My Dear Shepherds,
The remarkable book, Deep Down Dark, told the true story of 33 Chilean miners trapped in a large space 2,300 feet underground for 69 days before they were all rescued. Half that time they were completely cut off, with no idea if anyone even knew they’d survived. Their leader turned to one man named José Henríquez and said:
“Don José, we know you are a Christian man, and we need you to lead us in prayer. Will you?” From this moment forward Henríquez will be known as “the Pastor” to his fellow miners because as soon as he opens his mouth and begins to talk it’s clear that he knows how to speak of God and to God . . .. “Jesus Christ, our Lord, let us enter the sacred throne of your grace,” Henríquez [prays]. “Consider this moment of difficulty of ours. We are sinners and we need you.”*
A fine pastor indeed. And a vivid illustration of why we worship:
Praise the LORD, O my soul . . . who redeems your life from the pit. (Ps. 103:1, 4)
The pit is Scripture’s blunt word for “the realm of the dead.” It is not only the grave but a dungeon whose convicts have debts far too great to pay. Deep down dark.
Some of the saints in your church trusted Jesus when they were so young that they only know the threat of the pit because the Bible tells us so. Others well remember living among the tombs. They testify to the isolation, hopelessness, and bondage, but also arouse our worship for Christ’s astonishing ransom.
Other people rarely use words like redeem and ransom, but that vocabulary is at the heart of our praise. We’ve taken up the new song of heaven: “You are worthy . . . because you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
Pastors learn that for some saints the very memory of past bondage is traumatic. They seem to keep looking over their shoulders for the pursuing bloodhounds. We teach them that they aren’t escapees on the lam from some former warden. We show them that the Lord Jesus says, “to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’”
For others, Satan relentlessly accuses them or ruthlessly pokes their still-healing wounds. So with wise brothers and sisters, we pray for them, help them don the armor of God, and sing beside them when their voices are weak. We keep reminding them of the high, safe ground upon which we now stand.
Shortly after the Assad regime in Syria fell in late 2024, CNN reporter Clarissa Ward was led by victorious rebel soldiers deep into a notorious prison for men condemned to death. When the soldier guiding her carefully poked at a pile of blankets in one cell, a terrified man emerged, his hands in the air.
When they led him outside the prisoner cried, “O God, the light! O God, there is light! O God, there is light!” Another soldier assured him, “There’s no more army, no more prisons, no more checkpoints.” The astonished man said, “Are you serious?!” Again, he was told, “You are safe. Everything you are afraid of is gone!”**
We were not only rescued, we were redeemed. Our Savior gave his life as our ransom. Charles Wesley, a redeemed pastor, taught us to sing, “Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night . . .. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed thee.”
Be ye glad!
* Héctor Tobar, Deep Down Dark, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), Kindle loc 1560, 1570.
** https://youtu.be/mUzruGhBVpI.
