Have you ever experienced dehydration? It’s difficult to avoid here in Florida. We tend to sweat a lot half to 3/4 of the year. What goes out must be replaced. Dehydration can kill you if left untreated. Many times, severe dehydration requires a hospital stay to get your body back in balance, because without water, our body suffers. The science is that dehydration affects our body systems because our blood volume decreases, forcing the heart to work much harder. This can then lead to low blood pressure and a rapid, racing heart rate. Our kidney function is also impaired, increasing our risk of kidney stones or other kidney related complications. Dehydration also affects the brain, with symptoms like dizziness, headaches and confusion. 

Spiritually, we’re also susceptible to dehydration. The cause of spiritual dehydration is as simple as the physical: we’re not drinking enough water. 

When we’re feeling spiritually dry, it’s our spirit, our soul that’s dehydrated. Dehydration occurs in the body when we’re losing more fluids than we’re consuming. What’s going out– our stored supply, is greater than what we’re taking in, leaving us with a deficit. When we experience physical dehydration, there are symptoms. The first sign is of course, thirst. Our mouth is dry. Our saliva thickens or is non existent. Our tongue sticks to the roof of our mouth. 

Psalm 22 is a prophetic psalm about our Savior and the work of the cross written by David. As we read this, think about Jesus on the cross, bloodied, beaten, and the weight of sin upon Him. The sin of the world had separated Him from God for the first time– He Himself being without sin. The weight of the cross was the physical toll, but the emotional toll was as tormenting. 

Psalm 22:14-15 KJV – I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 

His body and His soul thirsted for water. He had spent forty days in the tangible wilderness at the beginning of His ministry enduring temptation as Satan attempted to entice Jesus, the man, God in the flesh, to sin. Here at His death, Jesus finds Himself feeling what we feel in the depths of the spiritual wilderness. We’re pushed to that place to test us, to try us, to see if we will break up the dam we’ve built that’s holding back the water– those dams we build inside, trying to store up enough on Sunday to last us til Wednesday, or maybe even the next Sunday. Just as manna was good for one day, so too is the water. We try to subsist on God’s provision from yesterday, when He so desires to give us fresh provision today.

The Jamestown colony was the first permanent English settlement in what would become the United States, founded in 1607. It was located near what is now called Williamsburg, Virginia. It was situated in the swampy land of the James River. If there’s anything Jamestown is known for it’s the nightmare of failures, disease, and death that ultimately destroyed it. One of the main culprits of its demise was the water. Many settlers died of dysentery just months after arriving. Many are said to have died from constantly drinking brackish water. The colony was founded too near where the James river met the ocean. During a season of drought, the wells they had dug became contaminated when the river’s salinity increased. This combined with unsanitary conditions in the colony led to severe sickness and ultimately, death. 

We can find a spiritual connection to this in the time of Jeremiah. Judah was in the muck and mire of apostasy and lukewarmness, just as the church is today. They were mingling. The fresh living water of the Lord was forsaken for the wells of their own making, pulling in their idolatry, backsliding into sin, creating a brackish mixture that spiritually kills.

Jeremiah 2:13  KJV – For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The Lord says, these people have dug wells that have no water. The source they’re trying to sustain life from cannot satisfy and they cannot subsist on what they’ve tried to provide for themselves. They forsook His provision, and then tried to create their own. Without His wisdom, we’ll dig in places that have no benefit. Without His counsel, we’ll search for something to quench our need in places and things we should not.

Do you go to Him when you’re stressed for provision? When you’re upset? Angry? Hurting? Do you go to the well that never runs dry for all that you need? 

Let’s go to John 4:7-15

KJV – There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 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. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

He knew she was coming. He waited for her. She came to draw. 

“…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.” 

So, first we have to drink. Second, the water must come from Jesus, the Word. Third, when and if we do, we will never thirst. Fourth, the water we receive will provide us internally unto everlasting life. Springing water has pressure. It has force. It can terraform the earth. Springing water has power. 

Psalm 63:1-4  KJV –  [[A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.]] O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see Thy power and Thy glory, so [as] I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because Thy lovingkindness [is] better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. 4 Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy name.

NLT- A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen You in your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! 4 I will praise You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer.

Here king David’s soul is thirsting; his body is thirsting. He is desperate to receive respite from his dryness. When we get busy working, doing life, we KNOW we can’t forget to drink because there will be serious consequences to our health; yet how often do we forget or willing choose to not go to the well that never runs dry! We forget to drink the Living Water that The Word gives! 

If we’re in sin, we’re in dire straits. When I was deep in the pit, and He reached forth His hand for me and pulled me out when I called on His name, my soul was destitute. I remember how I felt and I know that my soul was absolutely screaming for Living Water. I was in dire straits, physically, mentally, emotionally, and definitely spiritually. My soul was frantic to be rehydrated with the water of Life. Every sinner is part of this world, a vast desert; a spiritually dry and thirsty land. The Lord gave me a song several months after I got saved. I sang it once at church during a night of worship. The first verse and chorus are: 

Millions of grains 

Gathered together 

Form dry, dusty land

My soul was that way,

A desert wanderer

Surrounded by sand

Each grain a regret, choice, or event

Filling up my soul

The weight was so great

Cared not of my fate

The desert was swallowing me whole

Then came the Living Water

He restored my soul

Threw my sins in the ocean

Of His forgiveness

Now I’ll never thirst again

His Spirit is within me

Life everlasting

His love is a well

That never shall run dry

There is nothing out there that can sustain life. Only living water. David was in the wilderness of Judah. He was in the wilderness of praise. Don’t lose your voice of praise.

Psalm 42:1-3

KJV – [[To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.]] As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where [is] thy God?

NLT – For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him? 3 Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”

David compares his soul’s desire like a deer looking for water. Deer can go several days without water if they have a proper food source. But as that window draws near, the deer is seeking diligently to find a place to drink. It’s crying out for water. It’s desperate. The Hebrew word here for pant (H.6165 arag) is also found in Joel 1:20, “The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” Joel 1 is talking about starvation and drought.  Read His word with spiritual eyes! Read His word and apply it spiritually. The Old Testament isn’t just a history book. It is INSTRUCTION. Look at what David says in verse 3. He’s in a spiritual wilderness and while he’s there his enemies are consistently taunting him. In the time of testing God seems nowhere to be found. You’ve got to have that well within you springing up with living water to SUSTAIN LIFE and that is why David having after a heart after God, was pleasing to the Lord. He came again and again to drink at the fountain of Living Water. In the depths of me, when I’m spiritually dry, my heart and soul are crying out to God for refreshing in His presence. Their yearning for one on one connection to Him. Not just being in relationship, but looking for intimacy. They’re parched and looking to be replenished. It’s up to me whether or not I give my heart and my soul a voice, open my mouth and cry out like the deer to the Lord. He’s waiting. There may have been times when David lost his voice of praise in a momentary lapse of fear, in hardship, but he always returned with his voice, crying out to God in prayer and praise.

Look to Psalm 42:7-9 KJV  

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all Thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 8 [Yet] the LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song [shall be] with me, [and] my prayer unto the God of my life. 9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast Thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

The book of Revelation tells us that the voice of the Lord is like the voice of many waters. If you’ve ever visited a waterfall of significant size, it’s LOUD. You can hear the roar of the water rushing over the edge of the rock before you see it. You must continue walking towards the sound to experience the beauty. We must choose to walk by faith, and not by sight, towards His voice. His voice, His word, is the waters that will quench the thirst of our heart and soul and spirit. In verse seven, the word “waterspouts” in Hebrew is defined as a pipe, a culvert, or a water conduit. Springing water has pressure and power. A torrent of water flowing through a conduit or a pipe is powerful. The water rushing over the rock is powerful. Some waterfalls are gentle enough to stand beneath and be refreshed. Others, like Niagara Falls, are to be feared because they’re formidable in size and height. What we need, what we ask for determines what is given. If you want an abundance that your cup runneth over, He will provide it. If you want a trickle to lap from, then that’s what He’ll give you. We sometimes limit how much affection we allow the Lord to gives us by holding Him at arm’s length. Be a child of God that desires “hugs” and “kisses,” like some children in the natural do. Some desire more affection from their parents than others. Our youngest son, who is autistic, has never come to me looking for affection. I have to initiate any loving interaction. Seek out the Lord’s affection. How it will delight Him!

He wants to give you an abundance. How much do you want? What are you settling for?

As we walk through life, we face trials. I have mentioned it throughout the course of this year because the Lord has said it to me again and again, that if we walk with Him, we will experience the fellowship of His sufferings. Waves and billows. If you’ve ever gone to the beach and lost your footing, the waves don’t stop coming because you fell down. They will not stop what God has directed them to do and that is to break when they reach the appointed place, the shore. We can get knocked down by the very thing God has purposed to teach us. Sometimes it’s because it’s a hard lesson. Sometimes it’s because we’re resisting Him in some way, and not submitting ourselves in obedience. Sometimes it’s because we need correction. All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to HIS purpose. (Rom 8:28) His plan is that after we get knocked down, we become determined to get up, plant our feet, and stand strong with the strength the Lord has provided to us. 

His strength made perfect in our weakness. Strength is in His voice. It’s in His encouraging word. It’s in His promises. It’s in His counsel. It’s in His presence.

Proverbs 24:16 KJV  – For a just [man] falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

If we’re not heeding His voice, we may feel like we’re drowning. If we’re not letting Him uphold us, we will be subject to our own strength. 

Proverbs 25:26 KJV – A righteous man falling down before the wicked [is as] a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

The power of His voice will strengthen us or humble us depending on our response. 

As David wrote in Psalm 42, the Lord’s lovingkindness is with me. His song is with me, and MY part is that MY prayer is with the God of MY life. That’s what distinguishes whether I am pushed down by the power of His waves and billows or my cup overflows with His billows of love. What is my perspective? In the very next breath though, David establishes that even he sometimes feels forgotten by God. Sometimes the roar of the enemy tries to drown out the roar of the Lion of Judah with lies.

What David asked next is both revelation for strength and revelation of the source of his questioning: “Why do I go around mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 

When we’re feeling dry and thirsty, we better look around for signs of the enemy. Satan is described as being like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. He can only mimic God. Every imitation Satan brings forth is an abominable and defective knock-off dupe of God. Satan isn’t a lion, he just likes to act like he’s one. His greatest trick is that he’s just like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. What is projection is fiction. What he depicts himself to be is an illusion. Without God having given him power over this world, he has nothing. He doesn’t even have the keys to hell, or death. He is simply a puppetmaster that puts on a show to incite fear and he knows our wild imaginations will do the rest. JESUS CHRIST IS THE VICTOR. WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. Satan is a cheap thief who looks to steal, kill, and destroy. He’s an opportunist. He’s waiting to see if you’re going to forget or choose not to drink the water of life today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after that. He is a predator. 

David and I love alligators and we also like crocodiles too, but it’s more of a healthy respect for crocodiles. Alligators, by and large, are just looking to do their own thing. They don’t want to be bothered and simply want to eat their preferred diet. Alligator attacks on people are quite rare and there is typically only around one death per year from an alligator attack. According to good old Google, the chance of being seriously injured by an alligator in Florida is about 1 in 3.1 million. Crocodiles, on the other hand, are quite different, especially saltwater crocs. Saltwater crocs are lurking killers. The number of reported fatalities per year due to crocodile attacks vary from 200-1000. I recently heard an expert speak about saltwater crocs in Australia. It’s common knowledge in Australia that it is extremely ill advised for anyone to go near pretty much any body of water due to the danger of crocodiles. This expert stated that crocodiles observe human behavior. They watch for patterns which create opportunity. If someone was camping and went down to the water to wash their dishes, on day one, the croc silently watches, eyes barely above water. On day two, the croc takes note that the person has come again to the same place and come again to the water’s edge and likely is closer than on day one for a better look, sizing up their potential prey. On day three, if the person returns, they’re likely never heard from again.

The enemy is looking for patterns in you. By your actions, the enemy knows when you’re spiritually dehydrated and weak. We look more like the world and less like the holiness and righteousness of God. We can be fainthearted, questioning God, or weak in faith. If we’re fruitful, we’re losing our plumpness and our juiciness. We’re not tender toward the Lord, but drying out and in danger of falling off the Vine. 

John 15:4-7 NKJV – Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abides in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.

When we’re withering from lack of water, the enemy takes note, because it means we’re not abiding in the way we should. 

Look at Psalm 42:11

KJV –Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Disquieted. The Hebrew word is hama (H.1993) and it means roaring, making noise, clamoring, turbulent. 

Our soul yearns to be churning in those beautiful billows of His loving presence. Our soul wants to be bowled over again and again by the waves of His goodness. It’s in trial that His compassion, His greatness, His might and glory are made evident through His workings in our situation and in our lives. Our soul delights to be cleansed by the washing of The Word. In Ephesians 5, Paul writes about the church as the bride of Christ and He the husband. Jesus desires to sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word, that He might present us to Himself as a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:56,27) We need the Living Water. 

Yeshua is the name of Jesus in Hebrew. It means “salvation,” or even “saving health.” Here in Psalm 42:11 we read that the health of my countenance is God. This means when I enter into the presence of the Lord to worship, to pray, that He makes me feel better. His glory is reflected onto our spiritual face and we are lifted up and made well just by being in His presence. 

Isaiah 12 sums this lesson up.

Isaiah 12:1-6

KJV – And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise Thee: though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; He also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing unto the LORD; for He hath done excellent things: this [is] known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

NLT – In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O LORD! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now You comfort me. 2 See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The LORD GOD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.” 3 With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! 4 In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the LORD! Praise His name! Tell the nations what He has done. Let them know how mighty He is! 5 Sing to the LORD, for He has done wonderful things. Make known His praise around the world. 6 Let all the people of Jerusalem shout His praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”

Jesus is the water of Life. Talk with the Lord. Sit with Him. Meditate on Him. Read the Word. Get in prayer. Get in His presence. Give Him the praise He so greatly deserves and in turn get spiritually hydrated again.

-CC