David and Isaiah – Wells of Salvation
Reading Psalm 63 and Isaiah 12 today, I was struck again by the theme of water and wells.
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You;
Psalm 63:1, a psalm of David, NIV
I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
The context for this psalm is that David was in the desert of Judah. Possibly before he became king, wandering as an outlaw, but more likely when he was briefly exiled during Absalom’s rebellion. As always, David turns his distress into praise and worship. Drought becomes a metaphor for his need of God, his great desire to see God, his earnest wish to be in the place of worship. His lips may be dry, but David will still use them to sing:
Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You …
Psalm 63:3, 5a, NIV
with singing lips my mouth will praise You.
Isaiah 12 is a short chapter, just six verses, comprising two songs or psalms. The word “salvation” stands out to me, as Isaiah uses it three times. “Surely God is my salvation” (v2a). Then “The Lord, the Lord Himself … He has become my salvation” (v2b). And finally:
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Isaiah 12:3, NIV
Salvation is a common theme in the Psalms especially, but I believe this is the only place in the Bible where wells of salvation are mentioned. The word is translated “springs” in some versions, but the idea is the same: a freely available source of fresh clean water in an otherwise dry place. Salvation is the Hebrew word yeshuah, and you don’t need to be a Hebrew scholar to know that this is the same as Joshua, or Jesus in the Greek, the One Who Saves or the Saviour.
Prophetically Isaiah is calling us to come to Jesus, come to the wells of Jesus, and we know that the deep deep wells of His grace, His mercy, His salvation, and His love are inexhaustible, and continually available. However dry my life might feel right now, I must like David open my mouth and use my lips in praise. God by His Holy Spirit will supply fresh water, and whether in our own worship or in our leading of others, we have access to fresh grace for each new day.
