“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
By Samaria’s wayside well
Once a blessèd message fell
On a woman’s thirsty soul,
Long ago;
And to eyes that long were sealed
Was the glorious light revealed,
Thro’ a fountain that was opened
Long ago.
There’s a fountain that was opened
Long ago,
For the healing of the nations
Is its flow;
Along the line of ages
The prophets and the sages
Caught the singing of its waters,
Long ago.
And a little captive maid,
By a leper undismayed,
Told to him a simple story,
Long ago;
That the stream where he might lave
Had alone the power to save,
Thro’ his trust in that old fountain,
Long ago.
And a woman in a crowd,
Without word or cry aloud,
Just stooped down and touched His garment,
Long ago;
As her urgent soul appealed,
So her sinful soul was healed,
In that fountain that was opened,
Long ago.
As the eunuch tried to read
Philip taught him of his need,
And baptized him in the stream,
Long ago;
As the outward seal and sign
Of an inward work divine,
That was wrought through that old fountain,
Long ago.
O thou fountain, deep and wide,
Flowing from the wounded side,
That was pierced for our redemption,
Long ago;
In thy ever cleansing wave
There is found all power to save
’Tis the power that healed the nations,
Long ago.
Emma M. Johnston
1835–1904
