QUIET WATERS
Isn't it strange what memory logs.
For example, this story from a past teacher of mine, now 40 years into the past.
He went on a trip to a dry and barren part of Africa where water was a most precious commodity. When he got back, he told my class, he realised how wasteful we in the West are of this life-giving resource; how much water we squander compared to how little Africans had to make do with. After his return, he found himself chiding his children every time he found them wasting this treasure.
His visit to a hot and arid land made him view the precious asset of water in a completely new way.
When you and I, brought up in water-abounding nations, come to this little line of Psalm 23...
"He leads me beside quiet waters"
....we too can pass it by without really taking in what David means. But in the arid environment of Palestine, they knew: water is life. Without water to drink, people and sheep die. Stark as that.
What are the first two rules in The Survival Rule of Threes? Humans can survive three weeks without food but only three days without water (the other two rules: three hours without shelter and three minutes without air).
Remember, from our last blog, that shepherd MacMillan found a knotted ball of dry grass in the stomach of a sheep who had food, but no water?
If the Word of God is the "green pasture" of Psalm 23, what are the "still waters"?
The Holy Spirit
Throughout the Scriptures, water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit:
"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or
Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one
Spirit.(1 Corinthians 12:13)
"For I will pour out water on the thirsty land. And streams on the dry
ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring. And My blessing on
your descendants" (Isiah 44:3)
In a previous blog I quoted the most famous verse of all:
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He
who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being
will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit,
whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not
yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)
A sheep needs not only green grass, a sheep needs water. Water to help them digest the grass, and water to hydrate the whole body.
In the same way, we need God's Word and His Holy Spirit. We must hear God's Word, read God's Word, and meditate on God's Word; but we must also have God's Holy Spirit to make the words come alive to our minds, cause them to sink deep into our hearts, and move our wills to respond to them in worship and obedience.
The Holy Spirit, fully God, fully divine,
is the blessed Third Person of the Godhead. Along with The Father and
The Son, the Three Persons make up the One and only Living God. Someone helpfully
described the Trinity like so:
There is one God.
But there are Three who are God.
But there are not three Gods,
for the Three are One.
The
Church began on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the
new covenant people. Without the Holy Spirit there would be no church.
No Spirit, no Church.
The
Spirit of God gives us a new heart, convicts us of sin, creates within
us the experience and reality of being adopted into God's family, works
in our hearts to make us holy, gives us gifts to serve each other with,
and produces the likeness of Jesus in our characters.
To say the Holy Spirit is vital to our walk with God, is to put it very very mildly indeed.
Why still waters?
Why then are these waters called still waters?
Well sheep will not drink, I am told, from fast moving streams. It's once again, the skittish nature of the creatures.
And the same with us. The loud rippling voice of the Law does not often move us. In fact we want to do the opposite of what we are commanded to do! It is rather the gentle working of the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Comforter (the actual word in Greek means one who comes alongside of) that empowers, carries and encourages us along.
If you have a weakness that you know about, what's the best way a friend can help you? How about pointing it out every day? Will that work? Probably not! It will just annoy you, because your conscience will be stirred up to despair again and again.
No, the best way to help a struggling friend is to come alongside them and gently, over time, help them along, creatively, tenderly, wisely.
The still waters describes the "Come alongside" nature of the Holy Spirit.
Someone once called the Holy Spirit The Gentleman of the Godhead. Now don't misunderstand that description, for the Spirit is no kind friend of unrepentant sin. But the Spirit of God is the Person of the Godhead who can so easily be neglected and forgotten.
Between Word and Spirit, Spirit can be pushed into the shade while Word gets the limelight. This easy neglect is true even though the Spirit inspired the Word, and even though the Word is servant to the Spirit, namely the sword of the Spirit.
But we must not, we dare not, neglect the still-waters Spirit.
But we must not, we dare not, neglect the still-waters Spirit.
God works in our hearts over the years by his Word and by his Spirit, nourishing our souls and transforming our characters.
Summing it all Up
For one, we ought to thank God for his precious gift of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Water of our souls.
For another, we ought to pray before we read the Bible or hear a sermon preached, that the Holy Spirit would make the green grass of the Word edifying to our needy souls.
Thirdly, we ought to pray for our preachers and teachers, that they might know the Holy Spirit working in their hearts as they prepare each week and preach each week.
And finally, we ought to be diligent so as not to grieve the Spirit of God who dwells within us - there is a whole new glorious mystery in iteself! We ought to walk upright and godly lives day by day, repenting of our sin - with deadly seriousness - using the spiritual gifts God has given us, allowing our stubborn characters to be renewed into the likeness of Jesus.
Then the "still waters" of the Spirit of God can move unhindred in our souls.
But do you have the Spirit of God living within you?
You will know.
It's possible to be all churched up and even doctrinally "as sound as a pound" but have no living experience of God by his Spirit. Jesus speaking to hordes of the Most Religious People in the World, invited them like so:
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'
Accept his invitation to drink today, believe in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
I love this new hymn about God's Spirit because its words are both shaped by truth and soaked in truthful experience. It is a prayer.
Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Let the presence of the risen Lord,
Come renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see,
Give me passion for Your purity;
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, come abide within,
May Your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin,
In each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my strivings into works of grace;
Breath of God show Christ in all I do.
Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth,
Cause Your church to hunger for your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
Lead us on the road of sacrifice,
That in unity the face of Christ
May be clear for all the world to see.
Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
You can hear it HERE
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Merciful Father in heaven,
We thank you for all the blessings that still crown these strange days.
We thank you that you sent the Holy Spirit into the world, and we thank your Son that he too sent the Spirit into the world.
We thank you that he who first inspired the Word is pleased to use that Word, his Sword, to accomplish great things in our hearts, lives and the world.
Forgive us for too often neglecting your Spirit, for not walking in step with Him, for not allowing him to lead us.
Teach us before we come to the Word, to ask the Author, the Spirit of the Living God to open our blind eyes, unstop our deaf ears, and soften our hard hearts, so that we might become not only hearers of the Word but doers of it also.
Thank you for Green Pastures and thank you for Still Waters
In the Mighty Name of Jesus
Amen
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