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Lets pick up the text and remind us where we left off last time.

“Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarrelled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

(Genesis 26: 19-22)

If we’re going to outline this passage so far, I’d say first he encountered opposition, then he took that opposition as an opportunity to trust the Lord and be gracious. The rest of the chapter gives us the outcome of that decision. Look at what happened – verse 23. 

“From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham”.

(Genesis 28: 23-24)

Read that verse in the context of this passage and you have to say the Lord was pleased with him Underpinning everything here is the fact the Lord said to him. I’m your God, that’s comforting, no matter what you’re going through. Do not be afraid because when I’m your God, that means I’m going to be with you and I am going to bless you. Now this is an extension of the Abrahamic covenant that God made with Abraham. This is the second personal visit the Lord has given the Isaac. It’s the second revelation to Isaac and he says, Isaac, don’t fear anyone. I mean, getting his wells shut down three times.

Don’t fear. I’m with you. I’m going to bless you I’m gonna bless your children, I’m going to bless your grandchildren. I’m gonna bless your descendants as the sand of the seashore and stars in the sky. This is just reminding him that the Lord is faithful to his covenant, which is a huge part of the Book of Genesis. So, here’s his response, verse 25.

“Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well”.

(Genesis 26: 25)

I think what’s going on here is that Isaac says I’m gonna be thankful to that covenant I made and Isaacs response is to build an altar and “call him the name of the Lord”. This little phrase appears several times in the Book of Genesis. The first thing you think of is prayer, and it no doubt includes that. A number of commentators are saying that this also includes proclamation, but whatever is involved in that little phrase this much is certain. He responded to the Lord. Out of gratitude, he praised, and he thanked the Lord. There are two possibilities in life, you either become grateful or you become a griper. Do you know people who walk around complaining all the time? Let me just tell you, if you live in the UK, no matter how difficult your situation is as compared to a lot of people in this world, you are blessed and what you should be doing is just being grateful to the Lord, right? That’s what Isaac did, he just praised the Lord. 

Then in the close of the chapter he gets a visit from Abimelech.

“Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away? They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so, we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.””

(Genesis 26: 26-29)

What is going on now he asked, you kicked me out of town and now you come to visit me?  What’s going on? What trick is up their sleeve?  This much is clear they would have seen him prosper and not know it was the Lord, right.  For them to know it was the Lord, notice it says the Lord, not God. Lord capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. LORD signifies the personal name of God which is also the covenant name of God, so that means that as he told them all this blessing is from the Lord, not the God the creator, but the covenant God of Israel. They said, we’ve watched you and we’ve concluded the Lord is with you.

We all need to respond to difficulty by trusting the Lord for two reasons. For our own sake and as a testimony to other people. That’s very important that people see you going through trouble and they say, you know what?  Doing that, honours the Lord like nothing else that they see us trusting the Lord in the midst of a very difficult circumstance. 

They ran him out of town they covered up his wells three times, and he didn’t retaliate. He just kept moving and kept trusting the Lord, whilst at the same time seeking peace. He didn’t seek to fight them, though he had the greater force and could have so he just responded graciously to the point where they said we’ve certainly seen how the Lord is with you. We’ve decided we want a covenant with you. These are the people that threw him out of town, who were envious of him, hated him, were jealous of him. And now they want to make a covenant? They’re realizing that God the Lord is behind this fella Isaac and they say we want to cover make peace because they are still afraid and they don’t want you to hurt him since they now recognise he is blessed of the Lord.