“He satisfieth.” (Ps. 107:9).
DOUBTLESS the lovely story of the woman of Samaria, is a well-known one to those who are in any measure familiar with the pages of their Bibles. And perhaps none of the Gospel narratives—the fifteenth of Luke excepted— has moved so many hearts, and touched so many consciences, telling out as it does, the matchless grace of Him, “who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor:” and, though Lord of all, and owning the cattle upon a thousand hills, yet, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant.” (Phil. 2:77But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:7)). Who trod this scene, hungry and thirsty, wearied in body oftentimes—a man amongst men— “in all points tempted” like unto us; exempting Himself from none of the circumstances of the poorest life on earth—and here, as we see, making Himself dependent upon the courtesy of a poor woman for a drink of water. (John 4:77There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (John 4:7)).
We cannot go into details, but it is interest hag to see how He reveals Himself to her in the threefold character, which we find at the heading of this paper, viz., as the Seeking, Saving, and Satisfying One.
Have you ever thought of the Lord in this character, my reader—as One who is SEEKING SINNERS? This poor woman thought very little about it, and cared very little about it, as she drew near that well to fetch her supply of water. And not for a moment did it enter her mind, that the wearied, toil-worn Man, whom she saw seated upon the well-side, was there waiting for her. But so it was. And He is waiting for you, unsaved reader, though you may not know it, nor care about it— “waiting to be gracious” to you seeking to touch your conscience, and attract your heart, and draw you to Himself.
Tell me, are you going to resist Him? Ah!
God grant you may not! This is just a lovely picture of how He seeks sinners. He was in Judæa, and o His way to Galilee, but we read “He must needs go through Samaria.” Why “needs”? Because there was a lost soul there, and he was seeking it. What was bodily fatigue, in the presence of the need of a never dying soul?
“He must needs go through Samaria,” that He might seek one wandering in the paths of sin; that He might save one soul from the bondage of Satan; that He might satisfy one heart, that had tried the world, and found it unsatisfying. “He much needs go through Samaria,” because she was there, and He was the seeking One.
Others we hear of, who, as it were, crossed His path, and sought His aid, like blind Bartimeus; but this one was still at a distance from Him. Like the prodigal, she was still in the “far country,” feeding on the husks of sin.
Like the stray sheep, she was wandering about aimless and objectless, and so, as the Good Shepherd, He “must needs” go after her.
His eye is upon her; His heart yearns over her, and His feet follow His heart to the place where she is. The road might be rough; the way long; the object of the journey an unworthy one. But His love rises above all the difficulties in its burning desire to save this soul. And so in patient and unwearied grace He waits for her beside the well.
Tell me, has His love for sinners grown less intense since this, think you? Listen to His own words— “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it;” “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished.”
And down under the dark and terrible “waves and billows” of God’s righteous judgment of sin, He went a willing victim—a spotless sacrifice—the Lamb of God, who “came into the world to save sinners,” (1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)) undeterred by the horrors of Calvary, the power of Satan, or the malice of men; drinking to its very dregs the cup of God’s wrath against sin; that believing sinners might have the cup of eternal blessing put into their hands. As that little hymn so simply expresses it—
“He knew how wicked men had been,
And knew that God must punish sin;
So out of pity Jesus said
‘I’ll bear the punishment instead.’”
Ah, and we may say too “out of love!” As Paul said, and it is the privilege of each redeemed one to say, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me!” and this too at the very time when Saul, afterward called Paul, (Acts 13) was going right against the very dearest interests of this blessed One. And you, dear reader, may either be careless and indifferent to Him, like the woman at the well; or an open opposer and rejecter, like Saul of Tarsus; but over one as the other, His heart of love is as anxiously yearning now, as it was then; and even by this little paper, which you are reading, He is seeking to win your confidence, and give you to know that “gift of God” which is “eternal life” through Him.
But while He seeks to attract the heart, He would also touch the conscience. And so we find Him saying to this woman, “Go call by husband, and come hither.” He brings her sins to remembrance, and reveals to her the cart that she stands in the presence of One who knows everything about her. And He knows everything about you and me, beloved reader.
We may cover up our sins, and conceal them from one another, but we can hide nothing from God. “All things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” And better, far better, be willing to have them all out with Him now, while He can deal with them in grace, than be forced to have them exposed before the “great white throne,” when the day of grace will be forever gone by.
Well, this woman confesses her sin; or rather, bows to His statement of it. And, then there rises in her long sin-hardened soul, the Spirit-taught yearning for a Deliverer, the Messias, the Saviour. She is prepared for the sweet and wonderful revelation to fall for the first time upon her ears, never afterward to be forgotten, “I THAT SPEAK UNTO THEE, AM HE!”
Do you know Him thus? Not merely as a Saviour, but as your Saviour? Nothing short of this will save you. There must be a divine living link between your soul and Him, else you will be lost forever. Have you got this link? Have you had an interview like hers? Have you had a personal dealing, a face to face talk with the Lord Jesus Christ about your sins? You need not fear to do so, for already He knows all about them, and the moment you take your place before Him, as a sinner, He will reveal Himself to you as a Saviour, the saving One, the One who “came into the world to save sinners.”
But if you are a nice, upright, moral, churchgoing person, one in whose character there can be found no flaw, whose society is courted by the scientific men of the day; whose presence graces the assemblages of rank and fashion; perhaps you would not like to subscribe to this title—to take your place amongst, and become one of that vast number, who are the recipients of God’s gifts, and whose only claim upon Him for salvation, is that they have come to Him as lost, ruined, needy sinners? Well, if you will not take your place with them—if you are calculating upon your good works—your moral, perhaps religious life, meriting salvation—upon your prayers, or your penances, or your charities, qualifying you for the presence of God, oh, beware; for God’s salvation, and God’s Saviour, will never be had on these terms!
“Not the righteous;
Sinners Jesus came to save!”
“God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.” There is “no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” and the question now is, will you own God’s verdict to be true; and as a ruined, wretched sinner, like this woman of Samaria, accept God’s “gift,” which is “eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
One word as to the little verse at the heading of this paper. “He satisfieth.” In a scene of dissatisfaction and disappointment, what a blessed thing for a heart to know One, of whom it can be said “He satisfieth.” So with this poor woman. Sought and saved, she is now to be satisfied, and by the revelation of Himself; “I that speak unto thee, am He!”
He so absorbs her heart, that she neglects, or forgets, the object of her visit to the well, and speeds forth the happy bearer of glad tidings to the city of Samaria. “Come see a man,” is her eager entreaty, “which told me all things that ever I did.” What a confession for her to make. She not only forgets her “waterpot;” but she forgets herself. The Seeking and Saving, has now become the Satisfying One to her; and she is willing that the dark catalog of her sins should be recalled and read, if thereby sinners should be drawn to believe in Him, as “the Saviour of the world.”
Oh! do you know anything of this? The wonderful rest, and satisfaction of heart which is to be found in the presence of Christ, and to be found nowhere else? Turn whither you will, you will never find so loving, so tender, so patient a heart as the heart of Jesus, the heart of GOD, revealed in, and by, His Son.
Many an earthly friend would have been wearied long ago, with your resistance and distrust, but He follows you still. He waits for you still. He wants you still, with a deep, changeless, unswerving love—a love that knows no weariness, and never grows cold, the only real and changeless thing in this fading and unreal world. On earth, as we have seen, He walked far and waited long to seek and to satisfy one poor sinner. But oh, He went to the cross, and down into death, to save you.
God grant you may accept His salvation, and know the joy of being satisfied now and forever with Him.
“No hope of rest in aught beside,
No beauty, Lord, we see;
But like Samaria’s daughter, seek,
And find our all in Thee.”
A. S. O.