April 15 2023

Today, Saturday April 15

“There is a River”

Psalm 46:4-7

“There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah”

We need to remember that Psalm 46 was written to celebrate the victory that the LORD of Hosts gave to Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem when He sent an angel and destroyed 185,000 invading Assyrian soldiers in one night. Verses 4-7 gives us the picture of the city of Jerusalem where the people are confined because of the Assyrian army camped around them. Water was a precious commodity in Palestine and especially in Jerusalem, one of the few ancient cities not built on a river.

Hezekiah’s Tunnel is one of the most interesting places that we visit when we go to Jerusalem on any of our trips. (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30). This is a tunnel that he built through solid rock that is about a third of a mile long. It is accessible from the City of David, and you are able to walk through it. The water is about knee deep. The tunnel is very narrow and very dark.

Wisely, Hezekiah had built this underground water system that connected the Spring of Gihon in Kidron with the Pool of Siloam within the city, so water was available. But the psalmist knew that God was their river and provided them with the water of life (Psalm 36:8; 65:9; 87:7)). In the days of King Ahaz, Isaiah compared an Assyrian invasion to an overflowing river, but he reminded the Jews that their God was like a quiet river (Shiloah) and would bring them peace (Isa. 8:1-10). God's people have always depended on the hidden spiritual resources that come from God alone. Whenever Israel turned to a pagan nation for help, they ended up in worse trouble.

There is a river of life that we have, that flows from our relationship with Jesus Christ. In John 4, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, "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” (John 4:13-14)." In John 7:37-39, Jesus said, "…If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive…”.

When we come to the end of our earthly resources we can always find that the Lord Jesus will be there to give us everything we really need. We need to drink from the “water of the Word” every day! When we are drinking from this River, we will find that we don’t have to keep trying to find satisfaction from drinking from the pleasures of the world. Not only that, but out of us will flow the Holy Spirit which will bring true life and satisfaction to those around us!

Jerusalem was indeed the holy city, set apart by God, and His sanctuary was there, but these things were no guarantee of victory (Jer. 7:1-8). The king and the people needed to turn to the Lord in confession and faith, and He would hear and save them, and this is what they did. God did help Jerusalem when the morning dawned (v. 5), for the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and sent Sennacherib home (Isa. 37:36).

Indeed, Jehovah is God Most High! (v. 4). All He had to do was speak the word (v. 6), and the enemy was defeated. He is the "Lord of Hosts—the Lord of the armies of heaven and earth." This name for God is found first in Scripture when Hannah asked God to give her a son (1 Sam. 1:11). The Commander of the armies of the Lord is always with us (Josh. 5:13-15), for He is "Immanuel, God with us" (Matt. 1:23; Isa. 7:14; 8:8).

No matter what the circumstances, we may drink at the river of His joy and blessing and find the peace and strength we need.

God bless!