BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. THIS book of the Canticles is a spiritual Epithalamium, sung in parts, betwixt the heavenly Bridegroom and the Bride. The matter of it is most spiritual and weighty, the style of it rapturous and lofty; the intimate union and communion of Christ and the Church is elegantly illustrated in an allegory of marriage; but nothing is found here light or obscene. "Tis a crystal stream of pure spiritual love, gliding sweetly betwixt two pleasant banks-Christ and the Church.-—Flavel. СНАР. І. 2 THE song of songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with 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. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. V. 6. The religion of the present day is too much of a public nature, and the religion of the heart is not sufficiently cultivated, not even so much so as it has been at some former periods. It is not meant that any one is or can be too actively engaged in the promotion of the cause of Christ; but in the constant call for action, action which has been made by the various enterprises of the day, we have been led to feel too much as if all religion consisted in action, and have thus neglected its VOL. IV. chief, and in reality its only main spring, the heart; for there can be no right action, none that is acceptable to God, but that which proceeds from a heart under the actual influence of His grace. We have been too unmindful of the precept, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life;' and, if we have not already done so, we shall ere long be joining in the mournful lamentation of the Spouse, They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own 6 1 vineyard have I not kept.'-Anon. Remember, brethren, a holy calling never saved any man, without a holy heart. If our tongues only be sanctified, our whole man must be damned. We and our people,' says Mr. Baxter, 'must be judged by the same Gospel, and stand at the same bar, and be sentenced on the same terms, and dealt with as severely as any other men.. We cannot think to be saved by our clergy, or to come off with a legit ut clericus, when there is wanting the credidit, et vixit ut Christianus. Oh! let the keepers of the vineyards look to and keep their own vineyard. We have a heaven to win or lose as well as others.-Flavel. 8 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. 11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. 12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. V. 12. Ordinances of worship are God's table,the sacrifices under the Law are called God's food. When the saint is praying, the King of Heaven sits at His table. The dishes served up are the graces of His spirit in the saint; but how often wandering thoughts come in, and turn the table, as it were, upside down! They spill the spikenard which thou shouldest pour forth; and how ill may thy God take it, that thou lookest no better to the door of thy heart!-Gurnall. 13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. 14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. 15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. 16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. A ransomed soul is precious to the Saviour, even when it appears very worthless to itself; and Christ loves it when tempted, assaulted, afflicted, and mourning under the hiding of God's countenance.-—Anon. 17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. CHAP. II. AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Solomon, a most penetrating judge of human nature, knowing how highly mankind is charmed with the fine qualities of flowers, has figured out the blessed Jesus, that fairest among ten thousand,' by these lovely representatives. He styles Him the Rose of Sharon,' and the Lily of the valleys:' like the first, full of delights and com 6 municable graces; like the last, exalted in majesty, and complete in beauty. In this sacred pastoral, he ranges the creation, borrows its most finished forms, and dips his pencil in its choicest dyes, to present us with a sketch of the amiableness of His Person.Hervey. There is no such beauty and sweet- ness in the world, to the eye of a Is He a rose? not Sharon yields 2 Or, if the lily He assume, Watts. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. I am sick of love.'— Why should I blush to own I love? 'Tis love that rules the realms above. Why should I blush to say to all, That virtue holds my heart in thrall? Why should I seek the thickest shade, Lest love's dear secret be betray'd? 4 5 Why the stern brow deceitful move When I am languishing with love? 9 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. '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 my love, till he please. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 18 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 12 V. 10-13. After the rains cease, in the parts here referred to, the corn soon arrives at maturity, and the harvest commences, which continues till about the middle of June. It is impossible to describe the rich fragrance of an eastern climate at this season of the year, and before the excessive heat comes on. The air is filled with odours of plants, and flowers, and trees, which the breeze wafts about in most delicious freshness.-Carpenter. 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 come away with thy Beloved.-M. Henry. If I were to choose when to go a long journey, to wit, whether I would go it in the dead of winter or in the pleasant spring; though, if it were a profitable journey, as that of coming to Christ is, I would choose to go it through fire and water before I would be willing to lose the benefit:-Still I say, if I might choose the time, I would choose to go it in the pleasant spring, because the way would be more delightsome, the days longer and warmer, the nights shorter and not so cold. This is the very argument which Christ Jesus here uses to encourage His beloved to come to Him.-Bunyan. 140 my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. V. 15. Believers are as vines, weak but useful plants. Let them beware of what will injure them. The first risings of sin are like these little foxes; sins that seem little often prove dangerous.-M. Henry. 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. While the lily furnishes no acceptable food for flocks and herds, it seems by the shade of its high broad leaves to retain the moisture, and so it nourishes herbage wherever it grows. The place of lilies would thus be the place of the · richest pasture. So Solomon evidently indicates, when again using the figure, he speaks of the young roes which feed among the lilies,' (ch. iv. 5; vi. 3; Hosea xiv. 5).—Dr. H. Bonar. 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. CHAP. III. BY night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought 4 city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 8 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 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 my love, till he please. 6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant ? 'Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. 9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with 8 |