-
choly duty to go down each morn-
ing to the lower deck to see if
any had died during the previous
night.

On one occasion I was fulfill-
ing this sad but necessary duty,
when I was grasped by a cold and
clammy ‘hand as I passed from
hammock to hammock. Turning
I beheld a dying shipmate for
whom there could be no hope, as he showed all
the symptoms of having reached that crisis in his
dreadful disease known as ‘‘black vomit.’

With great effort he was able to address me;
and in a tone of voice so unearthly and pitiful
as even to ‘arrest the attention of many sufferers
around him he said, ‘‘Oh, sir! for God’s sake let
someone read the Bible to me, for I’m dying; if
you pass the word, sir, eurely someone will have
a Bible.’?

I immediately did so, but not a single seaman
in the ship had a Bible. However, a little boy,
who was an apprentice on board, came up to me
and said, ‘‘Sir, I have a Bible in my chest in the

The Good Shepherd.

halfdeck, and I will bring it and read for poor
Richards, if you will allow me.”

“God bless you, my boy,” said the dying man
in reply, as I gave the boy the order to bring the
Bible. :

During the time the little boy was fetching the
precious Book, many of the sailors and Kroo-men
collected around the hammock of the dying. They
did not come to see the poor fellow die, for the sight
of death was at that time a daily occurrence; it was,
as one of the Kroo-boys expressed it, to see what
‘“dem good Book do for poor Massa Richie.’’ f

The little boy came back in a

yee few minutes, holding in his hand

2 a new Bible. He came close to

the dying man,and having opened

the Bible at the third chapter of

the Gospel of St. John, he read

these words: ‘‘God so loved the

world, that He gave His only-be-

gotten Son, that whosoever be-

lieveth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.”

All our attention was fixed on
the dying man while these words
were read. The little boy was con-
tinuing to read when he was inter-
rupted by Richards exclaiming in
an excited tone, ‘‘Stop, my boy,
stop! Read that again!’? And
again the boy read the words:
‘God so loved the world, that
He gave His only-begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life.’’

And again he was interrupted
a second, a third, and a fourth
time by the dying request, ‘Stop,
my boy, stop! Read that again!?’
As the request was fulfilled, the struggling soul
learned by heart these precious words, and the de-
parting spirit was employed in faintly repeating the
sacred text, upon which it was enabled by God’s
grace to rest with true faith.

After a short pause I looked around, and beheld
the tears rolling down many a weather-beaten face,
and observed even the dark faces of the Kroo-men
to turn pale. f

It is difficult to describe the solemn awe which

filled the whole circle from the time the Bible was

brought in. It made a lasting impression upon me,.
which was considerably increased when I afterwards —
learned that the Bible was the gift of a widowed