Like a Bubbling Brook

The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;

the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

Proverbs 18:4, ESV

When I read the above words, pictures of bubbling brooks I’d taken through the years immediately flashed in my mind. Although I didn’t fully understand the meaning of the words in that verse, I was strangely drawn to them. So, the following day, I read Bible commentaries to help me understand the meaning. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible was particularly helpful because as I read that interpretation of the verse, I began to understand why it had captured my attention.

Let me explain. For the past few weeks, I had noticed (and been awed by) the way various writers (of the Bible and self-help books) seemed to be telling me the same thing every morning during the hour or more I spent reading the Bible, reading devotional books, praying, writing, etc.

Even though the Bible and the other books were written by various authors in various centuries, the “message of the day” was basically the same! And, even more astonishing, each one related to what I was experiencing at that time. How is this possible? I wondered. How do they know how to write so specifically to my need on any given morning? How do ministers and hymn writers do the same kind of thing?????

According to John Gill, the famous Puritan pastor, here’s how the process works: The doctrines (teachings) a godly person absorbs and fills his heart with and which his mouth utters are like “waters,” waters that are pure, purifying, and refreshing. “Deep waters” make no noise and cannot be easily plumbed. Out of this abundance of wonderful “water" in a godly person’s heart, his (or her) mouth speaks. And the wellspring of wisdom within such a person is like “ a flowing brook; like a spring of spiritual wisdom and knowledge within him; like “a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life; and from [there] it flows freely and constantly; communicating itself liberally unto others, and ministering grace to the hearers, for their edification” (instruction, enlightenment, guidance).

I am indescribably grateful for such persons. And I long to be one of them.

©2015 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill