Song of Solomon 1:2-4

PART FIRST
The Meeting of the Betrothed

CHAPTER Song of Solomon 1:2, TO CHAPTER Song of Solomon 2:7

SCENE FIRST. Place: The Palace of Jerusalem. Speakers: Shulamite, or the Bride; and the Daughters of Jerusalem, or the Ladies of Solomon’s Court.—CHAP. Song of Solomon 1:2.

SHULAMITE

Addressing the King in his Absence

Bride’s Longing after the Beloved.

Song of Solomon 1:2

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For thy love is better than wine.
Because of the savour of thy good ointments,
(Thy name is as ointment poured forth),
Therefore do the virgins love thee.
Draw me:
We will run after thee.
The King hath brought me into his chambers:
We will be glad and rejoice in thee;
We will remember thy love more than wine:
The upright love thee.

Spiritually, the believer’s longing for the sensible presence of Christ and the manifestation of His love. Probably the cry of the Ancient Church for the coming of the Lord’s Anointed. According to the Jews, Israel’s longing for the Divine reconciliation after the sin of the Golden Calf.

Bride’s First Desire.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses (or, with kisses) of his mouth” (Song of Solomon 1:2). Shulamite speaks in soliloquy. Speaks of her Beloved as absent. Observe—

I. The PERSON intended. “Let him;” namely, the Beloved. No name mentioned. The language abrupt but natural, as spoken under strong emotion. Expressive of reverence. So the disciples of Pythagoras Spoke of their master,—“He said.” More especially, of impassioned affection. The Bride’s thoughts full of her Beloved, as though there were but one object she cared for (Psalms 73:25). Christ to the believer the One Pearl of great price (Matthew 13:46). The language of a soul wearying of all but Christ. Bride speaks of her Beloved as if all must know whom she meant. So Mary to the supposed gardener: “If thou have borne Him hence” (John 20:15).

Christ continually promised to the fathers through the prophets (Acts 26:6; 1 Peter 1:11). The hope and expectation of Old Testament saints (Genesis 49:18; Isaiah 26:8; Matthew 13:17; John 8:56; Acts 26:7). Exemplified in Simeon, Anna, and others (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:36; Luke 3:15). Christ promised and expected as the Bridegroom of the Church (Hosea 2:19; Hosea 3:3; Isaiah 54:5; Isaiah 62:5; John 3:29).

II. The THING desired. Let him “kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” Personal and sensible manifestation of Christ and His love to the soul. The love itself not doubted: the expression, proof, and enjoyment of it desired. Christ’s kiss is Christ Himself sensibly giving Himself in tenderest affection to the soul, and assuring it of His cordial love. The subject of the Song not the coming to the Saviour, but communion with Him: not the coming of the soul to Christ, but the coming of Christ to the soul. The language of the soul in the Song not that of the Publican: ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’; but that of the Psalmist: ‘My soul cleaveth to the dust: quicken thou me according to Thy word’ (Psalms 119:25). The language of the text expressive of—

1. Strong desire and eager longing. ‘Let him.’ (or, O that he would) ‘kiss me.’ Such longings a natural part of a healthy Christian experience. Feeble health little accustomed to fervent longing. A Christ loved will be a Christ longed for. Absence illbrooked by ardent affection. Love yearns for the fellowship and enjoyed love of its object.

2. Intimate acquaintance. Familiar acquaintance with Christ begets not contempt, but reverence and love.

3. Consciousness of union with and interest in the Beloved. Kisses not for strangers, still less for enemies. Expected only by a friend, and most of all by a Bride or wife.

4. Mutual affection. Kisses desired only from one who loves us and whom we ourselves love. An aggravation of Judas’s sin that he betrayed his Master with a kiss. A true kiss the ‘kiss of charity’ or love (1 Peter 5:14).

5. Absence and delay. Sensible tokens of Divine love not always vouchsafed to believers. Christ’s kisses not things of every day. At times wisely withheld. ‘A time for embracing, and a time to refrain from embracing.’ Patience required in respect to spiritual joys. The time coming when delay and withdrawal will be no more.

6. Desire for manifested reconciliation. So Israel longed after the Lord after the sin of the golden calf (Exodus 33:1; Exodus 33:7); and in the time of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:2). A kiss the token of reconciliation given by David to his son Absalom, and by the forgiving father to the prodigal and penitent son (2 Samuel 14:33; Luke 15:20).

The desire expressed by each believing soul for itself: ‘Let him kiss me.’ The living soul desires personal enjoyment of Christ’s love and the personal application of it. Christ’s kisses for His Church universal, and for each true member of it in particular. Each believing soul the Church in miniature. The features, experience, and glory of the Church those of each individual member.

The thing desired—

(1) ‘Kisses.’ Implies coldness of faith and affection. To receive even a kind word from Christ an unspeakable favour and happiness. Christ able and willing to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Grants not only the adoption of a son, but the espousals of a bride (Theodoret). The Bride appears to desire not only one kiss but many. Even one not to be purchased with a thousand worlds. How rich the believer in receiving many! Even one a thing never to be forgotten. One of Christ’s kisses carries heaven in its bosom. Kisses of different kinds and for different occasions: the kiss of favour, of friendship, of affection, of reconciliation, of relationship, of nuptial contract, and of marriage. The marriage-covenant between Christ and His people permits and grants the renewal of its seals and pledges.

(2) ‘Kisses of his mouth.’ These reserved more especially for his personal appearing. ‘Let him kiss me, not by the mouth of the prophets, but with his own mouth’ (Rabbins). The desire a prophetical intimation of His coming in the flesh. Realized when men wondered at “the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:18). “Be of good comfort, thy sins are forgiven thee;” “Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace”—some of these kisses. Such also every Gospel promise and gracious consolation uttered and applied by Jesus to the penitent believing soul. ‘The lip of promise meeting the lip of prayer.’ Christ’s office to “Preach glad tidings to the meek; to bind up the broken hearted; to comfort them that mourn; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). His mouth most sweet (chap. Song of Solomon 5:16). ‘His mouth,’ as marking the tenderest affection. Amazing condescension that the King of glory can stoop from His throne to kiss a beggar taken from the dunghill. Ample compensation for the loss of idols in the kisses of the King’s mouth. The soul that gives up all for Him, sooner or later filled and overpowered with His love. The ‘kisses of his mouth’ not only the communications of His love but of His spirit. According to the Jews, a man’s loving kiss is accompanied with an infusion of his spirit. So Jesus, after saying: Peace be unto you,—breathed on His disciples, and said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost (John 20:21). Christ’s kisses given in the reading and hearing of His word; in secret and social prayer; and in the ordinance of the Supper. The consolations of His Word personally applied by Himself to the heart through His Spirit. The kisses to be given by His own mouth. All Gospel duty summed up in our kissing the Son; all Gospel comfort summed up in the Son kissing us. Christ’s kisses in the Gospel intended to heal the wounds of the Law. The kisses of His mouth in the highest sense still kept in reserve. Jerusalem above the place where the Lord mainly comforts His people (Isaiah 66:13). There they see His face. His hand wipes away their tears. He Himself feeds them and leads them to living fountains of waters. Hence His second appearing the desire of believers in the New Testament, as His first appearing was that of those in the Old (Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20; 2 Peter 3:12). The last promise of Christ in the Bible: Surely I come quickly. The last prayer of His Church: Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

Reason of Bride’s First Desire.

“For thy love (Heb. loves) is better than wine.”— Song of Solomon 1:1.

With the next breath Shulamite turns to her Beloved and addresses himself, though still absent and invisible. A believer’s communion with Christ on earth rather that with an invisible friend. Want of bodily sight no hindrance to spiritual fellowship. Christ, though invisible to the eye of flesh, yet visible to the eye of faith. Common, under strong feeling, to address a friend though distant and unseen. The living and loving soul not satisfied with speaking of Christ, but must speak to Him. ‘He’ to be exchanged for ‘Thou.’ The reason for the soul desiring the kisses of Christ’s mouth is the excellence and sweetness of His love and the manifestations of it. An object desired in proportion to the sense of its worth. Observe in regard to the—

Excellence of Christ’s Love.

1. The LOVE itself. ‘Thy love,’ or as margin, ‘thy loves’—not only the love itself, but the manifestations of it. Christ’s love always one and the same; the expressions and manifestations of it many and various. His love well represented in the plural form, from its riches, abundance, and extent. Paul’s prayer that believers might be strengthened with might by the Holy Spirit, so as to comprehend with all saints what is its length, and breadth, and depth, and height, and to know it though really passing all knowledge (Ephesians 3:16. Observe—

1. The character of Christ’s love. Like the love of the Father it is—

(1) Everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3).

(2) Unchanging (John 13:1).

(3) Spontaneous and free (Ezekiel 16:5; Ezekiel 16:8; 1 John 4:10; 1 John 4:19).

(4) Sovereign and distinguishing (John 6:70; John 13:18; John 15:16).

(5) Costly and self-sacrificing (Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 1:5).

(6) Enriching in its effects (Ephesians 5:26; Revelation 1:5).

2. The manifestations of it. These both in word and deed. Made in—

(1) His engaging for us in the everlasting covenant (Psalms 40:7; Ephesians 5:25).

(2) The revelation of His love in the first promise in Eden (Genesis 3:15).

(3) The successive communications of it through the prophets.
(4) His gracious dealings with His people in the Old Testament.
(5) The personal manifestations of Himself to the patriarchs and Old Testament saints.
(6) His INCARNATION.
(7). His acts, words, and teachings when on earth.
(8). His sufferings and death.
(9). The bestowment of His Spirit on and after Pentecost.
(10) His promises to His Church made before and after His ascension into heaven.
(11) The ordinances which He instituted, especially that of the Supper.
(12) The ingathering of His Redeemed by the preaching of the Word.
(13) The personal communications of His love to the souls of His people.
(14) His gracious providential dealings with His Church, both as a whole and in its individual members.

II. The EXCELLENCE of the love. ‘Thy love is better than wine.’ Wine put for what is most grateful to the taste, refreshing to the body, and exhilarating to the spirits. Wine among the chief luxuries of life. The ‘banquet of wine’ (Esther 5:6) put for the most joyous of feasts. Yet Christ’s love ‘better than wine.’

(1) From the nature of love itself. Love and the expression of it among the sweetest of human enjoyments. Hence the ‘comfort of love’ (Philippians 2:1).

(2) From the person whose love it is. A sinful and imperfect creature’s love often the sweetest of earthly enjoyments. What the love of Him who is the ‘Chief among ten thousand,’ ‘fairer than the children of men,’ ‘altogether lovely, the sum, source, and centre of all loveliness and excellence! Christ’s love better than wine, as—

1. More sweet, gladdening, and refreshing. (Psalms 4:7). ‘Sweet is the King’s wine, but sweeter is his love’ (Delitzsch). The sense of Christ’s love the true cordial of the soul.

2. More satisfying. The old wine, after which none desires new. Takes from creature enjoyments much of their attraction. The world crucified to us by the cross of Christ,—the highest expression of this love.

3. More beneficial. Exhilarates the soul; and through that, influential on the whole man. Purifies while it gladdens. No danger of excess or of hurtful consequences. Wine a mocker. At last bites like a serpent and stings like an adder (Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:32). Christ’s love leaves no sting behind it. Betrays none into sin. Exhilarates without inebriating.

4. More lasting in its effects. Wine perishable, and soon ceases even to exhilarate and refresh. Christ’s love eternal and unchanging in its effects as well as in itself. That only strictly true of Christ’s love which is said of wine: ‘Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more’ (Proverbs 31:6).

The excellence of Christ’s love not to be described (Psalms 36:7). To be tasted in order to be known (Psalms 34:8; 1 Peter 2:3). Able to fill the soul with joy in the absence of all earthly comforts, and the loss of all earthly possessions (Habakkuk 3:17). The Holy Spirit’s office to reveal it and shed it abroad in the heart (Romans 5:5). Hence the exhortation: ‘Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the Spirit’ (Ephesians 5:18). Joy in the experience of Christ’s love the characteristic of the New Testament dispensation. Symbolized in His first miracle. The water of the Old Testament economy turned into the wine of the New. The consecration of wine as the symbol of His shed blood, and so of His dying love, among the last acts of the Saviour’s love. Hence the Lord’s Supper made the sweetest and most reviving of all Divine ordinances. Christ’s love the joy of the Redeemed in heaven. The new wine of the kingdom. The song of the Beloved Disciple’s old age, seventy years after tasting of it as he lay on Jesus’s breast. The ever new song of the saints around the throne (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:9).

The Bride Justifies her Desire.

‘Because of the savour of thy good ointments (thy name is as ointment poured forth), therefore do the virgins love thee’— Song of Solomon 1:3.

Her desire justified on two grounds:

(1) The excellence and sweetness in the Beloved himself;
(2) The fact that on that account virgins loved him.

FIRST GROUND: ‘Because of the savour of thy good ointments,—thy name it as ointment poured forth;’ or, ‘ointment poured forth is thy name.’ The first clause the formal reason for the virgins’ love to the King; the second, a parenthetical amplification and explanation of the former, his name being itself those good ointments (Ecclesiastes 7:1). ‘The savour of thy good ointments’ or perfumes, suggests—

The Excellence and Sweetness of Christ

I. Christ has ‘ointments’ or perfumes. The king’s ointments sweetly scented oils sprinkled on the garments, poured on the head, or carried about the person. Christ’s ointments the graces of the soul and life, shed on Him and produced in Him by the Holy Spirit. The existence of such ointments indicated in His official name, ‘Christ,’ or ‘the Christ.’ This the Greek rendering of the Hebrew term Messiah; both meaning ‘the Anointed One.’ Christ, as God’s appointed Saviour, anointed with the Holy Ghost, and that without measure (John 3:34: Acts 4:8; Luke 4:18). This anointing that which fitted Him for His office (Isaiah 61:1). Anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Hebrews 1:9). All His mediatorial garments thus made to ‘smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia,’ by which He was made glad (Psalms 45:8). His human nature thus made full of all excellence and sweetness. Christ fully endowed with all the virtues that can either adorn the character, or that can render a man lovely and attractive in himself, and a benefactor and blessing to his fellow men (Isaiah 11:2). All the excellences and charms that can either beautify or exalt humanity found in Him in their combination and perfection. Graces and virtues apparently contradictory and exclusive of each other, found beautifully harmonized in His character. Symbolized by the ‘holy anointing oil,’ composed of various ingredients (Exodus 30:23; Exodus 30:34). Loftiest wisdom combined in Jesus with child like simplicity; awe-inspiring dignity with meekest humility; inflexible justice with tenderest compassion; spotless holiness with sweetest affability; abhorrence of sin with pity and love to the sinner. The Gospels an exhibition of the ‘good ointments’ of Christ. His life, as written by the four Evangelists, the best commentary on this verse.

II. Christ’s ointments are ‘good.’ They are so—

1. In themselves. The graces and virtues of His character, of the purest and choicest kind, and existing in Him in the highest degree. All Divine, as the product of the Holy Ghost which filled Him. God well pleased for His righteousness’ sake (Isaiah 42:21). The testimony twice repeated from heaven: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17; Luke 9:35). The goodness or excellence of Christ’s ‘ointments’ discovered—

(1) In His spirit and disposition. ‘Meek and lowly in heart.’ Gentle and compassionate, not breaking the bruised reed nor quenching the smoking flax. ‘Holy, harmless, undesled, and separate from sinners.’

(2) In His words. Gracious words proceeded out of His mouth. ‘Never man spake like this man.’ The Gospels a repertory of such golden sayings as never before had fallen from human lips.

(3) In His actions. ‘He went about doing good.’ Even in His outward actions, acknowledged to have been the greatest benefactor the earth had ever seen before or has ever beheld since. His earthly ministry one continued display of self-denying beneficence to the poor, the suffering, and the distressed.

(4) In His sufferings and death. In these, peculiarly distressing as they were, a picture displayed of the most perfect patience and submission. His dying breath a prayer on behalf of His persecutors and murderers, while His only complaint was that poured forth to His Father in the words of the Psalmist: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Psalms 22:1; Matthew 27:46).

2. In their effects. Ointments or perfumes valued for their refreshing fragrance. Hence poured on the head of guests at table. The graces and virtues of Christ’s character all such as rendered Him a Benefactor and Saviour to mankind. Fitted by the Holy Spirit’s anointing to preach glad tidings to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, &c. (Isaiah 61:1.) The poorest, lowest, and guiltiest attracted to Him by His gracious and loving spirit, as well as by His heavenly and healing words (Luke 15:1). Even little children drawn to Him by the savour of His ‘good ointments.’ In the graces and virtues of His character, as well as the sacrificial surrender of His life, Christ a sweet-smelling savour to God. His words quickening, reviving, comforting and gladdening as well to sinners as to saints.

In the view of Shulamite, the King’s name, including in it the report of his graces and excellencies (1 Kings 10:1; 1 Kings 10:6), constituted in itself a rich perfume. ‘Thy name is as ointment poured forth;’ or, ‘ointment poured forth is Thy name’ (Ecclesiastes 7:1). Sweetly true in regard to Solomon’s Antitype. Observe, in reference to the

Name of Christ—

I. The NAME itself. The name of a person often put simply for the person himself. All that is in Jesus, and that is known of Him, renders Him ‘as ointment poured forth.’ The chief among ten thousand. Precious to them that believe. In Him is all that sinners need and that is suited to their case and condition. His character and worth that which renders Him to believers the object of their warmest affection and their most entire confidence. The name or names by which He is known indicative of what He is in Himself, and what He is and becomes to us. His names all significant and suggestive of His character and work. Their meaning such as to commend Him to sinners, and to endear Him to saints. Each name an exhibition of Him in some special aspect of loveliness and preciousness. Examples:—

1. EMMANUEL. His name in prophecy (Isaiah 7:14). Its meaning, ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23). Full of sweetness. God for our salvation become one of us—a partaker of flesh and blood—in order to be our Redeemer. God manifest in the flesh. The Eternal Word made flesh and dwelling among us. The name a reviving revelation of boundless love, pity, and condescension on the part of our Maker. The Beloved of the Church one who is both God and Man. ‘The man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts’ (Zechariah 13:7). One with the Father, and yet one with us. The bright reflection of the Divine glory, and yet bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Possessed of all the attributes of the God head, and all the sympathies of humanity. Sustains the glory of Deity, and is touched with the feeling of all our infirmities. The Creator and Upholder of the universe, and yet tempted in all points like as we are (Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 4:15). Hence

(1) His infinite power as a Saviour. Able to save to the uttermost. Mighty to save. Able to raise both the dead soul and the dead body to life.

(2) The infinite efficacy belonging to His sacrificial undertaking. His suffering and death that of ‘God manifest in the flesh.’ God purchased the Church with His own blood—a sufficient price for the ransom of countless worlds (Acts 20:28). The blood of Jesus Christ, because the blood of God’s Son, able to cleanse from all sin (1 John 1:7).

2. JESUS. Given, at the direction of as angel, as the equivalent of ‘Emmanuel’ (Matthew 1:21). A name full of exquisite sweetness. Denotes—‘Jehovah the Saviour;’ or, ‘the Lord will save.’ God Himself becomes our Salvation. ‘Jesus,’ a Divine Saviour; hence equivalent to ‘Emmanuel.’ A Saviour needed by man, and a great one Such found in Jesus. Hence His name. Saves, as was necessary, both from sin and sin’s consequences; not only from its guilt and punishment, but from its power, pollution, and presence; saves from a blinded understanding, a depraved will, and a corrupt heart. Saves from sin and Satan, from death and hell, and from the power and influence of a present evil world Saves at once, and saves for ever. Saves now by the invisible operation of His Spirit; saves hereafter by His visible and glorious appearing (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 9:28). Able to save even the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). To save the lost the object of His coming into the world (Luke 19:10; 1 Timothy 1:15).

3. CHRIST, or THE CHRIST. His official name. Both a name and a title. Like the Hebrew term ‘Messiah,’ denotes ‘the Anointed.’ A name also full of sweetness. Marks Him out as anointed by the Holy Ghost as the Prophet, Priest, and King of His Church. Anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows (Psalms 45:7). Anointed by the Spirit to preach glad tidings to the meek, &c (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus the Christ, as filled with the Holy Spirit, and so fitted for man’s salvation.

His ‘name’ may include

(1) His Titles: as; Son of God, Son of Man, King of Kings, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Prince of Life, Lord of Glory, Plant of Renown, the Word, the Word of God, our Hope, our Peace, our Life.

(2) His Offices: as; Prophet, Priest, King, Mediator, Redeemer, Captain, Physician, Teacher, Witness-bearer, SAVIOUR.

(3) His Relations: as; Husband, Brother, Father, Friend, Shepherd, Surety, Master.

(4) His Attributes: as; Merciful, Faithful, True, Almighty, Everlasting, Unchanging, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.

(5) His Character: as; meek, lowly, loving, holy, just, wise, and good.

No name mentioned in the text. The name deep in the heart. No name like His in a believer’s ear. Remembered when every other name is forgotten. The name which is above every name. Known truly to none but Himself and those to whom He reveals it. Wherever known, accompanied with love and trust (Psalms 91:14; Psalms 9:10).

II. The COMPARISON. ‘As ointment poured forth.’

1. As ‘ointment’ or perfume. Indicates its sweet and reviving nature. To a believer the very mention of Jesus accompanied with joy and comfort. Every name of Jesus fragrant to the spiritual senses. The name of a loved one sweet because calling up the person himself. The name of Jesus makes the sad heart it enters leap with joy. Is honey to the mouth, music to the ear, and comfort to the soul. Everything insipid to a believer that carries not the savour of that name in it. “All spiritual food dry, if not pervaded with this oil; and tasteless, if not seasoned with this salt.” What is written has no relish to a believer, if he reads not there the name of Jesus. Conversation has no pleasure if the name of Jesus is excluded. Nature with all its loveliness only pleases when associated with the name of Jesus. His name suggestive of all that is most beautiful, lovely, and excellent. “Contains in it all the excellence scattered throughout creation.” The best, sweetest, purest, noblest things associated with it. Embraces whatever is noblest in truth, honour, faith, love, meekness, humility, self-denial, generosity. All tenderness, sweetness, benevolence, centred in the name of Jesus. Gentleness, moral courage, disinterested love, identified with it. In His name, more sweetness, beauty, love, than ever human heart conceived To a renewed and spiritual mind, the most joyous and exhilarating name on earth. “Touches all the chords of gratitude, enthusiasm, and devotion.” Under the Holy Spirit’s revelation, fills every avenue of the soul with joy, wonder, and adoration. A day coming, when it will fill heaven and earth with its sweetness and fragrance.

2. As ‘ointment poured forth.’ Indicates—

(1) Abundance, as well of the ointment itself as of its fragrance. The perfume abundantly diffused. An infinite fulness in Jesus, and an infinite sweetness in His name. ‘It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.’ ‘God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.’ His glory that of the only begotten of the Father, ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14; John 3:34; Colossians 1:19). Christ a full Saviour for empty sinners. A fountain ever full and ever flowing. His riches without a bottom. A mine never exhausted.

Enough for each, enough for all,

Enough for evermore.

(2) Impartation. A perfume poured forth yields up all its fragrance for enjoyment. Enclosed and sealed up in the vessel, it affords little sweetness. Mary broke her alabaster box, or its seal, and the whole house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Christ’s name not only ointment but ointment ‘poured forth,’ for the benefit and enjoyment of others. Christ to be manifested—

Externally. Christ and His name was a perfume in heaven while shut up ‘in the bosom of the Father.’ A perfume to God and angels before man was created. Shut up as to men till the day of the fall. The first promise of a Saviour made in Eden broke the seal (Genesis 3:15). The seal more and more removed, and the fragrance made more and more to flow forth, as time rolled on. The promised Saviour more and more plainly and fully revealed through the prophets, till He Himself appeared. The ointment then poured forth—

(1) By Christ Himself: (a) in His life; (b) in His preaching; (c) in His miracles; (d) in His death. The seal of the casket containing the perfume that was to fill heaven and earth with its fragrance fully broken on Calvary when Jesus said: ‘It is finished,’ bowed His head, and died; (e) in His effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

(2) By the Apostles and the Church after Pentecost. Till then the ‘name’ shut up among the Jews: after that, to be carried by the Apostles to all nations. The ointment streaming forth more or less over the world during the last eighteen centuries The calling and commission of the Church at large, as well as of Apostles, ministers, and missionaries, to make manifest the savour of his knowledge in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14). ‘Ye are My witnesses.’ Every believer, by his lips and his life, to be a bearer of the fragrance of Christ’s name in the neighbourhood where he dwells.

Internally. This ointment to be poured forth in the soul in order to the perception of its sweetness. Mere external diffusion not sufficient. A spiritual fragrance to be spiritually perceived. A spiritual power of perception needed; or, what is equivalent, an inward spiritual revelation of Christ by the Holy Ghost. ‘It pleased God to reveal His Son in me.’ ‘Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.’ ‘Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.’ God ‘hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 1:16; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 11:25). Without the inward diffusion of the fragrance by the Holy Ghost (John 16:14), Christ ‘a root out of dry ground, without form or comeliness’ (Isaiah 53:2). A man’s greatest blessedness in having this precious ointment poured forth in his heart (Romans 5:5). The perfume of Christ’s name to be poured forth externally by the church, through the lips and lives of its members to the world at large; internally by the Holy Ghost to the individual soul. The Word and Sacraments the instituted means through which the Spirit pours forth the ointment, both externally and internally. Sinners saved and believers refreshed, revived, and sanctified only as Christ’s name is thus revealed and the ointment poured forth. The Scriptures, a preached Gospel, the Bread and Wine in the Supper,—these the casket containing the perfume; the Holy Ghost the agent who breaks the seal and pours forth the fragrance.

Important questions for each: Have I known this precious name? Is the name of Jesus to me ‘as ointment poured forth?’ If so, what am I doing to diffuse its fragrance for the benefit of others? If not, why so? Have I given proper attention to that name? Have I seriously thought of Christ? ‘The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick:’ have I realized my spiritual sickness? Have I seriously considered and really known what it is to be a sinner, and so realized my need of a Saviour? If not, how can I expect the name of Jesus to be sweet and precious to me? Lord, let me not rest till I have done so. Give me now, by Thy Holy Spirit, to realize my need of Christ, and to see His preciousness.

The Effect of Solomon’s Excellencies.

“Therefore do the virgins love thee.”

The report of the king’s excellencies and attractions had reached Shulamite, as it had done the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1) The effect of these excellencies was that the virgins loved him; among the rest Shulamite herself. So the excellencies of Christ render Him, as they may well do, the object of love to all sincere and rightly disposed persons who came to hear of them. In reference to—

Love to Christ,

the text suggests—

I. The PERSONS who love Him. The ‘virgins’ representatives of—

1. Believers, or renewed persons in general. Virgin-souls—those whose hearts are given entirely to God and Jesus Christ. Those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth (Revelation 14:4). Believers to be presented to Christ as a chaste virgin (2 Corinthians 11:3). The true members of the Jewish Church so called (Jeremiah 31:4; Jeremiah 31:21). Believe ‘virgins’—

(1) From their pure and undivided affection to Christ;

(2) From their chaste and faithful adherence to Him and His cause;

(3) From their true and Scriptural views of Him and His religion;

(4) From the purity of their worship and general conversation;

(5) From their meekness, modesty, and tenderness of conscience;

(6) From their moral beauty and comeliness of spirit. Observe—

(1) Christ only loved by virgin-souls, whose hearts are detached from the world. Men cannot serve God and mammon, or love Christ and the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father and of Christ is not in him. A divided heart cannot love Christ. Those only His true lovers who are willing to leave all and follow Him. Hence—

(2) Only renewed and regenerate persons love Christ. The carnal mind enmity against God, and so against Christ. The heart renewed and circumcised in order to love God and His Son (Deuteronomy 30:6). The stony heart taken away and a heart of flesh given instead (Ezekiel 36:26).

(3) All renewed souls love Christ. Christ the magnet that attracts renewed hearts. A natural affinity between Christ and renewed souls. Such able both to see and appreciate His excellence, both in Himself and in relation to sinners. The language of renewed and enlightened souls: ‘The love of Christ constraineth us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14).

(4) The glory and honour of Jesus, that He is loved only by pure and sincere souls, and by all such.

2. Young converts, more particularly. First love of believers often warmest. The kindness of Israel’s youth tenderly remembered by the Lord (Jeremiah 2:2). The believer’s young love often damped by the power of corruption within, and the influence of the world without. The main charge which the Lord Jesus brought against the Church of Ephesus, that it had left its ‘first love’ (Revelation 2:4).

3. Men in general,—especially, men of single and sincere hearts. Christ the suitable object of human love, both as a perfect man and as a loving Saviour. Men of honest and sincere hearts the most likely to love Christ. Hence the attachment of a Nathanael and a Cornelius, of a Nicodemus and a Joseph of Arimathæa. Men who are ‘Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile,’ readily drawn to Christ. Christ the ‘Desire of all nations,’ fitted to be such, and actually to become such. Men only prevented from loving Christ by the blindness of their minds and the depravity of their hearts. Love to Christ the test of a man’s character. Men worthy to be ‘accursed’ who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 16:22).

4. Angels, who have never sinned. Christ the object of angelic love. His sufferings on earth and His glory in heaven lovingly contemplated by angels (1 Peter 1:11). Angels rejoiced to minister to Him, and still minister to His members for His sake. The first to announce His birth, and the companions of the redeemed in celebrating His praise.

II. The LOVE itself. Christ the object first of a sinner’s faith, then of his love. True faith in Christ, a ‘faith which worketh by love.’ Men’s love desired by Christ: ‘My son, give Me thine heart.’ The love of the woman of Sychar refreshes Him more than meat and drink. Nothing without men’s love satisfied Christ. ‘If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned’ (chap. Song of Solomon 8:7). Christ infinitely worthy of men’s love—

(1) For what He is in Himself;
(2) For what He has done for them. Observe—
1. The character of a believer’s love to Christ. It is—

(1) Natural and reasonable.
(2) Ardent and sincere.
(3) Paramount and supreme.
(4) Undivided and admitting no rival.
(5) Active and practical.
(6) Self-denying.
(7) Pure and holy.
(8) Permanent and abiding.
(9) Unconquerable and unquenchable.
(10) Divine in its origin.
(11) Self-evidencing.
2. The evidence of this love. Shews itself—

(1) In obedience to His will.
(2) In devotedness to His service.
(3) In love to His fellowship.
(4) In imitation of His spirit and conduct.
(5) In affection to His people, His cause, and all that belongs to Him.

Bride’s Second Desire.

‘Draw me, we will run after thee.’— Song of Solomon 1:4.

Shulamite’s first desire for the bridegroom’s kisses; her second desire for the bridegroom himself. Spiritual desire grows and enlarges itself. Christ better than even His kisses. The text contains—I. A Request: II. A Resolution.

I. The REQUEST. ‘Draw me.’ Christ the magnet of renewed souls. The desire of all such to be drawn to Him. The request the result—

(1) Of acquaintance with Him;
(2) Of love to Him;
(3) Of desire to enjoy and follow Him. Implies—
(1) Perception of Him, as the One Pearl of great price; the Treasure hid in the Field; the chief among ten thousand; the Altogether Lovely.

(2) Desire after Him. Renewed and saved souls not content to be at a distance from Christ, or to sit still in such a condition. Their desire to be near Him, lean on His bosom, rest in His arms, sit at His feet, hear His voice, look on His pierced hands and side.

(3) Conscious inability. The soul unable of itself to come to Christ, run after Him, or follow Him. The renewed soul conscious of that inability. Hence the prayer: ‘Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.’ ‘My soul cleaveth to the dust; quicken me according to Thy word.’ ‘Turn me and I shall be turned.’ The soul conscious of Divine help in following hard after God (Psalms 63:8; Psalms 119:32). Grace, leaches us both Christ’s worth and our own weakness. Christ the Author as well as the Object of our faith. The soul kept from Christ, and from following after Him, by a three-fold hindrance—

(1) The flesh;
(2) The world;
(3) The Devil. Christ first draws souls to Him, and then after Him. Observe in regard to—

The Saviour’s Drawing.

1. The MEANING AND IMPORT of it. A threefold drawing of the soul by Christ—

(1) In conversion to Him;
(2) In following after Him;

(3) In communion with Him. The last here especially intended. The desire in Song of Solomon 1:2, followed by that in Song of Solomon 1:4 as a means towards it. To enjoy Christ’s kisses we have to be drawn to Christ Himself. Christ draws—

(1) Our attention, keeping it fixed on Himself;

(2) Our desire and longing, as in the case of the woman of Sidon (Matthew 15:21);

(3) Our affection;

(4) Our resolution;

(5) Our self-surrender;

(6) Our confidence and faith. Implies not only faith, but perseverance in it (1 Peter 1:5).

2. The MEANS by which He draws. Christ draws by showing—

(1) His own love, loveliness, and preciousness;
(2) Our entire and absolute need of Him. The Holy Ghost the effectual agent employed. The instrumental means, the Word, however communicated, which reveals Him in what He is in Himself, and what He is to us and has done for us (John 12:32). Christ draws—

(1) By the Doctrines He teaches;

(2) By the Promises He makes;

(3) By the Providences He employs (Hosea 2:14; Hosea 11:4; Romans 2:4).

3. The MOTIVE AND GROUND of the drawing. His own free love. He draws with loving-kindness because He has loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). The bands with which He draws, “the bands of love” (Hosea 11:4). His love to and choice of us before ours to Him (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19).

The personality of the request to be noticed. ‘Draw me.’ Salvation and true religion,—the possession and enjoyment of Christ,—a personal thing. The believer’s first desire is to be drawn himself. ‘Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that Thou bearest to Thy people; visit me with Thy salvation’ (Psalms 106:4). We can only be the means of drawing others to Christ when we have been drawn ourselves.

II. The RESOLUTION. ‘We will run after thee.’ The words may indicate;—

(1) The object of the request;
(2) The argument used to enforce it: nothing sweeter to Christ, than a soul ardently following Him;
(3) A purpose formed;
(4) A hope entertained. Viewed as referring to the speaker, a purpose or resolution; as referring to others, a hope and expectation. Notice—
1. The Action. ‘Run after thee.’ Implies eagerness, earnestness, and haste; rapidity, perseverance, and strength (Isaiah 40:31; Daniel 8:6). Opposed to former deadness and sluggishness, whether absolute or comparative. Believers, when it in well with them, not content with mere walking after Christ. Good to walk, better to run. The Psalmist’s resolution (Psalms 119:32). The promise of the Father to Christ in regard to the nations (Isaiah 55:5). Not only walking but running promised as the result of waiting upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). Running, rather than mere walking, pleasing to Christ. Luke warmness his great dislike (Revelation 3:15). Christ worthy not only of being followed, but run after—followed and sought with the energy of the whole soul. A blind world run after the creature; enlightened believers run after Christ. Christ first run to, then run after. Run to as a Saviour; run after as a Friend and Beloved. We run to Him as sinners; after Him as saints. The believer’s duty and privilege not to run before, but after Christ; not to make a way for himself but to tread in His steps (John 10:4; John 10:27). The running ours; the power to run, Christ’s. Effectual grace consistent with personal diligence, and a strong encouragement to it (Philippians 2:12; Psalms 110:3). The request to be drawn not made from indolence but from helplessness. Believers to be not slothful in business—least of all in the business of religion—but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord (Romans 12:11). Progress always to be made towards Christ and in the Divine life. The Christian life a running (1 Corinthians 9:24; Galatians 2:2; Galatians 4:7; Hebrews 12:1; Philippians 3:13). The believer’s let made like find’s feet. The Word of God made plain, that those that read may run (Habakkuk 2:2). Christ to be run after—

(1) As our Chief Joy and Highest Good. Christ the Desire of all nations, and worthy to be the Desire of all hearts. All in Him that is lovely and desirable; and all lovely and desirable that is in Him. Christ the Fountain of living waters. All else broken cisterns. The language of the soul running alter Christ, ‘Whom have in heaven but Thee? and there is none on the earth that I desire besides Thee.’ ‘There be many that say: who will shew us any good: Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us’ (Psalms 73:25; Psalms 4:6).

“Thou. O Christ art all I want;

More than all in Thee I find.”

(2) As our Pattern and Example. He hath left us an example that we should follow His steps. ‘I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you’ (John 13:14; 1 Peter 2:21). The same mind to be in us that was in Him. The believer to be as He was in the world (Philippians 2:5; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 3:3). To run his race, looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:3).

(3). Our Leader and Commander. Christ given for this purpose (Isaiah 55:4). The Captain of our salvation. Believers to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. The picture of Christ and His saints on the day of His appearing to have its special verification now,—Christ as King and General on His white horse, followed by the armies of His people also on white horses (Revelation 19:12). Fulfilled in the calling of the Apostles (Matthew 4:18; Luke 5:27; John 1:43). And of every believer (Matthew 16:24). ‘The sacramental host of God’s elect.’

2. The persons. ‘We will run after Thee.’ The singular changed for the plural. Draw me: we will run. We,—I and others with me. Me, the individual believer; we, he and others influenced by him. Or; me, the single believer; we, the Church of which he forms a part. Both individuality and plurality in the Bride. The Bride both an individual and a community. The Church one and many. The drawing of one member followed by the running of others; so the Primitive Church at and after Pentecost. The drawing of the woman of Sychar followed by the running of many of the inhabitants (John 4). The language of a lively believer that of Moses to his father-in-law: ‘We are journeying to the place of which the Lord hath said, I will give it you; come thou with us and we will do thee good’ (Numbers 10:29). The believer not content to enjoy or follow Christ alone. Andrew finds his brother Simon and brings him to Jesus. Philip, after finding the Saviour himself, does the same with Nathaniel (John 1:40). None drawn to follow Christ alone. One drawn by means of another. The believer’s duty and privilege to be instrumental in drawing others to Christ; and his great joy to see others running after Him along with himself. The lively Christian a missionary everywhere. The love and life of one believer the means of quickening and stirring up others. On the other hand, one dead Christian often the means of deadening others. One lively member of a Church a blessing to the whole.

Bride’s Recorded Experience.

‘The King hath brought me into His chambers.’

Shulamite recalls and records her experience of the King’s kindness and her own happiness. Good to remember and thankfully to record the manifestations of Christ’s favour. The Lord’s will concerning His people. He hath made His works to be remembered. The believer’s duty,—Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits. A gain to ourselves as well as to others, to remember and ‘mention the loving kindness of the Lord’ (Isaiah 63:7). The favour in the text recorded apparently as an answer to the prayer: ‘Draw me.’ Answers to prayer to be especially remembered and mentioned for the Lord’s honour, and for the encouragement of others as well as ourselves. Earnest longings and entreaties for spiritual blessings never disregarded. ‘The vision is for an appointed time; though it tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, and will not tarry’ (Habakkuk 2:3).—Observe, in regard to the favour in the text,—introduction into

The King’s Chambers.

I. THE CHAMBERS themselves. The King’s chambers his more private apartments. Admission only for favoured persons, those nearest and dearest to the King. The especial privilege of the King’s Betrothed. Shulamite rejoices in being admitted to this high honour. Christ not only makes believers His Bride, but admits them to the privileges of such a relation. Admission into Christ’s chambers implies—more than ordinary manifestations of Himself; personal nearness; intimate fellowship; sensible enjoyment; confidential communication. The fulfilment of the promise: ‘I will manifest myself to him’ (John 14:21). The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant (Psalms 25:14). The privilege of believers to enter into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19), and to sit with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Special nearness to Christ and sense of His love at times realized by the believer. Such realisations not confined to time or place; but more usually enjoyed in secret prayer and public ordinances, more especially in the Lord’s Supper. Such experiences the believer’s high festival days, and foretastes of heaven. Ordinarily for but a short time together. At present, the believer’s place in general only the antechamber. Permanent abiding in the King’s chambers reserved for a higher and better state. Meantime, the happy privilege of believers to be at times admitted into the King’s chambers. No place on earth so honourable and so blessed. No place so humble and unattractive to the eye of sense but grace can convert it into the King’s chambers. Jacob’s experience on the stony plain at Bethel not confined to local habitation: ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not: This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’ (Genesis 28:16). Such Divine manifestations enjoyed in the humblest dwelling, and even in the chamber of sickness. The field, the wood, the highway, the open sea, capable of being made the King’s chambers. John’s blessed experience in the lonely rocky isle of Patmos. Samuel Rutherford in exile dated his letters from ‘the King’s palace at Aberdeen.’ John Bunyan wrote his “Pilgrim’s Progress” in Bedford Jail. The moors and mosses, caves and mountain sides, often made to His persecuted followers the King’s chambers. Admission into these chambers the special privilege of New Testament times. Moses spoke to the Church at the door of the tabernacle; the Apostles speak from the Holy of Holies. Those now waiting at Wisdom’s gates admitted into Wisdom’s chambers. The three great blessings enjoyed in those chambers,—Comfort, Enlightenment, and Security (Psalms 25:13; Psalms 27:4; Isaiah 26:20). The King’s chambers on earth so blessed, what the chambers in heaven!

II. ADMISSION into the chamber. ‘The King hath brought me’ (Heb., ‘made me come’). Admission into them both the King’s favour and the King’s doing. An enhancement of the happiness. Believers conscious of their own unworthiness and inability to enter the chambers of Divine communion, and of the Saviour’s grace in introducing them. The King brings them—

(1) By procuring access through His own merits (Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 10:19).

(2) By giving the desire to enter them—‘Why was I made to hear thy voice,’ &c. (Ephesians 4:18).

(3) By encouraging them with His gracious invitations and promises.

(4) By imparting faith and inward light (Psalms 43:3).

(5) By subduing and keeping down corruption,—like Abraham fraying away the fowls from the sacrifice (Genesis 15:11). Obstacles and hindrances to be overcome in order to our entrance into the King’s chambers. Some outside of us: Divine justice that, forbids it to transgressors; Satan who resists it; the world with its influences against it. Others within us: conscious guilt; spiritual blindness; carnality; unbelief; sloth; natural disinclination. These to be overcome and removed by the Saviour’s grace.—‘The King hath brought me.’ Marks the forth-putting of especial grace and power. Christ brings sinners into the enjoyment of Divine favour and fellowship as a King. The title indicative of His power and right. To introduce sinners into the enjoyment of the blessings He has purchased, one of His kingly acts. As King, He has the keys of His own chambers as well as those of death and hell. The impression of Christ’s kingliness left on the heart of the believer admitted into His fellowship. A few hours’ converse with Jesus in a humble dwelling left John and Andrew with the conviction they had been with Messiah the King (John 1:41). Communion with Christ gives lofty thoughts of Him. Only ‘He’ before; now, ‘the King.’ Christ all the more kingly in a believer’s eyes the nearer he gets to Him. So Isaiah: ‘Mine eyes have seen the King’ (Isaiah 6:5). Divine familiarity the opposite of bleeding contempt. Reverence, humility, and obedience, the result of admission into the King’s chambers. The experience in those chambers: ‘I am a man of unclean lips’ (Isaiah 6:5). Believers go forth from them more devoted to the service of the King: ‘Here am I, send me’ (Isaiah 6:8). Divine power and sovereignty manifest in everything connected with salvation. Christ a King, both in His own right as God, and by Divine appointment as Mediator (Psalms 2:6). Saves not only as a Priest and a Prophet, but also as a King. Believers, when it is best with them, love most to acknowledge Christ’s supremacy and right over all they are and have and do. Christ not only a King, but the King,—chief of all who ever bore the title; the only one with absolute right to it; ‘the blessed and only Potentate, King of Kings and Lord of Lords’ (1 Timothy 6:15).—Observe the personality of the experience: ‘Hath brought me.’ Each believer to be able to say this for himself. The language—

(1) Of joy and thankfulness. What was matter of prayer, now made matter of praise.

(2) Of wonder and surprise. Shulamite dwells on the King’s condescension. Like Mephibosheth when admitted to the King’s table,—‘such a dead dog as I.’ ‘Hath brought me,’—me so black and unworthy of such an honour and happiness! Amazing condescension and love on the part of the King to admit worms and rebels into His chambers. Every believer a beggar raised by the King from the dunghill, to be made His Bride and the partner of His throne. The believer never to lose sight of what he was, and still is, in himself.

(3) Of consciousness and certainty. Shulamite certain the King has bestowed on her this privilege. Enjoyment of Christ’s presence and fellowship a matter about which there should be no mistake or doubt. Christ’s object to make it certain; Satan’s, to tempt the believer to question its reality and think it a delusion.

Bride’s Joy in the King.

We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.’

Language expressive of Shulamite’s happy experience of the King’s chambers, and her high esteem of the King himself. Implies both anticipation and resolution. Observe on the words thus viewed, in regard to the

Believer’s Joy in Christ.

I. The JOY itself. Intense joy. The language emphatic: ‘We will be glad and rejoice.’ Two words employed for emphasis. Not mere joy, but exultation. Not a mere rejoicing, but a shouting for joy. An inward joy outwardly expressed. A believer’s joy in Christ a joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). Believers at times in heaviness through manifold temptations; but their experience anything but a gloomy one. The ransomed of the Lord enabled to return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads (Isaiah 35:10). Have joy here, and the hope of more hereafter. ‘They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’ Cheerfulness and joy disposing to praise, both the privilege and duty of believers. Sadness in the presence of an Oriental monarch an offence to the sovereign and a peril to the subject (Nehemiah 2:1). God graciously meets those that rejoice while they remember Him in His ways (Isaiah 66:5).

II. The OBJECT of the joy. Christ himself. We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. Not in the creature and its attractions; not in the world and its pleasures; not in self and its doings or feelings. Christ and God in him the object of truest and highest joy. The duty and privilege of believers, both in the Old and New Testament, to rejoice in the Lord (Psalms 33:1; Philippians 3:1). Enough in God to fill a universe of intelligent creatures, and enough in Christ to fill a world of believing sinners, with joy unspeakable. Christ opens up sources of joy outside of Himself; but the deep and living fountain is in Himself. The Psalmist’s words especially true of Christ: ‘All my springs are in Thee’ (Psalms 87:7). In Him are both ‘the upper and the nether springs,’—the joy of the Church triumphant in heaven, and of the Church militant on earth. All the attractions and charms in the creature concentrated and summed up in Him, the Creator and Saviour. In Him all love and loveliness, all sweetness and excellence, in their perfection and without alloy. Believers able to rejoice in Christ not only as their Redeemer and Saviour, but as their Beloved and Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15). To a renewed soul, everything in Jesus such as to afford matter of joy,—His person, names, titles, offices, relations, work: His birth, life, sufferings, death resurrection, ascension, second coming; His miracles, discourses, doctrines, promises, precepts, warnings; His word, worship, day, table, people, cause; His salvation, grace, kingdom, fellowship, love; His blood that washes them, His righteousness that clothes them, His spirit that anoints and sanctifies them, and His ordinances that comfort and strengthen them. In His present salvation they rejoice; still more in that which is to be revealed at His coming. In His salvation they rejoice; still more in Himself. Good to have and enjoy the King’s gifts; still better to have and enjoy the King himself. Thy gifts precious; but ‘We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.’ Joy in an unseen Christ unspeakable; what then in a seen one?

The text the language of resolution. ‘We will be glad.’ The duty of believers to rejoice in Christ, and to resolve by Divine grace to do so. Especially on any fresh enjoyment of His presence and love. Holy resolution the fruit of Divine grace, and to be freely made in dependance on it. Need of resolution. Much to oppose such rejoicing: remembered sin; inward corruption; buffetings of Satan; outward trials. These not to hinder rejoicing in the Lord. ‘Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, &c., yet will I rejoice in the Lord,’ &c. (Habakkuk 3:17). Joy in Christ often greatest when joy from the creature is least (Hosea 2:14;’ 2 Corinthians 1:5).

The language of faith and hope. The same ground of rejoicing in the future as in the past. Christ a well that never runs dry. The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. ‘Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us’ (2 Corinthians 1:10). ‘Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice’ (Psalms 63:7).

Observe the party who shall rejoice. ‘We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.’ Another change from the singular to the plural. ‘The King hath brought me, &c.; we will be glad, &c. The Bride herself, and others along with her. The believer speaks for himself and his fellow-believers. The joy of one to become the joy of many. The part of believers to rejoice with them that rejoice. The body of Christ one with many members. ‘If one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it’ (1 Corinthians 12:26). One believer rejoicing in the presence and love of Jesus, the means of influencing others to seek and obtain the same happiness. Man a social being. Inclined to act in numbers. One constantly influenced by another. Sympathy a powerful principle in man’s nature. Its operation in revivals of religion. Employed by the Spirit in the great advancement of Christ’s Kingdom (Zechariah 8:20; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:1).

Bride’s Gratitude to the King.

‘We will remember Thy love more than wine.’

Shulamite resolves not only to rejoice in the King himself, but to cherish a grateful remembrance of his love. “We will remember (or record) thy love (or loves—loving words and actions) more than wine.” Probably a double resolution—to remember inwardly for herself, and to record outwardly for others; both to the praise of her loving Bridegroom. One of the duties and delights of believers, the

Remembrance of Christ’s Love.

Observe in regard to it—
I. The LOVE remembered. Heb. ‘Loves,’—for the greatness of it, or the variety of its kinds, and the multiplicity of its manifestations. Christ’s love to His people that of a Saviour to the lost, a Redeemer to the captive, a Shepherd to his sheep, a Husband to his wife, a Brother to his brethren, a Father to his children, a Friend to his intimate acquaintances. Its various manifestations—

1. Offering Himself for our redemption in the everlasting covenant (Psalms 40:7).

2. Revealing himself to the Old Testament Church in types and symbols, prophecies and promises.
3. Assuming our nature in the fulness of time.
4. His teachings and labours of love during His life on earth.
5. His sufferings and death as the atonement for our sins.
6. His return to heaven to carry forward the work of our salvation.
7. His subsequent bestowment of the Holy Spirit with all needful grace and blessing.
8. His gathering in lost sinners to Himself through His Word and Spirit.
9. His speaking peace and comfort to the awakened and troubled conscience.
10. His restoring the believer from his falls and backslidings.
11. His gladdening the soul with His manifested presence and love.
12. His gracious promises to come again and receive His people to Himself for ever.

Christ’s love infinitely worthy to be remembered and celebrated through time and eternity; on account of—

1. Its greatness. ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13). Christ’s love greater than this; as—

(1) He did more than lay down His life for us;

(2) He did it not for friends, but enemies. Jonathan’s love to David, ‘wonderful, passing the love of women’ (2 Samuel 1:26). Jonathan’s love only a faint picture of Christ’s.

2. Its costliness. ‘Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it’ (Ephesians 5:25). The love of Ahasuerus to Esther his queen extended to the gift of half his kingdom (Esther 5:3). Christ’s love to His people extended not only to the gift of His whole kingdom, but of Himself (Matthew 20:28).

3. Its fruits. Deliverance from sin, death, and hell, with perfection in holiness and the enjoyment of Himself in glory everlasting. ‘That He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water, by the word; that He might present it unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish’ (Ephesians 5:26).

II. The REMEMBRANCE of it. The remembrance of Christ’s love on the part of believers:

(1) A Duty;
(2) A Delight;
(3) A Necessity. Proceeds—
(1) From a sense of duty;
(2) From the impression of its sweetness. Christ’s love remembered when all else is forgotten. Its remembrance brings—
(1) Glory to Christ;
(2) Benefit to our neighbour;

(3) Comfort and quickening to ourselves. Its remembrance our sweetest cordial in the time of trouble (Psalms 42:6). Assures us afresh of our interest in Christ, and casts out slavish fear. Revives our love to Him, and stimulates to do and suffer for His sake. His love not remembered and recorded as a thing past and gone for ever; but one of unchanging continuance and ever fresh manifestation. An everlasting love. Helps to remembering it are—

1. Daily reading, of the Word, with meditation and prayer; especially such portions of it as bear expressly upon Christ and His love. For example: the Gospels and Canticles; Isaiah 53; Psalms 22 &c.

2. Careful observance of the Sabbath, with suitable meditation on His death and resurrection, which it was designed to commemorate.
3. Frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper, designed for the express purpose of keeping Himself and His dying love in remembrance.
4. Fellowship with living and loving believers. ‘As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth a man the face of his friend.’ ‘Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.’ ‘Provoke one another to love and good works.’

III. The DEGREE of Remembrance. ‘More than wine.’ The love better than wine (Song of Solomon 1:2), and therefore more remembered. Wine mentioned as a natural means of gladness and refreshing (Judges 9:13; Psalms 104:15). Associated with festivity—‘banquet of wine.’ Here put for all earth’s choicest pleasures and sensuous enjoyments. To Shulamite, her bridegroom’s love more worthy to be remembered than everything besides. ‘Sweet is the King’s wine, but sweeter his love.’ All Christ’s gifts sweet, and all His benefits to be remembered; but sweeter and more to be remembered than all is His love. Its sweetness sufficient to obliterate the remembrance of all other joy. Christ’s love the absorbing subject as the believer approaches the confines of eternity. Earth’s lawful enjoyments perhaps not forgotten in heaven; but the love of Christ the chosen and overshadowing subject of ever-new songs (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 5:12; Revelation 14:3).

The text the language of resolution. ‘We will remember,’ &c. Such resolution needed. The flesh adverse to such remembrance. Satan’s object to efface or weaken it. The tendency of earthly things to prevent or deaden it. David’s language in reference to Jerusalem applicable to Christ’s love: “If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cunning: if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not thee above my chiefest joy (Psalms 137:5).

Bride Commends her Beloved and Justifies her Love.

‘The upright love thee.’

May be either read—‘Upright people love thee;’ or, ‘Rightly do people love thee.’ Mentioned by Shulamite as an enhancement of her Beloved’s excellence, and a justification of her own love. Similar to Song of Solomon 1:3. Indicates the character both of Christ himself and

Christ’s Lovers.

I. THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO LOVE CHRIST. ‘The upright;’—sincere, true, just, pure in heart and life. Such as Simeon of Jerusalem; Joseph the carpenter; Joseph of Arimathæa; Nathaniel, ‘an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile.’ Christ Himself, ‘that Just One;’ God’s ‘righteous servant;’ ‘Jesus Christ the Righteous,’ who loves righteousness and hates iniquity; ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.’ Naturally loved by persons of a similar character, and only by such. A holy Christ capable of being loved only by holy persons, or such at least as, conscious of their sins, desire to be holy. Like naturally loves and draws to like. Hence Christ only loved by converted and renewed persons. Love to God’s Christ a holy and spiritual thing. A plant not spontaneously growing among the noxious weeds of Nature’s garden, but produced by the Holy Ghost in a renewed heart. Found only in those who have passed from death to life; who were afar off, but have been made high by the blood of Christ; who were lost, but are found; who as believing and pardoned sinners ‘have tasted that the Lord is gracious’ (1 Peter 2:3; 1 John 4:19). The forgiven woman that had been a sinner, loved Jesus, who had forgiven her sins, which were many, and for which she now lovingly weeps at His feet. The proud, self-righteous, merely outwardly religious Pharisee, incapable of such love. ‘He to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little’ (Luke 7:47). A sinner may love Christ, but not a Pharisee (Luke 15:1). Upright persons love Christ, because by His blood shed for them, and His spirit given to them, He has made them upright. When He forgives a sinner He makes him upright. The heart purified by faith. All upright who love Christ in sincerity. Others only pretenders. True love to Christ sufficient to prove a man upright. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ On the other hand, a man’s love to Christ proved by his uprightness. ‘If ye love me keep my commandments. If a man love Me, he will keep My words’ (John 14:15; John 14:23). Hence those worthy to be ‘accursed ‘who do not love Christ. They are not upright, and they refuse Him who would make them so.

II. THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST HIMSELF. The text a commendation of the Beloved. He must be excellent and upright who is loved by upright persons. A man’s character indicated by the character of his friends. A high commendation of the character of Christ—

(1) That He is loved by all the honest and best in creation—by all holy angels and holy men;
(2) That He is loved only by the holy and upright

III. THE CHARACTER OF LOVE TO CHRIST. It is—

(1) A holy thing; only upright persons possess it;

(2) A right and reasonable thing. Upright persons only love uprightly—on just grounds and considerations. Just grounds for loving Christ—

(1) In what He is;

(2) In what He has done. Christ infinitely worthy of angelic, still more of human, love. Is infinitely excellent in Himself; has been infinitely kind to us. As God, possessed of all the infinite amiableness of the Divine perfections; and, as our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, has an infinite right to our love. That right enhanced by the fact that, as God-man for our sakes, He has become also our Redeemer. Robbery committed when Christ is not loved; idolatry, when others are loved in His place. ‘If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha,’—accursed [when] the Lord cometh (1 Corinthians 16:22).

The text a test of character. Do I love Christ? If not, then I am not upright. I do not love uprightness; for Christ is uprightness itself. I rob Him of what He has the most perfect right to, and of what He sets the highest value on—my love. Hence my need both of mercy and grace; of mercy to pardon, and of grace to renew me. Lord, grant both.