Joshua 15:19
Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs. Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.
Joshua stands first among the twelve historical books, which trace the history of the chosen people from their first occupation of the land of Canaan as a nation to the return from the captivity. Within that book the verse belongs to chapters 13 to 22, the account of the distribution of the land based on written documents in which the property was accurately described. It belongs also to chapters 11 to 21, which give the division and settling of the Promised Land among the tribes. It stands after the lesson of Achan's sin and its fearful consequences, in the part dealing with the conquering of the Canaanites and the division of the land. That portion shows Israel's lack of faith and slowness, yet it ends with the assurance that God did all He had promised and not one good thing failed.
The verse records that Achsah, the daughter of Caleb and bride of Othniel, after urging Othniel to ask for a field, was asked by Caleb what she wanted, and she asked for a blessing because she had been given a south land that lacked water, asking also for springs of water, and he gave her both the upper springs and the lower springs. In eastern lands a well or spring was a priceless blessing, and by obtaining this gift Achsah became a lasting benefactor to her family in all its generations. When life seems like a dry, barren, undesirable southern field, it is a privilege to ask a blessing of the heavenly Father, who is even more ready to grant good gifts than people are to ask them. The blessing to ask for and receive is the living water of the spring of salvation through Christ Jesus, which quenches thirst for unsatisfying earthly pleasure forever and becomes in the receiver a well of water springing up to eternal life to impart to others, for God blesses so that the blessed may be a blessing and the best gifts are to be earnestly sought.