With joy you will draw water from
the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:3-6)
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:3-6)
The climate of Western PA
where I grew up is defined as 'humid continental'. Scientifically, this means
that during the worst months, 3 out of 4 days are at 88% humidity and often
reach 100%. What it personally means is misery. Evenings brought cooler
temperature but also higher humidity and thick fog as the lower temperature
could not hold all the moisture. Heavy dew in the morning would soak your shoes
with a brief walk outside, portending more heat and humidity to come later in
the day. All exertion would almost immediately soak you in sweat as the air
could not absorb your perspiration. I didn't know anything different, so I
accepted it.
During our summers of
camping and hiking, it was not unusual to come across a hand-pump for drinking
water. You would take turns pushing the handle up and down waiting for the
water to come from the cool depths and begin flowing. Then while one of you
continued to pump, the others would take turns cupping their hands for a drink
and splash across their face and back allowing the cool, clear fresh water to
revitalize you. Often the drink would turn into a water fight as we splashed
each other even as we continued to pump the handle, laughing and enjoying the
respite from the heat and humidity.
That is the image I refer
back to every time I read Isaiah's words, "With joy you will draw
water from the wells of salvation". As we plod through the
oppressive duties of this world and our own personal struggles and failures, we
come across the wells of refreshing that God provides. Sometimes it's a passage
of scripture. Other times a song of worship, or a casual interaction with a
brother who offers an encouraging word, a magnificent sunrise or the discovery
of a blooming flower. Sometimes God just impresses upon us Himself....His LOVE,
His CARE, His reminder of PROVISION in the past, His AWESOMENESS, HIMSELF. And
we walk away renewed, refreshed and revitalized as we draw deeply from His
wells of salvation. Ahhh.....
Post Script:
And the reason for our JOY? "Shout, and sing for joy... for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Right in the middle of 2020, God is with us, Emmanuel!
