Ira Sankey, who for years led the music for D.L. Moody’s evangelistic meetings, was traveling by steamboat on Christmas Eve in 1875. He was recognized by some of the passengers, and they asked him to sing. Sankey agreed, and began singing “Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” When the song was done, one of the listeners stepped forward and asked, “Did you serve in the Union Army?”
“Yes,” Mr. Sankey answered.
“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862?”
“Yes,” Mr. Sankey said again.
“I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post, I raised my gun and took aim. I was standing in the shadow, completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you. At that instant, you raised your eyes to Heaven and began to sing that same song. ‘Let him sing his song to the end,’ I said to myself, ‘I can shoot him afterwards.’ I heard the words perfectly: ‘We are Thine; do Thou befriend us. Be the Guardian of our way.’ I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother who sang that song to me. When you finished, it was impossible for me to take aim again. I thought, ‘The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty.’”
“He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.”—Proverbs 2:8