Water from the Rock

“The God of Jacob, which turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.” Psatm. cxiv. 8.

TuIs is a strange and most unexpected fellowship of things. It would occasion me no surprise if I came upon a well in the garden of Eden. It would not awaken any wonder if I discovered a spring in the heart of a lovely valley, or rising on some sheltered upland, or in some nook on an open moor, But who anticipates rocks and springs? Who marries flints and fountains! Who would go wandering in a bare, grey valley of rocks looking for still waters? Who would search among the flints expecting to find the home of the gentle rain? And yet this is the combination which this word of God presents to us. Rocks are wedded to springs, and flints to fountains! And these are symbols of similar wonders which are wrought in the realm of grace. And these are the experiences of brave, believing men and women who walk in the way of the Lord,

The saints of God find a plenteous supply of soft water in hard, rocky places. Fountains of grace spring up on the driest and flintiest roads. ‘“‘ Waters in the desert rise.” God meets them in the ministry of most beneficent surprise. Let us look at one of these saints, and let us listen to his song as he journeys through the wilderness. For this is his song : — ‘‘ In my distress Thou hast enlarged me.” This man has been through hard experiences. He has been walking over a sharp and flinty road. Rocks have frowned upon him. No oasis of sheltering trees has relieved the heavy days, He has wakened in the morning to face a dry waste of trail, and he has lain down at night with the same sterile monotony before him. And what can you expect, in withering circumstances of this sort, except an impoverishment of his nature, a lessening of his capacity, and a drying up of all the genial currents of his soul?

But wonderful things began to happen. To his amazement he found that the hard time was a growing time, and that in some strange way the tree of his life was sucking nutriment out of the desert. There were magic pools somewhere: vital fountains were hiding somewhere! His spiritual capacity was increased. He began to add a cubit to his stature. Hardship unveiled his treasure. He was like a fern which has been removed from the sunlight and placed in the gloom beneath the stage. And in the gloom new fronds begin to uncoil, and vital things happen in the shade which could never have happened in the light. He began to have larger views of things — larger views of God, and man, and human life. The hard things brought enlightenment. The rock proved to be the dwelling-place of springs, and the flint the home of the fountain. The desert was a fine growing place! ‘In my distress Thou hast enlarged me.”

Here is another of the saints of God. He is in captivity in Rome. Paul is shut in, walled in! His freedom has been changed into servitude. Hard? Yes, hard as a rock! A sharp experience? Yes, sharp as a flint! But now listen. ‘‘ The things which happened unto me have turned out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel!” Who ever expected it? One might expect “rivers in high places,”’ but to have fountains in these dry places is one of the miracles of God’s amazing grace. God’s vitalising river of life is found in hard prison circumstances in Rome, nourishing the Apostle’s life, and directing it, and multiplying its influences, even when it seemed hemmed in by imperious restraints.

And so it is. Experiences which are hard as rock do not separate us from the love of God. Disappointments which are sharp as flint do not sever our communion with His grace. God’s wonderful waters can break through anything and everything.