The Plague Of Dundee

Psalm 107:10-22

10Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,

miserable prisoners in chains.

11They rebelled against the words of God,

scorning the counsel of the Most High.

12That is why he broke them with hard labor;

they fell, and no one helped them rise again.

13“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

14He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;

he snapped their chains.

15Let them praise the LORD for his great love

and for all his wonderful deeds to them.

16For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;

he cut apart their bars of iron.

17Some were fools in their rebellion;

they suffered for their sins.

18Their appetites were gone,

and death was near.

19“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

20He spoke, and they were healed—

snatched from the door of death.

21Let them praise the LORD for his great love

and for all his wonderful deeds to them.

22Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving

and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

In 1544 Psalm 107:20 was the text on which Cambridge-educated George Wishart preached to plague-stricken Dundee, Scotland. When he heard that a deadly epidemic was ravaging the town, he had hurried to get there. “They are in trouble and need comfort,” he said. Wishart also hoped that the plague would soften the hearts of the people so they would respond spiritually to the gospel message.

This preacher’s arrival was greeted with great joy. He visited the sick, assisted the poverty-stricken, and in the process exposed himself to the dreaded plague day after day. But Wishart had a custom—which in that day was thought to be very strange—of taking a bath in a tub every night. Along with the mercy of God, that custom may have preserved his life in Dundee.

Day after day more citizens, both those who were well and those who were dying, responded to Wishart’s gospel message. Eventually Dundee became a key city in the Scottish Reformation. A young man who came along as Wishart’s bodyguard and valet was increasingly impressed with the message, too. That young man was John Knox, who became the founder of Presbyterianism.

Sometimes, as in Psalm 107, it takes some terrible situation to move us to cry out, “Lord, help!” But once we do turn to him, he is ready to respond and help us.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;

I woke—the dungeon flamed with light!

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

CHARLES WESLEY

A Word on Words

In Scripture the word fool (verse 17) does not refer primarily to someone of low intelligence or someone who is ignorant, but rather it refers to someone who is willfully perverse, choosing to adopt destructive behaviors and lifestyles. See 1 Samuel 25:23-25 for the story of Nabal, whose very name means “fool.”

Bible Networking

For another reference to gates of bronze and bars of iron (verse 16), see Isaiah 45:2.