Living Water

A Study in the Psalms: Psalm 23

Keller, W. Phillip. "He Leadeth Me Beside the Still Waters." A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1970. 49-58. Print.

Psalm 23:2b

He leads me beside quiet waters.

Even though sheep prosper in a dry climate, they require water. It is the shepherd's job to know where the water is or to create areas that provided the water they need. Bear with me as I share some facts Keller notes in his book about sheep and water. You'll be able to see where this is headed later. A sheep's body averages about 70 percent water. Water helps them keep their normal metabolism. They have a swollen look to them because water is a part of every cell in their body. The amount of water in a sheep's body determines their energy and strength. If a sheep is lacking in water, their bodily tissues can become damaged, and they become weak.

This portrays such a wonderful analogy to my spiritual life.

John 4:10,13 Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well, and He says,

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water....Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 7:37b,38

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

Revelation 7:17

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 

The children and I took a trip to Explorations in Antiquity which is a living museum that brings Bible times to life.  They explained they concept of living water. In Bible times the term living water referred to water that was fresh and flowing, not stagnant like well water. It helps in understanding these verses when Jesus refers to the water He gives as living water. It is fresh, flowing, abundant, not lacking or stagnant. In John 7, that living water refers to the Holy Spirit within me.  When I accept the gift of living water that Christ offers, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells me. As I continue to drink of the water Christ gives, it will overflow from within me.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

My spiritual thirst can only be filled in Christ.  I can try to find other sources of "water" to satisfy that thirst, but I will be left unsatisfied. If I continue to drink from those other sources, my spiritual life will become weaker and weaker. God placed in me an insatiable thirst for Him that only He can satisfy. Nothing else and no one else can satisfy that thirst. I need to come to Him daily and at times even moment by moment to drink of His water.

Psalm 42:1-2a

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.

I love one of Casting Crowns newer songs, Thrive. Here are just a few lyrics from the song.

...So living water flowing through, God we thirst for more of you. Fill our hearts and flood our souls with one desire... 

Living Water flow through me!