WITHIN a week of the date of writing, one of the U.S. Navy Submarines, the S-5, had submerged off the Delaware coast in 168 ft. of water. But when the commander gave orders for the boat to be raised, it refused to do so, and for 35 long hours the crew of thirty men and four officers passed through the terrible experience of facing the hour and article of death.
There was, however, one avenue of hope reserved to them. During the late world-war, an underwater signal apparatus was perfected, by which the attention of any passing ship could be called. This ‘distress buoy’ was at once released from its well on the deck; and promptly it rose to the surface of the sea. To this buoy was attached a bell; and also a light which could be ‘flashed’ on and off by the sailors below. These gave their unceasing signal for the men in distress, but without result.
It was at last, however, so ordered in the mercy of God, that after this long season of anxiety and fear, a most unlikely thing should come about. The look-out on a passing ship took word of this to his captain in the evening. He had seen the buoy in its strange position, with light and bell attached. Finding no such buoy indicated on the chart, he ordered a small boat to be lowered; and an officer and man were sent to examine it.
As they approached it, the officer heard the buzzer; and, reading the directions, got into the frame on the float. Putting the receiver to his ear, he immediately got the following message from below:
“This is submarine S-5. We have been submerged 35 hours. Our air is running short. We cannot rise by our own power. Send for help.”
The telephone message was quickly conveyed to the captain of the ship; who, with his men were able to raise the submarine to the surface. Air was then supplied to the sailors; and they passed out of their prison into liberty! We can but feebly imagine what they had passed through, as hour succeeded hour of suspense and mental suffering. The memory of it will remain with them all their days, and the way they were rescued from the jaws of death also.
But, serious as this dilemma was, the facing of the sin-question brings a man into a far more serious extremity. The pressure of death’s mighty hand upon you, a willfully guilty history behind you, a hopeless eternity before you, and no remedy of your own to deliver you from the distressing embarrassment, brings trouble indeed; yet the sin-question honestly faced before God always brings such conflict. But God has found a remedy for SOUL-TROUBLE, and publicly proclaimed it. His beloved Son has been under the waves of judgment in our stead. Jesus, the sinless One, took our place in suffering, that we might know the forgiving grace of God.
Is my reader in the depths of soul-trouble through the pressure of sin upon the conscience? Then, as with the distressed sailors, there is one avenue of hope, and only one. What they longed for during those 35 hours was for
SOME ONE TO HEAR THEIR VOICE.
And when it was heard, they confessed the unvarnished truth about themselves ―they owned who they were, where they were, condition, and their dire need of outside deliverance. In like manner God is ready to hear, and to attend to your cry. Take up, then, those words in Psalms 130, and go to Him with them.
“Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let Thine ear be attentive to the voice of my supplication” (vss. 1, 2). What could you say to Him, as having His ear, but that you have “sinned and come short of His glory, and deserve His judgment”. Notice particularly the third verse of that Psalm.
“If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”
None could stand. But this is the good news, He is not now marking them in judgment; He is forgiving them in grace.
“There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared” (vs. 4). Precious words! Cherish them in your soul and repeat them to God.
The sailors in their prison could do nothing but frankly admit their helpless position. You are just as helpless in a spiritual sense. But all has been done for you, thank God; and JESUS has done it. In virtue of His work, you may come from the bottom to the top. As risen from the dead, the Lord Jesus is the Object of faith for all men. He is perfectly trustworthy. Believe then in Him, and you will receive at His hand the full forgiveness of your sins, and justification from all things. Then, as with Jonah, your feet shall be firmly planted upon dry land, and with Him you will say―
“SALVATION IS OF THE LORD”.
May you, as with the writer, be brought into the enjoyment of these things now. Then an eternity of blessing will follow.
A. F. M.