mh_parser/vol_split/22 - Song of Solomon/Chapter 8.xml

<div2 id="Song.ix" n="ix" next="ix" prev="Song.viii" progress="99.44%" title="Chapter VIII">
<h2 id="Song.ix-p0.1">S O N G   O F   S O L O M O
N.</h2>
<h3 id="Song.ix-p0.2">CHAP. VIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Song.ix-p1">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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.1-Song.8.3" parsed="|Song|8|1|8|3" passage="So 8:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. She charges the
daughters of Jerusalem not to interrupt her communion with her
beloved (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.4" parsed="|Song|8|4|0|0" passage="So 8:4">ver. 4</scripRef>); and they,
thereupon, admire her dependence on him, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.5" parsed="|Song|8|5|0|0" passage="So 8:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. III. She begs of her beloved, whom she
raises up by her prayers (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.5" parsed="|Song|8|5|0|0" passage="So 8:5">ver.
5</scripRef>), that he would by his grace confirm that blessed
union with him to which she was admitted, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.6-Song.8.7" parsed="|Song|8|6|8|7" passage="So 8:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. IV. She makes intercession for
others also, that care might be taken of them (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.8-Song.8.9" parsed="|Song|8|8|8|9" passage="So 8:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>), and pleases herself with the
thoughts of her own interest in Christ and his affection to her,
<scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.10" parsed="|Song|8|10|0|0" passage="So 8:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. V. She owns herself
his tenant for a vineyard she held of him at Baal-hamon, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.11-Song.8.12" parsed="|Song|8|11|8|12" passage="So 8:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. VI. The song concludes
with an interchanging of parting requests. Christ charges his
spouse that she should often let him hear from her (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.13" parsed="|Song|8|13|0|0" passage="So 8:13">ver. 13</scripRef>), and she begs of him that he
would hasten his return to her, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.14" parsed="|Song|8|14|0|0" passage="So 8:14">ver.
14</scripRef>).</p>
<scripCom id="Song.ix-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Song.8" parsed="|Song|8|0|0|0" passage="So 8" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Song.ix-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.1-Song.8.4" parsed="|Song|8|1|8|4" passage="So 8:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.8.1-Song.8.4">
<h4 id="Song.ix-p1.13">The Love of the Church to
Christ.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.ix-p2">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.   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.   3 His left hand
<i>should be</i> under my head, and his right hand should embrace
me.   4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir
not up, nor awake <i>my</i> love, until he please.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p3">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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.5.1" parsed="|Song|5|1|0|0" passage="So 5:1"><i>ch.</i> v.
1</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.11" parsed="|Heb|2|11|0|0" passage="Heb 2:11">Heb. ii. 11</scripRef>, &amp;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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.2" parsed="|Song|8|2|0|0" passage="So 8:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.3.4" parsed="|Song|3|4|0|0" passage="So 3:4"><i>ch.</i> iii. 4</scripRef>), 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
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.3" parsed="|Song|8|3|0|0" passage="So 8:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.17" parsed="|Rev|1|17|0|0" passage="Re 1:17">Rev. i. 17</scripRef>. See also <scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.10.10 Bible:Dan.10.18" parsed="|Dan|10|10|0|0;|Dan|10|18|0|0" passage="Da 10:10,18">Dan. x. 10, 18</scripRef>. It may be read as it is
<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.6" parsed="|Song|2|6|0|0" passage="So 2:6"><i>ch.</i> ii. 6</scripRef>, <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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.138.3" parsed="|Ps|138|3|0|0" passage="Ps 138:3">Ps. cxxxviii. 3</scripRef>. While we are
following hard after Christ his <i>right hand sustains us,</i>
<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.8" parsed="|Ps|63|8|0|0" passage="Ps 63:8">Ps. lxiii. 8</scripRef>. <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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.4" parsed="|Song|8|4|0|0" passage="So 8:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), as she had done before, when he thus strengthened
and comforted her with his presence (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.7" parsed="|Song|2|7|0|0" passage="So 2:7"><i>ch.</i> ii. 7</scripRef>): 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>
</div><scripCom id="Song.ix-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.5-Song.8.7" parsed="|Song|8|5|8|7" passage="So 8:5-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.8.5-Song.8.7">
<h4 id="Song.ix-p3.14">The Church's Dependence on Christ; The Love
of the Church to Christ.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.ix-p4">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.   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.
  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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p5">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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.4" parsed="|Song|8|4|0|0" passage="So 8:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>); 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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.10-Deut.32.11" parsed="|Deut|32|10|32|11" passage="De 32:10,11">Deut. xxxii. 10,
11</scripRef>. The Christian church was raised up from a low and
desolate condition by the grace of Christ relied on, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.27" parsed="|Gal|4|27|0|0" passage="Ga 4:27">Gal. iv. 27</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p6">II. She addresses herself to her
beloved.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p7">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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.3" parsed="|Song|2|3|0|0" passage="So 2:3"><i>ch.</i> ii. 3</scripRef>), as <i>Nathanael under the
fig-tree</i> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:John.1.48" parsed="|John|1|48|0|0" passage="Joh 1:48">John i. 48</scripRef>),
"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> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Mark.4.38" parsed="|Mark|4|38|0|0" passage="Mk 4:38">Mark iv. 38</scripRef>), and the church
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.23" parsed="|Ps|44|23|0|0" passage="Ps 44:23">Ps. xliv. 23</scripRef>), <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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.4" parsed="|Ps|34|4|0|0" passage="Ps 34:4">Ps. xxxiv.
4</scripRef>. (2.) Others also had like experience of comfort in
Christ, as it follows there (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.5" parsed="|Ps|34|5|0|0" passage="Ps 34:5">Ps. xxxiv.
5</scripRef>), <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,
<scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.15" parsed="|Gal|4|15|0|0" passage="Ga 4:15">Gal. iv. 15</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:John.16.21-John.16.22" parsed="|John|16|21|16|22" passage="Joh 16:21,22">John xvi. 21, 22</scripRef>. After the bitter pangs
of repentance many a one has had the blessed birth of comfort; why
then may not I?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p8">2. She begs of him that her union with him
might be confirmed, and her communion with him continued and made
more intimate (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.6" parsed="|Song|8|6|0|0" passage="So 8:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>):
<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
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.22.24" parsed="|Jer|22|24|0|0" passage="Jer 22:24">Jer. xxii. 24</scripRef>),
<i>engraven upon the palms of thy hands</i> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.14" parsed="|Isa|49|14|0|0" passage="Isa 49:14">Isa. xlix. 14</scripRef>), 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,"
<scripRef id="Song.ix-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.28.11-Exod.28.12 Bible:Exod.28.21" parsed="|Exod|28|11|28|12;|Exod|28|21|0|0" passage="Ex 28:11,12,21">Exod. xxviii. 11, 12,
21</scripRef>. (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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p9">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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p10">(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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.29.7" parsed="|Ps|29|7|0|0" passage="Ps 29:7">Ps. xxix. 7</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p11">(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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.38" parsed="|Rom|8|38|0|0" passage="Ro 8:38">Rom.
viii. 38</scripRef>. [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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.7" parsed="|Song|8|7|0|0" passage="So 8:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.13.1" parsed="|1Cor|13|1|0|0" passage="1Co 13:1">1
Cor. xiii. 1</scripRef>. Thus believers stand affected to Christ:
the gifts of his providence cannot satisfy them without the
assurances of his love.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Song.ix-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.8-Song.8.12" parsed="|Song|8|8|8|12" passage="So 8:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.8.8-Song.8.12">
<h4 id="Song.ix-p11.5">Concern for the Gentiles; Privileges and
Duties of the Church.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.ix-p12">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?   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.   10 I <i>am</i> a wall, and
my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found
favour.   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.   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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p13">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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p14">I. They are here consulting about their
sister, their little sister, and the disposing of her.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p15">1. The spouse proposes her case with a
compassionate concern (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.8" parsed="|Song|8|8|0|0" passage="So 8:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.1" parsed="|Isa|54|1|0|0" passage="Isa 54:1">Isa. liv. 1</scripRef>.
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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.2" parsed="|1Pet|2|2|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:2">1 Pet. ii. 2</scripRef>. <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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.2.16" parsed="|1Thess|2|16|0|0" passage="1Th 2:16">1 Thess. ii.
16</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:John.10.16 Bible:Acts.18.10" parsed="|John|10|16|0|0;|Acts|18|10|0|0" passage="Joh 10:16,Ac 18:10">John x. 16; Acts xviii. 10</scripRef>. They
<i>have no breasts,</i> none yet fashioned (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.7" parsed="|Ezek|16|7|0|0" passage="Eze 16:7">Ezek. xvi. 7</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p16">2. Christ soon determines what to do in
this case, and his spouse agrees with him in it (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.9" parsed="|Song|8|9|0|0" passage="So 8:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<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 Cæsar, 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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.21-Eph.2.22" parsed="|Eph|2|21|2|22" passage="Eph 2:21,22">Eph.
ii. 21, 22</scripRef>. <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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.7.1" parsed="|Neh|7|1|0|0" passage="Ne 7:1">Neh. vii.
1</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p17">3. The spouse takes this occasion to
acknowledge with thankfulness his kindness to her, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.10" parsed="|Song|8|10|0|0" passage="So 8:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.18 Bible:Jer.15.20" parsed="|Jer|1|18|0|0;|Jer|15|20|0|0" passage="Jer 1:18,15:20">Jer. i. 18; xv. 20</scripRef>), that stands firmly
against <i>the blast of the terrible ones</i> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.4" parsed="|Isa|25|4|0|0" passage="Isa 25:4">Isa. xxv. 4</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p18">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> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.11-Song.8.12" parsed="|Song|8|11|8|12" passage="So 8:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>): <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, <scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.33" parsed="|Matt|21|33|0|0" passage="Mt 21:33">Matt. xxi.
33</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.23" parsed="|Isa|7|23|0|0" passage="Isa 7:23">Isa. vii.
23</scripRef>) 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>
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.1-Isa.27.2" parsed="|Isa|27|1|27|2" passage="Isa 27:1,2">Isa. xxvii. 1, 2</scripRef>),
<i>the watchmen,</i> to whom he has let it out, would keep it
<i>but in vain,</i> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.127.1" parsed="|Ps|127|1|0|0" passage="Ps 127:1">Ps. cxxvii.
1</scripRef>. Some take these for Christ's words (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.12" parsed="|Song|8|12|0|0" passage="So 8:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <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> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:John.13.1" parsed="|John|13|1|0|0" passage="Joh 13:1">John xiii. 1</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Song.1.6" parsed="|Song|1|6|0|0" passage="So 1:6"><i>ch.</i> i.
6</scripRef>), 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>
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.34" parsed="|Matt|21|34|0|0" passage="Mt 21:34">Matt. xxi. 34</scripRef>): <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>
</div><scripCom id="Song.ix-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.13-Song.8.14" parsed="|Song|8|13|8|14" passage="So 8:13-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.8.13-Song.8.14">
<h4 id="Song.ix-p18.11">Mutual Love of Christ and the Church;
Expectation of the Glory to Be Revealed.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.ix-p19">13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the
companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear <i>it.</i>  
14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young
hart upon the mountains of spices.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.ix-p20">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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p21">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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.13" parsed="|Song|8|13|0|0" passage="So 8:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): "<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 (<scripRef id="Song.ix-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.16" parsed="|Mal|3|16|0|0" passage="Mal 3:16">Mal. iii. 16</scripRef>) 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> <scripRef id="Song.ix-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.15.8" parsed="|Prov|15|8|0|0" passage="Pr 15:8">Prov. xv.
8</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Song.ix-p22">II. She desires his speedy return to her
(<scripRef id="Song.ix-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.8.14" parsed="|Song|8|14|0|0" passage="So 8:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <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>
</div></div2>