Dale Ralph Davis, Columbia, South Carolina

I wouldn’t like being abandoned on a desert island and I don’t think I would fare especially well.  I am a Christian, but I am not optimistic by nature. For one thing, I don’t like the sea — I’d much rather be left on a remote mountain. But one can’t always choose one’s geography!  My selections below would, I think, sort of control the problem, that is, keep it from being as bad as it could be. Analogy: Say you use the loo in your home and that perhaps someone had used it before you and had used too much toilet tissue at one time in the bowl.  You finish and flush the loo and, to your surprise and stress, see that instead of going down, the water and everything else is rising and backing up and, momentarily, will be spilling over in an awful mess.  But suddenly you remember there is a small item called a shut-off valve under the tank, and you quickly stoop down, turn it clockwise and the water ceases to rise. That doesn’t solve the larger problem but it controls it for the mean-time. In short, it helps immensely. So for my desert-island—these Scriptures, hymn and companion may not solve the dilemma, but should help in the mean-time!

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory… Psalm 63

I guess I might want Psalm 63 since David was apparently in a similar type situation when he wrote it:  O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Actually, there is no ‘as’ in the Hebrew — David really is in a dry & weary land — the wilderness of Judah.  He also says that he had such avid desires after God Himself when he was ‘in the sanctuary’ in a normal worship situation. But David’s longing for Yahweh himself, his unrelenting appetite for God, would, I should hope, keep my gaze fixed of what mattered above all else.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

I think I might opt for J. C. Ryle, the 19^th century Church of England minister who ended his days as Bishop of Liverpool. One doesn’t always meet with 19^th century folks who write in short, clear, pungent sentences like Ryle did. His seven volumes of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels are a treasure and still in print. I think I’d like to have Ryle around because he would remember a lot of the stuff he wrote in Expository Thoughts and so would be a human means of sustaining me on the word while on that Desert Island.

Which song would you take to the island?

Oh, I think I should want William Gadsby’s, Immortal Honours Rest on Jesus’ Head. I like to sing it to the tune ‘Toulon’.  I came upon this hymn several years back in a Welsh hymnbook, ‘Christian Hymns.’ It captures the full sufficiency of Jesus.

Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head,

my God, my portion, and my living Bread;

in him I live, upon him cast my care;

he saves from death, destruction and despair.

He is my refuge in each deep distress,

the Lord my strength and glorious righteousness.

Through floods and flames he leads me safely on,

and daily makes his sovereign goodness known.

My every need he richly will supply,

nor will his mercy ever let me die;

in him there dwells a treasure all divine,

and matchless grace has made that treasure mine.

O that my soul could love and praise him more,

his beauties trace, his majesty adore,

live near his heart, upon his bosom lean,

obey his voice and all his will esteem.