SAVED BY SONG | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 14, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 33.

SAVED BY SONG.

The power of Gospel singing has yet to be properly estimated. There are countless incidents on record showing the softening influences of the Story in song, in cases where it might seem that every spark of manliness or right feeling had died out through the effects of sin and degradation.

Sometimes it is the “old songs that mother sang,” that touch and soften the heart, and bring back the memory of mother’s prayers, and her loving words of warning. Sometimes it is a long-forgotten hymn, heard in the old church when life was young and pure. Sometimes it is a strain unheard before, that seems dimly connected with heavenly things, and lifts the soul to where it can again get a glimpse of God and His loving Fatherhood. Many and many are the wandering ones who are brought “back to ‘the Father’s house’” through the ministration of Gospel song, as was “Ole man Kine,” whose story is told by the American Messenger, as follows:—

“It was high noon, but the lines of the sun had not penetrated the dense growth along the river bottom. In the very densest part of it, where the rank grass came up to his middle, came the form of a man with his gun slung across his shoulder. Within reach almost of his hand the water was dimpled with the antics of finny creatures, and ardent altho unconscious disciple of Izaak Walton that he was, the temptation was powerless to divert his attention for an instant from the one object on which was centered his gaze—a small frame school-house a little distance off.

“Yes, he was sure his daughter was there with her husband in that school-house. He had heard her wish a hundred times that she lived where she could attend church and Sunday-school, and the house her husband had built was not a half mile away on the land that his father, Jerry Wilson, had swindled him, Jacob Kine, out of long years ago. And now Jerry Wilson’s son had added another injury to the already long list by stealing his daughter away, the only being on earth that he cared for.

“He thought of her as he had seen her that last afternoon as she stood facing him with the drawn knife in her hand. It was the first time she had ever defied him. Up to that hour she had been submissive to his commands, and borne in silence his threats. But the thought of her past submission and faithful discharge of duty did not touch him, nor did her tearful eyes and the pleading tones of her voice play any part in his memory of that last scene. He muttered curses on her.

“The prayer was over and the preacher lined out the verse of the hymn, the children’s voices ringing out sweet and clear in the chorus as they sang,—

Jesus died for all mankind, And Jesus died for me.

“But to the wretched man, brooding over his wrongs there in the river bottom, and biding his time to avenge them, the words, rendered indistinct by the distance and the immature voices of the children, were fraught with peculiar significance. It seemed to him they were singing,—

Jesus died for old man Kine, And Jesus died for me,

and to him, ignorant and superstitious, the singing had a weird, unearthly sound. Did it really come from the school-house, or did it come from the clouds? If from the former, what did the children mean by singing of him? Why, his presence, his very name, was a terror to the children through the length and breadth of his county and those adjoining. He had seen them many and many a time scurrying along before him like frightened squirrels; he had even taken a certain pleasure in pointing his gun at them in cruel sport.

“A sudden emotion, that he hardly understood as yet, faint as a new-born infant’s breath, began to stir in his heart.

“A second time the preacher lined out a verse, and the sweet childish voices sang, as he thought,—

Jesus died for old man Kine, And Jesus died for me.

“He had had very few softening influences in his life. Environment and unbridled license to natural bent had hewn out rough paths for his feet, and perhaps the only sentiment left to him in common with other men was the memory of his wife; and as he crouched there in the rank undergrowth of the river bottom, listening to the children singing ‘Jesus died for old man Kine,’ he thought of her as she lay dying, how she had begged him to break off from his ungodly ways, live in peace with his fellow-men, and be a good father to the little baby she was leaving behind.

“He shut his teeth hard and clenched his hands until the veins on them were like great cords. He was fighting the first faint premonition of the giving way of the iron fetters that had long enslaved him. He did not attempt to reason about it; but he possessed a shrewd native intelligence, and knew that something out of the ordinary was moving him strangely.

“A third time the voices of the children floated out sweet and clear in the chorus, repeating the lines twice:—

Jesus died for old man Kine, And Jesus died for me.

“And when the last echoes died away, he knew he could fight no longer, that he was overpowered, and throwing down his gun, he kneeled there in the rank grass, and shaking like one smitten with the palsy, watched the people emerge from the little school-house and scatter to their homes, while he cried to God for mercy.

“His daughter and her husband passed within a dozen yards of where he was concealed. They were laughing and talking together, and swinging each other’s hands, like two happy children. But, strangely enough, the sight of their happiness did not anger him. He felt no disposition to molest them. The sword of the Spirit had suddenly and mysteriously, but most effectively, done its work. The barriers set up by that stubborn, vindictive nature against God and humanity were forever broken down.

“Henceforth old Jacob Kine, the man of blood, was the man of peace, the friend of the evangelists, and a hearty co-worker with them in all matters that furthered the interest of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is a staunch believer in the efficacy of the means of grace, and has been known during heavy freshets to swim the river on his horse, at the risk of his life, in order to attend divine service. Hundreds throughout the mountain country where he lives will testify to his marvelous change of life, and his perseverance in good works among the rough, lawless people around him.”