Peter Marshall: From Factory Floor to Chaplain of the U.S. Senate (2 Samuel 7:8)

The true story of Peter Marshall, the Scottish immigrant who became Chaplain of the U.S. Senate (2 Samuel 7:8).

How does a working-class kid from Coatbridge, Scotland — with no college degree, no connections, and no money — end up praying over the U.S. Senate and pastoring the church where Abraham Lincoln once sat in the pews?

This is the true story of Peter Marshall, one of the great American preachers of the 20th century. A man who bought a one-way ticket across the Atlantic because he believed God told him to go. He didn't know how. He didn't know where. He just trusted the orders from his Chief.

In 2 Samuel 7:8, God reminded King David that He took him "from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people." Nobody saw a king. But God did. Nobody saw a Senate chaplain in a small-town Bible class either. But God did.

If you've ever felt unqualified, behind, or overlooked — this 5-minute devotional is for you. God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:8 · Proverbs 16:3 · Psalm 37:5

Free 7-day devotional When Worry Won't Let Go: rodneycoe.com/worry-devotional

More from Pastor Rodney Coe: rodneycoe.com

Keep Looking Up. — Pastor Rodney Coe

#PeterMarshall #ChristianDevotional #LiftUpYourDay #TrueStoriesOfFaith

Transcript

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In 1947, the United States Senate called its session to order, and the man who stood to pray over the most powerful legislative body in the world had no business being there. He had no college degree when he arrived in America, no connections, no money. He'd never set foot inside a seminary. He would later say he lacked, and these are his words, the poise, the balance, the preparation, the academic standing, the confidence, and the grace to be bridled in the pulpit. And yet, there he stood, chaplain of the United States Senate, pastor of the church where Abraham Lincoln once sat in the pews. How does a man like that end up in a place like that? This story is really about what happens when God turns a light on in a heart that's willing to follow, even when it can't see where the road goes. Peter Marshall was born in Copebridge, Scotland, a blue-collar town near Glasgow. Working class family, no silver spoons, but God turned the light on in that Scottish village, and Peter felt called to the ministry. Not just any ministry, ministry in America. He later wrote, I was coming to the United States to enter the ministry because I believed with all my heart that those were the orders from my chief. But I did not know how or when or where. He bought a one-way ticket across the Atlantic because he believed God told him to go. On April 5th, 1927, Peter Marshall arrived in the United States with absolutely no idea what came next. You know, in 2 Samuel 7:8, God reminds King David, I took you from the sheepfold from following the sheep to be ruler over my people. It's like he's saying, David, do you remember where you were before I found you? Nobody saw a king, but I did. Peter Marshall was a working class kid from Cope Bridge. Nobody saw a Senate chaplain, but God did. The problem is between the sheepfold and the throne, there was a whole lot of middle, and the middle is where most people quit. Peter didn't land in America and walked straight into a pulpit. He got a regular job in New Jersey, worked with his hands, paid his bills, waited. Eventually he made his way to Birmingham, Alabama, and somebody asked him to teach a men's Bible study class. Not a mega church platform, not a conference stage, a handful of men in a room. Small, unglamorous, the kind of thing the world wouldn't notice. But God noticed. And these men saw the call of God on Peter Marshall before Peter could fully see it himself. When he was accepted to Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia but couldn't afford it, those men, the ones he'd poured himself into week after week in that small Sunday school class, wrote him a letter. They paid for his entire first year of seminary. A Bible class nobody heard of, paid for a preacher nobody knew, because he'd been faithful in the small thing and God honored it. After seminary, Peter Marshall took a small church in Covington, Georgia, faithful, quiet, three years, then the call to Westminster Presbyterian in Atlanta, and something happened. Peter Marshall's preaching was different. He was like a man lit on fire. Students from Agnes Scott College started attending, then their friends, then their families. A church drifting towards closing its doors was suddenly overflowing. They set up loudspeakers on the sidewalk so the crowd outside could hear. It was there in Atlanta that Peter met a young college student named Catherine Wood. She'd come to hear him preach. God had plans for that too. They fell in love and married. In 1937, ten years after stepping off the boat from Scotland, came the call to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. They called it the Church of Presidents. Abraham Lincoln had worshiped there. And they called a Scottish immigrant with no pedigree, no Ivy League degree, and by his own admission, no business being in that pulpit. But God doesn't call the qualified, someone said. He qualifies the called. In 1947, Peter Marshall was appointed chaplain in the United States Senate. But then, at the height of his success, tragedy struck. Peter Marshall died on January twenty-fifth, nineteen forty-nine. He was forty-six years old. A heart attack. Far too soon. And that could have been the end. A brilliant, brief life, a flame that burned bright and went out early. But God wasn't finished with the Marshall family. Catherine, the college girl who'd fallen in love with his preaching, sat down after his death and started to write. She wrote his biography. She called it A Man Called Peter. It became a bestseller, then a movie. And then Catherine kept writing. More than 20 books, 16 million copies sold. Her novel Christie became a beloved television series. A school teacher who married a preacher from Scotland became one of the most widely read Christian authors of the 20th century. Catherine once wrote, Dreams carried around in one's heart for years. If they are dreams that have God's approval, have a way of suddenly materializing. When people saw a shepherd boy, God saw a king. When people saw an unpolished preacher, God saw a Senate chaplain. And when people saw a preacher's widow, God saw an author who would touch 16 million lives. 2 Samuel 7.8, I took you from the sheephole from following the sheep to be ruler over my people. That's what God does. He takes people from where they are, not from where the world says they should be, and puts them where he wants them. Friend, I don't know what small thing God has in front of you. Maybe it's a Bible study with a handful of people. Maybe it's a dream you've been carrying for years, ever wondering if it even materialized. Proverbs 613, 16.3 says, Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established. He shall bring it to pass. A working class kid from Scotland, a one-way ticket across the Atlantic, a Bible class, a small town church, a sidewalk full of people listening through loudspeakers, and a widow who kept writing. And that is what God does because God loves you. I pray God lifts up your day.