Psalm Friday

The Living Waters

Psalm Friday
Psalm 23, continued

* Pray. Ask God to give you an open heart and mind to learn new truths from His Word. Read Psalm 23 through three times. Record any thoughts or questions you have in your journal. If a verse stands out to you, write it on an index card and begin committing it to memory.

“He leads me beside the still waters.”
Psalm 23:2b, NKJV

Water is essential in the life of a sheep. The body of a sheep is composed of about 70% water. Water is necessary to maintain a normal body metabolism, and it determines the strength and energy of the sheep, while aiding to its health and general well-being. Without water a sheep can become dehydrated and weak.

When the body is in need of water an animal, as well as a human, becomes thirsty. Thirst is a key indicator that one must find water.

Not only do our physical bodies thirst when there is a lack of water, but our spiritual souls were made to thirst after the eternal things of the Spirit of God.

My mind and heart can’t help but to be drawn right now to the story of the woman at the well. Will you join me there? In the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John we find a Samaritan woman who has come to the well to draw water in the middle of the noon day heat. It was more common for women to come to the well in groups and to come early in the morning so that they could avoid the heat of mid-day sun.

For this Samaritan woman to come to the well by herself in the middle of the day sheds some light on her life for us. She was a loner. This could have been a choice of her own, but her being alone was most likely due to the fact that she had been shunned by the other women of the town because of the “type” of woman that she was. This woman was in desperate need of water to quench her thirsty soul.

As the Samaritan woman approached the well, she had no idea her life was about to be changed FOREVER and her thirst quenched FOREVER. I can see Jesus sitting beside the well with great anticipation as He awaited her arrival. He knew she was coming to the well that day. The fact that He was traveling through her town was no accident.

“Will you give Me a drink,” He said to her. I just imagine her heart began pounding in her chest and her cheeks blushing a bright red as she responded, “You want me to give You a drink? You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan. Jews don’t associate with the likes of me. Not only that, You are a man and I am a woman. You want me to give You a drink!?!”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, if you knew this gift of God that is sitting here with you right now and what He can offer you, you would have asked Him for a drink and He would give you the living water.”

Confused and still bewildered that this man would even speak to her she said, “Um, sir. You have nothing to use to draw water out of the well and it's a very deep well. And where is the living water that You speak of? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well in the first place?”

I wonder if Jesus grinned as He answered the Samaritan woman knowing that she still had no idea whose presence she was in. “The water that you draw from this well, you will always have to come back here and draw more of it, but the water that I have to give you will quench your thirst forever. The water that I have to give you is eternal living water.”

“Oh, sir, please give me this water so that I will never be thirsty again,” she said.

Jesus continues to talk with the Samaritan woman revealing to her that He knows all about her life. Not only does He reveal to her that He knows everything about her, but Jesus also reveals to her that He is the Christ; the Messiah who has come.

Many of the Samaritans in the village that day believed because of the testimony of this Samaritan woman. Many of them experienced the living waters of the Son of God quenching their thirsty souls. But, where exactly does this living water, this water that brings one eternal life come from? I’m glad you asked.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb”
Revelation 22:1, NIV

Friends, the living water, the water that brings you and I eternal life, flows from the very throne of God and His precious Lamb. From the very throne of the Almighty God flows this living water. Can I get a “Praise His Name!”?

Is your soul thirsty today? Sit down beside the Good Shepherd. He has lead you to the throne of God to drink of the eternal, everlasting, living waters. Why? Because He knows everything about you and know exactly what you need. He loves you and me in spite of ourselves and desires for us to drink of the living waters of life.