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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S O N G &nbsp; O F &nbsp; S O L O M O N.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The affections between Christ and his spouse are as strong and lively
here, in this closing chapter of the song, as ever, and rather more so.
I. The spouse continues her importunity for a more intimate communion
and fellowship with him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
II. She charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to interrupt her
communion with her beloved
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:4">ver. 4</A>);
and they, thereupon, admire her dependence on him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:5">ver. 5</A>.
III. She begs of her beloved, whom she raises up by her prayers
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:5">ver. 5</A>),
that he would by his grace confirm that blessed union with him to which
she was admitted,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
IV. She makes intercession for others also, that care might be taken of
them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>),
and pleases herself with the thoughts of her own interest in Christ and
his affection to her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:10">ver. 10</A>.
V. She owns herself his tenant for a vineyard she held of him at
Baal-hamon,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
VI. The song concludes with an interchanging of parting requests.
Christ charges his spouse that she should often let him hear from her
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:13">ver. 13</A>),
and she begs of him that he would hasten his return to her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:14">ver. 14</A>).</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="So8_1"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_2"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_3"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Love of the Church to Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 O that thou <I>wert</I> as my brother, that sucked the breasts of
my mother! <I>when</I> I should find thee without, I would kiss thee;
yea, I should not be despised.
&nbsp; 2 I would lead thee, <I>and</I> bring thee into my mother's house,
<I>who</I> would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced
wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
&nbsp; 3 His left hand <I>should be</I> under my head, and his right hand
should embrace me.
&nbsp; 4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up,
nor awake <I>my</I> love, until he please.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here,
I. The spouse wishes for a constant intimacy and freedom with the Lord
Jesus. She was already betrothed to him, but, the nuptials being yet
not solemnized and published (the bride, the Lamb's wife, will not be
completely ready till his second coming), she was obliged to be shy and
to keep at some distance; she therefore wishes she may be taken for his
sister, he having called her so
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+5:1"><I>ch.</I> v. 1</A>),
and that she might have the same chaste and innocent familiarity with
him that a sister has with a brother, an own brother, that <I>sucked
the breasts</I> of the same <I>mother</I> with her, who would therefore
be exceedingly tender of her, as Joseph was of his brother Benjamin.
Some make this to be the prayer of the Old-Testament saints for the
hastening of Christ's incarnation, that the church might be the better
acquainted with him, when, <I>forasmuch as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood,</I> he should also himself likewise take part of
the same, and not be ashamed to call them brethren. It is rather the
wish of all believers for a more intimate communion with him, that they
might <I>receive the Spirit of sanctification,</I> and so Christ must
be as their brother, that is, that they might be as his brethren, which
<I>then</I> they are when by grace they are made partakers of a divine
nature, and <I>he that sanctifies, and those that are sanctified, are
both of one,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:11">Heb. ii. 11</A>,
&c. It becomes brethren and sisters, the children of the same parents,
that have been nursed at the same breast, to be very loving to and
tender of one another; such a love the spouse desires might be between
her and her beloved, that she might call him brother.
2. She promises herself then the satisfaction of making a more open
profession of her relation to him than at present she could make:
"<I>When I should find thee without,</I> any where, even before
company, <I>I would kiss thee,</I> as a sister does her own brother,
especially her little brother that is now <I>sucking the breasts of her
mother</I>" (for so some understand it); "I would use all the decent
freedom with thee that could be, and <I>should not be despised</I> for
it, as doing any thing unbecoming the modesty of my sex." The church,
since Christ's incarnation, can better own him than she could before,
when she would have been laughed at for being so much in love with one
that was not yet born. Christ has become as our brother; wherever we
find him, therefore, let us be ready to own our relation to him and
affection for him, and not fear being despised for it, nor regard that
any more than David did when he danced before the ark. <I>If this be to
be vile, I will be yet more vile.</I> Nay, let us hope that we shall
not be despised so much as some imagine. <I>Of the maid-servants of
whom thou hast spoken I shall be had in honour.</I> Wherever we find
the image of Christ, though it be without, among those that do not
follow him with us, we must love it, and testify that love, and we
<I>shall not be despised</I> for it, but catholic charity will gain us
respect.
3. She promises to improve the opportunity she should then have for
cultivating an acquaintance with him
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
"<I>I would lead thee,</I> as my brother, by the arm, and hang upon
thee; I would show thee all the house of my precious things, would
bring <I>thee into my mother's house,</I> into the church, into the
solemn assemblies
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+3:4"><I>ch.</I> iii. 4</A>),
into my closet" (for there the saints have most familiar communion with
Christ), "and <I>there thou wouldst instruct me</I>" (so some read it),
as brethren inform their sisters of what they desire to be instructed
in. Those that know Christ shall be taught of him; and <I>therefore</I>
we should desire communion with Christ that we may receive instruction
from him. He has come that he might give us an understanding. Or, "My
mother would instruct me when I have thee with me." It is the presence
of Christ in and with his church that makes the word and ordinances
instructive to her children, who shall all be taught of God.
4. She promises him to bid him welcome to the best she had; she would
<I>cause him to drink of her spiced wine and the juice of her
pomegranate,</I> and bid him welcome to it, wishing it better for his
sake. The exercise of grace and the performance of duty are spiced wine
to the Lord Jesus, very acceptable to him, as expressive of a grateful
sense of his favours. Those that are pleased with Christ must study to
be pleasing to him; and they will not find him hard to be pleased. He
reckons hearty welcome his best entertainment; and, if he have that, he
will bring his entertainment along with him.
5. She doubts not but to experience his tender care of her and
affection to her
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
that she should be supported by his power and kept from fainting in the
hardest services and sufferings <I>(His left hand shall be under my
head</I>) and that she should be comforted with his love--<I>His right
hand should embrace me.</I> Thus Christ laid his right hand upon John
when he was ready to die away,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+1:17">Rev. i. 17</A>.
See also
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+10:10,18">Dan. x. 10, 18</A>.
It may be read as it is
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+2:6"><I>ch.</I> ii. 6</A>,
<I>His left hand is under my head</I> (for the words are the same in
the original) and so it expresses an immediate answer to her prayer;
she was answered with <I>strength in her soul,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+138:3">Ps. cxxxviii. 3</A>.
While we are following hard after Christ his <I>right hand sustains
us,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:8">Ps. lxiii. 8</A>.
<I>Underneath are the everlasting arms.</I>
6. She charges those about her to take heed of doing any thing to
interrupt the pleasing communion she now had with her beloved
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
as she had done before, when he thus strengthened and comforted her
with his presence
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+2:7"><I>ch.</I> ii. 7</A>):
Let me <I>charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem,</I> and reason with
you, <I>Why should you stir up, and why should you awake, my love,
until he will?</I> The church, our common mother, charges all her
children that they never do any thing to provoke Christ to withdraw,
which we are very prone to do. Why should you put such an affront upon
him? Why should you be such enemies to yourselves? We should thus
reason with ourselves when we are tempted to do that which will grieve
the Spirit. "What! Am I weary of Christ's presence, that I affront him
and provoke him to depart from me? Why should I do that which he will
take so unkindly and which I shall certainly repent of?"</P>
<A NAME="So8_5"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_6"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Church's Dependence on Christ; The Love of the Church to Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Who <I>is</I> this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning
upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there
thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth
<I>that</I> bare thee.
&nbsp; 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm:
for love <I>is</I> strong as death; jealousy <I>is</I> cruel as the grave:
the coals thereof <I>are</I> coals of fire, <I>which hath a</I> most
vehement flame.
&nbsp; 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown
it: if <I>a</I> man would give all the substance of his house for
love, it would utterly be contemned.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here,
I. The spouse is much admired by those about her. It comes in in a
parenthesis, but in it gospel-grace lies as plain, and as much above
ground, as any where in this mystical song: <I>Who is this that comes
up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?</I> Some make these
the words of the bridegroom, expressing himself well pleased with her
reliance on him and resignation of herself to his guidance. They are
rather the words of the daughters of Jerusalem, to whom she spoke
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
they see her, and bless her. The angels in heaven, and all her friends
on earth, are the joyful spectators of her bliss. The Jewish church
came up from the wilderness supported by the divine power and favour,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:10,11">Deut. xxxii. 10, 11</A>.
The Christian church was raised up from a low and desolate condition by
the grace of Christ relied on,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:27">Gal. iv. 27</A>.
Particular believers are amiable, nay, admirable, and divine grace is
to be admired in them, when by the power of that grace they are brought
<I>up from the wilderness, leaning</I> with a holy confidence and
complacency <I>upon</I> Jesus Christ <I>their beloved.</I> This
bespeaks the beauty of a soul, and the wonders of divine grace,
1. In the conversion of sinners. A sinful state is a <I>wilderness,</I>
remote from communion with God, barren and dry, and in which there is
no true comfort; it is a wandering wanting state. Out of this
wilderness we are concerned to <I>come up,</I> by true repentance, in
the strength of the grace of Christ, supported by our beloved and
carried in his arms.
2. In the consolation of saints. A soul convinced of sin, and truly
humbled for it, is in a <I>wilderness,</I> quite at a loss; and there
is no coming out of this <I>wilderness</I> but <I>leaning</I> on Christ
as our beloved, by faith, and not <I>leaning to our own
understanding,</I> nor trusting to any righteousness or strength of our
own as sufficient for us, but going forth, and going on, in the
strength of the Lord God, and making mention of his righteousness, even
his only, who is <I>the Lord our righteousness.</I>
3. In the salvation of those that belong to Christ. We must go up from
the wilderness of this world having our conversation in heaven; and, at
death, we must remove thither, <I>leaning</I> upon Christ, must live
and die by faith in him. <I>To me to live is Christ,</I> and it is he
that is gain in death.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. She addresses herself to her beloved.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. She puts him in mind of the former experience which she and others
had had of comfort and success in applying to him.
(1.) For her own part: "<I>I raised thee up under the apple tree,</I>
that is, I have many a time wrestled with thee by prayer and have
prevailed. When I was alone in the acts of devotion, retired in the
orchard, under <I>the apple-tree</I>" (which Christ himself was
compared to,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+2:3"><I>ch.</I> ii. 3</A>),
as <I>Nathanael under the fig-tree</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:48">John i. 48</A>),
"meditating and praying, then <I>I raised thee up,</I> to help me and
comfort me," as the disciples raised him up in the storm, saying,
<I>Master, carest thou not that we perish?</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+4:38">Mark iv. 38</A>),
and the church
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23">Ps. xliv. 23</A>),
<I>Awake, why sleepest thou?</I> Note, The experience we have had of
Christ's readiness to yield to the importunities of our faith and
prayer should encourage us to continue instant in our addresses to him,
to strive more earnestly, and not to faint. <I>I sought the Lord, and
he heard me,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+34:4">Ps. xxxiv. 4</A>.
(2.) Others also had like experience of comfort in Christ, as it
follows there
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+34:5">Ps. xxxiv. 5</A>),
<I>They looked unto him,</I> as well as I, <I>and were lightened.</I>
There <I>thy mother brought thee forth,</I> the universal church, or
believing souls, in whom Christ was formed,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:15">Gal. iv. 15</A>.
They were in pain for the comfort of an interest in thee, and
<I>travailed in pain</I> with <I>great sorrow</I> (so the word here
signifies); but they <I>brought thee forth;</I> the pangs did not
continue always; those that had <I>travailed</I> in convictions at last
<I>brought forth</I> in consolations, and the <I>pain was forgotten</I>
for joy of the Saviour's birth. By this very similitude our Saviour
illustrates the joy which his disciples would have in his return to
them, after a mournful separation for a time,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:21,22">John xvi. 21, 22</A>.
After the bitter pangs of repentance many a one has had the blessed
birth of comfort; why then may not I?</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. She begs of him that her union with him might be confirmed, and her
communion with him continued and made more intimate
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
<I>Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm.</I>
(1.) "Let me have a place in thy heart, an interest in thy love." This
is that which all those desire above any thing that know how much their
happiness is bound up in the love of Christ.
(2.) "Let me never lose the room I have in thy heart; let thy love to
me be ensured, as that deed which is sealed up not to be robbed. Let
nothing ever prevail either to separate me from thy love, or, by
suspending the communications of it, to deprive me of the comfortable
sense of it."
(3.) "Let me be always near and dear to thee, as the <I>signet on thy
right hand,</I> not to be parted with
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:24">Jer. xxii. 24</A>),
<I>engraven upon the palms of thy hands</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+49:14">Isa. xlix. 14</A>),
be loved with a peculiar love."
(4.) "Be thou my high priest; let my name be written on thy
breast-plate, nearer thy heart, as the names of all the tribes were
engraven like the engravings of a signet in twelve precious stones on
the breast-plate of Aaron, and also on two precious <I>stones</I> on
the <I>two shoulders</I> or arms of the ephod,"
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+28:11,12,21">Exod. xxviii. 11, 12, 21</A>.
(5.) "Let thy power be engaged for me, as an evidence of thy love to
me; let me be not only a <I>seal upon thy heart,</I> but a <I>seal upon
thy arm;</I> let me be ever borne up in thy arms, and know it to my
comfort." Some make these to be the words of Christ to his spouse,
commanding her to be ever mindful of him and of his love to her;
however, if we desire and expect that Christ should set us as a <I>seal
on his heart,</I> surely we cannot do less than set him as a seal on
ours.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. To enforce this petition, she pleads the power of love, of her love
to him, which constrained her to be thus pressing for the tokens of his
love to her.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) Love is a violent vigorous passion.
[1.] It is <I>strong as death.</I> The pains of a disappointed lover
are like the pains of death; nay, the pains of death are slighted, and
made nothing of, in pursuit of the beloved object. Christ's love to us
was <I>strong as death,</I> for it broke through death itself. <I>He
loved us, and gave himself for us.</I> The love of true believers to
Christ is <I>strong as death,</I> for it makes them dead to every thing
else; it even parts between soul and body, while the soul, upon the
wings of devout affections, soars upward to heaven, an even forgets
that it is yet clothed and clogged with flesh. Paul, in a rapture of
this love, knew not whether he was in <I>the body or out of the
body.</I> By it a believer is crucified to the world.
[2.] <I>Jealousy is cruel as the grave,</I> which swallows up and
devours all; those that truly love Christ are jealous of every thing
that would draw them from him, and especially jealous of themselves,
lest they should do any thing to provoke him to withdraw from them,
and, rather than do so, would <I>pluck out a right eye</I> and <I>cut
off a right hand,</I> than which what can be more cruel? Weak and
trembling saints, who conceive a jealousy of Christ, doubting of his
love to them, find that jealousy to prey upon them like the grave;
nothing wastes the spirits more; but it is an evidence of the strength
of their love to him.
(3.) <I>The coals thereof,</I> its lamps, and flames, and beams, are
very strong, and burn with incredible force, as the <I>coals of fire
that have a most vehement flame, a flame of the Lord</I> (so some read
it), a powerful piercing flame, as the lightning,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+29:7">Ps. xxix. 7</A>.
Holy love is a fire that begets a vehement heat in the soul, and
consumes the dross and chaff that are in it, melts it down like wax
into a new form, and carries it upwards as the sparks towards God and
heaven.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) Love is a valiant victorious passion. Holy love is so; the
reigning love of God in the soul is constant and firm, and will not be
drawn off from him either by fair means or foul, by <I>life or
death,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:38">Rom. viii. 38</A>.
[1.] Death, and all its terrors, will not frighten a believer from
loving Christ: <I>Many waters,</I> though they will quench fire,
<I>cannot quench this love,</I> no, nor the <I>floods drown it,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
The noise of these waters will strike no terror upon it; let them do
their worst, Christ shall still be the best beloved. The overflowing of
these waters will strike no damp upon it, but it will enable a man to
rejoice in tribulation. <I>Though he slay me,</I> I will love him and
<I>trust in him.</I> No waters could quench Christ's love to us, nor
any floods drown it; he waded through the greatest difficulties, even
seas of blood. Love sat king upon the floods; let nothing then abate
our love to him.
[2.] Life, and all its comforts, will not entice a believer from loving
Christ: <I>If a man</I> could hire him with <I>all the substance of his
house,</I> to take his love off from Christ and set it upon the world
and the flesh again, he would reject the proposal with the utmost
disdain; as Christ, when the kingdoms of this world and the glory of
them were offered him, to buy him off from his undertaking, said,
<I>Get thee hence, Satan.</I> It would utterly be contemned. Offer
those things to those that know no better. Love will enable us to repel
and triumph over temptations from the smiles of the world, as much as
from its frowns. Some give this sense of it: <I>If a man would give
all the substance of his house to</I> Christ, as an equivalent instead
of love, to excuse it, <I>it would be contemned.</I> He seeks not ours,
but us, the heart, not the wealth. <I>If I give all my goods to feed
the poor, and have not love, it is nothing,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+13:1">1 Cor. xiii. 1</A>.
Thus believers stand affected to Christ: the gifts of his providence
cannot satisfy them without the assurances of his love.</P>
<A NAME="So8_8"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_9"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_10"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_11"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Concern for the Gentiles; Privileges and Duties of the Church.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall
we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
&nbsp; 9 If she <I>be</I> a wall, we will build upon her a palace of
silver: and if she <I>be</I> a door, we will inclose her with boards
of cedar.
&nbsp; 10 I <I>am</I> a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his
eyes as one that found favour.
&nbsp; 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard
unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a
thousand <I>pieces</I> of silver.
&nbsp; 12 My vineyard, which <I>is</I> mine, <I>is</I> before me: thou, O
Solomon, <I>must have</I> a thousand, and those that keep the fruit
thereof two hundred.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Christ and his spouse having sufficiently confirmed their love to each
other, and agreed it to be on both sides <I>strong as death</I> and
inviolable, they are here, in these verses, like a loving husband and
his wife, consulting together about their affairs, and considering what
they should do. Yoke-fellows, having laid their hearts together, lay
their heads together, to contrive about their relations and about their
estates; and, accordingly, this happy pair are here advising with one
another about a sister, and a vineyard.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. They are here consulting about their sister, their little sister,
and the disposing of her.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. The spouse proposes her case with a compassionate concern
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
<I>We have a little sister and she has no breasts</I> (she has not
grown up to maturity); <I>what shall we do for</I> this <I>little
sister</I> of <I>ours in the day that she shall be spoken for,</I> so
as that we may do well for her?
(1.) This may be understood as spoken by the Jewish church concerning
the Gentile world. God has espoused the church of the Jews to himself,
and she was richly endowed, but what shall become of the poor Gentiles,
<I>the barren that has not borne,</I> and <I>the desolate?</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:1">Isa. liv. 1</A>.
Their condition (say the pious Jews) is very deplorable and forlorn;
they are <I>sisters,</I> children of the same fathers, God and Adam,
but they are <I>little,</I> because not dignified with the knowledge of
God; they <I>have no breasts,</I> no divine revelation, no scriptures,
no ministers, no breasts of consolation drawn out to them, when they
might suck, being <I>strangers to the covenants of promise,</I> no
breasts of instruction themselves to draw out to their children, to
nourish them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:2">1 Pet. ii. 2</A>.
<I>What shall we do for</I> them? We can but pity them, and pray for
them. Lord, what wilt thou do for them? The saints, in Solomon's time,
might know, from David's psalms, that God had mercy in store for them,
and they begged it might be hastened to them. Now the tables are
turned; the Gentiles are betrothed to Christ, and ought to return the
kindness by an equal concern for the bringing in of the Jews again, our
eldest sister, that once had breasts, but now has none. If we take it
in this sense, the unbelieving posterity of these pious Jews
contradicted this prayer of their fathers; for, when the day came that
the Gentiles should be <I>spoken for</I> and courted to Christ, instead
of considering what to do for them they plotted to do all they could
against them, which filled up the measure of their iniquity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+2:16">1 Thess. ii. 16</A>.
Or,
(2.) It may be applied to any other that belong to the election of
grace, but are yet uncalled. They are remotely related to Christ and
his church, and sisters to them both, <I>other sheep that are not of
this fold,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:16,Ac+18:10">John x. 16; Acts xviii. 10</A>.
They <I>have no breasts,</I> none yet fashioned
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:7">Ezek. xvi. 7</A>),
no affection to Christ, no principle of grace. <I>The day</I> will
come <I>when</I> they <I>shall be spoken for,</I> when the chosen shall
be called, shall be courted for Christ, by the ministers, the friends
of the bridegroom. A blessed day it will be, a day of visitation. What
shall we do, in that day, to promote the match, to conquer their
coyness, and persuade them to consent to Christ and present themselves
chaste virgins to him? Note, Those that through grace are brought to
Christ themselves should contrive what they may do to help others to
him, to carry on the great design of his gospel, which is to espouse
souls to Christ and convert sinners to him from whom they have
departed.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. Christ soon determines what to do in this case, and his spouse
agrees with him in it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
"<I>If she be a wall,</I> if the good work be once begun with the
Gentiles, with the souls that are to be called in, if the <I>little
sister, when she shall be spoken for</I> by the gospel, will but
receive the word, and build herself upon Christ the foundation, and
frame her doings to turn to the Lord, as the wall is in order to the
house, <I>we will build upon her a palace of silver,</I> or build her
up into such a palace; we will carry on the good work that is begun,
till the wall become a palace, the wall of stone a palace of silver,"
which goes beyond the boast of Augustus C&aelig;sar, that what he found
brick he left marble. This <I>little sister,</I> when once she is
joined to the Lord, shall be made to <I>grow into a holy temple, a
habitation of God through the Spirit,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:21,22">Eph. ii. 21, 22</A>.
<I>If she be a door,</I> when this palace comes to be finished, and the
doors of this wall set up, which was the last thing done
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+7:1">Neh. vii. 1</A>),
then <I>we will enclose here with boards of cedar;</I> we will
carefully and effectually protect her, that she shall receive no
damage. <I>We will</I> do it; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all concur
in contriving, carrying on, and crowning, the blessed work when the
time comes. Whatever is wanting shall be set in order, and the work of
faith shall be fulfilled with power. Though the beginnings of grace be
small, the latter end shall greatly increase. The church is in care
concerning those that are yet uncalled. "Let me alone," says Christ; "I
will do all that which is necessary to be done for them. Trust me with
it."</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. The spouse takes this occasion to acknowledge with thankfulness his
kindness to her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
She is very willing to trust him with her <I>little sister,</I> for she
herself had had great experience of his grace, and, for her part, she
owed her all to him: <I>I am a wall, and my breasts like towers.</I>
This she speaks, not as upbraiding her little sister that had no
breasts, but comforting her concerning her, that he who had made her
what she was, who had built her up upon himself and made her to grow up
to maturity, could and would do the same kindness for those whose case
she bore upon her heart. <I>Then was I in his eyes as one that found
favour.</I> See,
(1.) What she values herself upon, her having found favour in the eyes
of Jesus Christ. Those are happy, truly happy, and for ever so, that
have the favour of God and are accepted of him.
(2.) How she ascribes the good work of God in her to the good-will of
God towards her: "He has <I>made me a wall and my breasts as
towers,</I> and then, in that instance more than in any thing, I
experienced his love to me." <I>Hail, thou that art highly
favoured,</I> for in thee Christ is formed.
(3.) What pleasure God takes in the work of his own hands. When we are
made as a <I>wall,</I> as a <I>brazen wall</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:18,15:20">Jer. i. 18; xv. 20</A>),
that stands firmly against <I>the blast of the terrible ones</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+25:4">Isa. xxv. 4</A>),
then God takes delight in us to do us good.
(4.) With what joy and triumph we ought to speak of God's grace towards
us, and with what satisfaction we should look back upon the special
times and seasons when <I>we were in his eyes as those that find
favour;</I> these were days never to be forgotten.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. They are here consulting about <I>a vineyard</I> they had in the
country, the church of Christ on earth considered under the notion of
<I>a vineyard</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
<I>Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon,</I> had a kingdom in the
possession of a multitude, a numerous people. As he was a type of
Christ, so his vineyard was a type of the church of Christ. Our Saviour
has given us a key to these verses in the parable of the vineyard let
out to the unthankful husbandmen,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:33">Matt. xxi. 33</A>.
The bargain was that, every one of the tenants having so much of the
vineyard assigned him as would contain 1000 vines, he was to pay the
annual rent of 1000 <I>pieces of silver;</I> for we read
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:23">Isa. vii. 23</A>)
that in a fruitful soil there were 1000 <I>vines at</I> 1000
<I>silverlings.</I> Observe,
1. Christ's church is his vineyard, a pleasant and peculiar place,
privileged with many honours; he delights to walk in it, as a man in
his vineyard, and is pleased with its fruits.
2. He has entrusted each of us with his vineyard, as <I>keepers</I> of
it. The privileges of the church are that good thing which he has
committed to us, to be kept as a sacred trust. The service of the
church is to be our business, according as our capacity is. <I>Son, go
work to-day in my vineyard.</I> Adam, in innocency, was <I>to dress the
garden, and to keep it.</I>
3. He expects rent from those that are employed in his vineyard and
entrusted with it. <I>He comes, seeking fruit,</I> and requires
gospel-duty of all those that enjoy gospel-privileges. Every one, of
what rank or degree soever, must bring glory and honour to Christ, and
do some service to the interest of his kingdom in the world, in
consideration of what benefit and advantage they enjoy by their share
of the privileges of the vineyard.
4. Though Christ has <I>let out his vineyard to keepers,</I> yet still
it is his, and he has his eye always upon it for good; for, if he did
not watch over it <I>night and day</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:1,2">Isa. xxvii. 1, 2</A>),
<I>the watchmen,</I> to whom he has let it out, would keep it <I>but in
vain,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:1">Ps. cxxvii. 1</A>.
Some take these for Christ's words
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
<I>My vineyard, which is mine, is before me;</I> and they observe how
he dwells upon his property in it: It is <I>my vineyard, which is
mine;</I> so dear is his church to him, it is <I>his own in the
world</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:1">John xiii. 1</A>),
and therefore he will always have it under his protection; it is his
own, and he will look after it.
5. The church, that enjoys the privileges of the vineyard, must have
them always before her. The keeping of the vineyard requires constant
care and diligence. They are rather the words of the spouse: <I>My
vineyard, which is mine, is before me.</I> She has lamented her fault
and folly in not keeping her <I>own vineyard</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+1:6"><I>ch.</I> i. 6</A>),
but now she resolves to reform. Our hearts are our vineyards, which we
must <I>keep with all diligence;</I> and therefore we must have a
watchful jealous eye upon them at all times.
6. Our great care must be to pay our rent for what we hold of Christ's
vineyard, and to see that we do not go behind-hand, nor disappoint the
messengers he sends to <I>receive the fruits</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:34">Matt. xxi. 34</A>):
<I>Thou, O Solomon! must have</I> 1000, and shalt have. The main of
the profits belong to Christ; to him and his praise all our fruits must
be dedicated.
7. If we be careful to give Christ the praise of our church-privileges,
we may then take to ourselves the comfort and benefit of them. If the
owner of the vineyard have had his due, the keepers of it shall be well
paid for their cares and pains; they shall have 200, which sum, no
doubt, was looked upon as a good profit. Those that work for Christ are
working for themselves, and shall be unspeakable gainers by it.</P>
<A NAME="So8_13"> </A>
<A NAME="So8_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mutual Love of Christ and the Church; Expectation of the Glory to Be Revealed.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to
thy voice: cause me to hear <I>it.</I>
&nbsp; 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a
young hart upon the mountains of spices.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Christ and his spouse are here parting for a while; she must stay below
<I>in the gardens</I> on earth, where she has work to do for him; he
must remove to <I>the mountains of spices</I> in heaven, where he has
business to attend for her, as <I>an advocate with the Father.</I> Now
observe with what mutual endearments they part.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. He desires to hear often from her. She is ready at her pen; she must
be sure to write to him; she knows how to direct
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
"<I>Thou that,</I> for the present, <I>dwellest in the gardens,</I>
dressing and keeping them till thou remove from the garden below to the
paradise above--<I>thou,</I> O believer! whoever thou art, <I>that
dwellest in the gardens</I> of solemn ordinances, <I>in the gardens</I>
of church-fellowship and communion, <I>the companions</I> are so happy
as to hear <I>thy voice, cause me to hear it</I> too." Observe,
1. Christ's friends should keep a good correspondence one with
another, and, as dear companions, speak often to one another
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:16">Mal. iii. 16</A>)
and hearken to one another's voice; they should edify, encourage, and
respect one another. They are companions in the kingdom and patience of
Christ, and therefore, as fellow-travellers, should keep up mutual
freedom, and not be shy of, nor strange to, one another. <I>The
communion of saints</I> is an article of our covenant, as well as an
article of our creed, <I>to exhort one another daily,</I> and be glad
to be exhorted by another. <I>Hearken to the voice</I> of the church,
as far as it agrees with the voice of Christ; his companions will do
so.
2. In the midst of our communion with one another we must not neglect
our communion with Christ, but let him see our countenance and hear our
voice; he here bespeaks it: "<I>The companions hearken to thy
voice;</I> it is a pleasure to them; <I>cause me to hear it.</I> Thou
makest thy complaints to them when any thing grieves thee; why does
thou not bring them to me, and let me hear them? Thou art free with
them; be as free with me; pour out thy heart to me." Thus Christ, when
he left his disciples, ordered them to send to him upon every occasion.
<I>Ask, and you shall receive.</I> Note, Christ not only accepts and
answers, but even courts his people's prayers, not reckoning them a
trouble to him, but an honour and a <I>delight,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+15:8">Prov. xv. 8</A>.
We <I>cause him to hear</I> our prayers when we not only pray, but
wrestle and strive in prayer. He loves to be pressingly importuned,
which is not the manner of men. Some read it, "<I>Cause me to be
heard;</I> thou hast often an opportunity of speaking to thy
companions, and they hearken to what thou sayest; speak of me to them;
let my name be heard among them; let me be the subject of thy
discourse." "One word of Christ" (as archbishop Usher used to say)
"before you part." No subject is more becoming, or should be more
pleasing.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. She desires his speedy return to her
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
<I>Make haste, my beloved,</I> to come again, and receive me to
thyself; <I>be thou like a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of
spices;</I> let no time be lost; it is pleasant dwelling here <I>in the
gardens, but to depart, and be with</I> thee, <I>is far better;</I>
that therefore is what I wish, and wait, and long for. <I>Even so,
come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.</I> Observe,
1. Though Jesus Christ be now retired, he will return. The heavens,
those high <I>mountains of</I> sweet <I>spices,</I> must <I>contain him
till the times of refreshing shall come;</I> and those times will come,
<I>when every eye shall see him,</I> in all the pomp and power of the
upper and better world, the mystery of God being finished and the
mystical body completed.
2. True believers, as they are looking for, so they are hastening to,
the coming of that <I>day of the Lord,</I> not that they would have him
make more haste than good speed, but that the intermediate counsels may
all be fulfilled, and then that the end may come--the sooner the
better. Not that they think him <I>slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness,</I> but thus they express the strength of
their affections to him and the vastness of their expectations from him
when he comes again.
3. Those only that can in sincerity call Christ their <I>beloved,</I>
their <I>best beloved,</I> can, upon good grounds, desire him to hasten
his second coming. As for those whose hearts go a whoring after the
world, and who set their affections on the things of the earth, they
cannot love his appearing, but dread it rather, because then the earth,
and all the things of it which they have chosen for their portion, will
be burnt up. But those that truly love Christ long for his second
coming, because it will be the crown both of his glory and their bliss.
4. The comfort and satisfaction which we sometimes have in communion
with God in grace here should make us breathe the more earnestly after
the immediate vision and complete fruition of him in the kingdom of
glory. The spouse, after an endearing conference with her beloved,
finding it must break off, concludes with this affectionate request for
the perfecting and perpetuating of this happiness in the future state.
The clusters of grapes that meet us in this wilderness should make us
long for the full vintage in Canaan. If a day in his courts be so
sweet, what then will an eternity within the veil be! If this be
heaven, O that I were there!
5. It is good to conclude our devotions with a joyful expectation of
the glory to be revealed, and holy humble breathings towards it. We
should not part but with the prospect of meeting again. It is good to
conclude every sabbath with thoughts of the everlasting sabbath, which
shall have no night at the end of it, nor any week-day to come after
it. It is good to conclude every sacrament with thoughts of the
everlasting feast, when we shall sit down with Christ at his table in
his kingdom, to rise no more, and drink of the wine new there, and to
break up every religious assembly in hopes of <I>the general assembly
of the church of the first-born,</I> when time and days shall be no
more: Let the blessed Jesus hasten that blessed day. <I>Why are his
chariot-wheels so long a coming? Why tarry the wheels of his
chariots?</I></P>
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