The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1908-10-24
suffering held out By Che prophet
seemed good to them. ~

suffering held out By che prophet
seemed good to them. ~
Instead. therefore. of killing him.
the princes drew him to the prison OF
Malchiah, which was a terrible dun
geon, into whose depths the light
was unable to penetrate. Into this
place then Jeremiah was cast and
into the thick, filthy mire of the bot
tom of the pit the feet of the prophet
sank until he could neither move this
way nor that. He was In great dan
ger of losing his balance and becom-
ing submerged in the soft, oozy
ground. To prevent this, he worked
his way slowly and painfully to the
side of the pit, and, bracing his body
In, a slight niche in the walls, he
waited.
He had been placed there to mis-
erably perish, he knew. He had heard
of the noisome place and had known
OF many desperate criminals who had
passed days in the depths Of the great
pit. But none had ever been cast
into the pit as he had been without
sustaining rope to hold upon and pre-.
vent slipping down, down, into the
miry depths and to death. He looked
up to see IL he could discover any
glimmer of light that told Of sunlight
above. but could see only the same
black darkness above as pressed IN
about him. He listened for some
sound, but only the loud beating OF
his heart could be heard in the death
like stiffness.
Il shall die here" he thought. "And
then l shall be with God" he added
The thought seemed to cheer him,
and he began to chant one Of the
Psalms he had learned to love so
well.
out of the depths have cried unto
thee, o Lord"
He paused. Had the Psalmist, too.
been cast. into the depths of some hor
rible pit to die? And he wondered:
did God hear and answer"
AS though by way Of answer there
fioated in around him light whose
refulgence transformed the noisome
pit into a place of heavenly glory,
and he heard his own name spoken,
and he knew that God was with him.
All, the blessed Joy of that moment.
For ten times the suffering and dis.
tress which he was enduring he would
not have missed that blessed expe-
rience. There was a new Joy and
sweetness to him in the thought that
he belonged to God and that no harm
could come to him save that which
God was willing to permit, and which
would be for his honor and glory.
And while God was visiting and
cheering jeremiah in the foul dun
geon, he was sending his messengers
to the rescue Of the prophet.
While Jeremiah was still lost in the
of the vision God had
given him he heard his name called.
and instantly recognized the voice of
the Ethiopian eunuch
who served in the kings house, and
who was his faithful friend.
''Put now these old cast clouts and
rotten rags under thine armholes
under the cords"
Quickly the prophet obeyed, and
soon felt himself being drawn from
the depths. of the mire and on up, up,
up, until the binding light of day
burst In upon his vision.
Never could he forget that expert
ence in the dungeon, and later as the
spirit Of God moved upon him, he
wrote: Mine. enemies chased me sore,
like bird. without cause. They have
cut on my life in the dungeon, and
cast stone upon me. Waters flowed
over mine head; then said I am cut
or. ! called upon thy name, o Lord,
out Of the low dungeon. Thou hast
heard my voice; hide not thine ear at
my breathing, at my cry. Thou drew
est near in the day that 1 called upon
thee. Thou saidst, Fear not. o Lord,
thou hast pleaded the cause of my
soul. thOu hast redeemed NV life