Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Ira Sankey was traveling on a steamer down the Delaware river when he was asked to sing. He led the group in singing “Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” When he finished, a man stepped from the shadows and asked, “Did you ever serve in the Union Army?” “Yes,” Sankey replied, “in the spring of 1860.”

“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862?”

“Yes,” Sankey replied.

“So did I, but I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post, I thought to myself, ‘That fellow will never get away alive.’ I raised my musket and took aim. I was standing in the shadow, completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you. At that instant, just as a moment ago, you raised your eyes to Heaven and began to sing. ‘Let him sing his song to the end,’ I said to myself, ‘I can shoot him afterwards. He’s my victim at all events, and my bullet cannot miss him.’

But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I heard the words perfectly: ‘We are Thine; do Thou befriend us. Be the Guardian of our way.’ Those words stirred up many memories. I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother. She had many times sung that song to me. When you had finished your song, it was impossible for me to take aim again. I thought, ‘The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty.’ And my arm of its own accord dropped limp at my side.”

God had protected Sankey in a great way just like He protects and leads all of His children.