I recently read some interesting stories about D.L. Moody and his song leader, Ira Sankey; and I wanted to share one of those great stories with you. This story actually began in Fifeshire, Scotland, where a young lady by the name of Elizabeth Clephane lived. She was a devoted believer in Christ, but had a brother who was wandering through the world as a prodigal son. He had broken the hearts of all the family, and his compassionate sister prayed daily for his return to the Lord. So consumed with his spiritual condition, she wrote a poem that was inspired by a parallel between his life and the little parable given by Jesus about a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep to look for the one little lamb that had wandered away!
As Moody and Sankey were gong from one part of England to another, Sankey bought a newspaper to catch up on the news from America. After almost exhausting the paper, Miss Clephane's poem was published in the corner of the page. The poem was entitled, "The Ninety and Nine." As he read it, he exclaimed, "Mr. Moody, this is just what I have been looking for-a shepherd hymn." He carefully tore the poem out of the paper and stuck it in his pocket.
Some nights later, at the next evangelistic meeting, Dr. Horatio Bonar was the guest preacher, and Mr. Sankey knew that he would be called upon to sing the invitation song. Dr. Bonar's message that evening was, "The Good Shepherd." Mr. Sankey always played his own accompaniment on a little organ he brought with him for the crusades.
While the message was being preached, Mr. Sankey could get no peace as to what to sing. He decided to simply jot down some titles while the message was being delivered, so reaching into his pocket for a slip of paper; he pulled out the folded piece of newspaper with the poem he had torn out of the newspaper. As he began to reread the words, he later said, "A voice seemed to say to me, "Sing that hymn." But, he argued with the Holy Spirit, "I can't, I have no music!" But, again the tug at his heart made him realize this was the song the Lord wanted!
At that very moment, Mr. Moody announced his name and Mr. Sankey went to the little organ to sing. As he touched the keys, it came to him, note by note, the very tune that is still sung today! He later testified, "I must admit that as I finished the stanzas, I wondered if the melody would stay in my mind for the remaining stanzas, but God was good. Nothing changed, not a single note! When I finished, Mr. Moody came and leaned over the organ with tears streaming down his cheeks, saying, "Where in the world did you get that?" "At the moment I could not reply, for it was too unusual of an experience!"
The song, "The Ninety and Nine" has been a tremendous blessing for multitudes through the years. The sad thing is that Elizabeth Clephane died two years before Mr. Sankey could get the song published.