The Faithful Margarets

The Faithful Margarets

They died to win.

MARGARET MACLACHLAN and Margaret Wilson, Covenanters in Wigtown, Scotland, were tried for their faith on April 13, 1865, for refusing to take the Oath of Abjuration, which stated that the Church of God is a department of the State. Found guilty of rebellion, attending field meetings, and worshiping in places other than a church, they were ordered to receive their sentences on their knees. When they refused to bow before anyone but God, they were forced down to their knees and then were sentenced to death by drowning.

Margaret MacLachlan was a seventy-year-old widow who was highly respected by fellow Christians for her unwavering faith and godly life. She had been on her knees worshiping God with her family when she was arrested. While in prison awaiting trial she suffered greatly without food, light, or bed.

By contrast, Margaret Wilson was an eighteen-year-old serving maid who along with her brother and sister had fled to the mountains to escape persecution because they were followers of Covenanter James Renwick. Their parents suffered greatly for the godly convictions of their children. Margaret’s thirteen-year-old sister, Agnes, was arrested at the same time as her sister, but their father was able to post a heavy bond for her in time. It was too late for him to rescue Margaret.

On May 11, 1685, the two faithful Margarets were tied to posts and staked in the sea as the tide was rising. The older Margaret was farther out; the younger was near the shore. They were given many chances to recant their beliefs, but they both stood firm and resolute.

Margaret MacLachlan remained silent with her eyes closed throughout the ordeal, communing with Christ until death. As the tide overtook her and her body went limp, the soldiers said to the younger Margaret, “What do you think of her now?”

She replied, “Think! I see Christ wrestling there. Think ye that we are sufferers? No; it is Christ in us.”

As the tide rose eighteen-year-old Margaret Wilson began to sing a Covenanter rendition of Psalm 25:7:

My sins and faults of youth

Do thou, O Lord, forget:

After Thy mercy think on me,

And for Thy goodness great.

God good and upright is:

The way he’ll sinners show;

The meek in judgment he will guide

And make his path to know.

She had her Bible with her and read from Romans 8: “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 37-39, KJV).

After the waves washed over her head, the soldiers pulled her out, pleading with her one last time to “pray for the king!” She prayed, but her prayer was “Lord, give him repentance, forgiveness, and salvation, if it be Thy holy will.” The angry soldiers threw her back into the water, and she joined Margaret MacLachlan before the throne.

Reflection

The two Margarets shared the same name, the same faith, and the same death. We may never face the rising tide of the sea, but the deep waters of trouble and loss can be just as overwhelming. How do you react when you feel you are about to drown in the rising tide of your own troubles?

The Lord who created you says: “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you.”

Isaiah 43:1-2