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Song of
Solomon Chapter Six
Song of Solomon 6
Chapter Contents
Inquiry where Christ must be sought. (1) Where Christ may
be found. (2,3) Christ's commendations of the church. (4-10) The work of grace
in the believer. (11-13)
Commentary on Song of Solomon 6:1
(Read Song of Solomon 6:1)
Those made acquainted with the excellences of Christ, and
the comfort of an interest in him, desire to know where they may meet him.
Those who would find Christ, must seek him early and diligently.
Commentary on Song of Solomon 6:2,3
(Read Song of Solomon 6:2,3)
Christ's church is a garden, enclosed, and separated from
the world; he takes care of it, delights in it, and visits it. Those who would
find Christ, must attend him in his ordinances, the word, sacraments, and
prayer. When Christ comes to his church, it is to entertain his friends. And to
take believers to himself: he picks the lilies one by one; and at the great day
he will send forth his angels to gather all his lilies, that he may be for ever
admired in them. The death of a believer is not more than the owner of a garden
plucking a favourite flower; and He will preserve it from withering, yea, cause
it to flourish for ever, with increasing beauty. If our own hearts can witness
for us that we are Christ's, question not his being ours, for the covenant
never breaks on his side. It is the comfort of the church, that he feeds among
the lilies, that he takes delight in his people.
Commentary on Song of Solomon 6:4-10
(Read Song of Solomon 6:4-10)
All the real excellence and holiness on earth centre in
the church. Christ goes forth subduing his enemies, while his followers gain
victories over the world, the flesh, and the devil. He shows the tenderness of
a Redeemer, the delight he takes in his redeemed people, and the workings of
his own grace in them. True believers alone can possess the beauty of holiness.
And when their real character is known, it will be commended. Both the church
and believers, at their first conversion, look forth as the morning, their
light being small, but increasing. As to their sanctification, they are fair as
the moon, deriving all their light, grace, and holiness from Christ; and as to
justification, clear as the sun, clothed with Christ, the Sun of righteousness,
and fighting the good fight of faith, under the banners of Christ, against all
spiritual enemies.
Commentary on Song of Solomon 6:11-13
(Read Song of Solomon 6:11-13)
In retirement and in meditation the Christian character
is formed and perfected. But not in the retirement of the idle, the
self-indulgent, or the trifler. When the Christian is released from the discharge
of his duties in life, the world has no attractions for him. His prayer is,
that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow within him, and
around him. Such are the interesting cares and employments of him whom the
world wrongly deems unhappy, and lost to his true interests. In humility and
self-abasement, the humble Christian would turn away from the sight of all; but
the Lord delights to honour him. Chiefly, however, may the reference be to the
ministering angels who shall be sent for the soul of the Christian. Their
approach may startle, but the departing soul shall find the Lord its strength
and its portion for ever. The church is called the Shulamite: the word
signifies perfection and peace; not in herself, but in Christ, in whom she is complete,
through his righteousness; and has peace, which he made for her through his
blood, and gives unto her by his Spirit.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon》
Song of Solomon 6
Verse 1
[1]
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved
turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
Gone —
From thee.
Verse 2
[2] My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in
the gardens, and to gather lilies.
Is gone —
The spouse had hitherto been at a loss for her beloved, but having diligently
sought him, now at last she meets with a gracious answer from God, directing
her where to find him. The garden may signify the church catholic, and the
gardens, as it follows, as also the beds, the particular assemblies of the
faithful, in which Christ affords his presence.
Spices — In
which the gifts and graces of God's spirit, fitly compared to spices, grow.
To feed — To
refresh and delight himself.
Lillies —
Which may denote either, particular believers, whom Christ gathers to himself
in his church; or, the prayers and praises of his people in the publick
congregations.
Verse 4
[4] Thou
art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army
with banners.
Thou —
These are the words of Christ, who had now again manifested himself to his
church.
Tirzah — A
very pleasant city, the royal seat of the kings of Israel.
Jerusalem —
Which was beautiful both for its situation, and for its goodly buildings.
Terrible — To
her enemies, whom God will certainly destroy.
Verse 5
[5] Turn
away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of
goats that appear from Gilead.
Turn away — It
is a poetical expression, signifying how beautiful the church was in Christ's
eyes.
Thy hair —
This clause, and the whole following verse are repeated from, chap. 4:1,2. And this repetition is not vain but
confirms what was said before, that the churches miscarriage had not alienated
Christ's affection from her.
Verse 8
[8] There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without
number.
Threescore — A
certain number for an uncertain. The sense seems to be this, there are many
beautiful queens and concubines in the world, in the courts of princes, but
none of them is to be compared with my spouse.
Verse 9
[9] My
dove, my undefiled 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 blessed her; yea,
the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
But one —
The only beloved of my soul, my only spouse.
The only one —
She is as dear and as precious to me as only children use to be to their
parents, and especially to their mothers.
Daughters —
Called virgins, verse 8.
Praised — As
more beautiful and worthy than themselves.
Verse 10
[10] Who
is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners?
Who —
These are the words of the queens and concubines. Who, what manner of person is
this, how excellent and glorious! Morning - As the morning light, which coming
after the darkness, is very pleasant and amiable.
Verse 11
[11] I
went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see
whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
I went —
When I went away from thee these are the words of the bridegroom.
Valley —
Which being low, and well watered is very fruitful.
To see —
What beginnings or appearances there were of good fruits or works among believers.
Verse 12
[12] Or
ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
Or ever — I
was surprized with a vehement desire of my spouse, which is to be understood
figuratively, and so as to agree with the majesty and omnisciency of Christ.
Ammi-nadib —
Eager in my desire, and swift in my motion towards the church. Ammi-nadib is
supposed to be some eminent charioteer then well known, and famous for his
speed in driving chariots.
Verse 13
[13]
Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What
will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.
Return —
Christ recalls his spouse, who as when Christ was gone, she pursued after him,
so now when Christ was coming to her, she was ready to wander from him.
Return —
This word is repeated four times, to signify both Christ's passionate love to
her, and her backwardness.
Shulamite —
This title signifies, the wife of Solomon, thus called after her husband's
name, and as Christ is called by the name of Solomon, so the church is fitly
described by the title of Solomon's wife.
May look —
That I and my companions may contemplate thy beauty.
What —
But what do you my friends expect to discover in her? Christ proposes the
question, that they might take special notice of this as a very remarkable
thing in her.
The company —
Whereby he intimates that this one spouse was made up of the whole multitude of
believers.
Two armies —
Confederate together, and so this may signify the union of Jews and Gentiles,
and the safety and strength of the church, which is compared to a numerous
host, distributed into two armies.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Song of Solomon》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-13
Verse 2-3
My Beloved has gone down into His garden, to the beds of spices.
Communion
The exquisite pastoral from which our text is taken is peculiarly
fitted for Sacramental meditation--because its design is to set forth the
mutual love of Christ and His disciples; and because His disciples, in approaching
the Sacrament, should be in frames of mind fitted to appreciate, its exquisite
imagery.
I. Christian duty.
The Church is here represented as Christ’s garden, into which He then descends
to delight Himself with the gracious fruits of the believer’s spiritual life.
And our lesson of duty is, that the Sacrament we should experience and exhibit
such spiritual affections as seem unto Christ precious--fruits to be
eaten--lilies to be gathered I Consider these graces:--
1. Faith. This is the foundation of all religious life. Now this
grace Christ delights in, for it greatly honours and glorifies Him. In its
ascription of salvation to Him alone it virtually places the mediatorial crown
upon His head.
2. Love,--the soul’s crowning grace, or a grand composite of all
graces. For, in strict speech; they are all modifications of love. Penitence is
love grieving--faith is love resting--obedience is love working--hope is love
waiting. So that love toward man and toward God is at once the law fulfilled,
and holiness perfected. And in this Christ delights.
II. The Christian’s
privilege. Regarding the believer as the subject it represents his soul as
greatly rejoicing in the Sacrament, gathering in Christ’s garden the heavenly
fruit. These fruits are the gracious gifts imparted by the Saviour. Consider a
few of them. Take them as they are presented in Christ’s discourse in that
guest-chamber.
1. Peace. Quiet, tranquillity, spiritual and immortal rest I And for this we come to
Christ in the Sacrament. Behold a garden walled up to heaven. And through its
open portal the soul passes leaning on the Beloved, to bathe heart and spirit
in the everlasting fulness of God’s glorious peace!
2. Joy. “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might
remain with you, and that your joy might be full. And what glorious, joy
imparting words they were! And this is better than peace; for that is but a
passive rest, this is a reigning rapture. (C. Wadsworth.)
Verse 3
He feedeth among the lilies.
Feeding among the lilies
The literal reference is simple and obvious. The bride
represents her husband as going down to the garden where the fruits grew among
the flowers--where what was good for food was associated with what was fair to
the eyes and pleasant to all the senses. The plain of Sharon, the lower slopes
of Lebanon, the shores of Galilee, and even the bare craggy terraces of the
hill country of Judaea are illumined with gorgeous gleams of white, and
scarlet, and golden lilies, whose glory is the most peculiar of all the common
aspects of the country. The bulbous roots of many of them, containing a reserve
of nourishment for unfavourable times, and guarding as in a secure citadel the
principle of life, specially adapt these lilies for growing in the most
unpromising looking places. And not only are they enabled themselves to extract
nourishment from the driest soil and atmosphere, but they also create around
them, by the shadow of their leaves and blossoms, and by the moisture which
they attract, conditions suitable for the growth of other plants less richly
endowed; take species under their protection whose forms are tougher and whose
constitution is hardier, but which have no reserved stores like them for times
and spots of scarcity. Nowhere is the herbage so luxuriant as under the shadow
of these beautiful and graceful flowers. Such spots are therefore the favourite
feeding-places of flocks and herds. They seek them out as the traveller in the
desert seeks out the oasis; and they are as sure to find sweet and tender grass
where the lilies are growing, as the traveller is to find a well where the
palm-grove flourishes. The idea the text conveys is that as the roedeer or the
gazelle feeds on the grass which grows among the lilies on the mountains, so is
the bridegroom satisfied with the sterling useful qualities that are betokened
by the beauties of mind and heart of the bride. Her fair exterior, her
beautiful face indicate the possession of solid and substantial endowments
beneath. In the shadow of the lily-like charms of her person, he finds not only
what pleases his eye, but also what satisfies his mind and heart. The believer
says of Jesus, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine: He feedeth among the
lilies,”--eats of the fruits that grow among the flowers of the garden of my
heart. I am filled with His fulness, and He sees in me of the travail of His
soul and is satisfied. But separating the passage from its literal and
symbolical reference in the text, it is susceptible of a wide signification.
The Creator may be said to feed among the lilies, in the enjoyment which He
receives from the beauties of creation. We can see no end in the existence of
all this inaccessible beauty except to gratify the love of beauty in the heart
of God Himself. And to this Divine feeling, He who was the express image of the
Father’s person gave frequent expression on earth. The whole life of Jesus was
a feeding among the lilies, which illuminated His thoughts of God and His
lessons for man. They helped to develop the nature which grew in wisdom as in
stature by the aid of the same influences which develop ours. His soul fed upon
those visions of the beauty of holiness, and those high impulses and deep
emotions which the beauty of nature produced. He saw the spiritual in them
behind the physical; and their perishing beauty was to Him but the veil which
concealed the holy of holies of a nobler and more enduring beauty, a shadow
glassed in the unstable element of time, of the steadfast light of God in
heaven. The Jews of old fed among the lilies, for their land was pre-eminently
the Flowery Land. Dr. Tristram calls it “the garden of Eden run wild.” Every
traveller is struck with the immense profusion, variety, and brilliancy of the
flowers. And as with the Land, so with the Book. The Bible is the book of
flowers: its language is the language of flowers: it is full of the highest
poetry and truest philosophy of these fair creations. The sweetest and most
satisfying promises of God come to us in the midst of the most beautiful
poetry; the plainest and simplest precepts are set forth in glowing images; the
highest revelations reach us in lessons of the lowly lilies that grow beside
our door. The whole of human life is a feeding among lilies. All our food and
clothing and fuel come to us through beautiful forms and colours. In this
respect how different are the manufactories of nature from those of man! In
human works beauty is often eliminated and only what is useful is preserved; but
in nature the useful and the beautiful always keep pace with one another. In
the most carefully weeded field the eye, wearied with the monotony of the green
stalks and the shimmering of the freckled glumes in the sunshine, is refreshed
here and there with the blaze of scarlet poppy, and the azure gleam of the
corn-bluebottle, and the mimic sunshine of the yellow corn-marigold. The wild
mint perfumes its roots, and the white corn-spurry and scarlet pimpernel lend
to it all the tender grace of their hue and shape. The corn itself feeds among
the lilies; it draws its nourishment from soil and atmosphere in the company of
a bright sisterhood of flowers which crown its sober usefulness with a garland
of beauty. And is not this feature common to all of nature that is associated
with man? The green grass of the meadows and pastures is never allowed to grow
in dull uniformity: nature spreads her golden buttercups and snow-white daisies
and purple prunellas over it, so that the beasts of the field feed among the lilies.
How beautiful are the white and crimson blossoms of the clover, and the slender
scented spikes of the vernal grass, which feed the bee with honey and load the
air with a delicious fragrance, ere they yield their succulent herbage to the
browsing cattle, or fill the barns of the farmer with their tedded hay! God has
ordained that in everything man should feed among the lilies; that the useful
should be produced by or among the beautiful. The arms of our orchard trees are
clasped with bracelets of emerald moss, and their trunks are adorned with
brooches of golden lichens; and thus bedecked, they, Hebe-like, offer to us,
year after year, the fruit they have produced,--the rich harvest of their life.
And these mosses and lichens are to our fruit trees what the poppies and
marigolds are to our corn,--the lilies among which we gather our food. This
association of beauty with man’s food is designed for a wise and gracious purpose. As
flowers on a dinner-table east the shadow of their own loveliness upon all the
viands around them, and change what is the mere gratification of a physical
appetite into the fulfilment of a heaven-born longing, so the lilies among
which we feed redeem that feeding from its grossness and link the man that
feeds upon bread with the angels that feed upon every word of God. They show
that eating is not an end, but a means to a higher, nobler end, and connect the
means by which our lower nature is supported with the means by which our
higher, spiritual nature is trained and educated. And what a purifying and
refining influence have these lilies upon us! Their purity shames our impurity,
their grace our ungraciousness, their meekness our pride, their lavish
fragrance our thanklessness. How greatly, too, is our feeling of confidence in
God increased as we feed among the lilies! If He has provided these superfluous
things for us, it is a pledge and a guarantee that He will provide the things
that are necessary. As the blossom on the individual plant is a prophecy that
fruit will be produced, so the appearance of the lilies among the corn is an
assurance that bread will be given to us, and we shall not want any good thing.
If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day shines in the glow of the
sun, and to-morrow shrivels in the flame of the oven, how much more will He
clothe the creatures whom He has made in His own image! But more than all, the
lilies among which we feed speak to us of our immortality. The corn is the meat
that perisheth; but the beauty of the lilies and the lessons of Divine wisdom which they teach is
the meat that endureth unto everlasting life. By the food of garden and field
our decaying bodies are sustained; by the lilies our never-dying souls are
nourished. While feeding among the lilies there is thus provision made for our
twofold nature: we have in every feast a reminder that man does not live by
bread alone, but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God, and that is
expressed on earth in every bright hue and beautiful form around us. Rightly
viewed the corn exists for the sake of the lilies. They stand among the corn
like the priests of old among the people, clothed in priestly garments of glory
and beauty. They are the ministers of God serving at His altar, appealing to
the higher faculties of man, and bearing their witness to the Divine love that
formed them; and thus, though they themselves die in succession, like the sons
of Aaron, their priesthood abideth for ever. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof fadeth; but the Word of the Lord, that speaks in and through
them, endureth for ever. The lilies fade and pass away; but the truth which
they teach and the character which they help to form are enduring as the soul
itself, and shall be wrought into its very texture, and bloom in its beauty in
the paradise above. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
Verse 4
Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army with banners.
The Church as she should be
Though the words before us are allegorical, and the whole Song is
crowded with metaphor and parable, yet the teaching is plain enough in this instance;
it is evident that the Divine Bridegroom gives His bride a high place in His
heart, and to Him, whatever she may be to others, she is fair, lovely, comely,
beautiful, and in the eyes of His love without a spot. Moreover, even to Him
there is not only a beauty of a soft and gentle kind in her, but a majesty, a
dignity in her holiness, in her earnestness, in her consecration, which makes
even Him say of her that she is “terrible as an army with banners,” “awful as a
bannered army.” She is every inch a queen: her aspect in the sight of her
Beloved is majestic.
I. Why it is that
the Church of God is said to be an army with banners. That she is “an army” is
true enough, for the Church is one, but many; and consists of men who march in
order under a common leader, with one design in view, and that design a
conflict and a victory. But why an army “with banners”? Is not this, first of
all, for distinction? How shall we know to which king an army belongs unless we
can see the royal standard? The Church unfolds her ensign to the breeze that
all may know whose she is and whom she serves. Unfurl the old primitive standard,
the all-victorious standard of the Cross of Christ. In very deed and truth--in
hoc signo vinces--the atonement is the conquering truth. Let others
believe as they may, or deny as they will, for you the truth as it is in Jesus
is the one thing that has won your heart and made you a soldier of the Cross.
Banners were carried, not merely for distinctiveness, but also to serve the
purposes of discipline. Hence an army with banners had one banner as a central
standard, and then each regiment or battalion displayed its own particular
flag. An army with banners may be also taken to represent activity. When an
army folds up its colours the fight is over. It is to be feared that some
Churches have hung up their flags to rot in state, or have encased them in dull
propriety. It is high time that each Church should feel that if it does not
work, the sole reason for its existence is gone. May we all in our Church
fellowship be active in the energy of the Spirit of God. Does not the
description, “an army with banners,” imply a degree of confidence? Banners
uplifted are the sign of a fearlessness which rather courts than declines the
conflict. The warriors of the Cross, unfold the Gospel’s ancient standard to
the breeze; we will teach the foeman what strength there is in hands and hearts
that rally to the Church of God. Once more, an army with banners may signify
the constancy and perseverance in holding the truth. If we give up the things
which are verily believed among us we shall lose our power, and the enemy alone
will be pleased: but if we maintain them, the maintenance of the old faith, by
the Spirit of God, shall make us strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might.
II. The Church is
said to be terrible. To whom is she terrible? I answer, first, in a certain sense
she is terrible to all ungodly men. Even in the most ribald company, when a
Christian of known consistency of character has wisely spoken the word of
reproof, a solemn abashment comes over the majority of those present; their
consciences have borne witness against them, and they have felt how awful
goodness is. Not that we are ever to try and impress others with any dread of
us; such an attempt would be ridiculed, and end in deserved failure; but the
influence which we would describe flows naturally out of a godly life. If there
be real goodness in us--if we really, fervently, zealously love the right, and
hate the evil--the outflow of our life almost without a word will judge the
ungodly--and condemn them in their heart of hearts. Holy living is the weightiest
condemnation of sin. There will be always in proportion to the real holiness,
earnestness, and Christ-likeness of a Church something terrible in it to the
perverse generation in which it is placed; it will dread it as it does the
all-revealing day of judgment. So is there something terrible in a living
Church to all errorists. They do not dread those platform speeches in which
they are so furiously denounced at public meetings, nor those philosophical
discussions in which they are overthrown by argument: but they hate, but they
fear, and therefore abuse and pretend to despise, the prayerful, zealous,
plain, simple preaching of the truth as it is in Jesus. Even to Satan himself
the Church of God is terrible. He might, he thinks, deal with individuals, but
when these individuals strengthen each other by mutual converse and prayer,
when they are bound to each other in holy love, and make a temple in which
Christ dwells, then is Satan hard put to it. It is not every Church that is
terrible thus, but it is a Church of God in which there is the life of God, and
the love of God; a Church in which there is the uplifted banner, the banner of
the Cross, high-held amid those various bannerets of truthful doctrine and
spiritual grace, of which I have just now spoken.
III. Why is the
Church of Christ terrible as an army with banners? First, because it consists of elect people.
The elect shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and none shall say them
nay. Ye are a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a chosen generation; and in
you the living God will gloriously declare His sovereign grace. The Church,
again, consists of a praying people. Now prayer is that which links weakness
with infinite strength. We cry unto the Lord, and He heareth us; He breaketh
through the ranks of the foe; He giveth us triumph in the day of battle:
therefore, terrible as an army with banners are those who wield the weapon of
all-prayer. Again, a true Church is based upon eternal truth. Men who love the
truth are building gold and silver, and precious stones; and though their
architecture may progress but slowly, it is built for eternity. Ramparts of
truth may often he assailed, but they will never be carried by the foe. We are
now to observe, that the chief glory and majesty of the Church lies mainly in
the banner which she carries. What cause for terror is there in the banner? We
reply, the enemies of Christ dread the Cross, because they know what the Cross
has done. Wherever the crucified Jesus has been preached, false systems have tottered
to their fall. Dagon has always fallen before the ark of the Lord. Rage the
most violent is excited by the doctrine of the atonement, a rage in which the
first cause for wrath is fear. The terribleness of the Church lies in her
banners, because those banners put strength into her. Drawing near to the standard of the
Cross the weakest soldier becomes strong: he who might have played the coward
becomes a hero when the precious blood of Jesus is felt with power in his soul.
Martyrs are born and nurtured at the Cross. Moreover, the powers of evil
tremble at the old standard, because they have a presentiment of its future
complete triumph. Jesus must reign; the crucified One must conquer. Will each
one here say to
himself: “An army, a company of warriors, am I one of them? Am I a soldier? I
have entered the Church; I make a profession; but am I really a soldier? Do I
fight? Do I endure hardness? Am I a mere carpet-knight, a mere lie-a-bed
soldier, one of those who are pleased to put on regimentals in order to adorn
myself with a profession without ever going to the war?” And then “terrible.”
Am I in any way terrible through being a Christian? Is there any power in my
life that would condemn a sinner? Any holiness about me that would make a
wicked man feel ill at ease in my company? If I am not a soldier, if I am not a
servant of Christ in very truth, and yet I come to the place of worship where
Christians meet, and where Christ is preached, the day will be when the church
of God will be very terrible to me. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 5
Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me.
Overcoming Christ
This is the language of the heavenly Bridegroom to His spouse. In
great condescension He speaks to her, and bids her take note that her eyes have
overcome Him. Now, it must not be supposed, because of the language of the
text, that there is any opposition between Christ and His people which has to
be overcome. He loves His bride far too well to allow any division of feeling
to separate them in heart from one another. Nor is it to be imagined that the
spouse had to gain some blessing from an unwilling hand, and therefore pleaded
with her eyes as well as with her lips. Oh, no! There is a holy discipline in
Christ’s house that sometimes withholds the coveted blessing till we have
learned to pray in downright earnest; but the power that wins the victory in
prayer has its real basis in the love of Christ Himself.
I. First, notice
that looking on his Church has already overcome the heart of our
heavenly Bridegroom. It was so in the far-distant past, not when she looked at
Him, but when He looked at her,
that she overcame Him. You know, too, when He lived down here among men, how
often His inmost heart was stirred as He looked upon the people whom He loved.
And, now that our Lord is risen from the dead, He still feels the power of the
sight of His redeemed. He looks down to the saints on earth, and sees the
myriads who are all trusting in Him, all conquering sin by His might, and all
spared from going down to the pit by the merit of His precious blood; and He
seems again to say, “Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me”;
as if Christ felt that a glance at His people brought almost too much joy for
Him. What a day will that be when He shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; when all His
people, raised from the dead, or changed in the twinkling of an eye, shall
admire Him, and He shall be admired in them! I can well conceive of Him saying
in that day, “Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me.” The joy
that Christ will feel in His own sight of His people, and in the glances of the
multitudes that He has saved, must be a delight beyond anything we can even
imagine.
II. The eyes of
Christ’s chosen ones still overcome Him. And, first, the eyes of His chosen
overcome Him, when they look up in deep repentance, glancing at Him hopefully
through their tears. There is a wondrous power in the penitent eye, in the full
confession that makes a clean breast of every sin before the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember that when we have once repented, we do not leave off
repenting, for penitence is a grace that is as long-lived as faith; and as long
as we are capable of believing, we shall also necessarily need to repent, for
we shall be always sinning. So, whenever the child of God feels that he has
gone astray in any way, that, though he did live near to God, he has gone back,
and grown cold in heart, he has only to come to Christ again, and cry after
Him, and confess his folly in having left Him, and his ingratitude in having
been so indifferent to Him, and Christ will receive him back again. Another
kind of glance that has great power with the Lord Jesus is when the soul looks
to Christ for salvation. Then it is that the eyes vanquish the Saviour. Many
times since then, you and I have looked to Jesus Christ when a sense of sin has
been very heavy upon us. While the eyes of faith are thus resting upon Jesus,
He is overcome by them, and He darts inexpressible joy into our hearts as He
says to us, “Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me.” His
heart is carried by storm by the faith-looks of His children. We also give another overcoming
glance when we look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all things. When thine eyes
are full of submission, full of hope, full of trust, it cannot be long before
the Lord will, somehow or other, deliver thee, for He will say, “I cannot hold
out against thee any longer.” Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have
overcome Me.” “I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.’“ Again, there
are the eyes of prayer which often overcome the Lord Jesus Christ, and this
victory comes, sometimes, when we are praying for ourselves. You cannot look
steadily to God and say, “Lord, I am sure about Thy faithfulness, I am sure
about Thy
promise, and I cannot and will not doubt it,” but before long you shall see the
hand of the Lord made bare for your deliverance, and you also shall be among
the happy number who have to bear witness that, verily, there is a God in
Israel. Thus does prayer prevail with God when we present it for ourselves. So
does it also overcome Him when we pray on behalf of others. Once again, there
is another time when the eyes of the believer seem to overcome the heart of
Christ, and that is, when we have turned right away from the world, and looked
to Him alone. I have known it so again and again; have not you? At such seasons
my soul has felt ready to swoon away in His presence. You remember how John in
Parinos, when Jesus appeared to him, said, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet
as dead;” and well he might, for he had a brighter vision of his Lord than you
and I can have at present.
But even faith’s view of Him is enough to transport us straight away into
heaven itself. Well, whenever we are thus happily engaged in contemplation of
our Lord, not only is He very near to us, but He is greatly moved by our love,
and He says to us, “Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me.”
And, meanwhile, to prove how overcome He is, He begins to reveal Himself more
fully to us. Last of all, sometimes the eyes of Christians have great power in
overcoming Christ when they long for His appearing. Have you never seen the
saints lie dying with such language as this on their lips, “Why are His
chariots so long in coming Why tarrieth He?” I have heard them say, with
evident regret, “I thought to have been in heaven long ere now. Why not let me
go?” And they have been like a poor thrush which I have sometimes seen a boy
try to keep upon a little bit of turf; it longed for the broad fields, and beat
itself against the wires of its cage. So is it with Our dear suffering friends,
at times; yet they have learned patiently to wait till their change came; but
often, their eyes have been so fixed upon their Lord that they have said to
Him, “Wilt Thou never come?” And, at last, Christ has looked out of heaven so
sweetly on those sick ones, and He has said, “Your eyes have overcome Me, come
up higher;” and they have leaped out of their body into His bosom, and the
pierced hands have received their blood-washed spirits, and they have been “for
ever with the Lord.”(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 8
There are threescore queens.
Woman’s rights
So Solomon, by one stroke, sets forth the imperial character of a
true Christian woman. She is not a slave, not a hireling, not a subordinate;
but a queen: and in my text Solomon sees sixty of these helping to make up the
royal pageant of Jesus.
I. Woman has the
special and superlative right of blessing and comforting the sick. The Lord God who sent
Miss Dix into the Virginia hospitals, and Florence Nightingale into the Crimea,
and the Maid of Saragossa to appease the wounds of the battlefield, has
equipped wife, mother, and daughter, for this delicate but tremendous mission.
II. Woman has a
superlative right to take care of the poor.
III. It is woman’s
specific right to comfort under the stress of dire disaster.
IV. It is woman’s
right to bring to us the kingdom of hearten.
V. One of the specific rights of
women is, through the grace of christ, finally to reach heaven. O, what a
multitude of women in heaven I Mary, Christ’s mother, in heaven; Elizabeth Fry
in heaven; Charlotte Elizabeth in heaven; the mother of Augustine in heaven;
the Countess of Huntingdon--who sold her splendid jewels to build chapels--in
heaven; while a great many others who have never been heard of on earth, or
known but little, have gone into the rest and peace of heaven. What a rest! (T.
De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 9
My dove, My undefiled is but one.
The Church-a dove
I. Comparing the
Church to a dove.
1. The dove is a beautiful bird, especially in Eastern countries,
where their plumage is so dazzling, and in this particular typifies the Church
(Ezekiel 16:14).
2. The believer’s righteous beauty is from Christ alone (Psalms 90:17).
3. The dove is remarkable for her cleanliness; so the Church is both
clean and cleanly (Hebrews 10:22).
4. Doves will feed only on pure grain; so true believers can only
live on Christ (Psalms 119:140; Titus 1:15; John 6:35).
5. The dove delights to be fed by her own mate; so does the Church by
Christ (Song of Solomon 1:7).
6. The dove is remarkable for its love to its mate; so is the Church
to Christ (Psalms 73:23-28).
7. The dove is remarkable for its deep grief when separated from its
mate (Ezekiel 7:16).
8. Doves are sociable creatures, and delight in each other’s company
(1 John 4:7).
9. Doves are fearful and timid birds (Matthew 8:26).
10. Doves are swift on the wing; so David wished for the wings of a
dove (Psalms 55:6).
II. The oneness of
the Church.
1. The Church is but one in respect of the world (John 15:19).
2. One in respect of unity and communion with herself (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 2:2).
3. She has but one faith (Ephesians 4:4-5).
4. One in her conduct and practice (Hebrews 12:14).
5. One in the spirit and object of love (1 Corinthians 6:17).
6. And one in Christ their living Head, by whom they are saved (1 Corinthians 12:12).
7. And because Christ has no other spouse than the Church (Leviticus 20:24).
III. Why she is
called His. She belongs unto Him by right of creation, donation, redemption,
predestination, regeneration, or baptism, sanctification, and salvation. And as
such--
1. She will never be lost while residing in the wilderness, for the
Spirit is her guide.
2. No creatures of prey shall ever rob her of life, because Christ is
her Protector.
3. Nothing shall keep her from glory, for Christ is in heaven to
secure her entrance there. (T. B. Baker.)
Verse 10
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon,
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
The dawn of a better day, celebrated in sacred song
There is a beautiful upward gradation indicated, a progression
towards a glorious climax; there is the dawn of a better day seen by the wise
man’s prophetic eye, and we will prayerfully consider the prophetic inquiry as
foreshadowing the mission of Christ, and the nature of His glorious kingdom.
“Who is she that looketh,” etc. Apply these words:
I. To the history
of Christ. Christ looked “forth as the morning” in the first promise made to
our first parents in Eden. The Mosaic dispensation may be considered as
daybreak, dim and hazy, the prophetic age may be regarded as “fair as the moon,”
it was brighter than the former, and it shone, as the moon shines with light
borrowed from the unseen Sun. When the fulness of time came, and Jesus was born
in Bethlehem of Judea, then the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His
wings, and throughout the whole of our Lord’s public ministry He marched forth
“clear as the sun.” Christ went forth “terrible as an army with
banners.” He vanquished Satan in the Temptation of the wilderness. He was a
terror to evil-doers, and planted His standard in the centre of the kingdom of
darkness. Especially was He “terrible as an army with banners” when He entered
upon His Passion. And He shall be “terrible as an army with banners” when He
shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, to gather all
nations together, and separate the righteous from the wicked.
II. To the history
of the Church. The Jewish Church was only the dawn of Gospel times, it looked
“forth as the morning”--it was “fair as the moon,” but not clear as the sun.
The day broke when the day of Pentecost came, and the Spirit rested upon the
Apostles heads as tongues of flame. In that sunlight the Evangelists wrote
their Gospels, and the Apostles their Epistles; and in the warmth and blessed
life-giving influence of the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, the early
preachers of the Cross went forth preaching Jesus and the Resurrection; they
went forth “terrible as an army with banners,” and the world was won by them,
for by the end of the third century the Gospel had been preached, and converts
had been won in every part of the then known world. The Church is still going
on from victory unto victory.
III. To the history
of every Christian believer. The rise and progress of the soul in religion are
gradual and progressive. Religious impression and conviction may be regarded as
the looking “forth as the morning.” In the dawn of religious life there is much
cloud, and the shadows of the night move but slowly away. We cannot tell just
when the night ends and the morning breaks--and daybreak differs in different
climes, so is it in the history of the regenerate: many rejoicing in the light
of the Sun of Righteousness can only say, “One thing I know, whereas I was in
the dark, now I am in the light--the day has dawned, and the shadows have fled away.”
Light shines upon the soul “fair as the moon,” and, at first, often as cold.
But soon the light shines brighter and warmer, the soul is filled with life and
joy and glory, for, “clear as the sun, Jesus sheds His love abroad there.” (F.
W. Brown.)
The glory of the Church
God, who has determined that everything shall be beautiful in its
season, has not left the night without a charm. The moon rules the night. The
stars are only set as gems in her tiara. Now, says my text, “Who is she, fair
as the moon?” Our answer is, the Church. Like the moon, she is a borrowed
light. She gathers up the glory of a Saviour’s sufferings, a Saviour’s death, a
Saviour’s resurrection, a Saviour’s ascension, and pours that light on palace
and dungeon, on squalid heathenism and elaborate scepticism, on widow’s tears
and martyr’s robe of flame, on weeping penitence and loud-mouthed scorn. She is
the only institution to-day that gives any light to our world. After a season
of storm or fog how you are thrilled when the sun comes out at noonday! The
same sun which in the morning kindled conflagrations among the castles of
cloud, stoops down to paint the lily white and the buttercup yellow and the
forget-me-not blue. What can resist the sun? Light for voyager on the deep.
Light for shepherds guarding the flocks afield. Light for the poor who have no
lights to burn. Light for the downcast and ,the weary. Now, says my text, “Who
is she that looketh forth, clear as the sun?” Our answer is, the Church. You
have been going along a road before daybreak, and on one side you thought you
saw a lion, on the other side you thought you saw a goblin of the darkness; but
when the sun came out you found these were harmless apparitions. And it is the
great mission of the Church of Jesus Christ to come forth “clear as the
sun,” to illuminate all earthly darkness, to explain as far as possible all
mystery, and to make the world radiant in its brightness. O Sun of the Church,
shine on until there is
no sorrow to soothe, no tears to wipe away, no shackles to break, no more souls
to be redeemed! I take one more step in this subject and say that if you were
placed for the defence of a feeble town, and a great army were seen coming over
the hills with flying ensigns, then you would be able to get some idea of the
terror that will strike the hearts of the enemies of God when the Church at
last marches on like “an army with banners.” You know there is nothing that
excites a soldier’s enthusiasm so much as an old flag. Many a man almost dead,
catching a glimpse of the national ensign, has sprung to his feet and started
again into the battle. Now I don’t want you to think of the Church of Christ as
a defeated institution--as the victim of infidel sarcasm, something to be
kicked and trampled on through all the ages of the world. It is “an army with
banners.” It has an inscription and colours such as never stirred the hearts of
any earthly soldiery. We have our banner of recruit, and on it is inscribed,
“Who is on the Lord’s side?” our banner of defiance, and on it is inscribed,
“The gates of hell shall not prevail against it”; our banner of triumph, and on
it is inscribed, “Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” and we mean to plant
that banner on every hill-top and wave it at the gate of heaven. Oh, what a
shout of triumph when all the armies of earth and all the armies of heaven
shall celebrate the victory of our King, all at once and all together:
“Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth I Hallelujah, for the
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!”(T.
De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 11
I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the
valley.
The Church, the garden of the Lord
I. The Church is a
garden. There are four gardens which may furnish us with ample materials for
meditation.
1. The garden of Eden, where man was formed, and where man fell.
2. The garden of Gethsemane, where the Saviour often resorted with
His disciples.
3. The garden of Calvary, belonging to Joseph of Arimathca.
4. The Church. Now the three former gardens were real gardens; the
latter is a garden metaphorically considered only; a spiritual garden, a garden
for the soul, and for eternity. A garden requires much careful attention. A
garden is a place of pleasure and delight. In a word, it is also a place of
profit too. It yields not only flowers, but fruits. The Church is always
“filled with all the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ,
unto the glory and praise of God.” Some gardens yield the owner his chief
income. -God derives His principal revenue of honour from His Church.
II. In this garden
there is a variety of trees. There are three kinds of trees spoken of here. Now
I am not going to make a comparison between Christians, comparing some of them
to nut trees, and some to vines, and some to pomegranates. But as you find all
these, however they differ, in the same garden, so it is with the subjects of
Divine grace. They are all, however they differ from each other, “trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. And however
distinguished from each other, they stand in the very same state, and are in
the same relation to Him and to each other. What do we learn from hence? Why,
that you should never oppose Christians to each other, crying up one, and
crying down another, because they are not the same, but valuing them all,
loving them all, praying, for them all Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. What do we learn from hence? Why, that you
should not look for everything from the same individual. Do not go to the
nut-bush for the grapes, and do not go to the vine for the pomegranate. You
cannot expect all these fruits upon the same tree.
III. He enters this
garden for the purpose of inspecting it. He enters His garden indeed for other
purposes, too. He enters it to walk there; He enters it to enjoy His pleasant
fruits them, and He loves to hold intercourse and communion with His
saints. But here He speaks of entering it, you see, for another purpose; for as
the garden is His own, it is so valuable that He will not treat it with neglect
or overlook it. No; “I went down,” says He, “to see the fruits of the valley:
for the garden is low, and the Church is lowly.” “I went down to see the fruits of the
valley.” He is continually inspecting His Church; and how qualified is He for
this! “His eyes are as a flame of fire:” distance is nothing to Him; darkness
is nothing to Him. And what is His aim when He comes to examine? Not to
ascertain whether you are learned, but whether you are “wise unto salvation”;
not whether you are rich, but whether you are “rich towards God”; not whether
your bodies are inhealth, but whether
“your souls prosper”; and so of the rest.
IV. When He comes
to examine His garden, He looks after even the first beginnings of grace. “I
went down to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded.”
Observe, not only to look after the flourishing of the vine, but the budding of
the pomegranates. Oh I that is a fine bud when a man no longer restrains prayer
before God, but cries, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” When his tear drops
upon his Bible, and he says, “Lord, save, or I perish.” One of the earliest
buddings of religion, I am persuaded, is love to the Lord’s people, and
tenderness towards them, and delight in them. But why does the Saviour look
after the very buddings of grace, and value these? We answer, because they are
His own producing, the work of His own Spirit in the heart. And because they
are necessary: for though there may be buds without fruit, there can be no
fruit without buds; though there may be a beginning without advancing or
finishing, there can be no advancing or finishing without a beginning. These things,
therefore, are essentially necessary. And because also they are sure pledges of
something more. He sees in them the peace of God--sees in them pardon--sees in them the
comforts of the Holy Ghost. Oh! there is heaven in that bud! Oh! there is an
immensity, an eternity of glory and blessed Hess in that bud! It will bring
forth fruit unto life eternal. (W. Jay.)
Fruits of the valley
What do we mean by the valley? There are two things to which I
think the figure is fairly applicable, viz. outward estate and inward
condition, both yielding fruit.
1. The former is often experienced, and is requisite for us all.
2. But I would more especially urge the thought that there is a
valley in inward experience, and that this is especially fruitful. Humility. I
need not attempt to define this grace, nor yet to extol it. Both will best be
done, perhaps, in exhibiting some of its fruits.
Verse 12
Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of
Ammi-nadib.
The influence of the unseen
The world passeth away and the lusts thereof. The spiritual alone
is permanent. Some men acquire notoriety in their day, their name passes into a
proverb, and yet, singular to say, in after times, we find their names
recorded, but we are at a loss to know what their deeds were which made them so
famous. I have read Out a text in which a man’s name occurs about whom we know
nothing. As a proverbial saying, it may be regarded as an illustration of the
spontaneity and intuition of the heart. The affections under the guidance of
the will becoming a chariot, in which the man is borne away.
I. Spiritual
spontaneity. Spontaneity signifies that which is voluntary and unconstrained,
free and instantaneous action. Without spontaneity our lives would sink to the
dull, dead level of things, we should be mere links in the great chain of cause
and effect. Without spontaneity we should be things, not men. This power, this
pure activity is necessary to our personality. We are about to speak of the
spontaneity of life--that is, spiritual life. By the spontaneity of this life,
we mean that its impulses, sensibilities, and affections are not the result of
a painful and protracted effort, but spring from life as its natural
manifestation and development. There is naturalness in all the forms of
life. We are often struck with the unnatural character of some men’s religion.
It seems like something that belongs to the man, a mere accident or appendage;
he can put it on as a garment, but he can divest himself of it at any moment.
What naturalness there is in life, in the modest, quiet beauty of the flower,
that opens itself to drink in the dew and the sunlight, and gives its perfume
to every breath that passes by, and does this spontaneously, for it is the law
of its life. Some few illustrations of the spontaneity of life may make our
meaning more apparent. When the physical organization is perfect, when there is
health as well as life, the body performs many of its functions without effort
and unconsciously. The man runs without weariness, and walks without fainting.
Life is like a stream sparkling in the sunshine, making its own music as it
flows on, sustained and nourished by the fountain that gave it birth. It is the
sick man who frequently places his finger on the pulse. It is the man out of
health who has the study of his own nature forced upon him, and who is
constantly seeking to reproduce and restore harmony. A man who lives near to
God and has constant communion with Him, will have Divine beauty put upon him.
He may, like Moses, put a veil over his face, but at any moment he can put off
the veil, and go in and speak with God. There is no necessity for the soul to
see that the strings of the instrument are tuned concert pitch, at any instant
she can awaken music and call on all spiritual faculties like so many
choristers to blend their voices in one song. A man need not, like Saul, the
first king of Israel, “force himself to offer sacrifice.” There are spiritual instincts:
“My heart and my flesh cry out for God.” There is no fixedness of heart:
“Oh God, my heart is fixed.” there is spontaneity: “Or ever I was aware, my
soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib.” The highest acts of the
spiritual life are for the most part acts of pure spontaneity. Life is in its
incipient and undeveloped forms, when we must learn to see, to speak, to walk;
and so in the beginning of the spiritual life, there must be effort, and
painful consciousness, till we grow up into Him who is the Head, even Christ.
How may we attain this high spiritual state? We must seek the constant actings
of the Spirit, and yield ourselves to the felt influence of the Holy Ghost. The
Spirit is to help our infirmities,--that is, the Spirit is to lift us up, to
raise, to elevate us; the Spirit gives wings to the soul, so that we maybe
borne up into a spiritual region, and commune with spiritual things. We must
get the unity of our whole nature. You must live in constant communion with
God. Let me say, there is real happiness and great peace resulting from this
spontaneity of life. There is the Sabbath of the soul; the work of the new
creation being over, God still comes to man, and walks in the garden in the
cool of the day. Love manifests itself to love; a living God to a living soul.
In this state you will be prepared to use all things; you will be ready to
receive Divine communications; you will be fitted for all seasons of
fellowship. Worldly men instinctively go after the world. They come to the
sanctuary, but they go where their heart goes: “Or ever I was aware, my soul
made me like the chariots of Amminadib.” There is spontaneity in sin. It
becomes natural--it awakens no astonishment--man seeks his gratification in it.
II. The intuitions
of the heart. The circumstances in the chapter are these: The bridegroom is
without the bride, but he goes into scenes where she has been, which seem to
him filled with her presence; everything reminds him of her--his heart goes
after her, he instinctively feels that she is near, though he does not see her. We are
influenced by the unseen. The true centre of our life--of all its thoughts,
feelings, and energies--is the unseen. There is an attractive force, of even
higher power than the force which draws bodies to the earth. Our life is in
God; our holiness is the shadow of His light; our love the birth of His love.
The regenerated soul goes to God to find satisfaction in Him; it goes
instinctively, by the law of its new life, to have communion with God. The
spiritual man finds, “or ever he is aware,” his heart has lifted him up to
heaven. The unseen influences us. There are influences which do not act on the
senses, but on the spirit, which do not proceed from anything that may be seen
or that is handled, but from the spiritual. Men are influenced by fellowship,
by example, by mind acting on mind, by the literature of the day, by the daily
papers. We are influenced
by the past, by the writings of men who have entered the unseen world. And are
not our minds open to the direct influences of the Spirit of God? Cannot the
Father of our spirits draw near to us, and illuminate, sanctify, and commune
with our hearts? A man must be spiritual to recognize and appropriate spiritual
things. What is meant by a man being spiritual? That he is born of the Spirit,
that he lives in the Spirit, that his own spiritual nature has the mastery over
the outward and the physical--that there is a state of real spiritual unity.
With his well-balanced mind he can respond to spiritual impressions, and make
use of spiritual opportunities. This ready response is indispensable; the
“vision will not tarry.” A right state of heart is necessary that we may be
able to take advantage of all opportunities, that we may be prepared, not only
for the Sabbath, but for all times, so as to respond to all spiritual
impressions and impulses. A right state of heart is necessary that we may be
fitted for manifestations. We must be prepared, like the disciples in the upper
room, waiting for the promise of the Father, for suddenly there may come “a
sound from heaven.” We must be prepared, like mariners who have long been
becalmed, but who see indications of a breeze springing up, and so make all
ready to take every possible advantage of the wind which presently will sweep
over the waters. We must be prepared to ascend the mount, so that at any moment
we hear the Divine voice saying,--Come up, and “I will make all My goodness
pass before you,” we may go up and see the glory. We must walk in the light, as
He is in the light, that we may have fellowship one with another. (H. J.
Bevis.)
The chariots of Ammi-nadib
It appears to me that without in the slightest degree wresting the
passage, or deviating from an honest interpretation, we may understand that
this is the language of the Church concerning Christ. If so, Christ’s words
conclude at the end of the tenth verse, and it is the Church that speaks at the
eleventh. There is not an instance in the whole Song, so far as I can remember,
of the Prince Himself speaking in the first person singular; either, therefore,
this would be a solitary exception, or else, following the current plan, where
the same pronoun is used, the Church is speaking to Christ, and telling him of
herself.
I. What is the
most wanted in all religious exercises is the motion, the exercise of the soul.
“Or ever I was aware, my soul made me”--or my soul became--“like the chariots
of Ammi-nadib.” Soul-worship is the soul of worship, and if you take away the
soul from the worship, you have killed the worship; it becomes dead and barren
henceforth. There are professors in this world who are perfectly content if
they have gone through the mechanical
part of public devotion. If they have occupied their seats, joined in the hymns
and the prayers, and listened to the preaching, they go away quite content and
easy. Only that prayer which comes from our heart can get to God’s heart. Oh,
that we may be more and more scrupulous and watchful in these things! In the
diary of Oliver Heywood, one of the ejected ministers, he often says, “God helped
me in prayer in my chamber and in the family.” And once he writes thus--“In my
chamber this morning I met with more than ordinary incomings of grace and
outgoings of heart to God.” Be it always recollected that we do not pray at
all, unless the soul is drawn out in pleading and beseeching the Lord.
II. Sometimes it
happens that the heart is not in the best state for devotion. If religion be a
matter of soul, it cannot always be attended to with equal pleasure and
advantage. You can always grind a barrel-organ; it will invariably give you the
same discordant noise, which people call music, but the human voice will not
admit of being wound up in the same fashion, nor will it for the most part
discharge the same monotonous functions. The great singer finds that his voice
changes, and that he cannot always use it with the same freedom. If the voice
is a delicate organ, how much more delicate is the soul! The soul is
continually the subject of changes. Ah, how often it changes because of its
contact with the body! If we could be disembodied, oh, how we would praise God
and pray to Him! “The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And
then, alas, our sins are a much more serious hindrance to our devotion. Perhaps
we have been angry. How can we come before the Lord calmly when our spirit has
been just now tossed with tempest? Probably we have been seeking the world, and
going after it with all our might. How can we suddenly pull up, and put all our
strength into a vigorous seeking of the kingdom of God and His righteousness in
a moment? Now God’s grace can help us to overcome all these things, and can
even make our souls like the chariots of Ammi-nadib. We do not want grace for
such emergencies. The soul, in its different phases and states, has need of
help from the sanctuary to which it repairs.
III. There are
seasons when our heart is sweetly moved towards God. “Or ever I was aware, my
soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib.” Have ye not proved welcome
opportunities when all your thoughts have been quickened, enlivened, and
stimulated to activity in the highest degree about your highest interests? All
within us was awake; there was not a slumbering faculty. Our memory told us of
the goodness of the Lord in days gone by; and our hopes were regaled by the
mercy which we had not tasted yet, but which was made sure to us by promise,
and brought near to us by faith. Our faith was active and bright of eye. Our
love especially shed a clear light over our prospects. Oh, we have had our
blessed times, when our soul has been light and rapid as the chariots of
Ammi-nadib! And at such times we were conscious of great elevation. The
chariots of Ammi-nadib were those of a prince. And oh, we were no more mean,
and low, and beggarly, and grovelling, but we saw Christ, and were made kings
and princes and priests with Him. Then we could have performed martyr’s deeds.
Then we were no cowards, we were afraid of no foes. We had princely thoughts
then, large, liberal, generous, capacious thoughts concerning Christ and His
people, His cause, and His conquests: our souls were like the chariots of
Ammi-nadib. At the same time they were full of power; for, when the chariots of
Ammi-nadib went forth, who could stop them? Such was our spirit. We laughed at
thoughts of death, and poured contempt upon the trials of life. We were strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might. Oh, what splendid times we have had
when God has been with us. Oh, yes! in God’s house you have known the days of
heaven upon earth. Not unfrequently too have I known that the Lord has appeared
to His people and warmed their hearts when they have been working for Him.
IV. Sometimes the
sweet seasons come to us when we do not expect them. “Or ever I was aware, my
soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib.” Some poor hearts do not reckon
ever to have these joys again. They say, “No, no, they are all gone; the last
leaf has blown from the tree; the, last flower has faded in the garden. My
summer is past. It is all over with me!” That is the bitter complaint and the
hollow murmuring of unbelief. But the Lord for whom ye wait can suddenly
appear, and while you are saying hard things of yourself He can refute them
with the beams of His countenance. Even at this very moment you may stand like
Hannah, a woman of sorrowful spirit, feeling as if you would be sent away
empty; yea, and God’s servant himself may address you with rough words as Eli
did her, and may even tell you that you are drunken, when it is deep grief that
enfeebles your steps and chokes your voice; and all the while the Lord may have
in store for you such a blessing as you have never dreamed of; and He may say
to thee, “Go thy way, My daughter; I have heard thy petition, thy soul shall
have its desire. Or ever I was aware, while my unbelief led me to think such a
thing impossible, Thou hast made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Verse 13
Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon
thee.
Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return!
The translation “Shulamite” is unhappy: it is unmusical,
and misses the meaning. The Hebrew word is a feminine of “Solomon.” Solomon may
stand for the bridegroom’s name, and then the well-beloved bride takes her
husband’s name in a feminine form of it which is Shulamith, Salome, or perhaps
better “Solyma.” The King has named his name upon her, and as Caius has his
Caiia, so Solomon has his Solyma. He is the Prince of Peace, and she is the
Daughter of Peace. Aforetime she was called “the fairest among women,” but now
she is espoused unto her Lord, and has a fulness of peace. Therefore is she
called the Peace-laden, or the Peace-crowned. Yon know how truly it is so with
the justified in Christ Jesus. It appears that the Church in her beauty had
gone down to attend to her work. “I went down into the garden of nuts to see
the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the
pomegranates budded.” She did not sit down in the house to admire herself, nor
go into the street to show herself: she went down into her Lord’s garden to
attend to her proper work, and then it was that they cried, “Return, return.”
Neither the world nor Christ Himself will call much after us if we go forth to
make display of our own excellences. “Come, see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts,”
is a wretched piece of self-consciousness, which disgusts more than it
attracts. A diligent life is an attractive life. Do thou, like an ant, work in
thy season, carrying thy due burden upon the ant-hill, and if thou doest this
for love of Jesus thou doest nobly. Plod on without courting approbation, and
rest content to do thine utmost for the common weal. Ask not to rule in the
court, but be willing to work in the field; seek not to recline on the couch,
but take thy pruning-knife, and go forth among the vines, to fulfil thine
office, and in that self-forgetting service thy beauty shall be manifested, and
voices shall salute thee, crying, “Return, return.” It appears, too, that while
she was thus engaged, she was the subject of a great stir and emotion of heart.
Perhaps she had felt dull and dreary till she entered on her work, but while
she was busy with her pome granates and her nuts, she cries, “Or ever I was
aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib.” She felt that she
could hasten like the chariots of a willing people, who rush to the fight from
love of their prince. She felt as if she could run after her Beloved; she could
leap, she could fly. Thus vigorous and active, she was watched by many eyes,
and soon she heard voices coming from the four quarters of the universe,
crying, “Return, return, O Shulamith; return, return.”
I. Let us listen,
but only with our ears, not with our hearts, to the lower voices. Whence come
these voices? There are voices from the vasty deep of sin and hell, voices from
the tombs which we have quitted, voices from the Egypt from which we have fled.
They are crying evermore, like unquiet ghosts, “Return, return.” The devil is
not altogether a fool, although he is great in that direction; and therefore he
does not continue for ever to use nets which have failed to entangle the birds.
If he finds that cajolery will not ensnare us, he leaves his old tactics and
tries other methods. When “Return, return” will not woo us, he puts on his lion
form, and roars till the mountains shake. By old companions he does this. They
say, “You have left us all, we do not know why. You have turned a fanatic; you
have joined with gloomy Christian people, and you are not half the good fellow
you used to be. Arc you not getting a little tired of those dreary ways? Are
not the rules of Christ too precise and Puritanic?” Thus do her former comrades
cry, “Return, return, O Solyma” The old joys sometimes, in moments of weakness
which will come upon us, revive upon the memory, and attempt to mislead us.
When do these voices come? Their sound is heard full often. “Return, return,
return, return”--four times over the text hath it. They come so often that the
word in the Epistle to the Hebrews is more than justified, “And truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned.” These opportunities come in our way everywhere,
and at all times. If you wish to leave off being a Christian, if you wish to
follow the world in its pleasures or in its labours, the doors are always open.
It is a fight to reach to heaven, and few there be to help us in it; but the
path to hell is downward, and multitudes thrust out their hands to urge us to
the infernal deeps. These cries are borne to us by every gale, in tones both
loud and gentle, “Return, return.” And we shall find that they solicit us in
our best moments. I cannot fully account for the fact, but so it is, that I am
most liable to speak unadvisedly with my lips when I have just enjoyed the
raptures of high fellowship with God. Yonder shines the Mountain of
Transfiguration in its unrivalled splendour; but lo, at the very foot of it the
devil rages in the lunatic child! Our highest graces are not to be trusted,
for, as the most venomous serpents lurk among the brightest flowers, so are
temptations most abundant hard by our most spiritual and heavenly joys. Notice
that our text goes on to say why they wish us to return. “Return, return, that
we may look upon thee.” And is that all? Am I to be a traitor to my Lord, and
quit His holy ways, and forfeit heaven, to be made a show of by thee, O Satan?
or by thee, O world? Is this a full reward for treachery--“that we may look
upon thee”? Why, their looks are daggers. As the eyes of basilisks are the eyes
of the ungodly world; as malignant stars that blast the soul. When the world
loves the holy man it is the love of the vulture for the sick lamb. Fear you
the worldling, even when lie bears you gifts. Now hear Solyma’s wise answer to
her tempters. She says, “What will ye see in Solyma?” Dost thou ask me, O
world, to come back and show myself to be thy friend? Dost thou promise me
approbation? Dost thou vow to look upon me, and admire me, and take me for an
example? What is there in me that thou canst approve of? What wilt thou see in
Solyma? What can the world see in a believer? The world knoweth us not, because
it knew Christ not.
II. Now we turn to
listen, not with our ears only, but with our hearts too, to the call of the
higher voices which cry, “Return, return.” Brethren to go to heaven, to go to
Christ, to go towards Holiness, is a return to God’s people: for God’s people
are originally His children. Though they are prodigals, and have gone into a
far country, they always were His children; even when they spent their
substance in riotous living they were still His sons, and each of them could
speak of “My Father’s house.” To come to Christ, and holiness, and heaven, is to
return. Notice that in the text that word “return” is put four times over. Is
it not because it is of the highest importance that every child of God should
keep returning, and coming nearer to the Father’s house? Is it not because it
is our highest joy, our strongest security, our best enrichment, to be always
coming to Christ as unto a living stone, and getting into closer fellowship
with Him? As He calls four times, is it not a hint that we are slow to come? We
ought to come to Jesus not only at His first call, but even at the glances of
His eyes, when He looks as though He longed for our love: it ought to be our
rapture to think only of Him, and live wholly to Him; but as we fail to answer
to first pleas, He cries four times, “Return, return, O Solyma; return, return.
Come to thine own Husband, thine own loving Lord.” He ceases not to entreat
until we do return. Do not the reduplications of this call hint at His strong
desire after us, His condescending love for us? I beg you to observe what the
spouse has to say to this when she is thus called upon to return to the Lord.
The Lord saith to her, “Return, return, that we may look upon thee.” Is not
that a reason for coming back? The Lord says, “That I may look upon thee.” He
desires your society, and seems gently to hint that you have kept aloof from
Him. He seems to say, “You have not been much with Me alone lately, you have
neglected the reading of the Word, and the hearing of it; I have scarcely seen
thy face; therefore return, that I may look upon thee.” Cover your face and
say, “Lord, why shouldst Thou look on me? I am full of sin;” but then draw near
to Him, that His look of love may bring thee to repentance, and cause thy sin
to pass away. Remember He hath power in His eyes to look thee into purity and
beauty. Come and say, “Look upon me, Lord; search me, try me, and know my
ways.” Return, that with infinite pity thy Beloved may see what aileth thee,
and then with His dear pierced hand may perform a Divine surgery upon thee, and
make thee well again. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》