Lesson of the Ditches

And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.
For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain;
yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink,
both ye and your cattle, and your beasts.
2 Kings 3:16,17

"THE armies of the three kings were famishing for want of water: God was about to send it, and in these words the prophet

announced the coming blessing.

Here was a case of human helplessness: not a drop of water could all the valiant men procure from the skies or find in the wells of earth.
Thus often the people of the Lord are at their wits' end; they see the vanity of the creature, and learn experimentally where their help is to be found.

---Still the people were to make a believing preparation for the divine blessing; they were to dig the trenches in which the precious liquid would be held.
---The church must by her varied agencies, efforts, and prayers, make herself ready to be blessed; she must make the pools, and the Lord will fill them.

It is ours thankfully to receive from Him,

and not to dictate to Him.

Q: What trenches am I digging?
O Lord, make me ready to receive the blessing which Thou art so willing to bestow."
Charles Spurgeon