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Song of
Solomon Chapter Four
Song of Solomon 4
Chapter Contents
Christ sets forth the graces of the church. (1-7)
Christ's love to the church. (8-15) The church desires further influences of
Divine grace. (16)
Commentary on Song of Solomon 4:1-7
(Read Song of Solomon 4:1-7)
If each of these comparisons has a meaning applicable to
the graces of the church
or of the faithful Christian
they are not clearly
known; and great mistakes are made by fanciful guesses. The mountain of myrrh
appears to mean the mountain Moriah
on which the temple was built
where the
incense was burned
and the people worshipped the Lord. This was his residence
till the shadows of the law given to Moses were dispersed by the breaking of
the gospel day
and the rising of the Sun of righteousness. And though
in
respect of his human nature
Christ is absent from his church on earth
and
will continue to be so till the heavenly day break
yet he is spiritually
present in his ordinances
and with his people. How fair and comely are
believers
when justified in Christ's righteousness
and adorned with spiritual
graces! when their thoughts
words
and deeds
though imperfect
are pure
manifesting a heart nourished by the gospel!
Commentary on Song of Solomon 4:8-15
(Read Song of Solomon 4:8-15)
Observe the gracious call Christ gives to the church. It
is
1. A precept; so this is Christ's call to his church to come off from the
world. These hills seem pleasant
but there are in them lions' dens; they are
mountains of the leopards. 2. As a promise; many shall be brought as members of
the church
from every point. The church shall be delivered from her
persecutors in due time
though now she dwells among lions
Psalm 57:4. Christ's heart is upon his church;
his treasure is therein; and he delights in the affection she has for him; its
working in the heart
and its works in the life. The odours wherewith the
spouse is perfumed
are as the gifts and graces of the Spirit. Love and
obedience to God are more pleasing to Christ than sacrifice or incense. Christ
having put upon his spouse the white raiment of his own righteousness
and the
righteousness of saints
and perfumed it with holy joy and comfort
he is well
pleased with it. And Christ walks in his garden unseen. A hedge of protection
is made around
which all the powers of darkness cannot break through. The
souls of believers are as gardens enclosed
where is a well of living water
John 4:14; 7:38
the influences of the Holy
Spirit. The world knows not these wells of salvation
nor can any opposer
corrupt this fountain. Saints in the church
and graces in the saints
are
fitly compared to fruits and spices. They are planted
and do not grow of
themselves. They are precious; they are the blessings of this earth. They will
be kept to good purpose when flowers are withered. Grace
when ended in glory
will last for ever. Christ is the source which makes these gardens fruitful;
even a well of living waters.
Commentary on Song of Solomon 4:16
(Read Song of Solomon 4:16)
The church prays for the influences of the blessed
Spirit
to make this garden fruitful. Graces in the soul are as spices in these
gardens
that in them which is valuable and useful. The blessed Spirit
in his
work upon the soul
is as the wind. There is the north wind of conviction
and
the south wind of comfort. He stirs up good affections
and works in us both to
will and to do that which is good. The church invites Christ. Let him have the
honour of all the garden produces
and let us have the comfort of his
acceptance of it. We can invite him to nothing but what is his own already. The
believer can have no joy of the fruits
unless they redound some way or other
to the glory of Christ. Let us then seek to keep separate from the world
as a
garden enclosed
and to avoid conformity thereto.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon》
Song of Solomon 4
Verse 1
[1]
Behold
thou art fair
my love; behold
thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes
within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats
that appear from mount
Gilead.
Behold —
These words are evidently spoken by the bridegroom.
Fair —
Being clothed with my righteousness
and adorned with all the graces of my
spirit.
Fair — He
repeats it both to confirm his assertion
and to shew the fervency of his
affection.
Dove's eyes —
Whereas the beauty of the spouse is here described in her several parts
we
need not labour much about the application of each particular to some distinct
grace of the church
this being the chief design of the description to shew
that compleatness and absolute perfection which the church hath in part
received
and shall more fully receive in the future life.
Goats —
Which in these parts was of extraordinary length
and softness
and comeliness.
Mount Gilead — A
very fruitful place
fit for breeding all sorts of cattle
and especially of
goats
because it was an hilly and woody country.
Verse 2
[2] Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn
which came up
from the washing; whereof every one bear twins
and none is barren among them.
A flock —
Numerous
and placed in due order.
Even —
Smooth and even
as also clean and white.
Twins —
Which seems to denote the two rows of teeth.
Barren —
Not one tooth is lacking.
Verse 3
[3] Thy
lips are like a thread of scarlet
and thy speech is comely: thy temples are
like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
Thy speech —
Which is added as another ingredient of an amiable person; and to explain the
foregoing metaphor. The discourse of believers is edifying and comfortable
and
acceptable to God
and to serious men.
Temples —
Under which he comprehends the cheeks.
Pomegranate — In
which there is a lovely mixture of red and white.
Verse 4
[4] Thy
neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury
whereon there hang a
thousand bucklers
all shields of mighty men.
Thy neck —
This may represent the grace of faith
by which we are united to Christ
as the
body is to the head by the neck. By which Christians receive their spiritual
food
and consequently their strength and ability for action.
The tower —
Upright
firm
and strong; and moreover adorned with chains of gold or pearl
or the like ornaments.
Of David —
Some tower built by David
when he repaired
and enlarged his royal city
and
used by him as an armory.
Bucklers —
Such as are reserved for the use of mighty men. A thousand is put indefinitely
for a great number.
Verse 5
[5] Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins
which feed among
the lilies.
Lillies — In
the fields where lillies grow.
Verse 6
[6]
Until the day break
and the shadows flee away
I will get me to the mountain
of myrrh
and to the hill of frankincense.
Until —
These words are uttered by the bride
chap. 2:17
and here returned by the bridegroom as an
answer to that request. And this place may be understood of the day of glory
when all shadows and ordinances shall cease.
To the hill — To
my church upon earth
which was typified by the mountain of Moriah and the
temple upon it. This in prophetic writings is called a mountain
and may well
be called a mountain of myrrh and frankincense
both for the acceptable
services which are there offered to God
and for the precious gifts and graces
of the Holy Spirit
which are of a sweet smelling savour to God and men. Thus
Christ directs believers
where they may find him
namely in his church and
ordinances.
Verse 8
[8] Come
with me from Lebanon
my spouse
with me from Lebanon: look from the top of
Amana
from the top of Shenir and Hermon
from the lions' dens
from the mountains
of the leopards.
Come —
Unto the mountains of myrrh.
Look — To
the place to which I invite thee to go
which from those high mountains thou
mayest easily behold.
Of Leopards —
From these or other mountains
which are inhabited by lions and leopards. This
seems to be added as an argument to move the spouse to go with him
because the
places where now she was
were not only barren
but also dangerous.
Verse 9
[9] Thou
hast ravished my heart
my sister
my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with
one of thine eyes
with one chain of thy neck.
My sister — So
he calls her to shew the greatness of his love
which cannot sufficiently be
expressed by any one relation.
With one —
With one glance.
One chain —
With one of those other graces and perfections wherewith thou art adorned.
Verse 10
[10] How
fair is thy love
my sister
my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!
and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
Fair —
How amiable and acceptable to me.
Ointments — Of
the gifts and graces of God's Spirit
wherewith thou art anointed.
Verse 11
[11] Thy
lips
O my spouse
drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue;
and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
Thy lips —
Thy speeches both to me in prayer and praises
and to men for their
edification
are highly acceptable to me.
Milk —
Words more sweet and comfortable than honey or milk.
Garments — Of
that righteousness wherewith I have adorned thee.
Lebanon —
Which was very sweet and grateful in regard of the great numbers of
sweet-smelling spices and trees which grow on that mountain.
Verse 12
[12] A
garden inclosed is my sister
my spouse; a spring shut up
a fountain sealed.
A garden —
For order and beauty
for pleasant walks
and flowers
and fruits.
Inclosed —
Defended by the care of my providence: and reserved for my proper use.
Shut up — To
preserve it from all pollution
and to reserve it for the use of its owner
for
which reason
springs were shut up in those countries where water was scarce
and precious.
Verse 13
[13] Thy
plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with pleasant fruits; camphire
with
spikenard
Plants —
Believers
which are planted in thee
are like the plants or fruits of an
orchard
which are pleasant to the eye
and delicious to the taste or smell
whereby he signifies the variety and excellency of the gifts and graces in the
several members of the church.
Spikenard —
Which he mentions here with camphire
and in the next verse with saffron
because it is mixed with both these
and being so mixed
yields. the more
grateful smell.
Verse 14
[14]
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon
with all trees of frankincense;
myrrh and aloes
with all the chief spices:
All trees —
Such trees as produce frankincense.
Verse 15
[15] A
fountain of gardens
a well of living waters
and streams from Lebanon.
Living water —
Though my spouse be in some sort a fountain shut up
yet that is not so to be
understood as if she kept her waters to herself
for she is like a fountain of
living or running water
which flows into gardens
and makes its flowers and
plants to flourish. The church conveys those waters of life which she receives
from Christ to particular believers.
Streams —
Like those sweet and refreshing rivers which flow down from mount Lebanon
of
which Jordan is one.
Verse 16
[16]
Awake
O north wind; and come
thou south; blow upon my garden
that the spices
thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden
and eat his pleasant
fruits.
North wind —
These winds may signify the several dispensations of God's spirit.
My garden —
This verse is spoken by the spouse. And he calls the garden both hers and his
because of that oneness which is between them
chap. 2:16.
May flow — That
my graces may be exercised.
Let —
Let Christ afford his gracious presence to his church.
And eat —
And let him delight himself in that service which is given him
both by the
religious worship
and by the holy conversation of his people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Song of Solomon》
04 Chapter 4
Verses 1-16
Verse 8
Come with Me from Lebanon
My spouse
with Me from Lebanon.
The invitations of Christ
The whole idea is that the Shulamite Virgin who is sought as a
bride lives in high
craggy
cavernous regions--amid inhospitable scenes--and
close to the mountain haunts of beasts of prey. Such words as Amana
Shenir
Hermon
and Lebanon are used to typify a region of mountain
rock
fastness
forest
and jungle. There the fair Shulamite has her native home
That is one
side of the picture. On the other side is the King
who lives in Jerusalem
the
royal city
the city of peace
far away from the haunts of leopards; and He
goes forth to invite the bride to leave the crag and the den
the forest and
the danger
saying
“Come to Jerusalem
to the centre of civilization
to the
home of beauty
to the King’s palace
to the splendid and inviolable home
--no
lion shall be there
nor any ravenous beast go up thereon
--come
O My dove
that art in the clefts of the rock
whose lips drop as the honeycomb
and the
smell of whose garments is as the smell of Lebanon
come! How is all this
sustained by collateral Scripture
and made to apply to the Son of God? Christ
calls men away from what may be regarded as the nativities of the present
scene. There must be no division
no holding on with both hands: the attitude
must not be that of one who has the right foot in the caverns and the left foot
in the metropolis: there must be a complete detachment from all that is native
and original
and a clear coming away with all trust and love and hope to the
new abode. Christ is calling us away from our animalism--the first condition of
our birth. He will not have it that the body is the man
that the flesh is the
immortal part of humanity. So Christ calls the Church
which is His Bride
the
Lamb’s Wife
--He calls her away from stony places
and from low associations
and from connections with lions’ dens and mountain haunts of leopards
--calls
humanity away from flesh
and earth
and time
and sense
and prison
into all
the upper spaces
where the blue sky is unclouded
and where the infinite
liberty never degenerates into licence. What does Christ call us from?
Precisely what the Shulamite was called from--from stony places and desert
lands and mountain fastnesses--from “desolation desolate.” When does Christ
ever call men from knowledge to ignorance? from abundance of spiritual
realization to poverty and leanness of soul? When does Jesus Christ ever offer
men an inhospitable welcome? The great offers of the Gospel are in such terms
as these: Eat and drink abundantly
O beloved! He
every one that thirsteth
Come! We are called not only from desolateness
but from danger. If we have not
entered into the spirit-life
the faith-life
that higher life which sees the
invisible and realizes the eternal
then we are simply walking through
perils without number
and as for seductiveness or subtlety or power of
involving us in mischief and in suffering
no language can express the reality
of the situation. We are called not only from desolateness and from danger
but
from incongruity. What a background was the mountain region to the fair and
lovely Shulamite! Surely that fair dove was made for Jerusalem
and not for
some region of caverns or mountain haunts of leopards. Save her! This sense of
incongruity afflicts men who profess to be under the spell of refined and
elevating taste. What shocks do men receive who profess to be refined and large
in their culture! A musician feels as if he were staggering under a blow of
insult when he hears a false note. Is there no law of incongruity in morals
in
spiritual relation? “What doest thou here
Elijah?”--why wanderest thou in
these desert places
O thou child of the king
meant to adorn a palace? Why
estranged and ragged and humiliated and debased
thou child of fortune? Explain
the ghastly incongruity! Christ ever calls men to home
to security
to honour.
Herein he is like the man who seeks the Shulamite for his bride: he calls her
to the palace
to Jerusalem
to all beauty and comfort and security. Jesus
Christ says
“I go to prepare a place for you.” When Jesus Christ prepares a
place
who can describe its largeness
its beauty
its completeness? “Where I
am
there ye shall be also;” and where He is
heaven is. But
there is on the
road a cross? We cannot enter into the city unless we understand the cross
and
die upon it. The cross is not an intellectual puzzle; it is a cross on which
every man must be himself crucified with the Son of God. After the cross the
crown--the pure river of the water of life
clear as crystal
proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb. After the cross
the city in the midst of
whose street
and on either side of the river
is the Tree of Life. (J.
Parker
D. D.)
Christ’s invitation to His bride
This world was never designed to be the fixed abode of the
children of men
and therefore there was a restraint laid upon our first
parents in paradise
as to the forbidden tree
showing that they behoved to
look to another world for their happiness. Man was once set fair on the way to
the land where glory dwells
but he lost his way
and now poor sinners are
found wandering on the mountains of vanity. The first Adam managed ill
and
brought us into this condition. But behold
the second Adam came to gather the
dispersed of Israel
and to lead them on their way to the better country. Hear
His voice in the text
calling His people to leave the weary world and go
homeward with Himself.
I. Take notice of some things
supposed in this kind call and invitation.
1. It supposeth that Christ’s bride is yet in the world. Though
brought out of Egypt
yet not come to Canaan
but still in the wilderness.
2. Though she be there
and perhaps has been there many years since
she was united to Christ
yet He has not forgot her
but kindly remembers
her
still
whatever she may think otherwise.
3. The world is not a place for Christ’s spouse to rest in
she is in
great danger there.
4. Yet sometimes the foolish creature lies down even among the lions’
dens
and being charmed with the deceitful mountains is averse to come away.
5. Our Lord takes notice of and is concerned for the soul’s danger
from the deceitful world. And therefore He cries with earnestness to come away.
II. Explain this
coming from the world
or show what is implied in it. There is a twofold coming
away from the world
1. There is a natural coming out of it. By the course of nature
we
are all on our way out of it.
2. There is a spiritual coming out of it
namely
in heart and
affection. This is what Christ is calling you to this day.
III. Show the import
of coming away with Christ from the world.
1. Our Lord has a better place for your reception
than the world can
be in its best dress. This is the new Jerusalem. There His Father’s house
stands. And in that house are many mansions. The society of saints
angels
and
to be ever with the Lord constitute the felicity of the place.
2. Our Lord can assuredly bring you into this glorious and happy
place. But oh! will I obtain admission? Why
come with Me
says Christ
there
will be no hindrance if you enter along with Me.
3. That place is His own choice.
4. Christ is in His way thither
out of the world to His Father’s
house
the better country. What
is not Christ there already? True
Christ
personal is there
but Christ mystical is not there yet.
5. Our Lord is very desirous of your company by the way
yes
and to
have you away with Him for altogether.
6. Our Lord displays His glory to you in the Gospel
to win your
hearts and get you away with Him.
7. Our Lord offers you
not only better in hope
but better in hand
than the world can give you.
8. If you will come away
you shall go as He goes
you shall go
together. Go as He goes in point of duty. Esteem all things as He does. Let His
choice be your choice. Rejoice in those things in which He rejoices; and be
grieved for what grieves His Spirit. Love what He loves
and hate what He
hates.
9. He will lead you and support you through the whole of the way. You
are now in the fields of the world
and there will be difficult steps in your
way to the city; these will not be easily discerned
but come with Him
He will
keep you from stumbling on the dark mountains.
10. He will be all to you in all. Leave all the world and “come with
Me
” for all
as the espoused bride goes with her husband. Whatever comfort
pleasure and delight you drew out of the muddy streams
you may now draw in a
far superior manner from the fountain. Thus it shall be your duty and privilege
too
to live as people of another world. “For our conversation is in heaven;
from whence also we look for the Saviour
the Lord Jesus Christ.” (T.
Boston
D. D.)
Verse 10-11
How fair is thy love
My sister
My spouse! how much better is thy
love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
Christ’s estimate of His people
I.
Christ
first praises His people’s love. Dost thou love God
my hearer? Dost thou love
Jesus? Hearken
then
to what the Lord Jesus says to thee
by His Holy Spirit
from this Song! Thy love
poor
feeble
and cold though it be
is very precious
unto the Lord Jesus
in fact it is so precious
that He Himself cannot tell how
precious it is. He does not say how precious
but He says “how fair” Pause
here
my soul
to contemplate a moment
and let thy joy wait a while. Jesus
Christ has banquets in heaven
such as we have never yet tasted
and yet He
does not feed there. He has wines in heaven richer far than all the grapes of
Eshcol could produce
but where does he seek His wines? In our hearts. Not all
the love of angels
nor all the joys cf. Paradise
are so dear to. Him as the
love of His poor people compassed with infirmity. The love of the believer is
sweet to Christ.
II. Do not imagine
however
that Christ despises our faith
or our hope
or our patience
or our
humility. All these graces are precious to Him
and they are described in the
next sentence under the title of ointment
and the working of these graces
their exercise and development
are compared with the smell of ointment. Now
both wine and ointment were used in the sacrifice of the Jews; sweet smelling
myrrh and spices were used in meat-offerings and drink-offerings before the
Lord. “But
” saith Jesus Christ to His Church
“all these offerings of wine
and all that burning of incense
is nothing to Me compared to your graces. Your
love is My wine
your virtues are My sweet-smelling ointments.” Yes
believer
when you are on your sick-bed and are suffering with patience; when you go
about your humble way to do good by stealth; when you distribute of your alms
to the poor; when you lift up your thankful eye to Heaven; when you draw near
to God with humble prayer; when you make confession of your sin to Him; all
these acts are like the smell of ointment to Him
the smell of a sweet savour
and He is gratified and pleased. O Jesus
this is condescension indeed
to be
pleased with such poor things as we have. Oh
this is love; it proves Thy love
to us
that Thou canst make so much out of little
and esteem so highly that
which is of such little worth!
III. Now we come to
the third
“Thy lips
O My spouse
drop as the honeycomb.” Christ’s people are
not a dumb people
they were once
but they talk now. I do not believe a
Christian can keep the secret that God gives him if he were to try; it would
burst his lips open to get out. Now it is but poor
poor matter that any of us
can speak. When we are most eloquent in our Master’s praise
how far our
praises fall beneath His worth! When we are most earnest in prayer
how
powerless is our wrestling compared with the great blessing that we seek to
obtain! But Jesus Christ does not find any fault in what the Church speaks. He
says
“No
Thy lips
O My spouse
drop as the honeycomb.” You know the honey
that drops out of the honeycomb is the best--it is called the life-honey. So
the words that drop from the Christian’s lips are the very words of his life
his life-honey
and they ought to be sweet to every one. They are as sweet to
the taste of the Lord Jesus as the drops of the honeycomb. And now
Christians
will you not talk much about Jesus? Will you not speak often of Him? Will you
not give your tongue more continually to prayer and praise
and speech that
ministers to edifying
when you have such a listener as this
such an auditor
who stoops from heaven to hear you
and who values every word you speak for
Him? “But
” says one
“if I were to try to talk about Jesus Christ
I do not
know what I should say.” If you wanted any honey
and nobody would bring it to
you
I suppose the best way
if you were in the country
would be to keep some
bees
would it not? It would be very well for you Christian people if you kept
bees. “Well
” says one
“I suppose our thoughts are to be the bees. We are
always to be looking about for good thoughts
and flying on to the flowers
where they are to be found; by reading
by meditation
and by prayer
we are to
send bees out of the hive.” Certainly
if you do not read your Bibles
you will
have no honey
because you have no bees. But when you read your Bibles
and
study those precious texts
it is like bees settling on flowers
and sucking
the sweetness out of them.
IV. This brings us
to the next topic “Honey and milk are under thy tongue.” I find it necessary
when I preach to keep a good stock of words under my tongue as well as those
that are on it. Very often I have got a simile just ready to come out
and I
have thought
“Ah
that is one of your laughable similes
take that back.” I am
obliged to change it for something else. If I did that a little oftener perhaps
it would be better
but I cannot do it. I have sometimes a whole host of them
under my tongue
and I am obliged to keep them back. “Honey and milk are under
thy tongue.” That is not the only meaning. The Christian is to have words ready
to come out by and by. Yon know the hypocrite has words upon his tongue. We
speak about solemn sounds upon a thoughtless tongue; but the Christian has his
words first under the tongue. There they lie. They come from his heart; they do
not come from the top of his tongue
--they are not superficial surface-work
but they come from under the tongue--down deep
--things that he feels
and
matters that he knows. Nor is this the only meaning. The things that are under
the tongue are thoughts that have never yet been expressed; they do not get to
the top of the tongue
but lie there half formed and are ready to come out; but
either because they cannot come out
or we have not time to let them out
there
they remain
and never come into actual words. Now Jesus Christ thinks very
much even of these; He says
“Honey and milk are under thy tongue”; and
Christian meditation and Christian contemplation are to Christ like honey for
sweetness and like milk for nourishment.
V. And
then
last
of all
“the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.” The odiferous
herbs that grew on the side of Lebanon delighted the traveller
and
perhaps
here is an allusion to the peculirly sweet smell of the cedar wood. Now
the
garments of a Christian are twofold--the garment of imputed righteousness
and
the garment of inwrought sanctification. I think the allusion here is to the
second. The garments of a Christian are his every-day actions--the things that
he wears upon him wherever he goes. Now these smell very sweet to the Lord
Jesus. What should you think if Jesus should meet you at the close of the day
and say to you
“I am pleased with the works of to-day? I know you would reply
“Lord
I have done nothing for Thee.” You would say like those at the last day
“Lord
when saw we Thee hungry and fed Thee? when saw we Thee thirsty and gave
Thee drink?” You would begin to deny that you had done any good thing. He would
say
“Ah
when thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee; when thou wast at thy
bedside in prayer I heard thee; I saw thee when the tempter came
and thou
saidst
‘Get thee hence
Satan’; I saw thee give thine alms to one of My poor
sick children; I heard thee speak a good word to the little child and teach him
the name of Jesus; I heard the groan when swearing polluted thine ears: I heard
thy sigh when thou sawest the iniquity of this great city; I saw thee when
thine hands were busy; I saw that thou wast not an eye-servant or a
man-pleaser
but that in singleness of purpose thou didst serve God in doing
thy daily business; I saw thee
when the day was ended
give thyself to God
again; I have marked thee mourning over the sins thou hast committed
and I
tell thee I am pleased with thee.” “The smell of thy garments is like the smell
of Lebanon.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 12
A garden inclosed is My sister
My spouse; a spring shut up
a
fountain sealed.
The Lord’s own view of His Church and people
I. The nearness of
kin of the Church to Christ
and Christ to the Church. He calls her in the
text
“My sister
My spouse.” As if He could not express His near and dear
relationship to her by any one term
He employs the two. “My sister”--that is
one by birth
partaker of the same nature. “My spouse”--that is
one in love
joined by sacred ties of affection that never can be snapped. “My sister” by
birth
“My spouse” by choice. “My sister” in communion
“My spouse” in absolute
union with Myself. Oh
how near akin is Christ to all His people! But first
do
try to realize the person of Christ. Believe that He truly is
and that He
truly is here--as much here and as really here as He was at Jerusalem
when He
sat at the head of the table
and entertained the twelve at the last supper.
Jesus is a real Man
a real Christ--recollect that. Then let this further truth
be equally well realized
that He has so taken upon Himself our human nature
that He may correctly call His Church His sister. He has become so truly man in
His incarnation
that He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He calls us so because
we are so. Change of place has made no change of heart in Him. He in His glory
is the same Jesus as in His humiliation. No man is so fully a man as Jesus
Christ. If you speak of any other man
something or other narrows his manhood.
You think of Milton as of a poet and an Englishman
rather than as a man. You
think of Cromwell rather as of a warrior
than as a man. The second Adam is
par
excellence
man. We may not think of Him as one amongst a vast number who
may be distantly akin to us
as all men are akin to one another by descent; but
the Lord comes near to each individual. He takes each one of His believing
people by the hand
and says
“My brother.” In our text He salutes the whole
Church as “My sister.” He says this with tender emphasis. As we have already
observed
the first term
“sister
” implies kinship of nature; but the second
term
“My spouse
” indicates another kinship
dearer
and
in some respects
nearer; a kinship undertaken of choice
but
once undertaken
is everlasting.
This kinship amounts to unity
insomuch that the spouse loses her name
loses
her identity
and
to a high degree
is merged in the greater personality to
which she is united. Such is our union to Christ
if indeed we be His
that
nothing can so well set it forth as marriage union. He loves us so much that He
taken us up into Himself by the absorption of love. If you are true believers
if you have been born again
if you are really looking to Christ alone for
salvation
He has brought you into a condition of the utmost conceivable
nearness with Himself “He has participated in your nature
and He has made you
a partaker of His nature
and in so many words He says
I will betroth thee
unto Me for ever; yea
I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness
and in
judgment
and in lovingkindness
and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.”
II. The security of
the people of God in consequence of being what they are. “A garden inclosed is
My sister
My spouse; a spring shut up
a fountain sealed.” We are not only
like a garden
but a garden “inclosed.” If the garden were not inclosed
the
wild boar out of the wood would bark the vines
and uproot the flowers; but
infinite mercy has made the Church of God an inclosure
into which no invader
may dare to come. “For I
saith the Lord
will be unto her a wall of fire round
about
and will be the glory in the midst of her.” Is she a spring? Are her
secret thoughts
and loves
and desires like cool streams of water? Then the
Bridegroom calls her “a spring shut up.” Otherwise
every beast that passed by
might foul her waters
and every stranger might quaff her streams. She is a
spring shut up
a fountain sealed
like some choice cool spring in Solomon’s
private garden around the house of the forest of Lebanon--a fountain which he
reserved for his own drinking
by placing the royal seal upon it
and locking
it up by secret means
known only to himself. The legend hath it that there
were fountains which none knew of but Solomon
and he had so shut them up that
with his ring he touched a secret spring
a door opened
and living waters
leaped out to fill his jewelled cup. No one knew but Solomon the secret charm
by which he set flowing the pent-up stream
of which no lip drank but his own.
Now
God’s people are as much shut up
and preserved
and kept from danger by
the care of Christ
as the springs in Solomon’s garden were reserved expressly
for himself. Are you really in Christ? If so
who is to pluck you thence? Are
you really trusting Him? How can He fail you? Have you been begotten again into
the Divine family? How can that new life be quenched?
III. The most
striking idea of the text is that of separation: “A garden inclosed is My
sister
My spouse; a spring shut up
a fountain sealed.” A garden is a plot of
ground separated from the common waste for a special purpose: such is the
Church. The Church is a separate and distinct thing from the world. Let us
however
take heed that our separateness from the world is of the same kind as our
Lord’s. We are not to adopt a peculiar dress
or a singular mode of speech
or
shut ourselves out of society. He did not so; but He was a man of the people
mixing with them for their good. He was seen at a wedding-feast
aiding the
festivities: He even ate bread in a Pharisee’s house
among cautious enemies.
He neither wore phylacteries
nor enlarged the borders of his garments
nor
sought a secluded cell
nor exhibited any eccentricity of manner. He was
separate from sinners only because He was holy and harmless
and they were not.
The Church is to be a garden
walled
taken out of the common
and made a
separate and select plot of ground. She is to be a spring shut up
and a
fountain sealed
no longer open to the fowl of the air
and the beasts of the field.
Saints are to be separate from the rest of men
even as Abraham was when he
said to the sons of Seth
“I am a stranger and a sojourner with you.”
IV. The text bears
even more forcibly another idea
namely
that of reservation. The Church of God
is “a garden inclosed.” What for? Why
that nobody may come into that garden
to eat the fruit thereof
but the Lord Himself. It is “a spring shut up
” that
no one may drink of the stream but the Lord Jesus. “But
” cries one
“are we
not to seek the good of our fellow-men?” Assuredly we are to do so for Christ’s
sake. “Are we not to seek to help on sanitary
educational
and purifying
processes
and the like? Yes so far as all can be done for His sake We are to
be the Lord’s servants for the blessing of the world
and we may do anything
which He would have done. In such a garden as the text speaks of
every plant
bears flowers for its owner
every tree yields fruit for him. “All for Jesus
”
is to be our motto. No one among us may dare to live unto himself
even in the
refined way in which many are doing it
who even try to win souls that they may
have the credit of being zealous and successful. We may so far degenerate as
even to attempt to glorify Christ that we may have the credit of glorifying
Him. It will not do. We must be truly
thoroughly
really living for Jesus: we
must be a garden inclosed
reserved
shut up for Him. The wall must wholly
inclose the garden
for a gap anywhere will admit an intruder everywhere. If
one part of our being be left under the dominion of sin
it will show its power
everywhere. The spring must be sealed at the very source
that every drop may
be for Jesus throughout the whole of its course. Our first thoughts
desires
and must wishes be His
and then all our words and deeds. We must be “wholly
reserved for Christ that died
surrendered to the Crucified.” (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The garden of the soul
Your soul is
or should be
the Beloved’s vineyard
God’s
fruitful field
God’s garden and your own. The history of this garden of
gardens falls into four chapters--
I. The common
ground. That beautiful garden was once a bit of heath or moorland
over which
the beasts ranged. In its natural state it was worthless. About one hundred
years ago the finest garden in the world was the palace-garden of Versailles.
But when the French king chose the spot it was a marshy moor. It cost
twenty-five years of toil and forty millions of money to change it into the
royal garden. And every garden was a waste till the busy hand of cultivation
clothed it with various beauties. And are not greater wonders wrought in the
soul reclaimed front the outfield of the world?
II. The ground
cultivated
or the garden.
1. It must first be inclosed. “A garden inclosed is my spouse
” says
Solomon. Of every Christian soul we may say
as Satan said of Job
“Thou hast
made a hedge about him.”
2. The soil must next be broken up. What hard and rough work is the
digging
the trenching
and the uprooting! But as the confusion in our gardens
in spring does not discourage us
so we should not be discouraged by those
sorrows that belong to the cultivation of the soul.
3. Then without wise sowing all the gardener’s pains would be lost.
Fill mind and memory with the delightful truths of the Bible
and let them sink
deep
that
seed-like
they may swell
and sprout
and bring forth fruits and
flowers of choicest perfume and colour. And you must be ever tending them
for
to let your garden alone is to spoil all.
4. The gardener’s utmost art would be in vain without the sunshine
the shower
and the quickening breath of spring. That philosopher
famed for
his contentment
was right
who
when asked by a friend to show him the
splendid garden of which he was always boasting
led him into a bare
rocky
space behind his house. “Where is your garden?” the friend asked. “Look up
”
said the philosopher
“heaven is a part of my garden”. Every good gift in the
garden really comes from above; for should God command the clouds to rain no
rain
the earth would soon be as iron. Heaven shields
broods over
and
enriches every fruitful sod. It is a great truth that Paul planteth and Apollos
watereth
but God giveth the increase. Turn
then
your whole being fairly
towards the sunshine of God’s grace
and pray that the garden of your soul may
always be as ready to receive heavenly blessing as is the garden around your
dwelling.
III. The garden
neglected. A neglected garden is one of the completest pictures of desolation
in the world: it is desolation’s throne in the deserted village.
IV. The garden well
kept. Solomon gives a picture of what your soul should be
and Isaiah of what
it should not be. Everything had been done for the Beloved’s vineyard
and in
return He received only wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1-30.). But the garden in the
Song was stocked with all rich and beautiful things. It gave pleasure to every
sense: its fine forms and colours gladdened the eye
its ripe fruits gratified
the palate
its exquisite perfumes gave delight
and its leaves yielded an
additional joy by their agreeable shade. A holy soul is compared to such a
garden. It is the most beautiful thing in the world
a paradise of heaven on
earth. “How can my soul be a fruitful garden of God?” do you ask. The answer
is
by good cultivation; and that is the work of God and man. For “we are
labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry” (1 Corinthians 3:9) All your powers
should be gladly devoted to this God-like work of keeping your own vineyard. I
remember visiting in spring a poor widow residing in a miserable corner of the
city. Her soul was a garden of God. On the window-sill she had some flowers in
jelly-dishes and spoutless teapots--a touching proof of that love of the
country which city life wakens in all but the broken-hearted. I took notice of
the flowers. “Yes
” she said
“I take many a bit lesson from them; if I neglect
them for a day or two
they hang their bit heads and wither. And my soul does
the very same if it is not always watered with the grace of God.” God help you
so to cultivate the garden of your soul as that you shall bring much fruit to
His praise! (James Wells.)
A secret and yet no secret
(with verse 15):--Observe the contrast which the two verses
present to us. There are two works of the Holy Spirit within us. The first is
when He puts into us the living waters; the next is when He enables us to pour
forth streams of the same living waters in our daily life. The Spirit of God
first implants in us the new nature. This is His work--to regenerate us
to put
into us the new principle
the life of God in Christ. Then next
He gives us
power to send forth that life in gracious emanations of holiness of life
of
devoutness of communion with God
of likeness to Christ
of conformity to His
image. The streams are as much of the Holy Spirit as the fountain itself. He
digs the well
and He afterwards with heavenly rain fills the pools. He first
of all makes the stream in the desert to flow from the flinty rock
and
afterwards out of His infinite supplies He feeds the stream and bids it follow
us all our days. Now
we think the first verse
to a great extent
sets forth
the secret and mysterious work of the Holy Spirit in the creation of the new
man in the soul. Into this secret no eye of man can look. The inner life in the
Christian may well be compared to an inclosed garden--to a spring shut up--to a
fountain sealed. But the second verse sets forth the manifest effects of grace
for no sooner is that life given than it begins to show itself. No sooner is
the mystery of righteousness in the heart
than
like the mystery of iniquity
it “doth already work.” It cannot lie still; it cannot be idle; it must not
rest; but
as God is ever active
so this God-like principle is active too;
thus you have a picture of the outer life proceeding from the inner. “A
fountain of gardens
a well of living waters
and streams from Lebanon.” The
first is what the Christian is before God; the next is what the Christian will
become before men. The first is the blessedness which he receives in himself;
the next is the blessedness which he diffuses to others.
I. With regard to
the first text
you will clearly perceive that in each of the three metaphors
you have very plainly the idea of secrecy. There is a garden. A garden is a
place where trees have been planted by a skilful hand; where they are nurtured
with care
and where fruit is expected by its owner. Such is the Church; such
is each renewed soul. But it is a garden inclosed
and so inclosed that one
cannot see over its walls--so shut out from the world’s wilderness
that the
passer-by must not enter it--so protected from all intrusion that it is a
guarded paradise--as secret as was that inner place
the holy of holies
within
the tabernacle of old. The Church--and mark
when I say the Church
the same is
true of each individual Christian--is set forth next as a spring. “A
spring”--the mother of sweet draughts of refreshing water
reaching down into
some impenetrable caverns
and bubbling up with perennial supplies from the
great deeps. Not a mere cistern
which contains only
but a fresh spring
which
through an inward principle within
begets
continues
overflows. But then
it
is a spring shut up: just as there were springs in the East
over which an
edifice was built
so that none could reach the springs save those who knew the
secret entrance. So is the heart of a believer when it is renewed by grace;
there is a mysterious life within which no human skill can touch. And then
it
is said to be a fountain; but it is a fountain sealed. The outward stones may
be discovered
but the door is sealed
so that no man can get into the hidden
springs; they are altogether hidden
and hidden too by a royal will and decree
of which the seal is the emblem. I say the idea is very much that of secrecy.
Now
such is the inner life of the Christian. It is a secret which no other man
knoweth
nay
which the very man who is the possessor of it cannot tell to his
neighbour. A second thought is written upon the surface of the text. Here you
see not only secrecy
but separation. That also runs through the three figures.
It is a garden
but it is a garden inclosed--altogether shut out from the
surrounding heaths and commons
inclosed with briars and hedged with thorns
which are impassable by the wild beasts. There is a gate through which the
Great Husbandman Himself can come; but there is also a gate which shuts out all
those who would only rob the keeper of the vineyard of His rightful fruit.
There is separation in the spring also. It is not the common spring
of which
every passer-by may drink; it is one so kept and preserved distinct from men
that no lip may touch
no eye may even see its secret. It is a something which
the stranger intermeddleth not with; it is a life which the world cannot give
and cannot take away. All through
you see
there is a separateness
a
distinctness. If it be ranged with springs
still it is a spring specially shut
up; if it be put with fountains
still it is a fountain bearing a particular
mark--a king’s royal seal
so that all can perceive that this is not a general
fountain
but a fountain that has a proprietor
and stands specially by itself
alone. So is it with the spiritual life. It is a separate thing. I would not
give a farthing for that man’s spiritual life who can live altogether with
others; if you do not sometimes feel that you must be a garden inclosed
that
you must enter into your closet
and shut-to the door; if you do not feel
seasons when the society of your dearest friend is an impediment
and when the
face of your sweetest relation would but be a cloud between you and Christ
I
cannot understand you. Be ye
O ye children of Christ
as chaste virgins kept
alone for Christ. In the third place
you have in the text the idea of
sacredness. The garden inclosed is walled up that it may be sacred to its
owner; the spring shut up is preserved for the use of some special person; and
the fountain sealed more eminently still bears the mark of being sacred to some
distinguished personage. Now such is the Christian’s heart. It is a spring kept
for Christ. Oh
I would that it were always so. Every Christian should feel
that he is God’s man--that he has God’s stamp on him--and he should be able to
say with Paul
“From henceforth let no man trouble me
for I bear in my body
the marks of the Lord Jesus.” But I think there is another idea prominent
and
it is that of security--security to the inner life. “A garden inclosed.” “The
wild boar out of the wood shall not break in there
neither shall the little
foxes spoil the vines.” “A fountain shut up.” The bulls of Bashan shall not mud
her streams with their furious feet; neither shall the wild beast of Lebanon
come there to drink. “A fountain sealed.” No putrid streams shall foul her
springs; her water shall be kept clear and living; her fountains shall never be
filled up with stones. Oh
how sure and safe is the inner life of the believer.
Satan does not know where it is
for “our life is hid with Christ.” The
world cannot touch it; it seeks to overthrow it with troubles and trials and
persecutions
but we are covered with the Eternal wings
and are safe from fear
of evil. How can earthly trials reach the spirit? As well might a man try to
strike a soul with a stone
as to destroy a spirit with afflictions. We are one
with Christ
even as Christ is one with the Father; therefore as imperishable
through Christ’s life as Christ Himself. Truly may we rejoice in the fact that
“because He lives we shall live also.” Once more only. I think in looking at
the text you receive the thought of unity. You notice
it is but one garden--“a
garden inclosed.” “A garden.” It is but one spring
and that is shut up; it is
but one fountain. So the inner life of the Christian is but one. If you could
imagine two bodies quickened by the very same mind
what a close connection
would that be! But here are hundreds of bodies
hundreds of souls
quickened by
the self-same Spirit. Brethren
indeed not only ought we to love one another
but
the love of Christ constraineth us
so that we cannot resist the impulse; we do
love each other in Christ Jesus.
II. I shall now try
to open the second text
which presents a decided contrast
because it deals
not so much with the inner life as with the active life which goes abroad into
all the deeds of the Christian in the world
and is the natural outgoing of the
life within. First
notice that in contradistinction to our first thought of
secrecy you have in the text manifestation. “A fountain of gardens.” Everybody
can see a fountain which runs streaming through many gardens
making deserts
fertile. “A well of living waters.” Whatever the traveller does not see
when
he is riding along on a thirsty day
he is sure to see the fountain; if there
be one anywhere he is certain to observe that. “And streams from Lebanon.” So
that any passer-by in the valley
looking up the side of the mountain
will see
by the clusters of trees which skirt the stream where the stream is; or
if it
be a smaller brook
just as sometimes in Cumberland and Westmoreland
on a
rainy day you see the mountain suddenly marked with streaks of silver all adown
its brown sides
where the brooks are rippling
so the Christian becomes like
the streams leaping adown Lebanon s steep sides
clearly perceived even from a
distance
manifest to the most casual observer. Now
brethren
this is what you
and I ought to be. No man ought to court publicity for his virtue
or notoriety
for his zeal; but
at the same time
it is a sin to be always seeking to hide
that which God has bestowed upon us for the good of others. The inner life is
secret--mind that you have this inner mystery; but out of the secret emanates
the manifest; the darkness becomes the mother of light; from the dark mines
comes the blazing coal. Oh! see to it
that from all that is hidden and secret
and mysterious there comes out the plain and the manifest that men may see the holiness
truthfulness
and zeal of God in thy life. But clearly enough
again
we have in the second
text
in opposition to the separation of the first
diffusiveness. The garden
was inclosed before
now it is “a fountain of gardens”; the well was shut up
now it is a well of living waters; before we had the fountain sealed
now we
have streams dashing adown the sides of Lebanon. So a Christian is to be
separate in his inner life; but in the outer manifestations of that inner life
he is to mingle for good among his fellow-men. We must let the streams flow
abroad; we must seek to give to others what Christ has given to us. Briefly we
are obliged to speak on each of these points; but notice
thirdly
that in
opposition to the sacredness of the first text we have in the second verse an
unlimited freeness
especially in that last expression--“streams from Lebanon.”
What can be freer
than the brook
which leaps along the mountain-side? There the bird wets its
wings; there the red deer comes to drink; and even that wild beast of Lebanon
of which we read in the Book of the Kings
comes there
and without let or
hindrance slakes its thirst. What can be finer than the rivulet singing with
liquid notes adown the glen? It belongs to no one; it is free to all. Whosoever
passeth by
be he peer or peasant
may stoop there and refresh himself from the
mountain-stream. So be it with you
Christian. Carry about with you-a piety
which you do not wish to keep for yourself. A light loses none of its own
lustre when others are lit as its flame. We must be hidden springs within
but
let us be sweetly flowing rivulets without
giving drink to every
passer-by.
And notice that
while we had in the other text the idea of security
in
connection with that we have here in this text the idea of approach. The garden
was shut up--that was to keep it. There are no walls here
so that all may come
to it. The streams were shut up before; here it is an open well. The fountain
was sealed in the first verse; here it is a flowing stream
which is to teach
us this--that the way God keeps His people in security is not by shutting out
their enemies from attacking them
but while laying them open to temptation and
attack
He yet sustains them. And last of all
in opposition to the unity of
which I spake
we have in our second text great diversity. You have “a
fountain
” not of a garden
but “of gardens”; you have a well
but it is
a well of living waters; you have not a stream
but streams--streams from
Lebanon. So a Christian is to do good in all sorts of ways
and his fruits are
to be of many kinds; he is to be like the trees of Paradise
which bear twelve
manner of fruits. The Christian is to have all sorts of graces. Oh t if the
fountain
the secret fountain
were better seen to
I think there would be more
of these outward streams; and if the sealed well were better guarded
we should
see more of these rapid streams from Lebanon
which would make glad the people
of God
and the world at large. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ’s Church
I. It is a sacred
inclosure. Inclosed:
1. For protection--against the many foes that would injure it.
2. For enjoyment--Christ has a right to witness its beauties and
enjoy its fruits.
II. The means by
which it is inclosed.
1. By sovereign electing grace--this sweeps round His Church as a
boundary line--grand
comprehensive
invisible.
2. By the ministrations of angels--these are its guardians
servants
etc.
3. By restraining
grace--this is needed by every plant in this
garden and every member in Christ’s Church.
4. By Christian ordinances-baptism
the seal of separation.
5. By Christian doctrine--no man can be a Christian without believing
some fundamental doctrines. (J. F. Elder
D. D.)
Verse 13-14
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with pleasant fruits;
camphire
with spikenard
spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon
with all
trees Of frankincense; myrrh and aloes
with all the chief spices.
Fragrance
Of all man’s sources of enjoyment
none display more clearly the
bountifulness of God than the fragrant odours of nature. Fragrance seems so
wholly superfluous and accidental
that we cannot but infer that it was
imparted to the objects which possess it
not for their own sakes
but for our
gratification. We regard it as a peculiar blessing
sent to us directly from
the hand of our Heavenly Father; and we are the more confirmed in this idea by
the fact that the human period is the principal epoch of fragrant plants.
Geologists inform us that all the eras of the earth’s history previous to the
Upper Miocene were destitute of perfumes. Forests of club-mosses and ferns hid
in their sombre bosom no bright-eyed floweret
and shed from their verdant
boughs no scented richness on the passing breeze. Palms and cycads
though
ushering in the dawn of a brighter floral day
produced no perfume-breathing
blossoms. It is only when we come to the periods immediately antecedent to the
human that we meet with an odoriferous flora. God placed man in a sweet-scented
garden as his home. No sense is more closely connected with the sphere of soul
than the sense of smell. Its agency is most subtle and extensive--going down to
the very depths of our nature
and back to the earliest dawn of life Memory
especially is keenly susceptible to its Influence. The acceptance of man’s
offerings by God is usually represented in the anthropomorphism of the Bible
as finding its expression in the sense of smell. When Noah offered the first
sacrifice after the flood
“the Lord
” we are told
“smelled a sweet savour.”
The drink-offerings and the various burnt-offerings prescribed by Levitical law
were regarded as a sweet savour unto the Lord. Christ
the antitype of these
institutions
is spoken of as having given Himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. And the Apostle Paul
employing
the same typical language
speaks of himself and the other apostles as “unto
God a sweet savour of Christ
” etc. The Psalms and the prophetic writings
are full of the most beautiful and expressive metaphors
applied to the most
solemn persons and things
borrowed from perfumes; while the whole of the Song
of Solomon is like aa oriental garden stocked with delicious flowers
as
grateful to the sense of smell as to the sense of sight. In the gorgeous
ceremonial worship of the Hebrews
none of the senses were excluded from taking
part in the service. The eye was appealed to by the rich vestments and the
splendid furniture of the holy place; the ear was exercised by the solemn sound
of the trumpet
and the voice of praise and prayer; and the nostril was gratified
by the clouds of fragrant smoke that rose from the golden altar of incense and
filled all the place. Doubtless the Jews felt
when they saw the soft white
clouds of fragrant smoke rising slowly from the altar of incense
as if the
voice of the priest were silently but eloquently pleading in that expressive
emblem in their behalf. The association of sound was lost in that of smell
and
the two senses were blended in one. And this symbolical mode of supplication
as Dr. George Wilson has remarked
had this one advantage over spoken or
written prayer
that it appealed to those who were both blind and deaf
a class
that are usually shut out from social worship by their affliction. Those who
could not hear the prayers of the priest could join in devotional exercises
symbolized by incense
through the medium of their sense of smell; and the
hallowed impressions shut out by one avenue were admitted to the mind and heart
by another. But not in the incense of prayer alone were perfumes employed in
the Old Testament economy. The oil with which the altars and the sacred
furniture of the tabernacle and temple were anointed--with which priests were
consecrated for their holy service
and kings set apart for their lofty
dignity--was richly perfumed. One of the sweetest names of Jesus is the Christ
the Anointed One
because He was anointed with the fragrant oil of consecration
for His great work of obedience and atonement. As our King and Great High
Priest
He received the outward symbolical chrism
when the wise men of the
East laid at His feet their gifts of gold
myrrh and frankincense in token of
His royal authority
and Mary and Nicodemus anointed Him with precious
spikenard and costly spices for His priestly work of sacrifice. His name is as
ointment poured forth; and He is a bundle of myrrh to the heart that loves Him.
The ingredients of the Hebrew perfumes were principally obtained in traffic
from the Phoenicians. A few of them were products of native plants
but the
great majority of them came from Arabia
India and the spice islands of the
Indian Archipelago. So great was the skill required in the mixing of these
ingredients
in order to form their most valued perfumes
that the art was a
recognized profession among the Jews; and the rokechim
translated
“apothecary” in our version
was not a seller of medicines as with us
but
simply a maker of perfumes. Perfumes were at one time extensively employed as remedial agents
particularly in cases of nervous disease. They are still used freely in the
sick-room
but more for the purpose of refreshment and overpowering the noxious
odours of disease than as medicines. How important they are in the economy of
nature we learn from the fact that when the Dutch cut down the spice trees of
Ternate
that island was immediately visited with epidemics before unknown; and
it has been ascertained that none of the persons employed in the perfume
manufactories of London and Paris were attacked by cholera during the last
visitation. From the recent experimental researches of Professor Mantegazza
we
learn the important fact that the essences of flowers such as lavender
mint
thyme
bergamot
in contact with atmospheric oxygen in sunlight
develop a very
large quantity of ozone
the purifying and health-inspiring element in the air.
And as a corollary from this fact
he recommends the inhabitants of marshy
districts
and of places infected with animal exhalations
to surround their
houses with beds of the most odorous flowers
as the powerful oxidizing
influence of the ozone may destroy those noxious influences. Many of the most
delicious perfumes
however
are
dangerous in large quantities. Taken in moderation they act as
stimulants
exhilarating the mental functions
and increasing bodily vigour.
But in larger and more concentrated doses they act as poisons. If we pursue
them as pleasures for their own sake
they will soon pall upon us
however
delicious; and if we concentrate them so as to produce a stronger sensation
they become actually repulsive and sickening. God has given them to us to cheer
us in the path of duty
not to minister to our love of pleasure and
self-indulgence; and in this respect the laws of the unwritten revelation of
nature give their sanction to the laws of the written revelation of the Bible
indicating a common source and pointing to a common issue. (H. Macmillan
D.
D.)
Verse 15
A fountain of gardens
a well of living waters
and streams from
Lebanon.
The Church a garden
Again and again the Church is represented as a garden
all up and
down the Word of God
and it is a figure specially suggestive at this season of
the year
when the parks and the orchards have put forth their blossom and the
air is filled with bird-voices.
1. It is a garden because of the rare plants in it. Sometimes you
will find the violet
inconspicuous
but sweet as heaven--Christian souls
with
no pretence
but of much usefulness
comparatively unknown on earth
but to be
glorious in celestial spheres. In this garden of the Lord I find the Mexican
cactus
loveliness within
thorns without
men with great sharpness of
behaviour and manner
but within them the peace of God
the love of God
the
grace of God. They are hard men to handle
ugly men to touch
very apt to
strike back when you strike them
yet within them all loveliness and
attraction
while outside so completely unfortunate. But I remember in boyhood
that we had in our father’s garden what we called the Giant of Battle--a
peculiar rose
very red and very fiery. Suggestive flower
it was called the
Giant of Battle. And so in the garden of the Lord we find that kind of
flower--the Pauls and Martin Luthers
the Wycliffes
the John Knoxcs--Giants of
Battle. What in other men is a spark
in them is a conflagration; when they
pray
their prayers take fire. When they suffer
they sweat great drops of
blood; when they preach
it is a pentecost; when they fight
it is a
Thermopylae; when they die
it is martyrdom--Giants of Battle. But I find also
in the Church of God a plant that I shall call the snowdrop. Very beautiful but
cold; it is very pure
pure as the snowdrop
beautiful as the snowdrop
and
cold as the snowdrop. I would rather have one Giant of Battle than 5000
snowdrops. You have seen in some places
perhaps
a century-plant. You look at
it and say
“This flower has been gathering up its beauty for a whole
century
and it will not bloom again for another hundred years.” Well
I have
to tell you that in this garden of the Church
spoken of in my text
there is a
century-plant. It has gathered up its bloom from all the ages of eternity
and
nineteen centuries ago it put forth its glory. It is not only a century-plant
but a passion-flower--the passion-flower of Christ; a crimson flower
blood at
the root
and blood on the leaves
the passion-flower of Jesus
the
century-plant of eternity. Come
O winds from the north
and winds from the
south
and winds from the east
and winds from the west
and scatter the
perfume of this flower through all nations. Thou
the Christ of all the ages
hast garments smelling of myrrh and aloes and cassia
out of the ivory palaces.
2. The Church of Christ is appropriately compared to a garden because
of its thorough irrigation. There can be no luxuriant garden without plenty of
water. I saw a garden in the midst of the desert
amid the Rocky Mountains. I
said
How is it possible you have so many flowers
so much rich fruit
in a
desert for miles around? I suppose some of you have seen those gardens. Well
they told me they had aqueducts and pipes reaching up to the hills
and the
snows melted on the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains
and then poured down
in water to those aqueducts
and it kept the fields in great luxuriance. And I
thought to myself--how like the garden of Christ! All around it the barrenness
of sin and the barrenness of the world
but our eyes are unto the hills
from
whence cometh our help. There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad
the city of our God
the fountain of gardens and streams from Lebanon. Water to
slake the thirst
water to refresh the fainting
water to wash the unclean
water to toss up in fountains under the sun of righteousness
until you can see
the rainbow around the throne. I wandered in a royal garden of choicest plants
and I saw the luxuriance of those gardens were helped by the abundant supply of
water. I came to it on a day when strangers were not admitted
but
by a
strange coincidence
at the moment I got in the king’s chariot passed
and the
gardener went up on the hill and turned on the water
and it came flashing down
the broad stairs of stone until sunlight and wave in gleesome wrestle tumbled
at my feet. And so it is with this garden of Christ. Everything comes from
above--pardon from above
peace from above
comfort from above
sanctification
from above. Streams from Lebanon--oh! the consolation in this thought. How many
have tried all the fountains of this world’s pleasure
but never tasted of the
stream from Lebanon! How many have revelled in other gardens
to their soul’s
ruin
but never plucked one flower from the garden of our God! I swing open all
the gates of the garden and invite you in
whatever your history
whatever your
sins
whatever your temptations
whatever your trouble. The invitation comes no
more to one than to all: “Whosoever will
let him come.” ( T. De Witt
Talmage.)
Verse 16
Awake
O north wind; and come
thou south; blow upon my garden
that the spices thereof may flow out.
Grace for communion
The loved one in the text desired the company of her Lord
and
felt that an inactive condition was not altogether suitable for His coming. Her
prayer is first about her garden
that it may be made ready for her Beloved;
and then to the Bridegroom Himself
that He would come into His garden
and eat
its pleasant fruits. She pleads for the breath of heaven
and for the Lord of
heaven.
I. First she cries
for the breath of heaven to break the dead calm which broods over her heart. In
this prayer there is an evident sense of inward sleep. She does not mean that
the north wind is asleep: it is her poetical way of confessing that she herself
needs to be awakened. She has a sense of absentmindedness
too
for she cries
“Come
thou south.” If the south wind would come
the forgetful perfumes would
come to themselves
and sweeten all the air. The fault
whatever it is
cannot
lie in the winds; it lies in ourselves. Notice that the spouse does not mind
what form the Divine visitation takes so long as she feels its power. “Awake
O
north wind;” though the blast be cold and cutting
it may be that it will
effectually fetch forth the perfume of the soul in the form of repentance and
self-humiliation. The rough north wind has done much for some of us in the way
of arousing our best graces. Yet it may be that the Lord will send something
more tender and cheering; and if so
we would cry
“Come
thou south.” Divine
love warming the heart has a wonderful power to develop the best part of a
man’s nature. Many of our precious things are brought forth by the sun of holy
joy. Either movement of the Spirit will sufficiently bestir our inner life; but
the spouse desires both. Although in nature you cannot have the north wind and
the south blowing at the same time; yet in grace you can. The prayer is “blow
”
and the result is “flow.” Lord
if thou blowest
my heart floweth out to Thee!
“Draw me
we will run after Thee.”
II. The second half
of the prayer expresses our central desire: we long for the Lord of Heaven to
visit us. The bride does not seek that the spices of her garden may become
perceptible for her own enjoyment
nor for the delectation of strangers
nor
even for the pleasure of the daughters of Jerusalem
but for her Beloved’s
sake. He is to come into His garden
and eat His pleasant fruits. Note well the
address of the spouse to her Beloved in the words before us. She calls Him
hers--“my Beloved.” When we are sure that He is ours we desire Him to come to
us as ours
and to reveal Himself as ours. While He is hers she owns that she
is wholly His
and all that she has belongs to Him. In the first clause she
says
“Awake
O north wind; and come
thou south; blow upon my garden”; but now
she prays
“Let my Beloved come into His garden.” She had spoken just before of
her fruits
but now they are His fruits. She was not wrong when she first
spoke; but she is more accurate now. We are not our own. We do not bring forth
fruit of ourselves. The Lord saith
“From Me is thy fruit found.” The
garden is of our Lord’s purchasing
enclosing
planting
and watering; and all
its fruit belongs to Him. This is a powerful reason for His visiting us. Should
not a man come into his own garden
and eat his own fruits? Oh
that the Holy
Spirit may put us into a fit condition to entertain our Lord! The spouse
further cries
“Let Him eat His pleasant fruits.” I have often felt myself
overcome with the bare idea that anything I have ever done should give my Lord
pleasure. Can He perceive any perfume in my spices
or taste any flavour in nay
fruits? This is a joy worth worlds. It is one of the highest tokens of His
condescension. O Lord Jesus
come into our hearts now! O Holy Spirit
blow upon
our hearts at this moment! Let faith
and love
and hope
and joy
and
patience
and every grace be now like violets which betray themselves by their
perfume
or like roses which load the air with their fragrance! (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The Church’s prayer
Let us consider the prayer of those who are planted in this
garden
and who are represented in the text
as imploring the Holy Spirit to
descend upon them.
I. In his
convincing and humbling power
as the piercing north wind. As the cold north
wind prepares the soil
and fits it for vegetation
so are the sharper
operations of the Spirit needful for the believer
when
as too often happens
he is under a decay in grace; when the things that are in him are ready to die.
When He thus comes
He uses various means of awakening.
1. His grand instrument is “the sword of the Spirit
which is the
Word of God
” “sharper than any two-edged sword
” etc. When a believer grows
cold and careless in his walk
God directs to him some text
some threatening
or warning
or promise.
2. He often comes with awakening power in the shape of afflictions.
II. In his
comforting and enlivening power
as the gentle south wind. When He has pierced
the backsliding heart with sorrow for sin. He binds up the wound; shines upon
the heart
like the cheering sun; and breathes
like the mild and gentle south.
(E. Blencowe
M. A.)
The graces of the Holy Spirit implored
“The wind bloweth where it listeth.” The Spirit of God is
an unshackled agent
acting freely in the first application of grace to the
sinner’s soul
and in all its future operations.
1. Pray that your faith in Christ Jesus may be greatly strengthened.
If faith be the element of a Divine life
will not that life
in its exercise
and development
be more vigorous
according as God shall give us a stronger
and a larger measure of faith?
2. Again
a believer will plead with Christ
that the Spirit may give
him a more lively hope.
3. And should not a believer say
“Awake
O north wind
and come
thou south”--let my love abound? But is not this love? Doth the love of Christ
producing a corresponding affection within us
constrain us as it ought?
4. And is it not fitting that a child of God should say
Let my
humility be deepened? It is the great business of the Gospel to hinder the poor
guilty worm of the earth from saying
“I am rich
and increased in goods
and
have need of nothing.”
5. Should not
moreover
a believer pray
“Come
thou south wind
breathe upon my garden
that the spices thereof may flow out
” that my joy may
be increased? (R. P. Buddicom
M. A.)
North and south winds
There is a law of classification and contrasts in all life. Things
are paired off. They present themselves in sets or classes. We have stars in
galaxies
and the rolling worlds arranged into systems. Vegetable and animal
life be known by their genus and species. The principle of order characterizes
the conditions of man in the complexity of his nature and the diversity of his
life. Our main purpose is to trace the Divine plan of working in the developing
and perfecting of God’s image in a human soul. In the text we are taught that
it is by contrary and conflicting forces that perfection of character is
attained.
I. The text is
true of natural life. “North and south” are the two extremes of this sphere.
Between these two extremes exist all the fluctuating variations of the earth’s
condition. The day’s weather depends very largely upon the point from which the
wind will blow. We divine the meteorological conditions of the day by the
prophecy of the morning. North winds bring cold
hail and snow; south winds are
balmy and warm. These facts find their analogue in our higher experiences. What
contrasts there are in the conditions of our everyday life! This is true
socially. When all things are going smoothly in the home
when health and
plenty abound--when children are dutiful and diligent
parents revel in the
gentle breezes as they waft down from the southern sky. But
alas! the wind
sometimes veers round to the opposite point with a surprising suddenness
and
the chilly blasts beat upon us with pitiless fury and pierce our spirits to the
quick. How true is the text to business life. Prosperity is verily a congenial
south wind. We all aim at and desire success. But the winds of commercial
enterprises do not always blow from the south; and for aught we know to the
contrary
there may be more perfect developments of character under the latter
than by the agency of the former. The two winds are useful and necessary. The
south for the comfort and nourishing of young elements and principles in their
more incipient stages
and the north wind for giving setness and endurance to
these essential qualities.
II. The text is
also true of spiritual life. The life of the soul is promoted by principles
similar to those which rule in our physical nature. There are opposing elements
even in our food. Some are alimentary
building up the body
repairing waste
tissue; while others are poisonous
rendering innocuous
or eliminating
elements that are deleterious
and that would
if permitted to operate
unchecked
kill the body. The value of foods depends upon their adaptation to
the peculiar and varying states and requirements of the physical system. In the
childhood of our divine life we need the tender and sympathetic. Either through
sin or neglect of duty
or strange providences
or the wearing power of temptation
and persecution
or the ordinary and inevitable friction of life
we become
attenuated in our spiritual proportions and correspondingly feeble. The “north
wind” is too strong for us
and so we need the southern breezes to soothe back
into strength the weakened energies of the soul. But then spiritual athletes
are not braced into might by south winds only. We need to cry
“Awake
O north
wind.” Too many of the avowed followers of Him “who was rich yet for our sakes
became poor
” “who pleased not Himself
” who “had not where to lay His
head
” are resting in the warmth of the southern sphere
thus taking no part in
the great activities of the Christian Church. If all were as they are what
would be the future of Christianity
aye
and of the world
too? It is a good
thing to get out into the refreshing breezes which come even from the northern
regions. Many a Christian will have to thank God for pain and trial and losses.
As the north and south winds are essential
we do well to keep ourselves in the
line of both. True greatness is attained by a combination of opposite
qualities. It is the strong man tender
the great man lowly
the rich man
humble
the wise man with condescending simplicity we most admire. Do not
arraign the Divine government if north winds blow
but keep well in mind the
great fact that He is designing and evolving your good in all things so that
you may attain the stature of a perfect man; and in the last day you shall be
presented perfect
wanting nothing. (M. Brokenshire.)
Let my Beloved come into
His garden
and eat His pleasant fruits.
“My garden”-“His garden”
What a difference there is between what the believer was by nature
and what the grace of God has made him! Naturally we were like the waste
howling wilderness
like the desert which yields no healthy plant or verdure.
But now
as many of us as have known the Lord are transformed into gardens; our wilderness is
mane like Eden
our desert is changed into the garden of the Lord. In a garden
there are flowers and fruits
and in every Christian’s heart you will find the
same evidences of culture and care; not in all alike
for even gardens and
fields vary in productiveness. Still
there are the fruits and there are the
flowers
in a measure; there is a good beginning made wherever the grace of God
has undertaken the culture of our nature.
I. Now coming to
our text
and thinking of Christians as the Lord’s garden
I want you to
observe
first
that there are sweet spices in believers. For instance
there
is faith; is there anything out of heaven sweeter than faith--the faith which
trusts and clings
which believes and hopes
and declares that
though God
shall slay it
yet will it trust in Him? Then comes love; and again I must ask
Is there to be found anywhere a sweeter spice than this--the love which loves
God because He first loved as
the love which flows out to all the brotherhood
the love which knows no circle within which it can be bounded
but which loves
the whole race of mankind
and seeks to do them good? And there is also hope
which is indeed an excellent grace
a far-seeing grace by which we behold
heaven and eternal bliss. You do not need that I should go over all the list of
Christian graces
and mention meekness
brotherly kindness
courage
uprightness or the patience which endures so much from the hand of God: but
whatsoever grace I might mention
it would not be difficult at once to convince
you that there is a sweetness and a perfume about all grace in the esteem of
Him who created it
and it delights Him that it should flourish where Once its
opposite alone was found growing in the heart of man. These
then
are some of
the saints’ sweet spices. Next notice that these sweet spices are delightful to
God. He has joy over one sinner that repenteth
though repentance is but an
initial grace and when we go on from that to other graces
and take yet higher
steps in the Divine life
we may be sure that His joy is in us
and therefore
our joy may well be full. These spices of ours are not only delightful to God
but they are healthful to man. A man of faith and love in a Church sweetens all
his brethren. Give us but a few such in our midst
and there shall be no broken
spiritual unity
there shall be no coldness and spiritual death; but all shall
go well where these men of God are among us as a mighty influence for good.
And
as to the ungodly around us
the continued existence in the earth of the
Church of Christ is the hope of the world. It sometimes happens that these
sweet odours within God’s people lie quiet and still. You cannot stir your own
graces
you cannot make them move
you cannot cause their fragrance to flow
forth. At such times
a Christian is very apt to ask
“Am I indeed planted in
God’s garden? Am I really a child of God?” Now
I will say what some of you may
think a strong thing; but I do not believe that he is a child of God who never
raised that question.
II. What is wanted
is that those sweet odours should be diffused. Observe
first
that until our
graces are diffused
it is the same as if they were not there. We may not know
that we have any faith till there comes a trial
and then our faith starts
boldly up. We can hardly know how much we love our Lord till there comes a test
of our love
and then we so behave ourselves that we know that we do love Him.
Notice next
that it is very painful to a Christian to be in such a condition
that his graces are not Stirring. He cannot endure it. We who love the Lord
were not born again to waste our time in sinful slumber; our watchword is
“Let
us not sleep
as do others.” “Quicken Thou me
O Lord
according to Thy
word”--whichever word Thou shalt choose to apply
only do quicken Thy servant
and let not the graces within me be as if they were dead! Remember
however
that the best quickener is always the Holy Spirit; and that blessed Spirit can
come as the north wind
convincing us of sin
and tearing away every rag of our
self-confidence
or He may come as the soft south wind
all full of love
revealing Christ
and the covenant of grace
and all the blessings treasured
for us therein. You see
also
from this text
that when a child of God sees
that his graces are not diffused abroad
then is the time that he should take
to prayer. Let no one of us ever think of saying
“I do not feel as if I could
pray
and therefore I will not pray.” On the contrary
then is the time when
you ought to pray more earnestly than ever. Say
“O my Father
I cannot endure
this miserable existence! Thou hast made me to be a flower
to shed abroad my
perfume
yet I am not doing it. Oh
by some means
stir my flagging spirit
till I shall be full of earnest industry
full of holy anxiety to promote Thy
glory
O my Lord and Master!’
III. “Let my Beloved
come into His garden
and eat His pleasant fruits.” These words speak of the
company of Christ and the acceptance of our fruit by Christ. I want you
specially to notice one expression which is used here. While the spouse was
as
it were
shut up and frozen
and the spices of the Lord’s garden were not
flowing out
she cried to the winds
“Blow upon my garden.” She hardly dared to
call it her Lord’s garden; but now
notice the alteration in the phraseology:
“Let my Beloved come into His garden
and eat His pleasant fruits.” The wind
has blown through the garden
and made the sweet odours to flow forth; now it
is no longer “my garden
” but “His garden.” It is wonderful how an increase of
grace transfers our properties; while we have but little grace
we cry
“my
”
but when we get great grace
we cry
“His.” He planted every flower
and gave
to each its fragrance; let Him come into His garden
and see what wonders His
grace has wrought. Do you not feel
beloved
that the one thing you want to
stir your whole soul is that Christ shall come into it? The best condition a
heart can be in
if it has lost fellowship with Christ
is to resolve that it
will give God no rest till it gets back to communion with Him
and to give
itself no rest till once more it finds the Well-beloved. Next observe that
when the Beloved comes into His garden
the heart’s humble but earnest entreaty
is
“Let Him eat His pleasant fruits.” “The greatest joy” of a Christian is to
give joy to Christ; I do not know whether heaven itself can overmatch this
pearl of giving joy to the heart of Jesus Christ on earth. It can match it
but
not overmatch it
for it is a superlative joy to give joy to Him--the Man of
sorrows
who was emptied of joy for our sakes
and who now is filled up again
with joy as each one shall come and bring his share
and cause to the heart of
Christ a new and fresh delight. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》