“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” – Psalm 36:7-9
As one experiences being parched and thirsty, he is driven to find something he believes will satisfy and quench his thirst. The value and quality of that which will satisfy is seen and in some ways weighed against the backdrop of the level of dryness. He’ll pursue it based on how much relief he anticipates it truly bringing.
Many of you know that the evening sermon this past Lord’s Day was focused on Psalm 36:7-12. Today, I would like to continue this devotion series on who Jesus is and dive a bit deeper in considering David’s words about the divine fountain of life, along with some nuggets from the Puritans on the subject, as you are ultimately pointed to the glorious reality of Christ being the Fountain of Life.
Like David, how marvelous it is to know and break forth in praising God for the preciousness of His lovingkindness, or lit. praising God for His merciful love as we have a Spirit wrought view of its high value and excellence in Christ. Its excellence is seen all the more clearly in contrast against the backdrop of the picture of death and darkness David paints in the beginning half of Psalm 36. You and I were like the wicked spoken of there, bearing the fruit of the fear of God not being before our eyes and in our hearts. Yet, here comes Christ in His mercy giving life as the fountain that abundantly satisfies with His fullness, who causes us to drink from the river of His pleasures and be full. He and He alone gives life and everlasting life to dead and parched souls so that we would have life and it more abundantly. (John 10:10) Soli Deo Gloria!
In his book, The Fountain of Life Opened Up, John Flavel gives these helpful thoughts about abundant satisfaction from the fountain in Psalm 36, “So it is promised, Mat. 5:6. “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled:” They shall then depend no more upon the stream, but drink from the overflowing fountain itself, Psalm. 36:8 “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house, and you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures: for with you is the fountain of life, and in Your light shall we see light:” There they shall drink and praise, and praise and drink for evermore; all their thirsty desires shall be filled with complete satisfaction. O how desirable a state is heaven upon this account! and how should we be restless until we come there; as the thirsty traveler is until he meet that cool, refreshing spring he wants and seeks for. This present state is a state of thirsting, that to come of refreshment and satisfaction. Some drops indeed come from the fountain by faith, hut they quench not the believer’s thirst; rather like water sprinkled on the fire, they make it burn the more: but there the thirsty soul has enough.” (Flavel, 564)
If you take a brief survey of the Scriptures, you find many things that God has ordained for your nourishment and good as fountains of life. Let’s first consider a few in the Old Testament:
- See the fruit of good words from the mouths of the godly in Proverbs 10:11 “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”
- Also godly teaching from the heavenly wise in Proverbs 13:14 “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.”
- As well as the work of the fear of the Lord in Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” Have you thought about or been aware of the work of godly fear in this way before?
All of these verses that speak of godly words, teaching, and fear being fountains of life as they edify and serve in the work of comfort and preservation of God’s people point you to the ultimate and eternal fountain, Jesus Christ. David points you to the same in Psalm 36. Indeed, with Him is the fountain of life. (v. 9)
- Think more on Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
- Consider the wonderful ministry of the Lamb in Revelation 7:16-17 “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- What was the Apostle John shown in Revelation 22:1? “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
- What is the call to the thirsty in Revelation 22:17? “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
Speaking to why eternal life cannot be given by any but by Christ, in his book, Christ the Fountain of Life, John Cotton states, “It is taken from the good pleasure of the Father, whom it hath pleased that in Christ all fullness of life should dwell, Col. 1.19. And when he which is our life shall appear, we shall appear with him, 1 Cor. 1.30. And therefore since God hath concluded, and shut up all the springs of life in Christ, and out of Christ there is nothing but death, the good pleasure of the Father hath determined this point, that he having given us this eternal life in his Son, there is no deriving life from any fountain, but only from the Son.” (Cotton, 8)
Your Savior is the bread of life, Beloved. He is the fountain of life who gives you life. Knowing His love to you, drink deeply of Him, trusting Him all the more as you are under the shadow of His wings.
Blessings to you and your family,
Pastor Miller
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Works Cited:
Flavel, John. “The Fountain of Life Opened Up.” Monergism, pg. 564. https://www.monergism.com/fountain-life-ebook
Cotton, John. “Christ the Fountain of Life.” Monergism, pg. 8. https://www.monergism.com/christ-fountain-life-ebook