What does it mean to come to the waters (Isaiah 55:1)?

“Ho, every one that thirsts, come”

In this chapter the divine call, “Ho, every one that thirsts” (Isa. 55:1), is to those who feel their need of satisfaction. God has provided for the need of His creatures, whatever the need may be, for He opens His hand, “and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16). The waters that are spoken of in this verse surely speak of the divine provision that will satisfy the heart that desires spiritual blessing from God.

What is here offered to Israel through the prophet is offered to Israel, yea to every one who desires God’s blessing, by the Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in John 7:37–39, although the character of the blessing is different, for what the Lord speaks of in John’s Gospel could not be given until He was glorified. Water in Scripture speaks of that which cleanses, refreshes and satisfies thirst, but in John 4 and John 7 it tells of the life that we have by an indwelling Holy Spirit that brings satisfaction to the soul, enables us [with] eternal life and [to] worship God, and that is the power for testimony in our lives for God. Although Israel could not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them in Isaiah’s day, they could have God’s word within them to cleanse and satisfy the longing of the soul.

The poor also are invited to “come,” for the invitation is, “he that has no money: come ye, buy, and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Like the prodigal of Luke 15, the remnant of Judah in Isaiah’s day were in a impoverished condition, and God offers His blessings to them “without money and without price.” This is not only true of that remnant, it is true of all men, for none have the means to buy the wonderful blessings of God. When the Son of God was on earth the poor had a special place in His ministry, for He came “to preach the Gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18). It is not until a man realises that he is poor that he is in a fit state to receive what God offers in His wondrous grace.

Wine in Scripture speaks of joy and gladness, and here the poor are invited to buy the wine that makes glad the heart of God and man. It might be asked, How can we buy if we have no money? All that God asks from us is faith in Himself, and in His son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Coming to Him in faith we receive the blessings of the Gospel, one of which is “joy in the Holy Ghost.” Another of the divine blessings is “milk,” that which nourishes, sustains and enables us to grow in the things of God, “the sincere milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2).

The quotation I have made at the head of this paper shows this truth very simply. The "thirsty" are invited. And are not you among this number? You certainly are, if you have not yet found Jesus, for "your labour," whatever its nature, "satisfies not," our verses say. Thirst is a craving which the suited fluid alone can satisfy. Now the thirst of an anxious soul is really for God and His Christ, though very likely it could not put it in so many words; but the Lord Jesus, who knows the heart well, says, "Whosoever drinks of this water [the well of this world] shall thirst again: but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4:13-14). Precious words! But not more precious than true. Again, He says, "If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink" (John 7:37); giving also this sweet assurance, "He that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst; … and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:35, 37).

Now, dear anxious reader, are not you invited? Do not these glorious words of the Saviour encourage you to come to Him? They ought to, if they do not. Listen again, "Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters." "But," you say, "how can I be sure it means me? Perhaps I am not thirsty enough, not anxious enough, for salvation." Very likely; no one ever was as anxious as he should have been, considering God's view of sin, and the awful danger of the unsaved sinner. But the point is not the measure of your anxiety, but the fact of your being "thirsty" or willing at all. If so, hear the word of the Lord: "I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. … Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 21:6, 22:17). What charming words! "I will give … freely." That is God's side. "Let him take … freely." That is your side. God gives; all you have to do is to take what He gives.

"What must I bring?" say you. Nothing! Come to Jesus as you are. "He that has no money" is the invited one. You have no equivalent for that which God dispenses, so you are bid to come and buy "without money and without price." Why "buy"? Because it supposes a person in earnest. When a person goes into a shop to "buy" an article, his very presence there shows he really wanted it, or he would not have gone to the trouble of entering the mart. Buying implies direct dealing between two parties. This is the very thing God wants. He wishes you brought into His own presence in real desire to have salvation — the water of life — Christ. You come. What then? You find all is a gift. How simple!

What earnestness is with God, when thrice in this one verse He says "Come!" I cannot refrain from quoting it again, "Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money: COME ye, buy and eat; yea, COME, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." How blessedly falls that heaven-born word on the ear — Come! come! COME! Who could refuse such grace? Come as you are; come in your sins; come in your guilt. Come in your distress; come in your sorrow, your want, your woe, your misery, your helplessness, your nothingness, your poverty, your hardness of heart, — yea, exactly as you are, as you read these lines. Only come, come to Jesus, and you will be received, blessed, forgiven, cleansed, and saved on the very spot.

Now let me address myself to the unconverted. You have heard of the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified for sinners, as the Giver of living water, and be assured that there is salvation in no other. Like the rock that was smitten in the wilderness, to give water to the thirsty people to save them from death, so Christ who was crucified is a river of life, and every needy soul that comes to Him finds it to be so of a truth. Are you, my reader, thirsting for forgiveness of sins, and peace with God? Are you not saying, Oh that I could find rest for my troubled conscience? If so, come just as you are to the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive those eternal blessings that God so freely gives to sinners. Like the prophet to Israel, we are ready to cry, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye, to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

The "thirsty" are considered here. Disturbed or dissatisfied with what their poor hearts have tasted, they crave something more: Earth's charms have been vainly tried. Nature's resources are exhausted. The emptiness of men's inventions painfully experienced. Their own hope of self-improvement has been woefully disappointing. That which they most eagerly sought has failed to satisfy. A dead fly has been found in it all. The soul longs and pants for something else. It really thirsts for what can give present rest, and meet eternal realities. Such are here addressed, "Let him that is athirst come." The Lord Jesus alone can relieve such. He can give rest. His blood purges the conscience. He gives eternal life. He saves at once and for ever.

Isaiah 55 opens with a call to "everyone that thirsts," and so we pass beyond the confines of Israel to consider in prophetic outline blessings that will reach to the Gentiles through the work of the Servant who has died. Illustrations of this we see in Acts 8 and 10. The Ethiopian's thirst led him to take a long journey to Jerusalem, seeking after God: the thirst of Cornelius led him to prayer and almsgiving. In both cases, seeking for water to quench their thirst, they got more, even, "wine and milk without money and without price." Moreover they got it by inclining their ear and coming to the Fountain-head. They heard and their souls lived; just as the prophet said in these verses. Thus we can see how strikingly his words forecast the Gospel which we know today. So even Gentiles are to enjoy the blessings of "the everlasting covenant."

As to the Lord saying, "buy of me gold tried in the fire," etc., Isaiah 55:1 gives us the terms upon which He sells. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." If one owns his poverty as a bankrupt sinner, and comes to Christ in true soul thirst and need, he finds he can buy or obtain divine righteousness without money or price, because the great price of it was fully paid by the Saviour at Calvary .

Then, and many a time since, I have pondered over this scene as a lovely illustration of God's way of dealing with souls who really want salvation. We did not know, and therefore did not count, on the bounty of the one we appealed to. And so it is with man. Not knowing God, he knows not the grace and love of His heart; and, though needy, and owning it too, fancies he must bring an equivalent to God ere he can get from Him that which he needs. If you, my reader, are of this mistaken class, may God open your eyes to see His way of salvation. His grace provides it, and not your works of any kind. There are two good reasons for this. First, God is too rich to sell salvation; and second, man is too poor to buy it. Hence you must get it as a gift, if you are to get it at all.

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37). It is possible there were some thirsty souls in the throng. Hearts in whom divine craving has been created by the Holy Spirit cannot be satisfied with the mere forms of religion. These satisfy flesh. Too often they serve as a veil to hide from the soul its true condition in the sight of a holy God. Flesh loves religion, and the more pompous it is the more it is loved. But true hearts want something more; whether they know it or not, Christ alone can satisfy them. Here we see the rejected Jesus outside all the display and religiousness of the hour, inviting any thirsty souls to come to Him and drink. What these could not find in mere religion, they would find in Him. And is it not so to-day? Can all the carnal forms and display of Christendom slake the thirst of a soul who is feeling after God? Nay, they keep the soul at a distance; they cast a cloud over it, and plunge it into distress and doubt. But Jesus can satisfy every longing. He is still outside. Those who really seek Him must go forth to Him without the camp, as Hebrews 13:13 speaks. Having found Him the heart is divinely satisfied. It never thirsts again. How can one thirst, knowing deliverance and acceptance, being assured of the Father's love, enjoying liberty of access to God through the rent veil, filled with the Holy Ghost, and taken up with Christ?

If God, in the restoration of Israel, acts “with great mercies” as foretold in the previous chapter (verse 7), what is to hinder the same grace flowing out to a needy and sinful world? Thus, in chapter 55, we have the invitation of free grace proclaimed to “everyone” – Jew and Gentile alike.

The gracious call sounds out now to others, far beyond the bounds of Israel, to come and drink of the refreshing streams of blessing: the waters, the wine, the milk, the fatness, the fullness; “even the sure mercies of David”; secured through Jesus Christ, the seed of David, raised from among the dead. All may be had now “without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1-3). The call is, “Ho, everyone that thirsts, come ye!” (Isa. 55:1).