On that day a fountain will be opened to the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from

sin and impurity. Zechariah 13:1 What a wonderful and comforting promise for those who are living by faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. As Zechariah has been prophesying regarding the things which the LORD has promised to do he points Gods people to a powerful event that is to come. This is the coming of One who will be pierced for our transgressions and sins. Earlier in the prophesy Zechariah had written about how God will take away the sin of the land in a single day. Now He is showing us not only how this will be done through the death of one who is described as God in human flesh. Gods Spirit will be poured out on His people so that they will look upon the one they have pierced leading them to grieve intensely on account of their own personal responsibility for His death. To receive the blessing Zechariah describes here requires that we repent and believe the Gospel. All that we need for cleansing from sin has already been provided for us in the cross of the LORD Jesus Christ. The work is completed therefore we can cling to it knowing that it is not an uncertain thing. What God has promised is certain because it is already done. As Zechariah goes on describing the blessing he takes us a step further. It is as if he is writing that if we thought that the benefit of the cross is wonderful then take a look at the blessing that flows out from it. A fountain, literally a spring of living water, will be opened. David Baron in his wonderful old commentary on Zechariah looks at this promise and states that it describes something more than just the opening of the fountain at some point in the future. It states that the fountain will not only be opened, it will remain open. (Baron, David, The Visions and Prophesies of Zechariah, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1975 reprint, p. 463) The help that God has promised will be a constant source of cleansing for all who will receive it by faith. William Cowper, a Hymn writer who constantly struggled with depression came to understand this precious promise. The cleansing fountain of the blood of his crucified redeemer became for Cowper the place where he constantly fled to for hope and life. He puts it in powerful form in the words of his beloved hymn There is a Fountain Filled With Blood.

1. There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuels veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains. 2. The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in His day; And there have I, though vile as he, Washed all my sins away. 3. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its powr,

Till all the ransomed church of God Are safe, to sin no more. 4. Eer since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die. 5. When this poor, lisping, stammring tongue Lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song, Ill sing Thy powr to save. Have you found the help and hope that Cowper describes here?