mh_parser/vol_split/22 - Song of Solomon/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Song.iii" n="iii" next="Song.iv" prev="Song.ii" progress="96.39%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Song.iii-p0.1">S O N G   O F   S O L O M O
N.</h2>
<h3 id="Song.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Song.iii-p1">In this chapter, I. Christ speaks both concerning
himself and concerning his church, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.1-Song.2.2" parsed="|Song|2|1|2|2" passage="So 2:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. The church speaks, 1.
Remembering the pleasure and satisfaction she has in communion with
Christ, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.3-Song.2.4" parsed="|Song|2|3|2|4" passage="So 2:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>. 2.
Entertaining herself with the present tokens of his favour and
taking care that nothing happen to intercept them, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.5-Song.2.7" parsed="|Song|2|5|2|7" passage="So 2:5-7">ver. 5-7</scripRef>. 3. Triumphing in his
approaches towards her, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.8-Song.2.9" parsed="|Song|2|8|2|9" passage="So 2:8,9">ver. 8,
9</scripRef>. 4. Repeating the gracious calls he had given her to
go along with him a walking, invited by the pleasures of the
returning spring (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.10-Song.2.13" parsed="|Song|2|10|2|13" passage="So 2:10-13">ver.
10-13</scripRef>), out of her obscurity (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.14" parsed="|Song|2|14|0|0" passage="So 2:14">ver. 14</scripRef>), and the charge he had given to the
servants to destroy that which would be hurtful to his vineyard,
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.15" parsed="|Song|2|15|0|0" passage="So 2:15">ver. 15</scripRef>. 5. Rejoicing in her
interest in him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.16" parsed="|Song|2|16|0|0" passage="So 2:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. 6.
Longing for his arrival, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.17" parsed="|Song|2|17|0|0" passage="So 2:17">ver.
17</scripRef>. Those whose hearts are filled with love to Christ,
and hope of heaven, know best what these things mean.</p>
<scripCom id="Song.iii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Song.2" parsed="|Song|2|0|0|0" passage="So 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Song.iii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.1-Song.2.2" parsed="|Song|2|1|2|2" passage="So 2:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.2.1-Song.2.2">
<h4 id="Song.iii-p1.12">Christ the Rose of Sharon.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.iii-p2">1 I <i>am</i> the rose of Sharon, <i>and</i> the
lily of the valleys.   2 As the lily among thorns, so
<i>is</i> my love among the daughters.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p3">See here, I. What Christ is pleased to
compare himself to; and he condescends very much in the comparison.
He that is the Son of the Highest, the bright and morning star,
calls and owns himself <i>the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the
valleys,</i> to express his presence with his people in this world,
the easiness of their access to him, and the beauty and sweetness
which they find in him, and to teach them to adorn themselves with
him, as shepherds and shepherdesses, when they appeared gay, were
decked with roses and lilies, garlands and chaplets of flowers.
<i>The rose,</i> for beauty and fragrance, is the chief of flowers,
and our Saviour prefers the clothing of <i>the lily</i> before that
of <i>Solomon in all his glory.</i> Christ is <i>the rose of
Sharon,</i> where probably the best roses grew and in most plenty,
<i>the rose of the field</i> (so some), denoting that the gospel
salvation is a common salvation; it lies open to all; whoever will
may come and gather the rose-buds of privileges and comforts that
grow in the covenant of grace. He is not a rose locked up in a
garden, but all may come and receive benefit by him and comfort in
him. He is a <i>lily</i> for whiteness, a <i>lily of the
valleys</i> for sweetness, for those which we call so yield a
strong perfume. He is a <i>lily of the valleys,</i> or <i>low
places,</i> in his humiliation, exposed to injury. Humble souls see
most beauty in him. Whatever he is to others, to those that are in
the <i>valleys</i> he is a <i>lily.</i> He is the <i>rose, the
lily;</i> there is none besides. Whatever excellence is in Christ,
it is in him singularly and in the highest degree.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p4">II. What he is pleased to compare his
church to, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.2" parsed="|Song|2|2|0|0" passage="So 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. 1.
She is <i>as a lily;</i> he himself is <i>the lily</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.1" parsed="|Song|2|1|0|0" passage="So 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), she is <i>as the
lily.</i> The beauty of believers consists in their conformity and
resemblance to Jesus Christ. They are his love, and so they are as
lilies, for those are made like Christ in whose hearts his <i>love
is shed abroad.</i> 2. <i>As a lily among thorns, as a lily</i>
compared with <i>thorns.</i> The church of Christ as far excels all
other societies as a bed of roses excels a bush of thorns. <i>As a
lily</i> compassed with <i>thorns.</i> The wicked, the
<i>daughters</i> of this world, such as have no love to Christ, are
as <i>thorns,</i> worthless and useless, good for nothing but to
stop a gap; nay, they are noxious and hurtful; they came in with
sin and are a fruit of the curse; they choke good seed, and hinder
good fruit, and their <i>end is to be burned.</i> God's people are
<i>as lilies among</i> them, scratched and torn, shaded and
obscured, by them; they are dear to Christ, and yet exposed to
hardships and troubles in the world; they must expect it, for they
are planted <i>among thorns</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.2.6" parsed="|Ezek|2|6|0|0" passage="Eze 2:6">Ezek.
ii. 6</scripRef>), but they are nevertheless dear to him; he does
not overlook nor undervalue any of his lilies for their being
<i>among thorns,</i> When they are <i>among thorns</i> they must
still be <i>as lilies,</i> must maintain their innocency and
purity, and, though they are <i>among thorns,</i> must not be
turned into <i>thorns,</i> must <i>not render railing for
railing,</i> and, if they thus preserve their character, they shall
be still owned as conformable to Christ. Grace in the soul is a
<i>lily among thorns;</i> corruptions are <i>thorns in the
flesh</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.12.7" parsed="|2Cor|12|7|0|0" passage="2Co 12:7">2 Cor. xii. 7</scripRef>),
are as Canaanites to God's Israel (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.23.13" parsed="|Josh|23|13|0|0" passage="Jos 23:13">Josh. xxiii. 13</scripRef>); but <i>the lily</i> that
is now <i>among thorns</i> shall shortly be transplanted out of
this wilderness into that paradise where there is no <i>pricking
brier</i> nor <i>grieving thorn,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.28.24" parsed="|Ezek|28|24|0|0" passage="Eze 28:24">Ezek. xxviii. 24</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Song.iii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.3-Song.2.7" parsed="|Song|2|3|2|7" passage="So 2:3-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.2.3-Song.2.7">
<h4 id="Song.iii-p4.8">The Love of the Church to
Christ.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.iii-p5">3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so <i>is</i> my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow
with great delight, and his fruit <i>was</i> sweet to my taste.
  4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over
me <i>was</i> love.   5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with
apples: for I <i>am</i> sick of love.   6 His left hand
<i>is</i> under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.  
7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by
the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake <i>my</i>
love, till he please.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p6">Here, I. The spouse commends her beloved
and prefers him before all others: <i>As the apple-tree among the
trees of the wood,</i> which perhaps does not grow so high, nor
spread so wide, as some other trees, yet is useful and serviceable
to man, yielding pleasant and profitable fruit, while the other
trees are of little use, no, not the cedars themselves, till they
are cut down, <i>so is my beloved among the sons,</i> so far does
he excel them all,—all <i>the sons</i> of God, the angels (that
honour was put upon him which was never designed for them,
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.1.4" parsed="|Heb|1|4|0|0" passage="Heb 1:4">Heb. i. 4</scripRef>),—all <i>the
sons</i> of men; he is <i>fairer</i> than them all, fairer than the
choicest of them, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.45.2" parsed="|Ps|45|2|0|0" passage="Ps 45:2">Ps. xlv.
2</scripRef>. Name what creature you will, and you will find Christ
has the pre-eminence above them all. The world is a barren tree to
a soul; Christ is a fruitful one.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p7">II. She remembers the abundant comfort she
has had in communion with him: She <i>sat down</i> by him <i>with
great delight,</i> as shepherds sometimes repose themselves,
sometimes converse with one another, under a tree. A double
advantage she found in sitting down so near the Lord Jesus:—1. A
refreshing shade: <i>I sat down under his shadow,</i> to be
sheltered by him from the scorching heat of the sun, to be cooled,
and so to take some rest. Christ is to believers <i>as the
shadow</i> of a great tree, nay, <i>of a great rock in a weary
land,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.2 Bible:Isa.25.4" parsed="|Isa|32|2|0|0;|Isa|25|4|0|0" passage="Isa 32:2,Isa 25:4">Isa. xxxii. 2; xxv.
4</scripRef>. When a poor soul is parched with convictions of sin
and the terrors of the law, as David (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.32.4" parsed="|Ps|32|4|0|0" passage="Ps 32:4">Ps. xxxii. 4</scripRef>), when fatigued with the troubles
of this world, as Elijah when he <i>sat down under a juniper
tree</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.4" parsed="|1Kgs|19|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:4">1 Kings xix. 4</scripRef>),
they find that in Christ, in his name, his graces, his comforts,
and his undertaking for poor sinners, which revives them and keeps
them from fainting; those that <i>are weary and heavily laden</i>
may find <i>rest</i> in Christ. It is not enough to pass by this
<i>shadow,</i> but we must <i>sit down under</i> it (<i>here will I
dwell, for I have desired it</i>); and we shall find it not like
Jonah's gourd, that soon withered, and left him in a heat, both
inward and outward, but like the tree of life, the leaves whereof
were not only for shelter, but for the healing of the nations. We
must <i>sit down under this shadow with delight,</i> must put an
entire confidence in the protection of it (as <scripRef id="Song.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.15" parsed="|Judg|9|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:15">Judges ix. 15</scripRef>), and take an entire
complacency in the refreshment of it. But that is not all: 2. Here
is pleasing nourishing food. This tree drops its fruits to those
that <i>sit down under its shadow,</i> and they are welcome to
them, and will find them <i>sweet unto their taste,</i> whatever
they are to others. Believers have tasted that the Lord Jesus is
<i>gracious</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.3" parsed="|1Pet|2|3|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:3">1 Pet. ii.
3</scripRef>); his <i>fruits</i> are all the precious privileges of
the new covenant, purchased by his blood and communicated by his
Spirit. Promises are sweet to a believer, yea, and precepts too.
<i>I delight in the law of God after the inward man.</i> Pardons
are sweet, and peace of conscience is sweet, assurances of God's
love, joys of the Holy Ghost, the hopes of eternal life, and the
present earnests and foretastes of it are sweet, all sweet to those
that have their spiritual senses exercised. If our mouths be put
out of taste for the pleasure of sin, divine consolations will be
<i>sweet to our taste, sweeter than honey and the
honeycomb.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p8">III. She owns herself obliged to Jesus
Christ for all the benefit and comfort she had in communion with
him (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.4" parsed="|Song|2|4|0|0" passage="So 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>I sat
down under</i> the apple-tree, glad to be there, but he admitted
me, nay, he pressed me, to a more intimate communion with him:
<i>Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why standest thou
without?</i> <i>He brought me to the house</i> of wine, the place
where he entertains his special friends, from lower to higher
measures and degrees of comfort, from the fruit of the <i>apple
tree</i> to the more generous fruit of the vine." <i>To him
that</i> values the divine joys he <i>has more shall be given.</i>
One of the rabbin by <i>the banqueting-house</i> understands the
<i>tabernacle of the congregation, where the interpretation of the
law was given;</i> surely we may apply it to Christian assemblies,
where the gospel is preached and gospel-ordinances are
administered, particularly the Lord's supper, that <i>banquet of
wine,</i> especially to the inside of those ordinances, communion
with God in them. Observe, 1. How she was introduced: "<i>He
brought me,</i> wrought in me an inclination to draw nigh to God,
helped me over my discouragements, took me by the hand, guided and
led me, and gave me an <i>access</i> with boldness to God as a
<i>Father,</i>" <scripRef id="Song.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.18" parsed="|Eph|2|18|0|0" passage="Eph 2:18">Eph. ii.
18</scripRef>. We should never have come <i>into the
banqueting-house,</i> never have been acquainted with spiritual
pleasures, if Christ had not brought us, by opening for us a new
and living way and opening in us a new and living fountain. 2. How
she was entertained: <i>His banner over me was love; he brought
me</i> in with a banner displayed over my head, not as one he
triumphed over, but as one he triumphed in, and whom he always
caused to triumph with him and in him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.2.14" parsed="|2Cor|2|14|0|0" passage="2Co 2:14">2 Cor. ii. 14</scripRef>. The gospel is compared to a
<i>banner</i> or <i>ensign</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.12" parsed="|Isa|11|12|0|0" passage="Isa 11:12">Isa.
xi. 12</scripRef>), and that which is represented in the banner,
written in it in letters of gold, letters of blood, is <i>love,
love;</i> and this is the entertainment in <i>the
banqueting-house.</i> Christ is the <i>captain of our
salvation,</i> and he enlists all his soldiers under the <i>banner
of love;</i> in that they centre; to that they must continually
have an eye, and be animated by it. <i>The love of Christ</i> must
<i>constrain</i> them to fight manfully. When a city was taken the
conqueror set up his standard in it. "He has conquered me with his
love, overcome me with kindness, and that is the <i>banner over
me.</i>" This she speaks of as what she had formerly had experience
of, and she remembers it with delight. Eaten bread must not be
forgotten, but remembered with thankfulness to that God who has fed
us with manna in this wilderness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p9">IV. She professes her strong affection and
most passionate love to Jesus Christ (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.5" parsed="|Song|2|5|0|0" passage="So 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>I am sick of love,</i>
overcome, overpowered, by it. David explains this when he says
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.20" parsed="|Ps|119|20|0|0" passage="Ps 119:20">Ps. cxix. 20</scripRef>), <i>My soul
breaks for the longing that it has unto thy judgments,</i> and
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.81" parsed="|Ps|119|81|0|0" passage="Ps 119:81"><i>v.</i> 81</scripRef>), <i>My soul
faints for thy salvation,</i> languishing with care to make it sure
and fear of coming short of it. The spouse was now absent perhaps
from her beloved, waiting for his return, and cannot bear the grief
of distance and delay. Oh how much better it is with the soul when
it is <i>sick of love</i> to Christ than when it is surfeited with
the love of this world! She cries out for cordials: "Oh <i>stay me
with flagons,</i> or <i>ointments,</i> or <i>flowers,</i> any thing
that is reviving; <i>comfort me with apples,</i> with the fruits of
that <i>apple-tree,</i> Christ (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.3" parsed="|Song|2|3|0|0" passage="So 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), with the merit and meditation of
Christ and the sense of his love to my soul." Note, Those that are
<i>sick of love</i> to Christ shall not want spiritual supports,
while they are yet waiting for spiritual comforts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p10">V. She experiences the power and tenderness
of divine grace, relieving her in her present faintings, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.6" parsed="|Song|2|6|0|0" passage="So 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Though he seemed to have
withdrawn, yet he was even then a very present help, 1. To sustain
the love-sick soul, and to keep it from fainting away: "<i>His left
hand is under my head,</i> to bear it up, nay, as a pillow to lay
it easy." David experienced God's hand upholding him then when
<i>his soul was following hard after God</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.8" parsed="|Ps|63|8|0|0" passage="Ps 63:8">Ps. lxiii. 8</scripRef>), and Job in a state of desertion
yet found that God <i>put strength</i> into him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.6" parsed="|Job|23|6|0|0" passage="Job 23:6">Job xxiii. 6</scripRef>. <i>All his saints are in his
hand,</i> which tenderly holds their aching heads. 2. To encourage
the love-sick soul to continue waiting till he returns: "For, in
the mean time, <i>his right hand embraces me,</i> and thereby gives
me an unquestionable assurance of his love." Believers owe all
their strength and comfort to the supporting left hand and
embracing right hand of the Lord Jesus.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p11">VI. Finding her beloved thus nigh unto her
she is in great care that her communion with him be not interrupted
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.7" parsed="|Song|2|7|0|0" passage="So 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>I charge
you, O you daughters of Jerusalem.</i> Jerusalem, the mother of us
all, charges all her daughters, the church charges all her members,
the believing soul charges all its powers and faculties, the spouse
charges herself and all about her, not to <i>stir up, or awake, her
love until he please,</i> now that he is asleep in her arms, as she
was borne up in his, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.6" parsed="|Song|2|6|0|0" passage="So 2:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. She gives them this charge <i>by the roes and the
hinds of the field,</i> that is, by every thing that is amiable in
their eyes, and dear to them, <i>as the loving hind and the
pleasant roe.</i> "My love is to me dearer than those can be to
you, and will be disturbed, like them, with a very little noise."
Note, 1. Those that experience the sweetness of communion with
Christ, and the sensible manifestations of his love, cannot but
desire the continuance of these blessed views, these blessed
visits. Peter would make tabernacles upon the holy mount,
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.17.4" parsed="|Matt|17|4|0|0" passage="Mt 17:4">Matt. xvii. 4</scripRef>. 2. Yet Christ
will, when he pleases, withdraw those extraordinary communications
of himself, for he is a free-agent, and the Spirit, as <i>the wind,
blows where</i> and when <i>it listeth,</i> and in his pleasure it
becomes us to acquiesce. But, 3. Our care must be that we do
nothing to provoke him to withdraw and to hide his face, that we
carefully watch over our own hearts and suppress every thought that
may grieve his good Spirit. Let those that have comfort be afraid
of sinning it away.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Song.iii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.8-Song.2.13" parsed="|Song|2|8|2|13" passage="So 2:8-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.2.8-Song.2.13">
<h4 id="Song.iii-p11.5">Mutual Love of Christ and the
Church.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.iii-p12">8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.   9 My
beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind
our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through
the lattice.   10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up,
my love, my fair one, and come away.   11 For, lo, the winter
is past, the rain is over <i>and</i> gone;   12 The flowers
appear on the earth; the time of the singing <i>of birds</i> is
come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;   13
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines
<i>with</i> the tender grape give a <i>good</i> smell. Arise, my
love, my fair one, and come away.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p13">The church is here pleasing herself
exceedingly with the thoughts of her further communion with Christ
after she has recovered from her fainting fit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p14">I. She rejoices in his approach, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.8" parsed="|Song|2|8|0|0" passage="So 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. 1. She hears him speak:
"It is <i>the voice of my beloved,</i> calling me to tell me he is
coming." Like one of his own sheep, she <i>knows his voice</i>
before she sees him, and can easily distinguish it from the
<i>voice of a stranger</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:John.10.4-John.10.5" parsed="|John|10|4|10|5" passage="Joh 10:4,5">John x.
4, 5</scripRef>), and, like a faithful friend of the bridegroom,
she <i>rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice,</i>
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:John.3.29" parsed="|John|3|29|0|0" passage="Joh 3:29">John iii. 29</scripRef>. With what an
air of triumph and exultation does she cry out, "<i>It is the voice
of my beloved,</i> it can be the voice of no other, for none
besides can speak to the heart and make that burn." 2. She sees him
come, sees the goings of <i>our God, our King,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.48.24" parsed="|Ps|48|24|0|0" passage="Ps 48:24">Ps. xlviii. 24</scripRef>. <i>Behold, he
comes.</i> This may very well be applied to the prospect with the
Old-Testament saints had of Christ's coming in the flesh.
<i>Abraham saw his day</i> at a distance, <i>and was glad.</i> The
nearer the time came the clearer discoveries were made of it; and
those that waited for the consolation of Israel with an eye of
faith saw him come, and triumphed in the sight: <i>Behold, he
comes;</i> for they had heard him say (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.40.7" parsed="|Ps|40|7|0|0" passage="Ps 40:7">Ps. xl. 7</scripRef>), <i>Lo, I come,</i> to which their
faith here affixes its seal: <i>Behold, he comes</i> as he has
promised. (1.) He comes cheerfully and with great alacrity; he
comes leaping and skipping <i>like a roe</i> and like <i>a young
hart</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.9" parsed="|Song|2|9|0|0" passage="So 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), as
one pleased with his own undertaking, and that had his heart upon
it and his delights with the sons of men. When he came to be
baptized with the baptism of blood, how was he <i>straitened till
it was accomplished!</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.50" parsed="|Luke|12|50|0|0" passage="Lu 12:50">Luke xii.
50</scripRef>. (2.) He comes slighting and surmounting all the
difficulties that lay in his way; he comes <i>leaping over the
mountains, skipping over the hills</i> (so some read it), making
nothing of the discouragements he was to break through; the curse
of the law, the death of the cross, must be undergone, all the
powers of darkness must be grappled with, but, before the
resolutions of his love, these great mountains become plains.
Whatever opposition is given at any time to the deliverance of
God's church, Christ will break through it, will get over it. (3.)
He comes speedily, <i>like a roe</i> or <i>a young hart;</i> they
thought the time long (every day a year), but really he hastened;
as now, so then, <i>surely he comes quickly; he that shall come
will come, and will not tarry.</i> When he comes for the
deliverance of his people he <i>flies upon a cloud,</i> and never
stays beyond his time, which is the best time. We may apply it to
particular believers, who find that even when Christ has withdrawn
sensible comforts, and seems to forsake, yet it is but for a small
moment, and he will soon return with everlasting
loving-kindness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p15">II. She pleases herself with the glimpses
she has of him, and the glances she has of his favour: "He
<i>stands behind our wall;</i> I know he is there, for sometimes
<i>he looks forth at the window,</i> or <i>looks in</i> at it, and
displays <i>himself through the lattice.</i>" Such was the state of
the Old-Testament church while it was in expectation of the coming
of the Messiah. The ceremonial law is called <i>a wall of
partition</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.14" parsed="|Eph|2|14|0|0" passage="Eph 2:14">Eph. ii.
14</scripRef>), <i>a veil</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.13" parsed="|2Cor|3|13|0|0" passage="2Co 3:13">2 Cor.
iii. 13</scripRef>); but Christ stood behind that wall. They had
him near them; they had him with them, though they could not see
him clearly. He that was the substance was not far off from the
shadows, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.17" parsed="|Col|2|17|0|0" passage="Col 2:17">Col. ii. 17</scripRef>. The
saw him looking through the windows of the ceremonial institutions
and smiling through those lattices; in their sacrifices and
purifications Christ discovered himself to them, and gave them
intimations and earnests of his grace, both to engage and to
encourage their longings for his coming. Such is our present state
in comparison with what it will be at Christ's second coming. We
now <i>see him through a glass darkly</i> (the body is a wall
between us and him, through the windows of which we now and then
get a sight of him), but not <i>face to face,</i> as we hope to see
him shortly. In the sacraments Christ is near us, but it is
<i>behind the wall</i> of external signs, through <i>those
lattices</i> he manifests himself to us; but we shall shortly
<i>see him as he is.</i> Some understand this of the state of a
believer when he is under a cloud; Christ is out of sight and yet
not far off. See <scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.14" parsed="|Job|34|14|0|0" passage="Job 34:14">Job xxxiv.
14</scripRef>, and compare <scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.10" parsed="|Job|23|8|23|10" passage="Job 23:8-10">Job
xxiii. 8-10</scripRef>. She calls the wall that interposed between
her and her beloved <i>our wall,</i> because it is sin, and nothing
else, that separates between us and God, and that is a wall of our
own erecting (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.59.1" parsed="|Isa|59|1|0|0" passage="Isa 59:1">Isa. lix. 1</scripRef>);
behind that he stands, as <i>waiting to be gracious,</i> and ready
to be reconciled, upon our repentance. Then <i>he looks in at the
window,</i> observes the frame of our hearts and the working of our
souls; he looks forth at the window, and shows himself in giving
them some comfort, that they may continue hoping for his
return.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p16">III. She repeats the gracious invitation he
had given her to come a walking with him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.10-Song.2.13" parsed="|Song|2|10|2|13" passage="So 2:10-13"><i>v.</i> 10-13</scripRef>. She remembers what her
beloved said to her, for it had made a very pleasing and powerful
impression upon her, and the <i>word that quickens us</i> we shall
<i>never forget.</i> She relates it for the encouragement of
others, telling them what he had said to her soul and <i>done for
her soul,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.16" parsed="|Ps|66|16|0|0" passage="Ps 66:16">Ps. lxvi.
16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p17">1. He called her his love and his fair one.
Whatever she is to others, to him she is acceptable, and in his
eyes she is amiable. Those that take Christ for their beloved, he
will own as his; never was any love lost that was bestowed upon
Christ. Christ, by expressing his love to believers, invites and
encourages them to follow him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p18">2. He called her to <i>rise and come
away,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.10" parsed="|Song|2|10|0|0" passage="So 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>, and
again <scripRef id="Song.iii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.13" parsed="|Song|2|13|0|0" passage="So 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. The
repetition denotes backwardness in her (we have need to be often
called to come away with Jesus Christ; <i>precept must be upon
precept and line upon line</i>), but it denotes earnestness in him;
so much is his heart set upon the welfare of precious souls that he
importunes them most pressingly to that which is for their own
good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p19">3. He gave for a reason the return of the
spring, and the pleasantness of the weather.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p20">(1.) The season is elegantly described in a
great variety of expressions. [1.] <i>The winter is past,</i> the
dark, cold, and barren winter. Long winters and hard ones pass away
at last; they do no endure always. And the spring would not be so
pleasant as it is if it did not succeed the winter, which is a foil
to its beauty, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.14" parsed="|Eccl|7|14|0|0" passage="Ec 7:14">Eccl. vii.
14</scripRef>. Neither the face of the heavens nor that of the
earth is always the same, but subject to continual vicissitudes,
diurnal and annual. <i>The winter is past,</i> but has not passed
away for ever; it will come again, and we must provide for it in
summer, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.6 Bible:Prov.6.8" parsed="|Prov|6|6|0|0;|Prov|6|8|0|0" passage="Pr 6:6,8">Prov. vi. 6, 8</scripRef>. We
must weep in winter, and rejoice in summer, as though we wept and
rejoiced not, for both are passing. [2.] <i>The rain is over and
gone,</i> the winter-rain, the cold stormy rain; it is over now,
and <i>the dew is as the dew of herbs.</i> Even the rain that
drowned the world was over and gone at last (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.8.1-Gen.8.3" parsed="|Gen|8|1|8|3" passage="Ge 8:1-3">Gen. viii. 1-3</scripRef>), and God promised to drown
the world no more, which was a type and figure of the covenant of
grace, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.9" parsed="|Isa|54|9|0|0" passage="Isa 54:9">Isa. liv. 9</scripRef>. [3.]
<i>The flowers appear on the earth.</i> All winter they are dead
and buried in their roots, and there is no sign of them; but in the
spring they revive, and show themselves in a wonderful variety and
verdure, and, like the dew that produces them, <i>tarry not for
man,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.5.7" parsed="|Mic|5|7|0|0" passage="Mic 5:7">Mic. v. 7</scripRef>. They
appear, but they will soon disappear again, and man in herein like
<i>the flower of the field,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.2" parsed="|Job|14|2|0|0" passage="Job 14:2">Job
xiv. 2</scripRef>. [4.] <i>The time of singing of birds has
come.</i> The little birds, which all the winter lie hid in their
retirements and scarcely live, when the spring returns forget all
the calamities of the winter, and to the best of their capacity
chant forth the praises of their Creator. Doubtless he who
understands the birds that cry for want (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.9" parsed="|Ps|147|9|0|0" passage="Ps 147:9">Ps. cxlvii. 9</scripRef>) takes notice of those that
<i>sing for joy</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.12" parsed="|Ps|104|12|0|0" passage="Ps 104:12">Ps. civ.
12</scripRef>. The singing of the birds may shame our silence in
God's praises, who are better fed (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.9" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.26" parsed="|Matt|6|26|0|0" passage="Mt 6:26">Matt. vi. 26</scripRef>), and better taught (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.35.11" parsed="|Job|35|11|0|0" passage="Job 35:11">Job xxxv. 11</scripRef>), and are of <i>more
value than many sparrows.</i> They live without inordinate care
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.11" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.26" parsed="|Matt|6|26|0|0" passage="Mt 6:26">Matt. vi. 26</scripRef>) and therefore
they sing, while we murmur. [5.] <i>The voice of the turtle is
heard in our land,</i> which is one of the season-birds mentioned
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.7" parsed="|Jer|8|7|0|0" passage="Jer 8:7">Jer. viii. 7</scripRef>, that observe
the time of their coming and the time of their singing, and so
shame us who <i>know not the judgment of the Lord,</i> understand
not the times, nor do that which is <i>beautiful in its season,</i>
do not sing in singing time. [6.] <i>The fig-tree puts forth her
green figs,</i> by which <i>we know that summer is nigh</i>
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.13" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.32" parsed="|Matt|24|32|0|0" passage="Mt 24:32">Matt. xxiv. 32</scripRef>), when the
green figs will be ripe figs and fit for use; and the <i>vines with
the tender grape give a good smell.</i> The earth produces not only
<i>flowers</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p20.14" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.12" parsed="|Song|2|12|0|0" passage="So 2:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), but <i>fruits;</i> and the smell of the fruits,
which are profitable, is to be preferred far before that of the
flowers, which are only for show and pleasure. Serpents, they say,
are driven away by the smell of the vines; and who is the old
serpent, and who the true vine, we know very well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p21">(2.) Now this description of the returning
spring, as a reason for coming away with Christ, is applicable [1.]
To the introducing of the gospel in the room of the Old-Testament
dispensation, during which it had been winter time with the church.
Christ's gospel warms that which was cold, makes that fruitful
which before was dead and barren; when it comes to any place it
puts a beauty and glory upon that place (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.7-2Cor.3.8" parsed="|2Cor|3|7|3|8" passage="2Co 3:7,8">2 Cor. iii. 7, 8</scripRef>) and furnishes occasion for
joy. Spring-time is pleasant time, and so is gospel-time. <i>Aspice
venturo lætentur ut omnia seclo</i>—<i>Behold what joy the dawning
age inspires!</i> said Virgil, from the Sibyls, perhaps with more
reference to the setting up of the Messiah's kingdom at that time
than he himself thought of. See <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.96.11" parsed="|Ps|96|11|0|0" passage="Ps 96:11">Ps.
xcvi. 11</scripRef>. <i>Arise then,</i> and improve this
spring-time. <i>Come away</i> from the world and the flesh, come
into <i>fellowship with Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.9" parsed="|1Cor|1|9|0|0" passage="1Co 1:9">1
Cor. i. 9</scripRef>. [2.] To the delivering of the church from the
power of persecuting enemies, and the restoring of liberty and
peace to it, after a severe winter of suffering and restraint. When
the storms of trouble are over and gone, when the <i>voice of the
turtle,</i> the joyful sound of the gospel of Christ, is again
heard, and ordinances are enjoyed with freedom, then <i>arise and
come away</i> to improve the happy juncture. Walk in the light of
the Lord; sing in the ways of the Lord. When the churches had rest,
then were they edified, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.31" parsed="|Acts|9|31|0|0" passage="Ac 9:31">Acts ix.
31</scripRef>. [3.] To the conversion of sinners from a state of
nature to a state of grace. That blessed change is like the return
of the spring, a universal change and a very comfortable one; it is
a new creation; it is being born again. The soul that was hard, and
cold, and frozen, and unprofitable, like the earth in winter,
becomes fruitful, like the earth in spring, and by degrees, like
it, brings its fruits to perfection. This blessed change is owing
purely to the approaches and influences of the sun of
righteousness, who calls to us from heaven to <i>arise and come
away;</i> come, gather in summer. [4.] To the consolations of the
saints after a state of inward dejection and despondency. A child
of God, under doubts and fears, is like the earth in winter, its
nights long, its days dark, good affections chilled, nothing done,
nothing got, the hand sealed up. But comfort will return; the birds
shall sing again, and the flowers appear. Arise therefore, poor
drooping soul, and <i>come away</i> with thy beloved. <i>Arise, and
shake thyself from the dust,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.2" parsed="|Isa|52|2|0|0" passage="Isa 52:2">Isa.
lii. 2</scripRef>. <i>Arise, shine, for thy light has come</i>
(<scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.60.1" parsed="|Isa|60|1|0|0" passage="Isa 60:1">Isa. lx. 1</scripRef>); <i>walk in
that light,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.5" parsed="|Isa|2|5|0|0" passage="Isa 2:5">Isa. ii. 5</scripRef>.
[5.] To the resurrection of the body at the last day, and the glory
to be revealed. The bones that lay in the grave, as the roots of
the plants in the ground during the winter, shall then <i>flourish
as a herb,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.14 Bible:Isa.26.19" parsed="|Isa|66|14|0|0;|Isa|26|19|0|0" passage="Isa 66:14,Isa 26:19">Isa. lxvi.
14; xxvi. 19</scripRef>. That will be an eternal farewell to winter
and a joyful entrance upon an everlasting spring.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Song.iii-p21.9" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.14-Song.2.17" parsed="|Song|2|14|2|17" passage="So 2:14-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Song.2.14-Song.2.17">
<h4 id="Song.iii-p21.10">The Love of the Church to
Christ.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Song.iii-p22">14 O my dove, <i>that art</i> in the clefts of
the rock, in the secret <i>places</i> of the stairs, let me see thy
countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet <i>is</i> thy voice,
and thy countenance <i>is</i> comely.   15 Take us the foxes,
the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines <i>have</i>
tender grapes.   16 My beloved <i>is</i> mine, and I <i>am</i>
his: he feedeth among the lilies.   17 Until the day break,
and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe
or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p23">Here is, I. The encouraging invitation
which Christ gives to the church, and every believing soul, to come
into communion with him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.14" parsed="|Song|2|14|0|0" passage="So 2:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p24">1. His love is now his <i>dove;</i> David
had called the church God's <i>turtle-dove</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.84.19" parsed="|Ps|84|19|0|0" passage="Ps 84:19">Ps. lxxxiv. 19</scripRef>), and so she is here called; a
dove for beauty, her <i>wings covered with silver</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.13" parsed="|Ps|18|13|0|0" passage="Ps 18:13">Ps. xviii. 13</scripRef>), for innocence and
inoffensiveness; a gracious spirit is a dove-like spirit, harmless,
loving quietness and cleanliness, and faithful to Christ, as the
turtle to her mate. The Spirit descended <i>like a dove</i> on
Christ, and so he does on all Christians, making them of a <i>meek
and quiet spirit.</i> She is Christ's <i>dove,</i> for he owns her
and delights in her; she can find no rest but in him and his ark,
and therefore to him, as her Noah, she returns.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p25">2. This dove is <i>in the clefts of the
rock and in the secret places of the stairs.</i> This speaks
either, (1.) Her praise. Christ is the rock, to whom she flies for
shelter and in whom alone she can think herself safe and find
herself easy, as a dove in the hole of a rock, when struck at by
the birds of prey, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.48.28" parsed="|Jer|48|28|0|0" passage="Jer 48:28">Jer. xlviii.
28</scripRef>. Moses was hid in a cleft of the rock, that he might
behold something of God's glory, which otherwise he could not have
borne the brightness of. She retires <i>into the secret places of
the stairs,</i> where she may be alone, undisturbed, and may the
better commune with her own heart. Good Christians will find time
to be private. Christ often withdrew to a mountain <i>himself
alone, to pray.</i> Or, (2.) her blame. She crept into the
<i>clefts of the rock,</i> and the <i>secret places,</i> for fear
and shame, any where to hide her head, being heartless and
discouraged, and shunning even the sight of her beloved. Being
conscious to herself of her own unfitness and unworthiness to come
into his presence, and speak to him, she drew back, and was <i>like
a silly dove without heart,</i> <scripRef id="Song.iii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.7.11" parsed="|Hos|7|11|0|0" passage="Ho 7:11">Hos.
vii. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p26">3. Christ graciously calls her out of her
retirements: Come, <i>let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy
voice.</i> She was <i>mourning like a dove</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.14" parsed="|Isa|38|14|0|0" passage="Isa 38:14">Isa. xxxviii. 14</scripRef>), bemoaning herself like
the <i>doves of the valleys,</i> where they are near the clefts of
the impending rocks, <i>mourning for her iniquities</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.16" parsed="|Ezek|7|16|0|0" passage="Eze 7:16">Ezek. vii. 16</scripRef>) and refusing to be
comforted. But Christ calls her to <i>lift up her face without
spot,</i> being purged from an evil conscience (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.15 Bible:Job.22.26" parsed="|Job|11|15|0|0;|Job|22|26|0|0" passage="Job 11:15,22:26">Job xi. 15; xxii. 26</scripRef>), to <i>come
boldly to the throne of grace,</i> having a great <i>high
priest</i> there (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.16" parsed="|Heb|4|16|0|0" passage="Heb 4:16">Heb. iv.
16</scripRef>), to tell what her petition is and what her request:
Let me <i>hear thy voice,</i> hear what thou hast to say; <i>what
would you that I should do unto you?</i> Speak freely, speak up,
and fear not a slight or repulse.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p27">4. For her encouragement, he tells her the
good thoughts he had of her, whatever she thought of herself:
<i>Sweet is thy voice;</i> thy praying voice, though thou canst but
<i>chatter like a crane or a swallow</i> (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.14" parsed="|Isa|38|14|0|0" passage="Isa 38:14">Isa. xxxviii. 14</scripRef>); it is music in God's
ears. He has assured us that <i>the prayer of the upright is his
delight;</i> he smelled a sweet savour from Noah's sacrifice, and
the <i>spiritual sacrifices</i> are no less <i>acceptable,</i>
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.5" parsed="|1Pet|2|5|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:5">1 Pet. ii. 5</scripRef>. This does not
so much commend our services as God's gracious condescension in
making the best of them, and the efficacy of the <i>much
incense</i> which is <i>offered with the prayers of saints,</i>
<scripRef id="Song.iii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.3" parsed="|Rev|8|3|0|0" passage="Re 8:3">Rev. viii. 3</scripRef>. "That
countenance of thine, which thou art ashamed of, is comely, though
now mournful, much more will it be so when it becomes cheerful."
<i>Then</i> the voice of prayer is sweet and acceptable to God when
the countenance, the conversation in which we show ourselves before
men, is holy, and so comely, and agreeable to our profession. Those
that are sanctified have the best comeliness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p28">II. The charge which Christ gives to his
servants to oppose and suppress that which is a terror to his
church and drives her, like a poor frightened dove, into the clefts
of the rock, and which is an obstruction and prejudice to the
interests of his kingdom in this world and in the heart (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.15" parsed="|Song|2|15|0|0" passage="So 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>Take us the
foxes</i> (take them for us, for it is good service both to Christ
and the church), <i>the little foxes,</i> that creep in insensibly;
for, though they are little, they do great mischief, they <i>spoil
the vines,</i> which they must by no means be suffered to do at any
time, especially now when our vines have <i>tender grapes</i> that
must be preserved, or the vintage will fail. Believers are as
vines, weak but useful plants; their fruits are as <i>tender
crops</i> at first, which must have time to come to maturity. This
charge to <i>take the foxes</i> is, 1. A charge to particular
believers to mortify their own corruptions, their sinful appetites
and passions, which are as <i>foxes, little foxes,</i> that destroy
their graces and comforts, quash good motions, crush good
beginnings, and prevent their coming to perfection. Seize the
<i>little foxes,</i> the first risings of sin, the little ones of
Babylon (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.9" parsed="|Ps|137|9|0|0" passage="Ps 137:9">Ps. cxxxvii. 9</scripRef>),
those sins that seem little, for they often prove very dangerous.
Whatever we find a hindrance to us in that which is good we must
put away. 2. A charge to all in their places to oppose and prevent
the spreading of all such opinions and practices as tend to corrupt
men's judgments, debauch their consciences, perplex their minds,
and discourage their inclinations to virtue and piety. Persecutors
are foxes (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.13.32" parsed="|Luke|13|32|0|0" passage="Lu 13:32">Luke xiii. 32</scripRef>);
false prophets are foxes, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.4" parsed="|Ezek|13|4|0|0" passage="Eze 13:4">Eze. xiii.
4</scripRef>. Those that sow the tares of heresy or schism, and,
like Diotrephes, trouble the peace of the church and obstruct the
progress of the gospel, they are the <i>foxes, the little
foxes,</i> which must not be knocked on the head (<i>Christ came
not to destroy men's lives</i>), but taken, that they may be tamed,
or else restrained from doing mischief.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p29">III. The believing profession which the
church makes of her relation to Christ, and the satisfaction she
takes in her interest in him and communion with him, <scripRef id="Song.iii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.16" parsed="|Song|2|16|0|0" passage="So 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. He had called her to
<i>rise</i> and <i>come away</i> with him, to let him see her face
and hear her voice; now this is her answer to that call, in which,
though at present in the dark and at a distance,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p30">1. She comforts herself with the thoughts
of the mutual interest and relation that were between her and her
beloved: <i>My beloved to me</i> and <i>I to him,</i> so the
original reads it very emphatically; the conciseness of the
language speaks the largeness of her affection: "What he is to me
and I to him may better be conceived than expressed." Note, (1.) It
is the unspeakable privilege of true believers that Christ is
theirs: <i>My beloved is mine;</i> this denotes not only propriety
("I have a title to him") but possession and tenure—"I receive
from his fulness." Believers are partakers of Christ; they have not
only an interest in him, but the enjoyment of him, are taken not
only in the covenant, but into communion with him. All the benefits
of his glorious undertaking, as Mediator, are made over to them. He
is that to them which the world neither is nor can be, all that
which they need and desire, and which will make a complete
happiness for them. All he is is theirs, and all he has, all he has
done, and all he is doing; all he has promised in the gospel, all
he has prepared in heaven, all is yours. (2.) It is the undoubted
character of all true believers that they are Christ's, and then,
and then only, he is theirs. They have given their own selves to
him (<scripRef id="Song.iii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.8.5" parsed="|2Cor|8|5|0|0" passage="2Co 8:5">2 Cor. viii. 5</scripRef>); they
receive his doctrine and obey his laws; they bear his image and
espouse his interest; they belong to Christ. If we be his, his
wholly, his only, his for ever, we may take the comfort of his
being ours.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p31">2. She comforts herself with the thoughts
of the communications of his grace to his people: <i>He feeds among
the lilies.</i> When she wants the tokens of his favour to her in
particular, she rejoices in the assurance of his presence with all
believers in general, who are lilies in his eyes. He <i>feeds</i>
among them, that is, he takes as much pleasure in them and their
assemblies as a man does in his table or in his garden, for he
<i>walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks;</i> he delights
to converse with them, and to do them good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Song.iii-p32">IV. The church's hope and expectation of
Christ's coming, and her prayer grounded thereupon. 1. She doubts
not but that the <i>day will break</i> and the <i>shadows</i> will
<i>flee away.</i> The gospel-day will dawn, and the shadows of the
ceremonial law will flee away. This was the comfort of the
Old-Testament church, that, after the long night of that dark
dispensation, the <i>day-spring from on high would</i> at length
<i>visit them,</i> to <i>give light to those that sit in
darkness.</i> When the sun rises the shades of the night vanish, so
do the shadows of the day when the substance comes. The day of
comfort will come after a night of desertion. Or it may refer to
the second coming of Christ, and the eternal happiness of the
saints; the shadows of our present state will flee away, our
darkness and doubts, our griefs and all our grievances, and a
glorious day shall dawn, a morning when the <i>upright shall have
dominion,</i> a day that shall have no night after it. 2. She begs
the presence of her beloved, in the mean time, to support and
comfort her: "<i>Turn, my beloved,</i> turn to me, come and visit
me, come and relieve me, <i>be with me always to the end of the
age.</i> In the day of my extremity, make haste to help me, <i>make
no long tarrying.</i> Come over even <i>the mountains of
division,</i> interposing time and days, with some gracious
anticipations of that light and love." 3. She begs that he would
not only turn to her for the present, but hasten his coming to
fetch her to himself. <i>"Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly.</i> Though there be mountains in the way, thou canst,
<i>like a roe, or a young hart,</i> step over them with ease. <i>O
show thyself to me, or take me up to thee.</i>"</p>
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