ELIZABETH CLEPHANE
Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane (1830-1869) was born in Edinburgh, but lived most of her life in Melrose, near the home of Sir Walter Scott. Elizabeth was the third daughter of Andrew Clephane, Sheriff of Fife and Kinross. She spent most of her money helping others and was known locally as “The Sunbeam”. Elizabeth didn’t write hymns – she wrote poetry, most of which appeared posthumously.
Elizabeth had two sisters and one brother. His name was George, and he was an alcoholic, believing that moving to a new place would solve all his problems. In his twenties he emigrated to Canada. However, as everybody knows, a change of scenery doesn’t solve any problems. In the company of people who encouraged his unfortunate lifestyle, he spent his time and money on alcohol and related areas. One cold winter’s night George was found in the gutter, unconscious. He died shortly afterwards of alcohol abuse. Elizabeth, his sister, loved her “black sheep” brother very deeply and mourned his sad death. As a believer in the grace of God and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, her conviction never wavered that her brother, a lost sheep, could have come to know Jesus personally. This lead her to write her famous poem, “The Lost Sheep.”
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
“The Lost Sheep” was published in the Scottish Presbyterian magazine, THE FAMILY TREE three years after her death in 1869. Later, in 1874, American evangelist D L Moody and his gospel singing partner Ira D Sankey, were touring Britain, preaching the gospel in one of the great revivals. They were on a train one morning from Glasgow to Edinburgh to take a gospel service in the Free Assembly Hall. On the way Sankey stopped to buy a paper to read on the journey. As he leafed through the pages he came across Elizabeth Clephane’s poem, “The Lost Sheep.” He showed it to Moody, but because he was busy working on a sermon for that afternoon, he showed no interest. Sankey tore the poem from the paper and put it into his pocket.
That day D L Moody preached on The Good Shepherd, from Luke 15:3-7. At the finish of the sermon he turned to Sankey and asked him to sing a song that he felt was suitable. Sankey could think of nothing appropriate, when into his mind came Elizabeth Clephane’s poem, “The Lost Sheep”, which he had studied that morning on the train from Glasgow. He took the words from his pocket, asked the Holy Spirit to help him, and started to play some chords around the key of A flat. As the chord sequence started to take shape, Sankey sang the new song, “The Ninety and Nine.”
Jesus said, (Luke 19:10) The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. And, friend, He is still doing just that. Are you saved? Or are you still lost?
STAINCLIFFE BAPTIST CHURCH
A Bible-believing fellowship in West Yorkshire, UK
Motto text for 2010: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1: 7 -NIV)
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