The Joy of Unbroken Communion
Cant. iii. 6-v. I
We have been mainly occupied in Sections I and II with the words and the
experiences of the bride; in marked contrast to this, in this section our
attention is first called to the Bridegroom, and then it is from Himself that
we hear of the bride, as the object of His love, and the delight of His heart.
The daughters of Jerusalem are the first
speakers.
Who is this that
cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh
and frankincense,
With all powders of
the merchant?
They themselves give the reply:--
King Solomon made
himself a car of state
Of the wood of
Lebanon.
He made the pillars
thereof of silver,
The bottom thereof
of gold, the seat of it of purple,
The midst thereof
being paved with love (love-gifts).
From the daughters
of Jerusalem.
Behold, it is the
litter of Solomon;
Threescore mighty
men are about it,
Of the mighty men
of Israel
They all handle the
sword, and are expert in war:
Every man hath his
sword upon his thigh,
Because of fear in
the night.
In these verses the bride is not
mentioned; she is eclipsed in the grandeur and the state of her royal
Bridegroom; nevertheless, she is both enjoying and sharing it. The very air is
perfumed by the smoke of the incense that ascends pillar-like to the clouds;
and all that safeguards the position of the Bridegroom Himself, and shows forth
His dignity, safeguards also the accompanying bride, the sharer of His glory.
The car of state in which they sit is built of fragrant cedar from Lebanon, and
the finest of the gold and silver have been lavished in its construction. The
fragrant wood typifies the beauty of sanctified humanity, while the gold
reminds us of the divine glory of our Lord, and the silver of the purity and
preciousness of His redeemed and peerless Church. The imperial purple with
which it is lined tells us of the Gentiles--the daughter of Tyre has been there
with her gift; while the love-gifts of the daughters of Jerusalem accord with
the prophecy, "Even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour."
These are the things that attract the attention
of the daughters of Jerusalem, but the bride is occupied with the King Himself,
and she exclaims:--
Go forth, O ye
daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon,
With the crown
wherewith His mother hath crowned Him in the day of His espousals,
And in the day of
the gladness of His heart.
The crowned KING is everything to her, and she would have Him to be so to the
daughters of Zion likewise. She dwells with delight on the gladness of His
heart in the day of His espousals, for now she is not occupied with Him for her
own sake, but rejoices in His joy in finding in her His
satisfaction. Do we sufficiently cultivate this unselfish desire to be all for
JESUS, and to do all for His pleasure? Or are we conscious that we principally
go to Him for our own sakes, or at best for the sake of our fellow-creatures?
How much of prayer there is that begins and ends with the creature, forgetful
of the privilege of giving joy to the Creator! Yet it is only when He sees in
our unselfish love and devotion to Him the reflection of His own that His heart
can feel full satisfaction, and pour itself forth in precious utterances of
love such as those which we find in the following
words:--
Behold, thou art
fair, My love; behold, thou art fair;
Thine eyes are as
dove's behind thy veil;
Thy hair is as a
flock of goats,
That lie along the
side of Mount Gilead;
Thy teeth are like
a flock of ewes that are newly shorn,
Which are come up
from the washing.
Which are all of
them in pairs,
And none is
bereaved among them.
Thy lips are like a
thread of scarlet,
And thy speech is
comely, etc. (See verses 3-5).
We have already found the explanation of the
bride in her reflecting like a mirror the beauty of the Bridegroom. Well may He
with satisfaction describe her beauty while she is thus occupied with Himself!
The lips that speak only of Him are like a thread of scarlet; the mouth or
speech which has no word of self, or for self, is comely in His sight.
How sweet His words of appreciation and
commendation were to the bride we can well imagine; but her joy was too deep
for expression; she was silent in her love. She would not now think of
sending Him away until the day be cool and the shadows flee away.
Still less does the Bridegroom think of finding
His joy apart from His bride. He says:--
Until the day be
cool, and the shadows flee away,
I will get Me to
the mountain of myrrh,
And to the hill of
frankincense.
Separation never comes from His side. He
is always ready for communion with a prepared heart, and in this happy
communion the bride becomes ever fairer, and more like to her LORD. She is
being progressively changed into His image, from one degree of glory to
another, through the wondrous working of the HOLY SPIRIT, until the Bridegroom
can declare:--
Thou art all fair,
My love;
And there is no
spot on thee.
And now she is fit for service, and
to it the Bridegroom woos her; she will not now misrepresent Him:--
Come with Me from
Lebanon, My bride,
With Me from
Lebanon;
Look from the top
of Amana,
From the top of
Senir and Hermon,
From the lions'
dens,
From the mountains
of the leopards.
"Come with Me." It is always so. If our SAVIOUR says, "Go ye therefore and
disciple all nations," He precedes it by, "All power is given unto Me," and
follows it by, "Lo, I am with you always." Or if, as here, He calls His bride
to come, it is still "with Me," and it in in connection with this loving
invitation that for the first time He changes the word "My love," for the
still more endearing one, "My bride."
What are
lions' dens when the Lion of the tribe of Judah is with us; or mountains of
leopards, when He is at our side! "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."
On the other hand, it is while thus facing dangers, and toiling with Him in
service, that He says:--
Thou hast ravished
My heart, My sister, My bride;
Thou hast ravished
My heart with one look from thine eyes,
With one chain of
thy neck.
Is it not wonderful how the heart of our Beloved can be thus ravished with the
love of one who is prepared to accept His invitation, and go forth with Him
seeking to rescue the perishing! The marginal reading of the Revised Version is
very significant: "Thou hast ravished My heart," or "Thou hast given me
courage." If the Bridegroom's heart may be encouraged by the fidelity and
loving companionship of his bride, it is not surprising that we may cheer and
encourage one another in our mutual service. St. Paul had a steep mountain of
difficulty to climb when he was being led as a captive to Rome, not knowing the
things that awaited him there; but when the brethren met him at the Appii Forum
he thanked God and took courage. May we ever thus strengthen one another's
hands in God!
But to resume. The Bridegroom
cheers the toilsome agents, and the steep pathways of danger, with sweet
communications of His love:--
How fair is thy
love, My sister, My bride!
How much better is
thy love than wine!
And the smell of
thine ointments than all manner of spices!
Thy lips, O
My bride, drop as the honeycomb:
Honey and milk are
under thy tongue;
And the smell of
thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
A garden shut up is
My sister, My bride;
A spring shut up, a
fountain sealed.
Thy shoots are a
paradise of pomegranates, with precious fruits;
Henna with
spikenard plants,
Spikenard and
saffron,
Calamus and
cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense;
Myrrh and aloes,
with all the chief spices.
Thou art a
fountain of gardens,
A well of living
waters,
And flowing streams
from Lebanon.
Engaged with the Bridegroom in seeking to rescue the perishing, the utterances
of her lips are to Him as honey and the honeycomb; and figure is piled upon
figure to express His satisfaction and joy. She is a garden full of precious
fruits and delightful perfumes, but a garden enclosed; the fruit she ears may
bring blessing to many, but the garden is for Himself alone; she is a fountain,
but a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. And yet again she is a fountain of
gardens, a well of living waters and flowing streams from Lebanon: she carries
fertility and imparts refreshment wherever she goes; and yet it is all of Him
and for Him.
The bride now speaks for the
second time in this section. As her first utterance was of Him, so now her
second is for Him; self is found in neither.
Awake, O north
wind; and come, thou south;
Blow upon my
garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.
Let my Beloved come
into His garden,
And eat His
precious fruits.
She is ready for any experience: the north wind and the south may blow upon her
garden, if only the spices thereof may flow out to regale her Lord by their
fragrance. He has called her His garden, a paradise of pomegranates and
precious fruits; let Him come into it and eat His precious
fruits.
To this the Bridegroom replies:--
I am come into My
garden, My sister, My bride:
I have gathered My
myrrh with My spice;
I have eaten My
honeycomb with My honey;
I have drunk My
wine with My milk.
Now, when she calls, He answers at once. When she is only for her LORD, He
assures her that He finds all His satisfaction in her.
The section closes by the bride's invitation
to His friends and her, as well as to Himself:--
Eat, O friends;
Drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O Beloved.
The consecration of all to our MASTER, far from lessening our power to impart,
increases both our power and our joy in ministration. The five loaves and two
fishes of the disciples, first given up to and blessed by the LORD, were
abundant supply for the needy multitudes, and grew, in the act of distribution,
into a store of which twelve hampers full of fragments remained when all were
fully satisfied.
We have, then, in this
beautiful section, as we have seen, a picture of unbroken communion and its
delightful issues. May our lives correspond! First, one with the KING, then
speaking of the KING; the joy of communion leading to fellowship in service, to
a being all for JESUS, ready for any experience that will fit for further
service, surrendering all to Him, and willing to minister all for Him. There is
no room for love of the world here, for union with CHRIST has filled the heart;
there is nothing for the gratification of the world, for all has been sealed
and is kept for the MASTER'S use.
Jesus,
my life is Thine!
And
evermore shall be
Hidden
in Thee.
For
nothing can untwine
Thy
life from mine.