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11 The woman
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from
whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou
greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered
and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. (John 4:11-14)
This
is a hymn of twin powers – both in its lyrical meaning and in the powerful
musical score. The music is so well matched to the lyrics that the one could
scarcely be separated from the other without a loss of beauty and meaning. An
alternate name of this hymn is Blessed Quietness. The words are the
composition of Manie Ferguson in 1897, and the music is by W.S. Marshall
(1897).
Joys are Flowing like a River
Joys are flowing
like a river,
Since the Comforter
has come;
He abides with us
forever,
Makes the trusting
heart His home.
Refrain
Blessèd quietness,
holy quietness,
What assurance in my
soul!
On the stormy sea,
He speaks peace to me,
How the billows
cease to roll!
Bringing life and
health and gladness,
All around this
heav’nly Guest,
Banished unbelief
and sadness,
Changed our
weariness to rest.
Refrain
Like the rain that
falls from Heaven,
Like the sunlight
from the sky,
So the Holy Ghost is
given,
Coming on us from on
high.
Refrain
See, a fruitful
field is growing,
Blessèd fruit of
righteousness;
And the streams of
life are flowing
In the lonely
wilderness.
Refrain
What a wonderful
salvation,
Where we always see
His face!
What a perfect
habitation,
What a quiet resting
place!
Refrain
Joys
are flowing like a river, Since the Comforter has come; He abides with us
forever, Makes the trusting heart His home. Joy has always flowed
freely in the heart chambers of those who love the Lord and His impeachable
Word. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had that joy; and so did David, Solomon, and
Deborah, to mention only a few of the Old Testament witnesses. But the
prevailing joy, as a River of Life, came to us as the flowing waters of the
Holy Ghost and Comforter after the Ascension of our Lord. The joys of the Old
Testament saints are based on an amazing faith in the fulfillment of the
promise of God. In the New Testament age, we look, not only in faith, but in
the accomplished fact of the coming of the Savior. The Comforter, being a
Spirit, is capable of omnipresence that a physical body is incapable of being.
The Holy Ghost abides (lives in our hearts) forever in the hearts of the
faithful. Those hearts are His home, not a place of occasional repose.
Bringing
life and health and gladness, All around this heav’nly Guest, Banished unbelief
and sadness, Changed our weariness to rest. It is the Holy Ghost
that banishes unbelief – not the believer himself. He is sovereign over the
wills of mankind. First of all, life is transmitted through the agency of the
Holy Ghost. He quickens (makes alive) the dead hearts and will so of men. This
occurs through the power of God’s grace and by no means by any merit in good
works on our part. (Eph 2:1-7) We have our rest
(Sabbath) in Christ just as we have our Passover in Him. (see Matt 11:28) We are not simply recipients of life, but life and JOY!
Like
the rain that falls from Heaven, Like the sunlight from the sky, So the Holy
Ghost is given, Coming on us from on high. In the midst of a rain
shower, there are no dry grounds – all are covered by the drenching waters of
life. Both the sunlight of righteousness and the rain showers of the water of
life combine from on high to produce life and beauty for us. And I will
make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the
shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. (Ezek 34:26) Both the Bread of Heaven and Water of Life came down to us from
Heaven just as the rains and the sunshine.
See,
a fruitful field is growing, Blessèd fruit of righteousness; And the streams of
life are flowing In the lonely wilderness. There are so many
fields of the wood, but only One fruitful field in the eyes of the Lord – His
people and His Church. This is the only Field of Righteousness on earth. It
wanes in size in our day for faith wanes, too, on earth. The Word faces greater
animosity inside the mainline churches today than from the world. This is a
shameless condition, but a reality that cannot be denied by Bible-believing
Christians. Thankfully, the size of the Field of God is not important in His
sight. Even one man of faith, plus God, or even God only, is the greatest power
known to man. Not all who wander the wilderness have access to the streams of
life that flow through the craggy swamps. They have no light to find their way
to the streams, or they care little for pure water. But where the streams of
life are flowing is forever a lonely wilderness where few men are found. In the
end of this world, we know that faith shall be rare on earth. Satan shall be
loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle:
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And
the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever. (Rev
20:7-10)
A camp in the last day will be a small
parcel of ground compared to the whole earth from which the armies of Satan are
drawn – yet, we know that Satan is defeated and cast into the fires of Hell.
What
a wonderful salvation, Where we always see His face! What a perfect habitation,
What a quiet resting place! David the King meditated on that
glorious day when He would see the Lord face-to-face. As for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy
likeness. (Psalm 17:15) David will no
longer be plagued by a checkered past of sin and failure. He will view the face
of the Lord with righteousness – not his own, but an IMPUTED righteousness that
is a gift of the Lord’s grace. For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
(Job 19:25-27) Job, too, had the sure promise of resurrected
bliss in Christ – a sure promise that we all share as the Elect of God. We do
not know what, precisely, Heaven shall be like; but we do know that any place
with Christ will be the most wonderful place our hearts can imagine.
The Refrain
Blessèd quietness, holy quietness, What
assurance in my soul! On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me, How the billows
cease to roll! The spring rains of the Blue Ridge Mountains come on
with hurried force, but in their wake is the most wonderful peace and quiet.
The only sound seems to be the residual rain drops falling from the leaves and
the chirping of birds as if celebrating the coming quiet and blissful joy of
breaking sunshine on the fields. But the peace that the Lord offers surpasses
all other considerations of the term. As Paul counsels, And the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7) He who calmed the
stormy waters of Galilee is able to calm every storm of the heart. The billows
of the sea are calmed at the sound of His voice; and the doubts and fears of
the heart subside at His loving counsel.
