“They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships”

FACING the outer harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A., stands a bronze statue depicting a helmsman, intent on steering his ship through a storm. The statue commemorates the thousands of Gloucester fishermen known to have died at sea. On the statue’s base and a nearby plaque are the words of Psalm 107:23, 24: “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”​—King James Version.

Working on the rich undersea banks of the Atlantic is perilous business. Over the years, as many as 5,368 men from Gloucester, which now has a population of some 30,000, are known to have lost their lives while fishing at sea. Says the memorial: “Some were overtaken by the howling winds and mountainous seas of a catastrophic northeaster. Some met their fate in the solitude of a small dory gone astray from the schooner that brought them to the banks. Some ships collided in storms and tragically sank. Others were run down by steamers in shipping lanes.”

The memorial stands as a sad witness to the toil and dangers that fishermen have faced over the centuries. Imagine the tears of desperation shed for lost husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. Yet, Jehovah God does not forget the widows, the orphans, or those who lost their lives at sea. The apostle John pointed to this future development: “The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them.” (Revelation 20:13) At the time of their resurrection, those who went “down to the sea in ships” will see wonderful “works of the Lord” indeed.