A major part of the wall project, as we see in Nehemiah, is in encouraging the wall-builders themselves. In our passage, Paul is very concerned with this matter of edifying fellow wall-builders. A prime way of doing this is by urging them to quench their thirst in the Scriptures.


I shall always remember the rushing white waters of the Himalayan streams when my family and I went pony-trekking in Kashmir years ago. We went up to 14,000 feet, crossing over the torrents on bridges of snow and ice! Psalm 36:8 came to mind which says, “They drink their fill of the abundance of your house and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” The words “drink their fill” have also been translated as “are intoxicated.” As we meditate on God’s Word, we are intoxicated by the living white waters of the “winter torrent”- the original meaning of “river” in this verse.


You and I are promised an exhilarating experience of Jesus’ love as we drink of the Living Water, Jesus Himself. And the Lord doesn’t deal in half-measures!