I sometimes wonder if we really hear the Scripture when it is read on a Sunday morning. This chapter in Psalm says a couple of important things. It talks about worshipping the Lord. It tells us that we are His people and we are the flock and that God is our Shepherd, protecting and caring for us. It says that He is the rock and the source of our salvation. It asks us to sing out our praises.
I want you to listen to this Scripture again through a song that we played rather frequently during our Saturday evening services. Feel free to sing or hum along, but listen to the words that you just heard.
Song: Psalm 95, Come Worship the Lord by John Michael Talbot.
Come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
And come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
And come, let us sing to the Lord,
And shout with joy
To the rock who saved us.
Let us come with thanksgiving,
And sing joyful songs to the Lord.
So come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
The Lord is God,
The mighty God,
The great king o’er all the dark.
He holds in His hand
The depths of the earth,
And the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea,
It belongs now to Him.
The dry land too was formed by His hand.
So come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
Come, let us bow down and Worship,
Bending the knee before the Lord our maker.
For we are His people.
We are the flock that He shepherds.
So come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
So come, Worship the Lord,
For we are His people,
The flock that He shepherds.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
We are here to worship the Lord. He is the rock that can save us. We are His people.
Our New Testament Scripture comes from the book of
John 4:5-42 (NIV) I am only going to read to verse 15.
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, "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."
11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but 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."
15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
For a couple of months, I have been talking with Keely about doing a sermon that had to do with water. I was going to do it during one of our Saturday evening services, but didn’t get the chance. Imagine my surprise when Pastor Ed asked me to do the service this week and sent me the Scripture that he wanted to use. It was about water. And the woman at the well said to Jesus:
“Sir, give me this water”, this living water, so that I will not get thirsty again.
Josh sifted the water through his hands.
Human beings can live about 40 days without food, but only about 3 days without water.
Water is necessary for life. Water is necessary for health and for growth and for mere survival. Without water, nearly everything we know would cease to exist. Throughout the Bible, there are many, many references to water and thirst. Water was used to describe the Spirit of God. Scripture talks about thirsting for God and of God being the living water. It is because of Jesus and His death on the cross that we are able to share in this living water for all of eternity.
Josh poured the water into the jar.
We were born in a sea of water. We spent 9 months inside our mother’s womb, safe, warm and secure in a life-giving fluid that protected us from all harm. We were formed and grew for 9 months in a wonderful sea of protective water. We were also born with an innate desire to be one with God. When we ignore or turn away from Him, we naturally feel an emptiness in our souls. We search for many different things to fill that emptiness. We try television, alcohol, music, food, cigarettes, drugs, pornography, promiscuity, and various other unimportant and sometimes evil things to try and fill that void. But nothing seems to completely satisfy us. Nothing quenches that thirst. We often long to be back in that comforting sea of water inside our mother’s womb, away from the distractions and anxiety of the outside world. So we try more and more things to fill the void, but we still remain empty.
Only God can fill the emptiness we feel deep in our souls. Only God can make us feel complete. Only God can quench that thirst.
Psalm 42:2 (NIV)
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
We try to meet Him in church on a Sunday morning. We sometimes even remember to look for Him during the other days of the week. But we will never find Him unless we open our soul and invite Him in. We have been told that He stands at the door and knocks but we are often too busy to answer the knock. We are often preoccupied and don’t even hear the knock. And sometimes . . . sometimes we are afraid to open the door and let Him see what we are doing behind those closed doors. Sometimes we want to keep Him out.
Psalm 63:1 (NIV)
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
Our bodies have difficulty distinguishing between hunger and thirst. Too often we start eating when a simple glass of water is all we really need. Water sustains life. God sustains life. Our hearts and souls are often dry, arid places. There is no water there. We are dried up. Our bodies long for that sustaining drink of the living water.
Isaiah 49:10 (NIV)
They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
The one who has compassion on us is Jesus Christ. He understands us and wants to fill our emptiness. Just as water quenches our physical thirst, Christ quenches our spiritual thirst. Our souls are filled by becoming one with our God. Follow Him to the springs of water.
John 6:35 (NIV)
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Just simple bread and water can keep us going and keep us alive for many years. But the bread of life and the living water, free for our taking, will keep us going for eternity.
John 7:37 (NIV)
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
And Christ makes us a promise. He promises that by believing in Him and daily walking with Him, we will never be thirsty again. He will give us a drink from the well of living water. He will guide us and protect us. Our souls and hearts will be full.
Then, in Revelation we read about the end of time. Our time on earth begins in water and ends in dust. But God promises so much more to those who will agree to be part of His flock. He will shepherd us. He will wipe away every tear and heartache we have ever experienced.
Rev. 7:16-17 (NIV)
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For 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."
And then again, in Revelation, we read:
Rev. 21:6 (Living)
It is finished! I am the A and the Z--the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life--as a gift!
Water is pure. Water is a gift from God. We use water to baptize, cleansing us from sin. We use water to bless. We use water to sanctify. Water is renewing both physically and spiritually. Even Christ himself was baptized with water.
Lent is about half over. This is a time when we are supposed to get in tune with God and usually a time that we are asked to give up some particular food or drink or thing that we like. This is to help us focus on God. When we have a craving for those things, we are to crave God instead.
I have a challenge for you for the remainder of Lent. Instead of giving something else up, I want you to add something. . . Water.
I read about a Doctor that was in a prison camp. Because he was a Doctor, he was put in charge of tending other prisoners when they were sick or hurt. He had no supplies or medicines, only water. He used the water to treat injuries and used the water to treat sickness. He washed wounds clean with the only thing he had use of: water. He made the sick drink as much water as he could. After a couple of years, he was released from prison and continued research on water. He had found, during his prison stay, that water alone had helped him cure many diseases and heal many wounds.
He also discovered that adding a pinch of salt to the water increased the effective healing properties of this liquid. As long as you were drinking enough water, the salt became equally beneficial.
So, my challenge is that over the next 3 weeks or so, I want you to make a concerted effort to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day with or without the pinch of salt. Now this is not easy. You have to make a real, concerted effort in order to get in 8 glasses of water a day. Just like you have to make a real concerted effort to think about God every day.
You will be running to the bathroom a lot. But it will be worth it. Your body is made up of mostly water. Most of us are starving our bodies of this pure moisture. Water will aid your digestion, add fluid to stiff and aching joints, and counter all sorts of ailments. There is a little side effect however. You may lose a few pounds in the process, because you will drink when you would usually look for a snack.
A few weeks ago, I started trying to drink at least a gallon of water a day. I found that I had more energy and was less hungry. I have suffered with angina or hiatal hernia for years. When I drink my gallon of water, there are fewer and fewer occasions. Just drinking water has been linked to curing all sorts of diseases, body aches and joint stiffness.
Our bodies crave water, but we usually ignore it or substitute something else for it; just like we do with God. We drink coffee or tea, soda or juice, beer or whiskey. We think these things will stop the thirst. But most of these liquids have adverse and harming side effects. Then we wonder why we ache or don’t feel just right.
It’s the same way with God. We naturally crave the love and companionship of God, but we often ignore it or substitute something else for Him. Then we wonder why our heart aches and our soul feels empty.
Josh poured a glass of water and gave it to me. I took a drink.
So, for the next three weeks or so, drink water.
I took a drink of the water.
And every time you take a drink of pure, refreshing water, think about the living water that Jesus has promised.
I drank more water.
Think about how God can fill your own Spirit if you just drink.
I took another drink of water.
Think about what Jesus did for you by dying on the cross for your sins so that you might have a chance to drink from the living well.
I took another drink of water.
Think about the Holy Spirit and swallow every bit of it down to the last drop.
I drank the last of the water.
Drink long and deep and I promise you that by Easter, you will feel better. Your body and soul will be pleased. I promise and so does God.
Amen
