If you will turn to the one-hundred and-seventh Psalm and read from verse 23 to verse 31, you will see that God speaks of His wonders in the deep. He tells us of the great waves that mount up to heaven and then go down again to the depths; and tells us of His power to still these mighty waves and to make the storm a calm. And there are other wonders besides these mountain waves which roll with such fury and such power, for in the great waters are teeming millions of creatures, from the monster whale to the tiniest of fish. There are “many fish of many kinds” found in the great deep, and many creatures that are strange and wonderful.
But I wish to tell you specially about the shark, which is one of the most dreadful inhabitants of the great deep. He has great courage and activity and is not afraid to attack creatures much larger than himself. He has great goggle eyes which he turns easily on every side, and can in this way see behind him as well as in front, and so can easily watch his prey. No other fish can swim as fast as he can; his speed is so great that he can outstrip a rapid ship, and even play about it as it swiftly plies its way through the waters; and while thus swiftly moving, he will seem to gaze at the passengers without manifesting the smallest symptom of an effort to proceed.
It is said there is not an animal in the world that is harder to be killed than the shark. In hot climates where he is found in the waters he is the dread of the sailors, for he is the fiercest and most voracious of all the creatures of the mightly deep. The white shark grows from twenty to thirty feet in length; his mouth is very large and sometimes has many rows of sharp dreadful teeth; it is said there is a new row for every year; a sailor once counted twenty rows of teeth in the great jaws of a shark that had been killed. This kind of shark will feed upon anything that comes within its reach. Some sailors once found in the stomach of one they had killed, the shell of a turtle which they supposed would have weighed a hundred pounds. The flesh of the turtle had been digested but the huge shell remained, and, besides the shell, there were in his stomach three cans of beef which had probably been thrown out of some ship and had been swallowed by him. One would think he would not have much comfort with that huge shell and those cans inside of him. In the stomach of another shark that was killed was found a corpse of a human being; this seems very dreadful. They are said to have a special enmity for man—or, it may be, a special fondness for human flesh.
And now, I have a sad little story to tell you about a shark and his dreadful work. A party of men had gone out in a whaling vessel in search of whales. On discovering a large one at some distance, eight of the number got into one of the little whaling boats used for the purpose, and prepared to attack him. Their method of attack is by throwing their harpoons, or great iron-spiked rods, into his body, and then striking him with the sharp, iron prow of their boats; they then seek to get out of his way; but on this occasion they were not quick enough and the poor whale, maddened with pain, struck their boat with his tail, and turned it upside down, throwing the eight men out into the water.
They all tried to reach the boat again for this was their only hope of safety, although a boat upside down, with the great, cruel waters rolling about it, would not seem to offer much protection or security.
Three of the men were swimming near together when a shark eighteen feet long began to pursue them. The poor men, filled with terror, increased their efforts to reach the boat, but in vain. In another moment the voracious creature had turned on its side—the under jaw is so much under the head and so far back that it cannot grasp its prey until it has turned in this way—then a wild shriek, and one of their number—a Portuguese—was seen by the others to jump a few feet above the water, then fall. The dreadful shark had bitten his body right in two, and the force of the shock had been such that he was thrown up out of the water. This was a terrible sight for the other two who were striving to get to the boat and could only press on. The water about them was red with the blood of their companion and he had disappeared forever from their gaze. Soon they succeeded in reaching the boat and clambering up its sides; four others also reached it, and there, seated on it, they could watch the many sharks that had gathered about; they could not, however, touch the men for they have no power to reach out of the water, great as is their power in the water. But alas! two of their number were gone, and one, at least, of the men who were left—the one who had witnessed the poor Portuguese bitten in two, and who himself had so narrowly escaped—was greatly impressed by this solemn scene.
He felt that if he had been taken by the sharks he would have gone into eternity unsaved, and this made him resolve that he would live a different life, and that he would now begin to serve the Lord. He did not know that he was a poor, lost sinner and that he must be born again before he could acceptably serve God, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (Heb. 11:6.) But God had spoken to his conscience and had made him feel the solemn realities of eternity.
After some hours of waiting, the ship which these men had left came to their aid and rescued them from their perilous situation. The one of whom I have been telling you began to live, as’ he thought, a better life, but soon he found his good resolves were all broken, and so it will always be, dear children, if we think we can please God by our good works, or in our own strength.
Again and again, after this, the Lord allowed him to be in circumstances of danger from which he narrowly escaped with his life. All this served to keep before him the thought of eternity, and made him desire to know the way of salvation. And God, in His grace, after He had made him to know his own worthlessness and helplessness, met him and saved him, making him to rejoice in Jesus as his Saviour.
You may see from this sad little history, dear children, how God sometimes uses terrible circumstances to arrest a lost soul and turn it to Himself! If you will give Him your heart while it is yet young and tender, you will not have to be brought to Him through any such fearful way—if you are brought at all. It is those who have hardened themselves in sin and wickedness who have to be broken all to pieces before they will turn to God.
May it never be so with you. May you now give heed to God’s word, “Son, give me thine heart”! Come while you may! The Lord Jesus says, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.”
R.
ML 06/24/1900