Water From the Well
2Samuel 23:13-17
INTRODUCTION: What a story of love and devotion to their anointed leader! What a sacrifice they made for the longings of another! Yet, much more lies behind this story.
I. THE THIRSTY SOUL (23:13-14)
A. In the Hold (23:14; 2Timothy 2:25-26)
B. In Harvest Time (23:13; John 4:35)
C. Cut Off From the Water (23:14)
Frontier Revival – The Baptist preacher John Taylor (1752-1835) tells of revival in a frontier outpost in present-day West Virginia in the spring of 1776: “We met about thirty or forty people and began about the time designed. I went forward. There was nothing visible while I was speaking. Redding [another preacher] dwelt on the awful subject of a Judgment to come. The first appearance was a young lady who began to weep and tremble, sitting by her grandmother. The old lady for some time strove to stop her. At length she began to tremble herself, as if the Judge was at the door. From thence the effect spread through the whole house with solemn groans and lamentations; till at length a woman the name of Clark dropt on her knees in the middle of the house with the greatest appearance of agonizing guilt. And perhaps she did not leave that position for the space of three hours. When Redding stopt speaking, the only remedy I had to prevent [my] hallowing [hollering] with all my might was to vent the tender feelings of my heart by exhortations and feeling invitations to those apparently broken-hearted creatures. Whether Mrs. Clark had ever concerned about her soul before, I disremember [forget]; but she obtained deliverance from her guilt before she left her knees.
“We had quite forgotten all the meetings that were ahead of us, and our worship continued perhaps six hours in prayers, praise, and exhortations among the people. I do not recollect that we took any sustenance before we left the place, for the family where the meeting was [conducted] seemed two [too] much affected to think of anything but the salvation of their souls. I solemnly surveyed the house a little before we started, and it is a fact that the floor of it was as wet with the tears of the people as if water had been sprinkled all over it.” –from Baptists on the American Frontier by John Taylor (p.133-134).
II. THE QUENCHING WATER (23:15)
A. The Water of Life (John 4:14)
B. The Water Longed For (Isaiah 55:1)
C. The Water Offered to Sinners (Revelation 22:17)
Son of Thunder – Evangelist Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764), though little known today, powerfully influenced the First Great Awakening in America. The more famous George Whitefield said of the preaching of Tennent: “I never before heard such a searching sermon. He convinced me more and more that we can preach the Gospel of Christ no further than we have experienced the power of it in our own hearts. Being deeply convicted of sin, by God’s Holy Spirit, at his first conversion, he has learned experimentally to dissect the heart of a natural man. Hypocrites must either soon be converted or enraged at his preaching. He is a son of thunder, and does not fear the faces of men.” –from Gilbert Tennent, Son of Thunder by Milton J. Coalter, Jr.
D. The Water From Bethlehem
1. Bethlehem means house of bread (John 6:35)
2. Bethlehem, the city of the birth of Christ (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1)
E. The Water at the Gate (John 10:9)
III. THE THREE MIGHTY MEN (23:16)
A. A Type of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13:14)
B. Motivated by their Love (John 3:16; Romans 8:35-39; 15:30)
C. Working Together to Secure the Water
1. Incarnation
2. Resurrection
D. Bringing Water to the Thirsty (Matthew 5:6; Revelation 21:6)
IV. THE GRATEFUL SAINT (23:16-17)
A. The Thirsty Soul Received the Water – Salvation (John 4:4-15)
B. He Considered the Price that was Paid
1. The jeopardy of life (v.17; Matthew 20:28)
2. The price of blood (Acts 20:28; 1Peter 1:18-19)
C. He Gave Up his own Rights to the Water (v.16)
1. He understood his debt (2Corinthians 5:14-15)
2. He gave himself a sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2)
When I Am Weak – Diary Entry for July 29, 1780: “Am I not a fool and slow of heart to believe? Notwithstanding all the Scripture says of my impotency, all the experience I have had of it, and all my settled and avowed principles, how hard is it for me to believe that I am nothing! Ah! Can I live near to God, set or keep the springs of godliness a-going in my soul, or investigate the things of God to any purpose? No, I cannot: ‘When I am weak, then (and then only) am I strong!’” –from The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller: Volume 1 (p.23).
D. He Poured It Out on the Ground (v.16)
1. The ground is the earth
2. We are to live our lives for others
E. He Poured It Out Unto the Lord (v.16)
Surrender to the Message – “The message and the messenger cannot be separated. The proclamation and the proclaimer intertwine. There is a sense in which true preaching requires the message to be incarnated in the man. The great violinist, Yehudi Menuhin, was once asked the reason behind his genius. He offered a one-word explanation—surrender. The violinist surrenders to the violin. Thus, the preacher surrenders to the message. The delivery becomes the only thing in the world for him at that time. This sort of preaching, though prepared in the head, has, on delivery, to flow from the heart.” –from The Sacred Anointing: The Preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (p.121).
CONCLUSION: Are you one who needs to come to the water or are you one who needs to pour his water on the ground to the Lord.