A young man once lived all alone on an island in the Pacific Ocean, because he chose to. His name was Alexander Selkirk and his home was far away in Scotland. As a boy he was quick to be angry and often quarreled with other boys. One day he caused so much disturbance, he was ordered to appear before a town officer. Instead of doing so, he ran away to the sea coast and obtained work on a ship.
After many months he came home, but was in fights and quarrels and went away angry. This time the ship was bound for distant ports. On the voyage it was anchored in the bay of a small island for repairs.
The day all was ready to set sail, Alexander, who was then a young man, had a dispute with the captain, and in his great anger said, “Put me off this ship, I will not sail a day longer with such a captain.”
The captain was a rough, hard man, and at once gave the order, “Off with him, put him ashore, he is turned out of service.”
Alexander got his chest with clothes and tools and without further word was rowed ashore. He stepped quickly from the small boat and stood unconcerned as the sailors bade him a sorrowful goodbye and started to row back to the ship.
Alexander stood on the shore watching them, still indignant and angry; he saw them nearing the ship and knew they would very soon climb aboard and sail away. His feelings suddenly changed: his anger was gone, and instead there was fear, he realized what a dreadful choice he had made: to stay alone where there was no house or provisions, no companions but wild animals; he might never have a chance to leave, or to see another person.
He stepped to the edge of the water, waved his hands wildly, shouting, “Come back! come back!”
He thought he could hear the captain laugh and mock him, but the boat did not come back; the sailors climbed aboard the ship, pulled up the boat, and the ship was headed out to the vast ocean, slowly sailing from sight, and he was left behind.
He threw himself on the sand in awful despair, but before dark, got up and found a cave in the rocks, built a fire outside to keep off wild animals, threw down some seaweed for a bed, placed his chest across the narrow entrance, and rolled himself in his blanket for the night.
In the morning he got some shell fish for food, then climbed to the top of the rocks, hoping to see a ship to signal, though he knew the island was far off the usual course of ships. He stayed on the rocks all day but saw no ship; at night he went back to the cave.
Day after day he climbed the rocks to watch, but no ship came in view: he felt more and more despair and more lonely, and was always blaming the cruel captain for his miserable lot. After many days that sad way one morning in taking an article from his chest, his hand touched a book which his mother had put in when he left home. He knew it was the writings of God’s holy words, the Bible, but he had never cared to open or read it.
But that morning this book made him think of his parents, he longed to see them, and carried it with him to the lookout place on the rocks. When seated he opened it and began to read; these were some of the words, “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way: they found no city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.” Ps. 107:4.
Alexander thought how like himself, lonely and in trouble; he read on; “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. He led them forth by a right way.” Verses 6, 7.
As Alexander read of the Lord’s care, and that “His mercy endureth forever”, he knew that mercy had been over him. For the first time he realized his own strong will and temper were the cause of all his troubles.
He knew that God sent His Son to earth to suffer for men’s sins, but he had never thought he needed to be forgiven. Now he felt ashamed of his life, and knelt down on the rock, and confessed to God how wrong he had been, and he accepted Christ as his Saviour and Friend.
After that he did not feel alone, but that the Lord saw him. He began to go about the island and found much to help and interest him: the trees and plants were lovely and he found fruit and nuts. The cave was too damp so he built a small hut on a higher, level spot and made shelves and benches in it. He tamed a wild goat and some rabbits which were company to him, and even the roaring of the seals he had thought so terrible, sounded friendly to him.
Each day he read in the Bible and found much to enjoy. He cut a notch in a tree every day to keep track of time, and one day out of each seven he left off work and read more of God’s words and prayed and sang hymns he had known in boyhood. So the days passed really pleasantly and he even became fond of the quiet. He went often to the lookout rock but did not stay long there.
At last one day he saw a ship in the distance; he built a big fire on the sand to attract attention, and waved a white cloth tied on a pole. He was seen by the ship’s crew and a boat was sent to the shore. The captain was very willing to take him with what things he could carry away. Months later he reached his Scotland home. He no more felt the dreadful anger to any he had learned how much he himself needed the mercy of God.
ML 04/28/1946