David Berkowitz made
a pact with the devil.
The devil chained him under the third basement floor of Hell. Then David read the Psalm, where
it says, "this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles."
David was in trouble. He had followed the devil's orders. He believed the devil had called him to
kill, and he went about killing. He got mixed up in a devil-worshipping cult that was all to eager to aid and
abet him in carrying out the work of the devil. He worshipped the Halloween demonic diety called Samhain.
So he called himself the "son of sam". He taunted the police, as he terrorized the streets of
New York City for over a year. The police and the media called him the "44 caliber killer". When he was
finally captured, there were six dead and seven injured for life.
He was
sentenced to six consecutive life terms in a maximum security prison.
Ten years into his life sentence,
he was given a New Testament by a friend, and began to read the Psalms. One lonely night in his prison cell, the
words of the Lord came alive, and the Light of Jesus shone in his heart.
"This poor man cried, and
the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles."
David knelt by his bunk in
his cell, all alone. There were no Christians singing and encouraging him. There was no exorcist to drive the
demons of murder from his soul.
He was just
a lost soul, bound by the devil, all alone, calling on the Saviour for mercy.
Jesus heard, and Jesus answered.
The chains of the devil in
David's mind broke. The chains of the devil in David's soul broke. Jesus Christ washed him clean of all of his
sins. Jesus freely forgave even the sin of the horrible senseless murders he had committed.
Jesus forgave him of all of his
sins, and made him a new creation, in the power of Jesus
Christ and His Name.
The man who was chained under
the basement floor of Hell, doing the devils bidding, is now walking in heavenly places with Jesus Christ, the King of Glory.
The Lord has sent David's voice all the way around the world. Wherever the horror of his crimes is known, so also
is known the glory and completeness of Christ's redemption and forgiveness and gift of everlasting life to those who
will call, and believe, and lay down their sins, as David did.
David's life in a maximum security prison is
very regimented.
But one of the things he is free to do is communicate.
He can write letters to his friends. He can tell of the trials and tragedies of the lives of broken hearted men serving long prison sentences for their crimes.
But mostly, he tells of the peace and the joy
and the victory of walking with Jesus. Even while enduring the hardships and deprivations of prison life.
Even knowing that in this life, he will never be allowed beyond that stone wall, he lives in the peace and strength and glorious
triumph of a soul set free by the power of the redemption that only Jesus Christ can give.
David has been writing "letters to his friends"
for several years. His letters to his friends on the other side of that stone wall tell the glorious testimony
of what Jesus Christ has done in David's life, and what Jesus Christ is continually doing in David's life.
They are freely given to be freely shared.
The same Jesus Who died for David, and forgave David's sin,
died for you too, and will forgive your sins, too, if you will only call on Him and receive His forgiveness, like David did.
