David's water

Just a little selection of readings to keep you nimble in your fingers. John chapter 7, here is our beloved Lord, it's verse 37, the great day of the feast when many, many Jews came to Jerusalem and our Lord got up and He made this declaration, John 7, 37, on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

By this, He meant the Spirit. Now, let's move on, here's the Apostle Paul and he's writing to the Philippians and in the second chapter he has this to say about himself. He's on trial and it looks as though his life is on a knife edge and the possibility is that he will be executed or thrown to the lions or what have you.

And he says, chapter 2, verse 17, Philippians, but even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. Now, let's daringly go back to the second book of Samuel and to a very historical chapter almost at the end, 2 Samuel and chapter 23.

I'm going to read a fair chunk and I'll read it fairly rapidly. Here's David and he's an old man. It's really his swan song, that is to say, it's his final composition of Psalms.

And he commits himself and his posterity, that is the future of Israel to the Lord. Is not my house right with God, he says in verse 5? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me every desire? And then he goes on with some acknowledgement, at least the historian does, of great men who lived in David's day. These are the names of David's mighty men, Joshibah, Hebeth, a Tacomanite was chief of the three.

He raised his spear against 800 men whom he killed in one encounter. Next to him was Eliezer, son of Dodiah, the Ehoheit. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines, gathered at Pasdamin for battle.

Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eliezer, but only to strip the dead.

Next to him was Shammah, son of Aggi, the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field.

He defended it and struck the Philistines down and the Lord brought about a great victory. During harvest time, three of the 30 chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. At that time, David was in the stronghold and the Philistine garrison was in Bethlehem.

David longed for water and said, oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out before the Lord.

Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this, he said. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives and David would not drink it? Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. Abishai, the brother of Joab, son of Zeruah, was the chief of the three.

He raised his spear against 300 men whom he killed and so he became as famous as the three. Was he not held in great honor than the three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them. Then references made to Benaiah and Jehoiada and down in verse 24 to Ashael and Joab and Alanhan and Shammar and Ichor and Helez and so on and so forth until you come right down to the 29th verse and Uriah the Hittite, there were 37 in all.

Well, the reason I read that will become clear in just a moment, but I want us to sing our next song. Can you remind me of the number there? I'm sorry, oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. That's right.

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, swelling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me. 5, 2, 2. Unmeasured, boundless, swelling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me, is the garden of my Lord.

He came upward, he came upward to my glorious rest of heart. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread his praise from shore to shore. Now we love him, never love him, change hath never, never more.

How he watches o'er his outposts, lies to hold them for his own. How for them he intercedeth, watches o'er them from the throne. Peace and love, peace and love, peace and love, peace and love, peace and love, peace and love.

Father, bless our time around your word and speak to all our hearts. In the name of Jesus, our Saviour, Amen. Do be seated, I want to speak to you this evening on David's water.

To Samuel in chapter 23 and verse 15. David longed for water and said, Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. I read about one speaker who addressing his congregation or his audience said, We all have two jobs.

Your job is to listen. My job is to speak. I do hope you will not finish your job before I have finished mine.

I turned the television on yesterday because I wanted to see something of the public commemoration of the 50th anniversary since the cessations of war in Southeast Asia. For those of you who have more tender years, it's perhaps very difficult for you to understand something of the carnage and the horror that took place so many years ago. And yet the freedoms and the benefits that you enjoy now, in some sense at the human level, are directly tracked back to the fact that thousands, indeed tens of thousands of people gave their lives in order to retain the freedoms that we have enjoyed in the West and to some extent in the East over these last decades.

Coming down the mile were 3,000 or was it 5,000 or was it 10,000 or was it 13,000 people? The salute was taken by Her Majesty the Queen. I've always honoured Elizabeth II and her mother and the late King George VI for the interest that they took, which was more than just an academic one, during the conflicts which caused Europe and Asia to be in such an unstable and seemingly hopeless situation so many years ago. And now the men and women who marched down the mile were in their 60s or perhaps even older.

Some could not march. Some were pushed on wheelchairs. Some who were not present were absent because as a result of war injury and damage they could not move, and others who had mental sickness and have had to cope with that during the decades that have elapsed.

It was right for Her Majesty, it was right for London yesterday to acknowledge what men and women did, not just from the United Kingdom but from the then Commonwealth, the Royal Rifles of Kenya, the various Indian battalions, the brave Gurkhas from Nepal, men and women from India, men and women from New Zealand and from Australia, all had taken part in that war effort which had repulsed the Japanese, who had been so horrific and so barbaric in their cruelty, perhaps plumbing the depths ever known to man in terms of being hostile to fellows who make their way across this planet. I wondered what, following those marches yesterday and the recognition of the bravery of these people, what they were doing last night. I mean in the restaurants, in the pubs or wherever it was that these thousands of people, far more than the authorities ever expected, who turned up and marched down the mile.

It's said of all the countenance, they never die, they simply go off balance. What about all soldiers? Do you not think that they went down Nostalgia Avenue? Do you not think that the Burmese group of men, that is men and women who fought in Burma, didn't get together and review some of the extraordinary things that happened? Not just the airlifting of men into the jungles of Burma but the airlifting of 2,000 asses and mules. Britain's sort of weapon against the Japanese so that they could make their way through the undergrowth.

Did they speak about one pony that was so honoured by the Lancashire regiment that it was flown back to the United Kingdom and presented to His Majesty the King? Did they think about that Gurkha who took on a dozen or so Japanese himself and put them to flight? So many stories must have percolated around the meeting houses of London yesterday as people reminisced about that horrific, obscene conflict in Southeast Asia half a century ago. You ask me why I read from 2 Samuel and chapter 23, and the reason is this, you see, you have got there a catalogue of names, names of men who are not known to you but were known to their contemporaries in the days when these records were compiled. They were soldiers.

They were commanding officers. They were people who came onto the forefront of history, onto the stage of history during a time when Israel, like Europe and civilisation in Asia, was threatened. David was king and he had mighty men who came alongside him and helped him in an assault against the Philistines who were the enemies of Israel at that time.

The very word Palestine comes from the word Philistia or Philistines, and they were the people who controlled the land of Israel before Moses came back with the Jewish slaves from the Egypt, and there was warfare perennially, continually between the Philistines and the Israelites. And when David is in great difficulty, it is these valiant men whose names are here recorded who come to his aid, and alongside him they are able to repulse the Philistines and push them back to the coastal plain of the Mediterranean. And as David's historian brings together these list of names, at the end of this historical book of Samuel what you get are little cameos, little incidents of what occurred in battle.

You see, this is not living history sequential at any rate in the 23rd chapter, for some of these men no longer live. This is David at the end of his life, as it indicated by the opening verses, who is taking his leave of Israel and there is a review of God's providential dealings with Israel during the reign of David. What do soldiers do when they gather together? They reminisce.

They engage in memory recall as to the exploits in which they were involved. And here are three mighty men of David who remember the occasion when their king is like some Israeli Robin Hood in the wilderness, in a cave, and he is thirsty, and he expresses his desire in front of his leading men, all that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. And these men heard, three of them, and not because they were commanded so to do, but out of sheer loyalty and commitment to their charismatic, beloved leader.

They risk life and limb as they go back to the birthplace of David and bring that cold, refreshing liquid for the king to slake his thirst. Last Sunday, if you were listening, I told you that just before the service I had visited a lady who I have discovered was 94 years of age. I think I underestimated her years last Sunday night.

She was in that lovely home, that complex of homes we call Koinonia, with which the Tabb has such close association. If you recall what I said in my lead-in to giving you an illustration of this lady, I mentioned the fact that in our home during the afternoon we'd had several young families, and I'd had the pleasure of looking after one of the babies, at least for half an hour or so, and feeding the little six-year-old girl called Abigail. And then later on, just before the gospel service, I was visiting this home, Koinonia, and I went to see my elderly friend, and there she was, as incapacitated as that little baby.

And I took a feeding glass similar to the baby's bottle, and I lifted it to her lips, having put some ice in the water, and her thirst was quenched. And the following day, in other words, Monday, I felt the impulse to go back and to visit her. Looking back across these years at the Tabb, one of the highlights of my personal ministry has been sometimes to be at the bedside of men and women who are about to die.

Sometimes they've sent for me. Sometimes it's just been an impulse as their name has come across my mind, and I've decided at that particular point I should go. Sometimes they've wanted to talk in terms of their worries about their family, and some of them, brave souls that they be, have even given me a list of the hymns to be sung at their memorial service, and asked that tracts should be distributed on the occasion when we came together in the Tabb to recognize their passing.

Some have talked about monies that they want applying here, there, and where have you. And on this particular occasion, on Monday at around one o'clock, I went into Koinonia, and there was my friend again, and she was so thirsty. And so, I got her the same container as I'd used before, and I put it to her lips, and I put my ear alongside her lips so that I could get what she was saying, for she could only speak so very quietly.

And she said to me, this water, it's so lovely. You know, Tony, it's like David's water. I said, David's water? And she said, yes, water that was brought to David from the well at Bethlehem.

And she said again, I'm so thirsty. And so, I tilted the glass a little more and then wiped her lips. And she said, it's lovely.

And then she started talking about the Lord and going to be with the Lord. And I spoke more about David's water. And she said, but he never drank that water, did he? I said, no.

When those brave soldiers of his brought the water, you remember what he did? And she said, he poured it on the ground. He poured it out as an offering to the Lord. And I said, yes.

And we talked a little bit more about her going into the Lord's presence again. And I said, you know something? She said, what? I said, your life, it reminds me of that water. You've poured it out.

Oh, she said, no. I said, yes, that is the case. And I remembered about her husband and how he wouldn't come to the tab, because, well, he'd fallen out with established Christianity.

He thought we were all a load of, and you can fill in the blank. But over the years, we sort of chiseled away at him and I'd watched his wife on the many occasions I'd been in their home. I've never seen a spiritual woman manage her husband to the degree that this lady managed hers.

And when at times he ran out of patience, she seemed to be able to compensate for his impetuous behavior. She reminded me sometimes of a person who has an iron and is able to iron out the creases. And time after time, I watched her iron out the creases of her husband.

And with just a little bit of spiritual help in terms of passing in there and occasionally over a matter of years having prayer, eventually his resistance to Christianity changed. And I buried him some years ago after he had confessed faith in Christ. But it's not a self-serving story for the credit at the human level goes to his wife, whose life was like water poured on the ground.

I remembered her son who had virtually the same experience as her husband and died prematurely. And just to the point of giving her the final drink and embracing her, I felt the authority just to put our hands together and commit her to the Lord in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. And I reminded her afresh of the poured out life of our Lord Jesus Christ and that she had drunk deeply into the salvation which he had offered.

Then she went to sleep. I'd left my keys in her room and I called back just a few moments later and found her still asleep with her hand just dangling from her bed, virtually touching the little glass of water. My friends, in this Old Testament incident, what you have is the response of brave men to a commander who also was exceedingly brave.

I think I understand David in some measure. David was a man of passion. David was a man of emotion.

Sometimes he could be thoughtful and philosophical. Sometimes he would be lifted up in ecstasy and he would write his psalms. At other times he could plunge almost into the dungeon of depression.

He was an amorous man who loved women and also was loved by men. He was a man who made mistakes but also was caught along by the power of the Holy Spirit and achieved some remarkable successes. And the greatest accolade that can be given to David is this, that he was and he remained a friend of God.

And here with his military men he utters a cry, if only, if only I could have a drink of water. In the late 1950s, when Cliff Richard had hardly been heard of, a man who was commanding attention in terms of the musical charts was called Frankie Lane. Now I can recognize the distinction in age in my congregation, those who are looking clueless and those who have switched on.

The first record I ever bought cost me half a crown. Do you remember that currency? It was Frankie Lane singing, Cool Clear Water. I played that thing until I nearly drove my father berserk.

And Frankie Lane in that crooning voice of his gave you the impression of a man who with his friend was going across a trackless desert and he was so thirsty and he was crying out, Cool Clear Water. There should be a revival of that record sent to the management of Southern Water. And he goes on to say, All day I face the barren waste without a trace of water.

And he conjures up the idea of some stupid man taking water and pouring it carelessly in the desert. It's awful to be thirsty. And when you are thirsty, all the Pepsi-Cola in the world is not a substitute to cold, pure water.

And here is David. And in his mind, being a soldier and nostalgic, he goes back to the days in Bethlehem and the well there that he often attended with his sheep. Oh, for some of that water.

But you see, as the Japs guarded the water supplies in Burma and throughout the whole of the southeastern theater of war, so the Philistines had got their garrison in Bethlehem, David's home place, birthplace. And the only way in which his desire could be satisfied would be if men determined because of their love for David, they would risk their lives and penetrate the stronghold of the Philistines and get to the well and presumably take a leather-worked bottle, fill it with water, and make that same dangerous trip back through the desert or the scrubland to the cave of Adullam. And that's what they did.

These mighty men, and towards the end of their lives, as the historian is bringing in the record, some of their colleagues no longer with them, they go down memory lane and they rehearse afresh as the people from the various regiments in Southeast Asia rehearsed afresh last night some of their daring exploits. And do you recall what he did when we brought him the water? He was so amazed. He wouldn't even drink it.

Earlier this morning we had a most precious communion service. The communion service, there comes a point when whoever is leading takes bread and takes wine, and the bread is distributed and the wine is distributed, as you will know, because we have communion here once in the evening every month. And the bread itself is not important in terms of just being bread.

And the wine is not important in terms of just being wine. It's what the bread signifies. It's what the wine signifies.

It speaks of the broken body of Jesus, of the poured out blood of Christ. The symbol is more important than the actual ingredient of the sacrament. And when David takes this water-filled leather container, he knows that this water has been brought to him at the risk of the lives of some of his greatest commanders, and David has not got the nerve to drink the water.

He realizes what has been done, and in a way that is typical, that fits into the character, the personality of this emotional, poetical man, David takes the water, and in a naked act of worship, he pours it on the ground, and it's absorbed by that hungry, parched soil. David offers it to the God of creation as a heartfelt acknowledgement of the bravery of his men who have risked their lives for David, who feel so utterly unworthy that they were prepared to hazard life and limb for him. What an exploit! What an impact the story made as it was told in the bazaars in Jerusalem and elsewhere.

David's water got potentially at such a great price, but poured out as worship to the Lord. Born in David's city, centuries later would come someone the title of whom would be great David's greater son. Why did he come into the world? To do spiritually for men and women what that physical well at Jerusalem could have done for David.

To bring the possibility of the slaking of the thirst of souls. To make it possible for men and women to have their sins forgiven and to be linked up to God in a faith relationship. So Jesus on one occasion in his public ministry stands up among thousands of people, and with a loud voice he cries out, if any man comes to me let him drink and I will give him waters that are living that will cause him never to thirst again.

He ties together conversation he'd had with a prostitute along with a theological explanation as to the main reason behind the feast that he is attending in Jerusalem. And when you trace our Lord Jesus Christ's pilgrimage to the cross of Calvary, you find that the Old Testament writer in anticipation of his death says that he poured out his soul. He poured out his life.

Here is Jesus, the courageous Jesus pouring out himself in order that people like you and me could have our sins forgiven. Listen, David recognized the bravery of his men. Our Queen yesterday and all thinking, sensitive people, however young, however old, acknowledged the bravery of thousands of people who gave their lives to preserve peace here in our world.

And Christian people are those who acknowledge the courage of Jesus Christ who came from Bethlehem and died on the cross of Calvary in order to meet the needs of folk like you and me. And when you become a Christian, in the sacramental sense, it's just like feeding on Jesus. It's just like taking water and having your thirst slaked.

Lillian Gardner's final experience in our world was the sacramental one of taking water, remembering that historical incident in the life of David, and then thinking through the greater implications of Jesus Christ making the water of salvation possible to her and to you. So in the honor of a 94-year-old woman who made an impact upon me, and in remembrance and glad remembrance of men and women who in my lifetime gave themselves to preserve freedoms, I offer you this sermon in the name of God, hopefully in some degree delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit, and ask you to take a drink, not of David's water brought to him at such great price, but of the water of salvation brought to you at the price of the death of our beloved Lord Jesus. Ask Him to cleanse you from your sins.

Ask Him to do for you what He did for Lillian Gardner's husband who'd for so many years been a hard-bitten businessman and executive of Woolworth's Traveling the World, who in his last 10 years discovered that peace and real success are not things you can gain but are given by God. Receive the salvation which Jesus offers as you come to Him and take the glass and drink forgiveness and drink cleansing and drink absolution. Let's pray.

And just a moment in our prayers for you to do what you know you ought to ensure that you're right with God, to pray that He will receive you to Himself, to ask that your sins might be forgiven. Say a prayer like this, Lord Jesus, I believe you came for me into this world. I believe you came to satisfy my innermost longing.

I believe you came to deal with my sins. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for all that you are prepared to do for me.

I receive your salvation and apologize from the depths of my being for all the wrong that I have caused and all the offense that I have been to you. So make me your child and do for me what you did for that lady to whom the pastor made so many references. Make me one of your children.

Cause me to come to your river. Cause me to come. Cause me to drink.

Amen. I think you did your job well. Glad you stayed the course.

Let's sing again a hymn that speaks of Jesus offering the waters of life to people like ourselves. 275. I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest.

The second verse takes the imagery of the well and the water. I heard the voice of Jesus say, I am his conqueror. Father, we've got a great vision of marching down heaven's mile and saluting our King Jesus.

As not just in our thousands, but in our millions, we acknowledge our Commander-in-Chief, grateful for the privilege of being on the Lord's side. Enable us to live prophetically in anticipation of that day. And may the conflicts in which we engage be made successful by the empowering of your Spirit.

And as valiant men and women gave their life for peace in our world, almost mocked by recent events, we ask that we might hazard our lives and our limbs in the service of the Christ who gave his life in order to bring us water. And we ask that on the day when we stand and as we move before him, we might receive his well-done, good, and faithful servant. So send us out from this place, knowing your blessing, the blessing of the triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, now, always.

And all God's people said, Amen.