Luke 1:74 That he would grant to us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, While labouring among the wild tribes of the Druses, a messenger from one of their chiefs, whose influence it was important to secure, sent a message entreating Mr. Gobat to visit him. The latter, however, was unable to do so in consequence of indisposition, h second messenger repeated the invitation, but still, contrary to Mr. Gobat's expectations, he was prevented from complying with the chief's wishes, h third messenger prevailed on him to set out, by the assurance that if he went at once he might spend the night with the chief, and be ready to return in the morning, so as to join a ship about to sail for Malta, in which Mr. Gobat was anxious to embark. On their journey the guides lost them. selves in the mountain paths. Having at last, with some difficulty, regained their route, they suddenly saw by the light of the moon that a hyena had laid itself down across the path exactly in their way. They threw stones to frighten it, when the animal sprang up and ran along the path which the party were to travel. A superstition is prevalent among the Druses, that "the way a hyena goes is an unlucky one." The natives refused, accordingly, to go farther, and Mr. Gobat had to retrace his steps, greatly perplexed at the obstacles which had hindered a journey apparently of so much consequence to his mission. When in Malta he received a letter from a friend in Lebanon, stating that he had been visited by the chief, who, with much agitation, had spoken to him as follows: — " Your friend is truly a servant of God, and God has preserved him; for I wished to draw him to my village in order to murder him. Therefore I sent message after message to him; but God has delivered him from the hand of his enemies." (Memoirs of the late Bishop Gobat.) Parallel Verses KJV: That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, |
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