Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. - Isaiah 12:3
Water is necessary to sustain life. This is true whether we are referring to the natural water which occurs in the earth, which is essential to the life of all the created beings therein, or to that LIVING WATER which is given to the SPIRIT born children of GOD. No creature has the ability to give itself life or to sustain its own life by its own power. Rather, it must be given the essential elements which are designed to sustain life. So it is spiritually as well. Man does not in any sense have this life in “himself”, it must be given to him by HIM who is LIFE. “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” (John 5:26) Without CHRIST no man has life, either in its beginning or in its sustenance.
It is very interesting to study the subject of “wells” (i.e.; fountains or springs) in the scriptures. We see several incidences in the scriptures where the LORD met with HIS children at a well. One of the more prominent ones is found in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel. John tells us that the ONE who created the very atoms and molecules, of which water is made, sat at a well in Samaria and expressed HIS desire to drink thereof.
The woman to whom HE spoke was quite surprised that HE made this request since she recognized HIM as a Jew, with whom the Samaritans had few dealings and vice versa. Yet the LORD’s desire for this water which the woman drew up, was secondary to HIS purpose of meeting with her and giving her a drink from a well which would never run dry. This was no chance meeting but was carried out in the eternal purpose of HIM who knew this woman long before she ever laid eyes on HIM. HE had an appointment with her which she had not written in her schedule book, but was ordained by HIM who “must needs go through Samaria”. (John 4:4)
HE spoke with her of a WELL of water which HE alone could give, from which a man might drink and never thirst again. The reason for this continual quenching of her thirst was because HE would become a FOUNTAIN of LIFE which would spring up within her which would be a constant source of supply. This is the same WELL which HE spoke of when HE declared, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)
The LORD is both the WATER and the FOUNTAIN from which that water springs. HE is the BREAD of the hungry and the ONE who soothes the parched lips of the thirsty. HE is the SOURCE and SUBSTANCE of all that they stand in need of. If a man is not thirsty and tired then he will have no interest in even the coolest of springs. This WATER is not for those who have no need of it; even as HE said that HE came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Yet those who know themselves to be dwelling in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water will run to HIM whom they see as the FOUNTAIN of LIFE, without which they will surely perish.
Much emphasis is laid on the initial “experience” of salvation by most who claim to preach the gospel in the present day. Yet a beginning is only a beginning and the WELL or SPRING of salvation which the LORD has made manifest for HIS people is not primarily about the beginning but rather about the continuation of its SUPPLY throughout the present age even unto the ages to come. Salvation is not a well from which we drink but once, but rather it is that constant supply of life giving WATER with which we are supplied day by day.
Isaiah speaks of “wells” (or fountains, plural) from which those who are saved drink from. The LORD has provided a multitude of wells from which the thirsty souls of HIS children might draw salvation, yet the WATER that springs from each of those wells is the same
The WELL of GOD’s provision. When Abraham took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah he knew that the LORD would provide. (see Gen.22:8). When Moses and the children of Israel seemed trapped at the banks of the Red Sea he knew the LORD would provide, saying to them, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (Exo 14:13-14) Whatever the children of GOD stand in need of, HE shall supply in abundance, whether those needs are temporal or eternal. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phi 4:19)
The WELL of GOD’s praise. “That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. “ (Psa 9:14) “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.” (Psa 50:23) “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Heb 13:15) “Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” (Isa 12:5-6)
The WELL of REJOICING. “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” (Hab 3:18-19) “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Phil 4:4) “For the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Neh 8:10)
The WELL of GOD’s mercy. “It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” (Lam 3:22-23) The mercy of GOD reminds us of HIS faithfulness, in which we find great comfort. “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6)
The WELL of HOPE. “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.” (2Thess 2:16-17) We are indeed saved by HOPE. “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Rom 5:5-6)
The WELL of GOD’s purpose. “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” (Heb 6:17-19)
The WELL of ETERNAL LIFE. “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”(John 4:14) “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev 7:16-17) “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (Rev 21:6)