_My Beloved has gone down into His garden, to the beds of spices._ COMMUNION The exquisite pastoral from which our text is taken is peculiarly fitted for Sacramental meditation--because its design is to set forth the mutual love of Christ and His disciples; and because His disciples, in approachin... [ Continue Reading ]
_He feedeth among the lilies._ FEEDING AMONG THE LILIES The literal reference is simple and obvious. The bride represents her husband as going down to the garden where the fruits grew among the flowers--where what was good for food was associated with what was fair to the eyes and pleasant to all t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners._ THE CHURCH AS SHE SHOULD BE Though the words before us are allegorical, and the whole Song is crowded with metaphor and parable, yet the teaching is plain enough in this instance; it is evident that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me._ OVERCOMING CHRIST This is the language of the heavenly Bridegroom to His spouse. In great condescension He speaks to her, and bids her take note that her eyes have overcome Him. Now, it must not be supposed, because of the language of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_There are threescore queens._ WOMAN’S RIGHTS So Solomon, by one stroke, sets forth the imperial character of a true Christian woman. She is not a slave, not a hireling, not a subordinate; but a queen: and in my text Solomon sees sixty of these helping to make up the royal pageant of Jesus. I. Wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_My dove, My undefiled is but one._ THE CHURCH-A DOVE I. Comparing the Church to a dove. 1. The dove is a beautiful bird, especially in Eastern countries, where their plumage is so dazzling, and in this particular typifies the Church (Ezekiel 16:14). 2. The believer’s righteous beauty is from Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?_ THE DAWN OF A BETTER DAY, CELEBRATED IN SACRED SONG There is a beautiful upward gradation indicated, a progression towards a glorious climax; there is the dawn of a better day... [ Continue Reading ]
_I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley._ THE CHURCH, THE GARDEN OF THE LORD I. The Church is a garden. There are four gardens which may furnish us with ample materials for meditation. 1. The garden of Eden, where man was formed, and where man fell. 2. The garden of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib._ THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNSEEN The world passeth away and the lusts thereof. The spiritual alone is permanent. Some men acquire notoriety in their day, their name passes into a proverb, and yet, singular to say, in after times, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee._ RETURN, RETURN, O SHULAMITE; RETURN, RETURN! The translation “Shulamite” is unhappy: it is unmusical, and misses the meaning. The Hebrew word is a feminine of “Solomon.” Solomon may stand for the bridegroom’s name, and then... [ Continue Reading ]