Isaiah 12:3

Therefore with Joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation

Drawing water from the wells of salvation

The Talmudists refer the words, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation,” to the custom of making an oblation of water on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

But as it is not prescribed in the law of Moses, it has been doubted whether it dates back earlier than the times of the Maccabees. It is, however, at least as probable that the Asmonean princes should have restored an ancient as ordained a new rite; such a rite, to acknowledge God’s gift of the water without which harvest and vintage must have failed, would always have been a likely accompaniment of the feast in which these were celebrated; and the like acts of Samuel and Elijah, though for different purposes, perhaps go in confirmation of the ancient existence of such a practice. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)

The prophecy and its fulfilment

Two events, separated from each other by fifteen hundred years, bear upon these words. One was the origin of the peculiar form of this prophecy, the other contains its interpretation and claims to be its fulfilment.

1. The wandering march of the children of Israel had brought them to Rephidim, where there was no water. Their parched lips opened to murmur and rebel against their unseen Leader and His visible lieutenant. At his wits’ end, Moses cried to God, and the answer is the command to take with him the elders of Israel, and with his rod in his hand to go up to Horeb; and then come grand words, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it.” It is not the rock, nor the rod, nor the uplifted hand, but it is the presence of God which makes the sparkling streams pour out. How the thirsty men would drink, how gladly they would fling themselves on the ground and glue their lips to the glancing blessing, or dip their cups and skins into it, as it flashed along! Many a psalm and prophecy refer to this old story, and clearly Isaiah had it in his mind here, for the whole context is full of allusions to the history of the Exodus, as a symbol of the better deliverance from a worse bondage, which the “Root of Jesse” was to effect. The lyric burst of praise, of which the text is part, carries on the same allusion. The joyful band of pilgrims returning from this captivity sing the “Song of Moses,” chanted first by the banks of the Red Sea, “The Lord is my strength and song and He is become my salvation.” This distinct quotation, which immediately precedes our text, makes the reference in it which we have pointed out, most probable and natural. The connection of these words with the story in the Exodus was recognised by the Jews at a very early period, as is plain from their use in the remarkable ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles. That festival was originally appointed to preserve the remembrance of Israel’s nomad life in the wilderness. In the later days of the nation, a number of symbolical observances were added to those of the original institution. Daily, amidst loud jubilations, the priests wound in long procession down the slope from the temple to the fountain of Siloam in the valley beneath, and there drew water in golden urns. They bore it back, the crowd surging around them, and then amidst the blast of trumpets, and a tumult of rejoicing, they poured it on the altar, while thousands of voices chanted Isaiah’s words, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

2. So much for the occasion of the prophecy; now for its meaning and fulfilment. Nearly eight hundred years have passed. Again the festival has come round. For seven days the glad ceremonial has been performed. For the last time the priestly procession has gone down the rocky road; for the last time the vases have been filled at the cool fountain below; for the last time the bright water has been poured out sparkling in the sunlight; for the last time the shout of joy has risen and fallen, and as the words of the ancient chant were dying on the ear, a sudden stir began among the crowd, and from the midst of them, as they parted for his passage, came a young man, rustic in appearance, and there, before all the silence-stricken multitude, and priests with their empty urns, “in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” Surely such words, in such a connection, at such a time, from such lips, are meant to point the path to the true understanding of the text. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The wells of salvation

I. Consider what we have to understand by THE WELLS OF SALVATION.

1. We are not to be content with any shallow and narrow interpretation of either idea in that phrase. No doubt “salvation” in the Old Testament often means merely outward deliverance from material peril. We shall not strain the meaning here, if we take salvation almost in the fully developed New Testament sense, as including, negatively, the deliverance from all evil, both evil of sin and evil of sorrow, and, positively, the endowment with all good, good both of holiness and happiness, which God can bestow or man receive.

2. Then if so, God Himself is, in the deepest truth, the Well of Salvation. The figure of our text does not point to a well so much as to a spring. It is a source, not a reservoir. So we have but to recall, the deep and wonderful words of the psalmist”: “With Thee is the fountain of life, and others not less profound of the prophet: “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,” in order to be led up to the essential meaning of this text. Salvation has its origin in the depths of God’s own nature. It wells up as of itself, not drawn forth by anything in us, but pouring out as from an inner impulse in His own deep heart. Surely, too, if God be the fountain of salvation, the essence of salvation must be His communication of Himself. The water is the same in the fountain as in the pitcher. But, God being the true fountain of salvation, notice that Jesus Christ plainly and decisively puts Himself in the place that belongs to God: “If any man thirst,” etc. Think of the extraordinary claims involved in that invitation. Every craving of heart and mind, all longings for love and wisdom, for purity and joy, for strength and guidance, He assumes to be able to slake by the gift of Himself.

3. One other remark may be made on this part of our subject. The first word of our text carries us back to something preceding, on which the drawing water with joy is founded. That something is expressed immediately before: “The Lord Jehovah is my strength and song,” etc. These words are quoted from Moses’ song at the Red Sea, and there point to the one definite act by which God had saved the people from their pursuers. In like manner, we have to look to a definite historical act by which the fountain of salvation has been opened for us, and our glad drawing therefrom has been made possible. The mission and work of Jesus Christ, His incarnation, passion and death, are the means by which the sealed fountain has been opened. For men, Jesus Christ is as the river which flows from the closed and land-locked sea of the infinite Divine nature. He is for us the only source, the inexhaustible, the perennial source--like some spring never hot or muddy, never frozen, never walled in,never sinking one hairbreadth in its basin, though armies drink, and ages pass.

II. Consider again, what is THE WAY OF DRAWING from the wells of salvation.

1. Christ has taught us what “drawing” is. To the Samaritan woman He said, “Thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.” So then Drawing is Asking. To the crowds in the temple courts He said, “Let him come unto Me and drink.” So, then, Drawing is Coming. To the listeners by the Sea of Galilee He said, “He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” So Coming, Asking, Drawing, are all explained by Believing.

2. Now that faith which is thus powerful, must fasten on a definite historical fact. The faith which draws from the fountain of salvation is not a vague faith in generalities about God’s goodness and the like, but it grasps God as revealed and becoming our salvation in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

3. The words preceding our text suggest another characteristic of the faith which really draws water from the fountain: “He is become my salvation.” That is to say, this believing grasp of Christ manifested in a definite historical act is an intensely personal thing,

3. Consider, too, THE JOY OF THE WATER DRAWERS. The well is the meeting place in these hot lands, where the solitary shepherds from the pastures and the maidens from the black camels’ hair tents meet in the cool evening, and ringing laughter and cheery talk go round. Or the allusion may be rather to the joy, as of escape from death, with which some exhausted travellers press towards the palm trees on the horizon that tell of a spring in the desert, and when they have reached it, crowd to the fountain and drink greedily, no matter how hot and muddy it may be. So jubilant is the heart of the man whose soul is filled and feasted with the God of his salvation, and the salvation of his God. Such a man has all the sources and motives for joy which the heart can ask. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Salvation: how to get it

People have given many answers to the question, If God be the fountain of salvation, how are we to get the water? if I may say so, pumps of all sorts have been tried, and there has been much weary working of arms at the handles, and much jangling of buckets and nothing brought up. The old word is true, with a new application to all who try in any shape to procure salvation by any work of their own: “Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.” But there is no need for all this profitless work. It is as foolish as it would be to spend money and pains in sinking a well in some mountainous country, where every hillside is seamed with watercourses, and all that is needed is to put one end of any kind of wooden spout into the “burn” and your vessels under the other. The well of salvation is an artesian well that needs no machinery to raise the water, but only pitchers to receive it as it rises. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Christ’s ordinances

I. WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY A MEANS OF SALVATION. It is that by and through which the Lord Jesus doth by His spirit convey grace and salvation into a soul. These means are some outward, some inward; some ordinary, others extraordinary.

II. WHAT THESE MEANS OF SALVATION ARE.

1. The inward means is faith (Hebrews 4:2). This ordinarily requires an outward means to work it by. But being wrought, it is the great inward means of communication betwixt Christ and the soul.

2. Extraordinary means are whatsoever the Lord in His sovereign wisdom is pleased to make use of extraordinarily for conveying grace into the hearts of His elect, as He did a voice from heaven for the conversion of Paul.

3. The outward and ordinary means are the Lord’s own ordinances Romans 10:14).

(1) In general, all the ordinances of God without exception, which He has set up in His Church for that end.

(2) The most special means of grace and salvation are the Word, sacraments, and prayer.

III. WHAT MAKES ANY ORDINANCE A MEANS OF GRACE, a well of salvation, out of which one may in faith look to draw water for his soul, or get spiritual good by.

1. No ordinance whatsoever can avail without a particular blessing; for the efficacy of ordinances is not natural, or from themselves.

2. Men’s institutions or ordinances, in respect of God, are forbidden, and condemned by the Lord’s word, namely, in the second commandment.

3. Men’s use of them is not only useless, but worse, not only to no good purpose, but to ill purpose. That which makes any ordinance a means of grace or salvation, is Divine institution only (Matthew 28:20). Therefore the first question in all ordinances ought to be, Whose is this image and superscription?

IV. TO WHOM THE LORD’S ORDINANCES ARE MADE EFFECTUAL.

1. Not to all who partake of them. “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Many come to these wells who never taste of the water. I think it an unwarrantable expression, that all God’s ordinances do attain their end, in the salvation or damnation of all that come under them; for damnation is not the end of any of God’s ordinances, but salvation.

2. But to all the elect they are effectual, unto whom they come (Acts John 10:26).

V. WHENCE THE EFFICACY OF ORDINANCES PROCEEDS. It does not proceed from any virtue in themselves, or in him that administers them, but from the Spirit of the Lord working in them and by them (1 Corinthians 3:7). (T. Boston, D. D.)

The wells of salvation

I. THE WATER. The entire text refers to the great work of God in saving sinners by the obedience and death of His Son.

1. Water is essential to life.

2. Water is purifying in its influence.

3. It has refreshing and fertilising properties. In this country where water abounds we can hardly appreciate this. In the East a draught of cold water was frequently invaluable. It was not only valuable to the body of man, but fertilising to the earth. In this part of the world we have too much water, and our ingenuity is taxed to drain the land, but in the East ingenuity would be stretched to irrigate it.

4. It is a thing of universal adaptation. There are some persons who cannot take milk, others cannot take different kinds of food, and some cannot take vegetables to any amount; and so on. But you never found anyone who could do without water. It is a fact that not only can none of the human race do without it, but all the human race can take it. In like manner, the Gospel is for every class and condition of men.

II. THE WELLS OF SALVATION. Wherever the pure Gospel is preached, it may be considered one of the wells of salvation.

1. Properly speaking, the Deity is the well of salvation. Christ is the great medium, the great procuring cause, the great efficient cause, and the Holy Ghost is the water of life.

2. Again, the Scriptures of truth may be considered wells of salvation. We moreover observe that in an emphatic manner, all through the Holy Scriptures of revealed truth, Christ is preached, and they are thus wells of salvation.

3. Further, Christ is essentially and emphatically the well of salvation.

III. THE DRAWING OF THE WATER.

1. If you want to draw water, you must come near to the well. If you want to understand something about Christ, you must come to the Bible; you must listen to the Gospel faithfully preached, or, rather, you must come to Christ Jesus Himself.

2. There must be a personal application.

3. This drawing of the water must be continuous. That is a remarkable passage in 1 Peter 2:4 --“To whom coming.” “Coming” denotes continued application. We must not only come for justification and sanctification to Christ, but we must continue to come.

IV. THE JOY. “With joy,” etc. No wonder when you consider--

1. The unrestricted freeness of the Gospel.

2. The gratuitousness of this great blessing.

3. That this joy inspires a glorious hope of eternal bliss. (Hugh Allen, M. A.)

A discovery of God's mercy in Christ

Let us consider the feelings which a discovery of God’s mercy in Christ awakens in the breasts of believers.

I. IT GIVES JOY TO THE BELIEVING SINNER WHEN HE FIRST DISCOVERS IT.

II. IT YIELDS JOY TO HIM THROUGH HIS WHOLE LIFE AFTERWARDS. (G. Innes.)

Wells of salvation

I. THE METAPHOR BY WHICH SALVATION IS HERE DESCRIBED. “Wells of salvation.” Water is a favourite emblem in the sacred Scriptures for setting forth the blessings of salvation, especially in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. Salvation, like a well, is--

1. Invisible in its source. God prepares the water for the wells in hidden springs. Man can make a well, but he cannot make a spring; so men may form systems of religion of their own, but they are only wells without water. Salvation is a well of God’s own construction, and He alone from His own hidden resources can supply the life-giving water. There is much mystery in the source of an ordinary well of water, yet we do not allow our inability to fully understand it to present an insuperable barrier in the way of accepting its great blessings; let us exercise the same common sense in our treatment of the wells of salvation.

2. Inexhaustible in its supply. A stream may be dried up, a river may fail to flow, a cistern may be exhausted, but a well is fed from hidden deep springs. In the Gospel of Christ there is enough for each, enough for all, enough for evermore.

3. Inestimable in its service.

II. THE MEANS BY WHICH SALVATION IS TO BE OBTAINED. “With joy shall ye draw,” etc. It is not enough for the thirsty to draw near to a well, not enough to look into it, and listen to the music of its waters--an effort must be made, it must be appropriated.

1. We must “draw.” God provides the well, but we must use the hand of faith; by the rope of effort we must let down the pitcher of desire--and as we draw the blessing up, we shall not thank the instruments by which we obtain the water, but we shall thank Him who provided it so freely for us.

2. We must drink. Not enough to draw the water to the edge of the well, not enough to lift it to the lips, the water must be drunk as well as drawn.

III. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH SALVATION IS TO BE RECEIVED. “With joy,” etc. The teaching of our text harmonises with the inductions of reason, and with the dictates of common sense. For how else could we draw water out of the wells of salvation? Will not the sufferer go gladly to the physician who has the ability and willingness to heal? Will not the fainting traveller go with joy to the well he discovers close by? (F. W. Brown.)

Drawing water from the wells of salvation

The question naturally arising from these words is, What will make us draw water with joy from these wells? In general we might remark, that these being styled the wells of salvation is a sufficient reason for this joy, provided it is kept properly in view. But more particularly, I remark--

I. That these wells must be KEPT OPEN for this purpose. The Church of Christ, because devoted to Him, and accessible to none other, is like a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Not so the ordinances of grace: they are accessible to all. To keep these open, ministers must labour, travail as in birth, preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season. Pointed careful attention on the part of the hearers, accompanied with fervent prayer, must keep them open.

II. They must be KEPT PURE, living, running clear from the throne, No admixture to foul them must be allowed. No addition of ours, nothing kept back.

III. These waters must be TASTED.

IV. We must HIGHLY VALUE these wells, if we would draw water from them with joy.

V. A REWARD APPLICATION to these wells is necessary to our spiritual comfort. We must continue hungering and thirsting after righteousness. This application may be made at all times, and in every state. In the public and private and secret exercises of religion, in health and sickness, in the prison or the palace, wherever God is, public ordinances must be preferred. Application:

(1) To those who are employed in drawing water for others; and who, in order to this, should draw for themselves, that they may be successful in their work. Do we make it our study to speak from the heart to the heart?

(2) To those who think these wells are dry to them. What is the reason of this? Has it proceeded from the ministry? Have you expected from them what you should have from their Master? Have you never thought on your own misimprovement? Have you prayed that these wells might be opened to you?

(3) To those who have drawn, or think they have with joy drawn water from the wells of salvation. How ardent will your desires be. He that drinks of this water will not thirst again. Inordinate desires after the world will be quenched--they will be subdued. And here the fullest satisfaction will be obtained. (A. Brown.)

The wells of salvation

I. THE WELLS OF SALVATION. The value of the water yielded by these wells is found in the saving effects to be met with in those who come hither to draw and to drink. These waters impart strength to the worker, courage to the timid, joy to the mourner, refreshment to the weary, and satisfaction to the dry, and the thirsty. There is no evil in the spirit that this water will not cure. It would be a world’s wonder if God’s own Spirit could not make man’s spirit as lively and happy as its inherent limits will allow; as happy for man as God, as been happy in Himself from eternity. Observe now that the great salvation which is in God--nay, which is God in us by His Spirit--finds its way outwards to thirsty drinkers through many outlets and notthrough one only. There are as many of these precious wells as there are distinctly revealed truths on the page of Scripture. Every promise of blessing, every call to duty, every story of God’s dealings with Israel and the nations, every prediction, every verse of sacred song, every miracle and parable of Christ, every word, indeed, that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, is, through the Spirit, a well of salvation. In a transferred sense, there are as many wells of salvation as there are living Christians on earth at a given time. The heart that draws water from the wells above mentioned, becomes itself a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Every Christian worker is, in an especial sense, a well of this kind.

II. THE JOYFUL DRINKING OF THE WATER found in these wells.

1. The drawer of water from any well of salvation is anyone anywhere who chooses. “Whosoever will, let, him take the water of life freely.”

2. The drawing and drinking impulse is the inward thirst of spirit, which, in a general form, characterises all mankind, and shows itself in spiritual minds in the form of thirst for this water in particular. “Let him that is athirst come.”

3. The drawing power is communicated by the Holy Spirit acting in His character as the promised Comforter and helper of our infirmities. In one point of view He is the power through which we draw and drink, as in another aspect He is the water we work with in this way for the refreshment of our souls and their true life.

4. The drawing apparatus includes all outward means available for help in our endeavours after the truth expressed in this or in that part of revelation, parallel passages containing like ideas or identical expressions, sound and able expositions, and along with these the lives and deeds of our Lord’s faithful and enlightened followers. The intimation in hand lays special stress upon the joy with which the drawing of this water is begun and kept up. This joy comes of the thought that the water is pure, life giving, and refreshing; of the ease with which the drawing machinery is used when all is right with the man who works it, and when the hallowed practice is maintained; of the fulness and constancy of the stream which flows toward us, after it has been drawn up from the depths of the well that is being worked at the time; and of the exhilarating effects of the water when taken freely. The joy prompts and helps the work of drawing. The drawing enlarges and maintains the joy. (David Lowe.)

The wells of salvation

I. THE PREPARED WELLS. A well differs from a spring in this: a spring is a natural outlet for the waters in the earth; a well is an artificial one made by man. The well is the result of design. So the wells of salvation represent a Divine design. These wells are the varied “means of grace” provided by God for our highest welfare. Two cautions deserve our serious thought.

1. We must not ignore, or neglect, any of these wells, for God in wisdom has caused them to be dug.

2. We must not substitute for these wells any cisterns of mere human digging.

II. THE REFRESHING WATERS of these wells of salvation. Jesus Himself called it “living water.” It is elsewhere called “the water of life”--a very expressive way of representing that salvation which one receives through the appointed means of grace. For--

1. Like living water, this salvation is very refreshing to the thirsty soul.

2. Like water, this salvation cleanses.

3. Like water, this salvation is free.

4. And this water is inexhaustible.

III. THE JOYFUL DRAWING. (E. H. Witman.)

The wells of salvation

I. THE WELLS. God, in carrying on His government, has seen it wise to act usually through agencies and means. He has provided means for carrying out His great and gracious purposes in redemption. These are here presented to us as “wells.”

II. THE DRAWING OUT OF THESE WELLS.

1. The existence of the means of grace is not enough.

2. We never will appropriate those blessings until impelled by a sense of need.

III. THE JOY. There are many things in Christ fitted to inspire joy.

1. His adaptation to the wants of the sinner.

2. His fulness.

3. He is an eternal Christ.

4. There is cause of rejoicing in the terms on which He is tendered.

The Gospel is brought within the reach of the poorest, the most abject, the most hopeless. Its language is not “Do,” or “Give,” but “Take.” And if Christ be so free, is it any wonder if the sinner should appropriate Him with joy? Application:

(1) What a wilderness this land would be without its Sabbaths, its Bibles, its sermons, its communions!

(2) The danger of polluted wells. We dare not mingle anything with Christ.

(3) If we have Christ in the ordinances, let us strive to partake of His fulness. (T. Maclauchlan, LL. D.)

The means of grace to be diligently used

Drawing water is an employment which requires strength, labour, and diligence, to which some means or instruments of conveyance are indispensably requisite. From these and other circumstances attending this operation we learn the import of the spiritual exercise here intended. The blessings communicated by the Holy Ghost are obtained by diligent application of the mind to prayer, attentive reading, hearing, and meditation; and by rightly disposing and digesting the subjects read, heard, and contemplated, so as believingly to apply them for the great purposes of spiritual improvement. (R. Macculloch.)

The wells of salvation

The plural is used because God is as many wells, inexhaustible. (W. Day, M. A.)

Wells of salvation: the Word of God

A young girl, going to be servant in a grand house, was discovered one day in the servants hall reading her Bible. Her mistress, richly attired in satin, with dazzling jewels, stood amazed at the sight of her poor domestic, who had but one spare evening a month, employing it in the study of Scripture. “Maggie,” she said, “what are you doing with that Book? It is not right that you should read it tonight. You should be out, girl.” The mistress, though thoroughly worldly, yet had a kind heart, and put her hand on the shrinking girl. Maggie looked up with sweet and steadfast eyes. “This is enjoyment, ma’am,” she said timidly.

Wells of salvation: the house of God

The camel, weary with his hundred miles’ travel across the burning sands, eats a few dried leaves, drinks at the well, lies down on the hot earth, and rolls about awhile, and is ready for another dash across the arid plain. So the tired burden bearer comes to the house of God, drinks from the fountain of life, and is renewed in soul and body too. (King’s Highway.)