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1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. 5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:1-2
And you shall say on that day: I will praise you, O Lord, for you were angry with me, but your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. You who were the first to speak in the wilderness, when you came out of the land of Egypt, and when the Red Sea was dried up before you: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea (Exodus 15:1), and the rest of the verse. Now with the tongue of the Egyptian sea struck, and its river dried up and cut off, and humiliated, glorify the Lord, and say: I will praise you, O Lord, for I have obtained mercy after deserving your wrath and fury; for you are my Savior, that is, Jesus, and I have no confidence in idols, nor will I fear what is not to be feared; but you are my strength and my praise, who have become my salvation. Let the most wicked heresy be heard, that the Lord was made by those who are saved, and that he was not previously Lord, so that we may understand in the holy scriptures both creation and making, not always the condition of those things that were not, but sometimes the grace that is bestowed on those who have deserved to become God.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 12:3
The foolishness of those who have eyes with which to see their wounds is superior to the wisdom of those who do not. Admonished by the spiritual vision of his foolishness, then, the king showed himself so obviously to be afflicted with miseries that he was able to find the cure, which is repentance. Judas, on the other hand, who bought a field with the reward from his iniquity, could not find the cure. “I am afflicted with miseries,” the king said, “and I am utterly bowed down; all day long I walk in sorrow.” Are we to understand the “utterly” of his “utterly bowed down” as referring to the fullness of the legal requirements for repentance? Or, better, shall we not understand it mystically as referring to Christ, who is himself the fullness of the law, who allowed himself to be stoned, his body suffering the wounds of death? Christ’s wounds, however, were redolent with the fragrance of grace, not the stench of repentance. Hence it was not death’s decay that flowed from his wounds, as is the case with all other men, but it was the fountain of eternal life, as Scripture teaches us: “And water will spring up with delight from the fountains of salvation.” His wounds gushed forth, therefore, that we might drink of salvation. All sinners of the world will drink to overthrow sin, but each person must be considered individually. Christ was afflicted with miseries to make blessed those who were ensconced in misery. No one will call a man miserable who may be righteous. He himself said, “No one will make you wretched.” He was bowed down that we might be raised up; he bore sorrow to bring us joy, according to which it is written: “For if I make you sorrowful, who will bring me joy except those whom I brought sorrow?” The very one who was made sorrowful by the Lord Jesus Christ will bring joy to Christ and will be made joyful by Christ. We recognize, therefore, that satisfaction does not need to be made by us. We are utterly bowed down, that is, not only in offering our faith in Christ but also our perseverance in suffering. And we should rejoice in our sufferings, as Christ also rejoiced in his sufferings. What he took up for his servants, we should undergo for the Lord.

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE TWELVE PSALMS 37:31-32
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 12:3
Although my mind would fail if you were to ask how Christ is rich in poverty, the well of divine Scripture does not fail, for the apostle said, “The Lord Jesus was made poor when he was rich, that by his poverty you might become rich.” But what is that poverty which makes rich? Let’s consider the matter by focusing on the venerable sacrament itself. What can be purer or simpler than it? No one is soaked in the blood of a bull, as the sacred rites of the Gentiles are said to have, nor is any sinner washed with the blood of goats and rams, for these acts cleanse only the flesh but do not absolve sins. Rather, “water will spring up with delight from the fountains of salvation,” and “a heavenly table will be prepared in your presence and a glorious, intoxicating cup.” These are the things of rich simplicity in which Christ’s precious poverty consists. Because poverty is also good with respect to morals, the Lord said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and we find in the psalms, “For the Lord will save the humble of spirit.” I believe that poverty also abounds in gathering together, if faith abounds. For this reason, the apostle said, “Their great poverty abounds in the riches of their simplicity.”

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE TWELVE PSALMS 40:4-5
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 12:3
There will be a great chasm, therefore, between the wealthy and the poor, because merits cannot be altered after death. As the wealthy man is led down to the furnace, he desires to draw a cooling draft from the poor, since water is refreshment for the soul in pain, concerning which Isaiah said, “And water will spring up with delight from the fountains of salvation.” But why is he tormented prior to judgment? Because the punishment for luxuriant living is to be lacking in pleasure. For the Lord also said, “There will be weeping and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven.” Very late does the wealthy man begin to be a teacher, when he still has time for learning but not for teaching.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8:18-19
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:3
The one whom he entitled “Emmanuel” above, then “take the spoils,” “hasten to plunder,” and with other names, he now calls “Savior,” lest there appear to be another beyond him whom Gabriel announced to the Virgin, saying, “And you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people.” He also prophesies that waters are to be drawn from his fonts—not from the waters of the rivers of Egypt, which were stricken, nor from the waters of the rivers of Rezin, but from the fonts of Jesus, for this is what “Savior” expresses in the Hebrew language. Hence Jesus himself cried out in the Gospel, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, ‘rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ This,” adds the evangelist, “he said of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive.” Jesus also says elsewhere in the Gospel, “The one who drinks from the water that I shall give him will never thirst again, for the water that I will give him will become in him a font of water springing up to eternal life.” We understand the fonts of the Savior to be evangelical doctrine, about which we read in the sixty-seventh psalm, “Blessed be the Lord God in the congregations from the fonts of Israel.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:12.3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:3
“More majestic than the voices of many waters or the mighty waves of the sea.” These are the waters of Shiloah which run in silence, about which Isaiah speaks: “You will draw water from the fountains of salvation”; and the psalmist: “Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel.” Again, Isaiah says about the Lord our Savior: “He will live in a dwelling on high, made of the strongest rock; bread will be given him, and his water supply will be sure.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 14:47.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:3
(Verse 3.) You shall draw water with joy from the springs of the Savior. He whom above all others Emmanuel acknowledges as Savior, hastens, despoiling the enemy, to plunder, and is called by other names, lest there appear to be another besides Him whom Gabriel announced to the Virgin, saying, 'And you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people' (Matthew 1:21): now He is called Savior, and proclaims the waters to be drawn from His springs, not from the waters of the Egyptian river, which were struck, nor from the waters of the river of Rasin, but from the springs of Jesus; for in the Hebrew language, Savior is expressed by this name. And He Himself also cried out in the Gospel, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'' Now this, the evangelist says, He spoke about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were to receive. And in another place in the Gospel He Himself speaks, 'Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give Him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' (John 7:38; 4:13,14). Let us understand the Evangelical teaching of the Sources of Salvation, which we read about in the sixty-seventh psalm: 'In the churches, bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel' (Psalm 67:27).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 544] Facundus of Hermiane on Isaiah 12:3
But after discussing this sermon of the venerable Bishop Paul, Saint Cyril addressed the people and said, “The blessed prophet Isaiah, preaching tenderly about future teachers in Christ, said, ‘Draw water from the fountains of salvation with joy.’ ” Behold, therefore, we drew water from the holy font. But I say that our prophesying teacher, having been enlightened through feasts of the Holy Spirit, was drawing our attention to the great and sacred mystery of the Savior, through which we who believe in him were saved.

Source: TO JUSTINIAN 1:5.39-40
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Isaiah 12:3
We say that God is … a fountain because he fills the thirsty and empty.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 35:10
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 12:3
And who is this strong man, except him of whom the Lord says in the Gospel, “No man can enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, unless he first bind the strong man.” The Lord, therefore, bound the fountains and the torrents when he spread in the hearts of his apostles the streams of truth. Of whom it is said again by another prophet; “With joy shall you draw water from the fountains of the Savior.”

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:33.20
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:4-5
(Verses 4, 5.) And you shall say on that day, confess the Lord and invoke His name: make His inventions known among the peoples: remember, for His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done great things: announce this in all the earth. These things are commanded by the Apostles and the rest of Israel to those who believed from the Gentiles: that they alone confess the Lord, and forsaking idols, invoke His name: and proclaim all His works to the unbelievers; that they may know that He alone is exalted: to whom it is to be sung for His great deeds, and in all the earth His mercy is to be proclaimed.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 12:6
(Verse 6) Rejoice and praise, O dwelling place of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great among you. First, it must be said according to the letter: O dwelling place of Zion, rejoice and praise your God, for He who was once considered your God and was enclosed within the narrow bounds of the land of Judaea, now fills the whole earth with His knowledge. Rising from the dead, He reigns over the nations, and the nations shall beseech Him and worship Him. However, He will add secondly His hand to possess what remains of His people, and to gather together the dispersed of Israel and the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth. For the seedbed of the Gospel spread forth from the fountains of Israel through the Apostles, who were from the Jews. But it is better, as the Church is interpreted as the high tower, that we interpret Zion, from which the fiftieth psalm sings: Deal gently, O Lord, in thy good will with Zion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. That in her may be made acceptable to God the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and holocausts, and the calf, which the most merciful father offered to the repenting son.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah