A Devotion from Charles Spurgeon

“Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.” —Genesis 25:11

Hagar had once found deliverance there and Ishmael had drank from the water so graciously

revealed by the God who liveth and seeth the sons of men; but this was a merely casual visit,

such as worldlings pay to the Lord in times of need, when it serves their turn. They cry to him in

trouble, but forsake him in prosperity. Isaac dwelt there, and made the well of the living and all-

seeing God his constant source of supply. The usual tenor of a man’s life, the dwelling of his

soul, is the true test of his state. Perhaps the providential visitation experienced by Hagar struck

Isaac’s mind, and led him to revere the place; its mystical name endeared it to him; his frequent

musings by its brim at eventide made him familiar with the well; his meeting Rebecca there had

made his spirit feel at home near the spot; but best of all, the fact that he there enjoyed

fellowship with the living God, had made him select that hallowed ground for his dwelling. Let

us learn to live in the presence of the living God; let us pray the Holy Spirit that this day, and

every other day, we may feel, “Thou God seest me.” May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us,

delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. The bottle of the creature cracks

and dries up, but the well of the Creator never fails; happy is he who dwells at the well, and so

has abundant and constant supplies near at hand. The Lord has been a sure helper to others:

his name is Shaddai, God All-sufficient; our hearts have often had most delightful intercourse

with him; through him our soul has found her glorious Husband, the Lord Jesus; and in him this

day we live, and move, and have our being; let us, then, dwell in closest fellowship with him.

Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave thee, but dwell by the well of the living

God.