Chapter 3

The crowned KING is everything to her, and she would have Him to be so to the daughters of Zion likewise. She dwells with delight on the gladness of His heart in the day of His espousals, for now she is not occupied with Him for her _own_ sake, but rejoices in His joy in finding in her _His_ satisfaction. Do we sufficiently cultivate this unselfish desire to be all for JESUS, and to do all for His pleasure? Or are we conscious that we principally go to Him for our own sakes, or at best for the sake of our fellow-creatures? How much of prayer there is that begins and ends with the creature, forgetful of the privilege of giving joy to the Creator! Yet it is only when He sees in our unselfish love and devotion to Him the reflection of His own that His heart can feel full satisfaction, and pour itself forth in precious utterances of love such as those which we find in the following words:--

Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are _as_ dove's behind thy veil; Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of Mount Gilead; Thy teeth are like a flock _of ewes_ that are _newly_ shorn, Which are come up from the washing. Which are all of them in pairs, And none is bereaved among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy speech is comely, etc. (See verses 3-5.)

We have already found the explanation of the fairness of the bride in her reflecting like a mirror the beauty of the Bridegroom. Well may He with satisfaction describe her beauty while she is thus occupied with Himself! The lips that speak only of Him are like a thread of scarlet; the mouth or speech which has no word of self, or for self, is comely in His sight.

How sweet His words of appreciation and commendation were to the bride we can well imagine; but her joy was too deep for expression; she was silent in her love. She would not _now_ think of sending Him away until the day be cool and the shadows flee away.

Still less does the Bridegroom think of finding His joy apart from His bride. He says:--

Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get Me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense.

Separation never comes from His side. He is always ready for communion with a prepared heart, and in this happy communion the bride becomes ever fairer, and more like to her LORD. She is being progressively changed into His image, from one degree of glory to another, through the wondrous working of the HOLY SPIRIT, until the Bridegroom can declare:--

Thou art all fair, My love; And there is no spot on thee.

And now she is _fit for service_, and to it the Bridegroom woos her; she will not now misrepresent Him:--

Come with Me from Lebanon, _My_ bride, With Me from Lebanon; Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards.

"Come with Me." It is always so. If our SAVIOUR says, "Go ye therefore and disciple all nations," He precedes it by, "All power is given unto Me," and follows it by, "Lo, I am with you always." Or if, as here, He calls His bride to come, it is still "with Me," and it is _in connection with this loving invitation_ that for the first time He changes the word "My love," for the still more endearing one, "My bride."

What are lions' dens when the Lion of the tribe of Judah is with us; or mountains of leopards, when He is at our side! "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." On the other hand, it is while thus facing dangers, and toiling with Him in service, that He says:--

Thou hast ravished My heart, My sister, _My_ bride; Thou hast ravished My heart with one look from thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.

Is it not wonderful how the heart of our Beloved can be thus ravished with the love of one who is prepared to accept His invitation, and go forth with Him seeking to rescue the perishing! The marginal reading of the Revised Version is very significant: "Thou hast ravished My heart," or "Thou hast given me courage." If the Bridegroom's heart may be encouraged by the fidelity and loving companionship of his bride, it is not surprising that we may cheer and encourage one another in our mutual service. St. Paul had a steep mountain of difficulty to climb when he was being led as a captive to Rome, not knowing the things that awaited him there; but when the brethren met him at the Appii Forum he thanked God and took courage. May we ever thus strengthen one another's hands in God!

But to resume. The Bridegroom cheers the toilsome ascents, and the steep pathways of danger, with sweet communications of His love:--

How fair is thy love, My sister, _My_ bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices! Thy lips, O _My_ bride, drop as the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden shut up is My sister, _My_ bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy shoots are a paradise of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. _Thou art_ a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon.

Engaged with the Bridegroom in seeking to rescue the perishing, the utterances of her lips are to Him as honey and the honeycomb; and figure is piled upon figure to express His satisfaction and joy. She is a garden full of precious fruits and delightful perfumes, but a garden enclosed; the fruit she bears may bring blessing to many, but the garden is for Himself alone; she is a fountain, but a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. And yet again she is a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters and flowing streams from Lebanon: she carries fertility and imparts refreshment wherever she goes; and yet it is all of Him and for Him.

The bride now speaks for the second time in this section. As her first utterance was of Him, so now her second is for Him; self is found in neither.

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 precious fruits.

She is ready for any experience: the north wind and the south may blow upon her garden, if only the spices thereof may flow out to regale her LORD by their fragrance. He has called her His garden, a paradise of pomegranates and precious fruits; let Him come into it and eat His precious fruits.

To this the Bridegroom replies:--

I am come into My garden, My sister, _My_ bride: I have gathered My myrrh with My spice; I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk.

Now, when she calls, He answers at once. When she is only for her LORD, He assures her that He finds all His satisfaction in her.

The section closes by the bride's invitation to His friends and hers, as well as to Himself:--

Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O Beloved.

The consecration of all to our MASTER, far from lessening our power to impart, increases both our power and our joy in ministration. The five loaves and two fishes of the disciples, first given up to and blessed by the LORD, were abundant supply for the needy multitudes, and grew, in the act of distribution, into a store of which twelve hampers full of fragments remained when all were fully satisfied.

We have, then, in this beautiful section, as we have seen, a picture of unbroken communion and its delightful issues. May our lives correspond! First, one with the KING, then speaking of the KING; the joy of communion leading to fellowship in service, to a being all for JESUS, ready for any experience that will fit for further service, surrendering all to Him, and willing to minister all for Him. There is no room for love of the world here, for union with CHRIST has filled the heart; there is nothing for the gratification of the world, for all has been sealed and is kept for the MASTER'S use.

JESUS, my life is Thine! And evermore shall be Hidden in Thee. For nothing can untwine Thy life from mine.

SECTION IV

COMMUNION AGAIN BROKEN--RESTORATION

Cant. v. 2-vi. 10

THE fourth section commences with an address of the bride to the daughters of Jerusalem, in which she narrates her recent sad experience, and entreats their help in her trouble. The presence and comfort of her Bridegroom are again lost to her; not this time by relapse into worldliness, but by slothful self-indulgence.

We are not told of the steps that led to her failure; of how self again found place in her heart. Perhaps spiritual pride in the achievements which grace enabled her to accomplish was the cause; or, not improbably, a cherished satisfaction in the _blessing_ she had received, instead of in the BLESSER Himself, may have led to the separation. She seems to have been largely unconscious of her declension; self-occupied and self-contented, she scarcely noticed His absence; she was resting, resting alone,--never asking where He had gone, or how He was employed. And more than this, the door of her chamber was not only closed, but barred; an evidence that His return was neither eagerly desired nor expected.

Yet her heart was not far from Him: there was a music in His voice that awakened echoes in her soul such as no other voice could have stirred. She was still "a garden shut up, a fountain sealed," so far as the world was concerned. The snare this time was the more dangerous and insidious because it was quite unsuspected. Let us look at her narrative:--

I was asleep, but my heart waked: It is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh saying, Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled: For My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

How often the position of the Bridegroom is that of a knocking Suitor outside, as in His epistle to the Laodicean[4] Church: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." It is sad that He should be outside a closed door--that He should need to knock; but still more sad that He should knock, and knock in vain at the door of any heart which has become His own. In this case it is not the _position_ of the bride that is wrong; if it were, His word as before would be, "Arise, and come away"; whereas now His word is, "Open to Me, My sister, My love." It was her _condition_ of self-satisfaction and love of ease that closed the door.

Very touching are His words: "Open to Me, My sister" (He is the first-born among many brethren), "My love" (the object of My heart's devotion), "My dove" (one who has been endued with many of the gifts and graces of the HOLY SPIRIT), "My undefiled" (washed, renewed, and cleansed for Me); and He urges her to open by reference to His own condition:--

My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

Why is it that His head is filled with the dew? Because His heart is a shepherd-heart. There are those whom the FATHER has given to Him who are wandering on the dark mountains of sin: many, oh, how many, have never heard the SHEPHERD'S voice; many, too, who were once in the fold have wandered away--far away from its safe shelter. The heart that never can forget, the love that never can fail, _must_ seek the wandering sheep until the lost one has been found: "My FATHER worketh hitherto, and I work." And will she, who so recently was at His side, who joyfully braved the dens of lions and the mountains of leopards, will she leave Him to seek alone the wandering and the lost?

Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled: For My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

We do not know a more touching entreaty in the Word of GOD, and sad indeed is the reply of the bride:--

I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

How sadly possible it is to take delight in conferences and conventions, to feast on all the good things that are brought before us, and yet to be unprepared to go out from them to self-denying efforts to rescue the perishing; to delight in the rest of faith while forgetful to fight the good fight of faith; to dwell upon the cleansing and the purity effected by faith, but to have little thought for the poor souls struggling in the mire of sin. If we can put off our coat when He would have us keep it on; if we can wash our feet while He is wandering alone upon the mountains, is there not sad want of fellowship with our LORD?

Meeting with no response from the tardy bride, her

Beloved put in His hand by the hole of the door, And "her" heart was moved for Him.

But, alas, the door was not only latched, but barred; and His effort to secure an entrance was in vain.

I rose up to open to my Beloved; And my hands dropped with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt. I opened to my Beloved; But my Beloved had withdrawn Himself, and was gone. My soul had failed me when He spake.

When, all too late, the bride did arise, she seems to have been more concerned to anoint herself with the liquid myrrh than to speedily welcome her waiting LORD; more occupied with her own graces than with His desire. No words of welcome were uttered, though her heart failed within her; and the grieved One had withdrawn Himself before she was ready to receive Him. Again (as in the third chapter) she had to go forth alone to seek her LORD; and this time her experiences were much more painful than on the former occasion.

I sought Him, but I could not find Him; I called Him, but He gave me no answer. The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me.

Her first relapse had been one of inexperience; if a second relapse had been brought about by inadvertence she should at least have been ready and prompt when summoned to obey. It is not a little thing to fall into the habit of being tardy in obedience, even in the case of a believer: in the case of the unbeliever the final issue of disobedience is inexpressibly awful:--

Turn you at My reproof: Behold, I will pour out My SPIRIT unto you, I will make known My words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; . . . I also will laugh in the day of your calamity. . . . Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; They shall seek Me diligently, but they shall not find Me.

The backsliding of the bride, though painful, was not final; for it was followed by true repentance. She went forth into the darkness and sought Him; she called, but He responded not, and the watchmen finding her, both smote and wounded her. They appear to have appreciated the gravity of her declension more correctly than she had done. Believers may be blinded to their own inconsistencies; others, however, note them; and the higher the position with regard to our LORD the more surely will any failure be visited with reproach.

Wounded, dishonoured, unsuccessful in her search, and almost in despair, the bride turns to the daughters of Jerusalem; and recounting the story of her sorrows, adjures _them_ to tell her Beloved that she is not unfaithful or unmindful of Him.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my Beloved, That ye tell Him, that I am sick of love.

The reply of the daughters of Jerusalem shows very clearly that the sorrow-stricken bride, wandering in the dark, is not recognized as the bride of the KING, though her personal beauty does not escape notice.

What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, That thou dost so adjure us?

This question, implying that her Beloved was no more than any other, stirs her soul to its deepest depths; and, forgetting herself, she pours out from the fulness of her heart a soul-ravishing description of the glory and beauty of her LORD.

My Beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand.

(see verses 10-16, concluding with)

His mouth is most sweet: yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

It is interesting to compare the bride's description of the Bridegroom with the descriptions of "the Ancient of Days" in Dan. vii. 9, 10, and of our risen LORD in Rev. i. 13-16. The differences are very characteristic.

In Dan. vii. we see the Ancient of Days seated on the throne of judgment; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne and His wheels were as burning fire, and a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. The Son of Man was brought near before Him, and received from Him dominion, and glory, and an everlasting kingdom that shall not be destroyed. In Rev. i. we see the Son of Man Himself clothed with a garment down to the foot, and His head and His hair were white as wool, white as snow; but the bride sees her Bridegroom in all the vigour of youth, with locks "bushy, and black as a raven." The eyes of the risen SAVIOUR are described as "a flame of fire," but His bride sees them "like doves beside the water brooks." In Revelation "His voice is as the voice of many waters . . . and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword." To the bride, His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh, and His mouth most sweet. The countenance of the risen SAVIOUR was "as the sun shineth in his strength," and the effect of the vision on John--"when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead"--was not unlike the effect of the vision given to Saul as he neared Damascus. But to His bride "His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars." The LION of the tribe of Judah is to His own bride the KING of love; and, with full heart and beaming face, she so recounts His beauties that the daughters of Jerusalem are seized with strong desire to seek Him with her, that they also may behold His beauty.

Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy Beloved turned Him, That we may seek Him with thee?

The bride replies:--

My Beloved is gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine: He feedeth His flock among the lilies.

Forlorn and desolate as she might appear she still knows herself as the object of His affections, and claims Him as her own. This expression, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine," is similar to that found in the second chapter, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His"; and yet with noteworthy difference. Then her first thought of CHRIST was of her claim upon Him: His claim upon her was secondary. Now she thinks first of His claim; and only afterwards mentions her own. We see a still further development of grace in chap. vii. 10, where the bride, losing sight of her claim altogether, says:--

I am my Beloved's, And His desire is toward me.

No sooner has she uttered these words and acknowledged herself as His rightful possession--a claim which she had practically repudiated when she kept Him barred out--than her Bridegroom Himself appears; and with no upbraiding word, but in tenderest love, tells her how beautiful she is in His eyes, and speaks her praise to the daughters of Jerusalem.

To her He says:--

Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah, [the beautiful city of Samaria,] Comely as Jerusalem, [the glorious city of the great KING,] Terrible [or rather brilliant] as an army with banners. Turn away thine eyes from Me, For they have overcome Me. (See vv. 4-7.)

Then, turning to the daughters of Jerusalem, He exclaims:--

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And maidens without number. My dove, My perfect one, is but one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her, saying, Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Brilliant as an army with banners?

Thus the section closes with communion fully restored; the bride reinstated and openly acknowledged by the Bridegroom as His own peerless companion and friend. The painful experience through which the bride has passed has been fraught with lasting good, and we have no further indication of interrupted communion, but in the remaining sections find only joy and fruitfulness.

FOOTNOTE:

[4] The Church of Popular Opinion, as pointed out by the Rev. Charles Fox in an address at Keswick, as the Church of Philadelphia is the Church of Brotherly Love.

SECTION V

FRUITS OF RECOGNIZED UNION

Cant. vi. 11-viii. 4

IN the second and fourth sections of this book we found the communion of the bride broken; in the former by backsliding into worldliness, and in the latter through slothful ease and self-satisfaction. The present section, like the third, is one of unbroken communion. It is opened by the words of the bride:--

I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine budded, _And_ the pomegranates were in flower. Or ever I was aware, my soul set me _Among_ the chariots of my willing people.

As in the commencement of Section III., the bride, in unbroken communion with her LORD, was present though unmentioned until she made her presence evident by her address to the daughters of Zion; so in this section the presence of the KING is unnoted until He Himself addresses His bride. But she is one with her LORD as she engages in His service! His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," is ever fulfilled to her; and He has no more to woo her to arise and come away; to tell her that His "head is filled with dew," His "locks with the drops of the night"; or to urge her if she love Him to feed His sheep and care for His lambs. Herself His garden, she does not forget to tend it, nor keep the vineyards of others while her own is neglected. _With_ Him as well as _for_ Him, she goes to the garden of nuts. So thorough is the union between them that many commentators have felt difficulty in deciding whether the bride or the Bridegroom was the speaker, and really it is a point of little moment; for, as we have said, both were there, and of one mind; yet we believe we are right in attributing these words to the bride, as she is the one addressed by the daughters of Jerusalem, and the one who speaks to them in reply.

The bride and Bridegroom appear to have been discovered by their willing people while thus engaged in the happy fellowship of fruitful service, and the bride, or ever she was aware, found herself seated among the chariots of her people--_her_ people as well as _His_.