Christ: Living Water for the Thirsty Soul
What is Living Water? The question proposed is quite broad yet very crucial. Understanding 'Living Water' is most contingent for our life-sustaining and eternal joy in God through Jesus Christ!
Since it is so broad, perhaps we can understand it through the lens of biblical theology.
Probably the most designated place in Scripture that ascribes God to be the all-satisfying source of divine delight in the Old Testament is in Jeremiah 2:13, when God was disgusted with Judah's apostasy in forsaking the all-satisfying God for broken cisterns that can hold no water.
The heart of this verse is when God refers Himself to be "the Fountain of living waters". Their sin was sacrilege and spiritually suicidal (End for which God Created the World) because when live-giving, all-satisfying, all-sustaining Living Water was at their disposal by the Fount, broken cisterns instead were their allurment. It is almost as if God is saying, "Don't you know who I am? I am the all-sustaining, all-surpassing, all-satisfying Fountain--the Living Water of your thristy souls! Drink! Drink from ME!
The fulness and reality of this Fount in Jeremiah 2:13 is realized necessarily and completely in Jesus Christ who is the thirst-quencher for the soul in John 4:9, 10. John (and Jesus) say it better than I do: "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." In God alone there is an inexhaustible bounty of rich water for the soul that is fully realized in the Son, the Fount of Living Water.
Not only does John seek to propose Christ to be man's greatest need as water is a necessity for the replenishing and reviving of the body, but I think John adorns Christ to be the all-satisfying and all-sufficient Source of desire and bliss--Living Water for the soul. God doesn't merely give water--He in His Son is Living Water.
Let us ever drink from the Fountain! And now a hymn:
Let him who thirsts for heavenly joys,
Come unto Me, the Savior cries,
And drink at my spring-head;
Leave all your boasting self behind
For from the Saviour you shall find a glorious life indeed.
I come, O Lord, and thirst for thee
Some living water give to me,
Or I shall faint and die;
All other means my heart has tried,
All other streams are vain beside,
What flows from Calvary.
I long to taste the purple flood,
And feel the virtue of thy blood,
And gaze and tarry here;
So shall I sweetly sing and pray,
And serve thee kindly every day,
Without a guilty fear.
John Berridge (1716-1793)
Since it is so broad, perhaps we can understand it through the lens of biblical theology.
Probably the most designated place in Scripture that ascribes God to be the all-satisfying source of divine delight in the Old Testament is in Jeremiah 2:13, when God was disgusted with Judah's apostasy in forsaking the all-satisfying God for broken cisterns that can hold no water.
The heart of this verse is when God refers Himself to be "the Fountain of living waters". Their sin was sacrilege and spiritually suicidal (End for which God Created the World) because when live-giving, all-satisfying, all-sustaining Living Water was at their disposal by the Fount, broken cisterns instead were their allurment. It is almost as if God is saying, "Don't you know who I am? I am the all-sustaining, all-surpassing, all-satisfying Fountain--the Living Water of your thristy souls! Drink! Drink from ME!
The fulness and reality of this Fount in Jeremiah 2:13 is realized necessarily and completely in Jesus Christ who is the thirst-quencher for the soul in John 4:9, 10. John (and Jesus) say it better than I do: "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." In God alone there is an inexhaustible bounty of rich water for the soul that is fully realized in the Son, the Fount of Living Water.
Not only does John seek to propose Christ to be man's greatest need as water is a necessity for the replenishing and reviving of the body, but I think John adorns Christ to be the all-satisfying and all-sufficient Source of desire and bliss--Living Water for the soul. God doesn't merely give water--He in His Son is Living Water.
Let us ever drink from the Fountain! And now a hymn:
Let him who thirsts for heavenly joys,
Come unto Me, the Savior cries,
And drink at my spring-head;
Leave all your boasting self behind
For from the Saviour you shall find a glorious life indeed.
I come, O Lord, and thirst for thee
Some living water give to me,
Or I shall faint and die;
All other means my heart has tried,
All other streams are vain beside,
What flows from Calvary.
I long to taste the purple flood,
And feel the virtue of thy blood,
And gaze and tarry here;
So shall I sweetly sing and pray,
And serve thee kindly every day,
Without a guilty fear.
John Berridge (1716-1793)
posted by the Zepeda family at
10:06 PM
4 Comments:
Nice hymn, Gabe. Have you done it at church, and if so, to what tune?
By
Matt H, at 2:44 PM
Matt,
Hey brother. Isn't that a great hymn? I thought so. I actually haven't done this hymn in my church--namely because the tune is unknown. I got it from "Gadsby's Hymns" most of which almost all the hymns therein don't have a tune to them or they do have a tune to them, but no one knows what tune it might be. Indelible Grace likes to take a lot Gadsby's hymns and put tunes to them.
You should put music to it and use it at your church and then let me know your tune so I can do it at my church.
Peace out playa
By
the Zepeda family, at 11:10 PM
ditto gabe. love the hymn.
By
ashley, at 10:59 AM
I know this is an old post but I found it as I was researching the hymn, one of my favourite hymns by my favourite hymnwriter!
Gadsby's Hymnbook is still in use in a few UK churches and there is a tune book that was produced to go with it - it's called "The Companion Tune Book".
https://www.gospelstandard.org.uk/Publications/Books/Hymns/Companion-Tune-Book
It has tunes for all the hymns in Gadsby's and an index which recommends tunes for each hymn.
Hope that helps you sing this hymn in your church!
By
Anon, at 4:06 PM
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