John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 44:3

"For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:" — Isaiah 44:3 (ASV)

For I will pour waters. He continues the same subject and, at the same time, explains what will be the nature of the assistance which he has promised. But we should always keep in mind that these prophecies relate to that sorrowful and afflicted period of which he previously spoke—that is, when the people, in the desperate state to which they were reduced, might think that they were completely forsaken and that all the promises of God were vain.

Isaiah meets this doubt and compares the people to a dry and thirsty land, which has no moisture at all. By this metaphor, David also describes his wretchedness (Psalms 143:6). Therefore, although they were worn out by afflictions and their vital moisture had decayed, yet, so that they might not lose courage in their deepest distresses, they should have kept this declaration of the Prophet before their minds.

We, too, when we are brought into the greatest dangers and see nothing before us but immediate death, should similarly turn to these promises, so that we may be supported by them against all temptations. Yet we must feel our drought and poverty, so that our thirsty souls may partake of this refreshing influence of the waters.

I will pour my Spirit. Jehovah himself explains what he means by waters and rivers—that is, his Spirit. In another passage, the Spirit of God is called “water,” but in a different sense. When Ezekiel gives the name “water” to the Holy Spirit, he at the same time calls it “clean water,” for the purpose of cleansing (Ezekiel 36:25).

Isaiah will later call the Spirit “waters,” but for a different reason: that is, because by the secret moisture of his power he gives life to souls. But these words of the Prophet have a broader meaning, because he does not speak only of the Spirit of regeneration, but alludes to the universal grace that is spread over all creatures, and which is mentioned in Psalm 105:30: Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and he will renew the face of the earth.

As David declares in that passage that every part of the world is made alive to the extent that God imparts secret vigor to it, and then ascribes to God might and power by which, whenever he chooses, he suddenly revives the ruined state of heaven and earth, so now for the same reason Isaiah gives the term “water” to the sudden renewal of the Church. It is as if he were saying that the restoration of the Church is at God’s disposal, just as when he fertilizes by dew or rain the barren and almost parched lands.

Thus, the Spirit is compared to “water,” because without Him all things decay and perish through drought; because by the secret watering of his power he gives life to the whole world; and because the barrenness caused by drought and heat is cured so that the earth puts on a new face. This is still more fully explained by the word which he later uses, Blessing.