PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs
Robert Ainslie Redford [1828-1906] · 201,886 words · 222 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 121
The outlook ie checkered. 2. Observe the CJhwrch's present duty. In this case duty is clear. She should resort to the mountain of prayer-to the spicy hills of a. new devotement. Sensible of her weakness, she must get into closer union with the eternal Source of strength. The methods which have been successful in the pa…
861 wordsSECTION 122The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 122
indefiniterie.,s of the lang11,a,ge is iMt-Nl.otive, "How fair I " He does not say how precious it is. It is not the language of precise, calculating logic. It Is the limguage (If st-rong feeling. It is the generous e.iaculation of the heBrt-" How fair I " This is spoken after the manner of tnen. When the intdlect i…
900 wordsSECTION 123The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 123
11lan began to ripen into resolve, God eent his prophet to say this to David, "It WM well that H woe in thine heort" We loudly applaud the man who makes heroic seH- sacrifice for the ea.use of Christ; but very likely there ia a purpose burning in the soul of some gentle woman to do battle for Christ more noble still, y…
816 wordsSECTION 124The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 124
the L11w." They are separated by virtue of the new birth. They are separated by their own personal choice. They have gone to Christ "without the camp, bearin" his reproMh." They are no longer" conformed to the world." As Jesus" is not of the world, neither are they." "My kingdom is not of this world." 2, There is th…
874 wordsSECTION 125The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 125
to the taste in hours of scorching beat. Some bad a value as medicines for the cure of disease, and for soothing burning pains. Some yielded rich perfomes (as spikenard), and &!lded to the joy of royal or marriage banquets. Others produced myrrh and rrnnkincenso, and were consecrated to Divine worship. Others, again, c…
797 wordsSECTION 126The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 126
when we have but one desire, viz. the desire t6 have the Giver with ue rather tbo.n bis gifts. A wife highly prizes the love-tokens she receives from her absent lord, but she valne~ far more highly his personal return. So, if we are wise, we shall more desiro to ha ,·c Christ in our hearts than any gift oflight or st…
912 wordsSECTION 127The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 127
in Ids saintB. This series of metaphors is suggestive of many meanings. In our holy principles, in our sacred dispositions, in our prayers and our praises, in our words and self-sacrificing deeds, Jesus takes delight. The myrrh and spice may indicate tho perfumo of our intercession, or the pleasure which he finds in ou…
851 wordsSECTION 128The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 128
Vern. 1-5.-The cliarm of ti-u.e beauty, The bride is now in the palace which is to be her residence of state. The veil is removed from her countenance, and as her royal l0,·er and spouse gazes upon her form and features, he is filled with admiration, and breaks forth in a poetical commendation of her loveliness. The l…
959 wordsSECTION 129The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 129
Vers. 8-11.-Heart calls to heart. The richness of imagination for which the Song of Songs is justly renowned is especially remarkable in this passage. All the senses are summoned to deepen the impression. The sight is charmed by visible beauty, by the glances of " eyes dartiDg love," by the necklace lying on the fair w…
1,202 wordsSECTION 130The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 130
of Christ, like the fountain, (1) brings from an UI1seen source the blessings to be diffused; (2) yields 11n abundant and perpetual supply of these spiritw1! gifts; (3) freely and generously diffuses knowledge o.nd purity, life and true refreshment, amongst all around; (4) produces results of beneficence immediate and …
781 wordsSECTION 131The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 131
11nd the rest or the song is nn nmplification. residence; nnd secondly, that such l\n occnr- The eall to the friends is to celebrate the rence is unsuitnhle to the conditions of!\ royal marriage in ·11 bsnquet on tbo second do.y bride. It is much mol'e n11tural to supposo (eee Gen. xxi:i.. 28; Judg. Kiv. 12; Tobit t…
1,051 wordsSECTION 132The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 132
tmbs it. Bhuh1mith has forsaken her first presence left its fragrance on that which he Jovo. She relates it with sorrow, but not touched, in either case it is the lover himself with despondency. Bho comes to herself who is spoken of. Hie very hand, wherever agu.in, e.ntl her ropente.noe and restoration it has been, …
1,041 wordsSECTION 133The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 133
rounding Indies, then wo must suppose that her love. She wishes to say tlmt he is it ie introduced for lhe sake of whnt follows. perfect, r.verything that h~ oRn be. The bride feels that she does not love her Ver. 10.-My beloved is white and ruddy, belm·<'d one half enough ; she is so conscious the ohiefest among te…
1,058 wordsSECTION 134The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 134
doubt mentioned as a contrast with the fair, we have the combination of white and :::nl,l, whito complexion. The eyes e.re not only the white marble setting forth greatness and pure o.n,1 clear, but with a glancing moist- purity, and the gold eulilimity and noble- ness in them which expresses feeling and ness; intended…
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products. They are his, each and all. He gave them to the bride. She offers them back to hN Lord. He invites bis friends to share his joy. He said once to his friends in his holy parable, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost;" so now he says, " Eat, 0 friends ; drink, yea, drink abundl\ntly of lov…
1,151 wordsSECTION 136The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 136
It cost more to redeem our souls than our poor thoughts can comprehend. When we try to realize the Lord's sufferings, we seem to stand afar off beholding, like the people who came together to that sight of awe, who smote their breasts (Luke xxiii. 48). The Church pleads those bitter sufferings in her solemn Litany : "B…
684 wordsSECTION 137The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 137
"0 ,Tcsn, thou art plea.ding In aooents meek and low: ' I died for you, my children, And will ye treat me so ? ' 0 Lord, with shamo and sorrow We open now the door; Dror Saviour, enter, enter, And leave us never more.'' The b1ide opens to lier beloved. The bridegroom's hand had been dipped in oil or myrrh._ So…
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ho.nd in o.t the holo of the door; he lo.ys the cross upon us; he reminds us of tho burden which he bore for us; he teaches us that the cross is the very badge and mark of his chosen-tho.t whosoever doth not take up his cross cannot be his disciple. At last we o.re stirred in our slumbers. We rise from our sleep. Bu…
968 wordsSECTION 139The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 139
Wat-0h" (Mark xiii. 35-37). We must learn the prayer of the child Samuel, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." Each time we refuse to listen the old torpor steals more and more over our souls, our slumber becomes deeper, the difliculty of awakening us ~1C"romes greater, a_nd repei:itanee more do~btful, more encom…
869 wordsSECTION 140The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 140
death. Ilia life exhibited a picture of holiness such as the world had never seen, snch RB none of its greatest sages had ever imagined. It stands alone in its pure beaitty, unique, unapproachable. We know that no human intellect could have imagined such n life; no merely human pen could have described it. It is unlike…
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Ver. 2.-The flesh and spirit. "I sleep, but my heart waketh." The body sleeping, the heart awake. I. So?lfETIMES, AS HERE, BUT 01''1!: OF THESE IS AWAKE. 1. Here it was the spirit. (1) This fact an argument against materialism, which insists that the spirit is alto- gether dependent upon the body. Bence that death …
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Vers. 2-8.-Tlie dream of Gethsemane. Under the imagery of this dream devout students have seen pictured forth the pe.thetic facts of the garden in which our Lord was in agony, and his disciples slept (cf. Matt. xxvi. 40-43 and parallels). We have- I. Tmi DISTRESSED SAVIOUR. (Ver. 2,) He desired his disciples to watch …
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Ver. 9.-The S'Upremacy of Ohri.~t. "What is thy beloved more," etc.? The world asks this question. Upon the answer the Church gives depends whether the world remains as it is-alienated from Christ or drawn to him. If the Church makes it evident that Christ is "chiefest among ten thousand" and" altogether lovely," th…
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things are put under him." 9. Stainless purity and heavenly mindedness mad,ed 1,i., life: (Ver.14.) 'fho body, ?r r~ther the robe that covered it, as bright ivory, tells of the purity and perfectness of his life; the heavenly blue of the "sapphires" is the type of heaven. His conversntion was in heaven. He walked with …
882 wordsSECTION 145The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 145
is it thal hinders in any soul that fails to see in Ch,-ist what the holiest nud best of men always and everywhere have seen in him? Wdl, if men will not loolc they will not see. And tl,is is one hindrance. The portraiture of Christ is given perfectly in tho Gospels, but if men will not look into them, read them, an…
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upon our path; we do not perceive it. We have no conscious communion with Jesns. \Ve find no nourishment in the sacred Word. The ordinances of the sancttrn.ry have lost their charm. We do not grow in grace. \Ve make no procrress heavenward. It i~ inglorious in11ction. 2. It is a bl(//TY/,(1,ble condition. We are s;r…
936 wordsSECTION 147The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 147
her babe sooner than she will hear the cry of another child. If we hear our Master's ~oice, then faith is not asleep. " Faith cometh by hearing." Of all Christ's sheep thi~ is a sure mark ; they hear Christ's voice, "A stranger will they not follow, for they knnw not the voice of strangers." We know well that if any on…
912 wordsSECTION 148The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 148
of our hearts. "He is altogether lovely." Not simply is his <locLrine nrmrishing, his example inspiring, his self-sacrifice attractive, his compassion winsome, but his very Person is e.n enchantment and o. charm. At the outset of our acquaintance we "shall love him, because he first loved us;" nor will his compassion…
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explanation of his ceaseless henevolence was this: "I do always the things that please him." As he entered the black cloud of the final tragedy, he intrrro~ntes himself thus: " Wh11t shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?" Dnt mstantly he adds "Father, glorify thy Name." Filial reverence, filial trust, filial …
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I cnnnot do it justice. Mayhap I shall only lower Jesus in the estimation of mankind. Still, I bo.ve so.id enough to establish his superlative ~xcellence, and to account for my enthusinstic Jove." Ah! who co.n adequately portray the Person of God's dear Son? Cnn Go.briel? Can Michael? Can Paul,after centuries of sweet …
1,070 wordsSECTION 151The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 151
Ver. 2.-Tlie heart that waketh. Thus opens the recital of a dream-a dream which ~us the confused expression of deep feelings, of affection, of apprehension, of anxiety. The expression is poetical; the body slumbers, yet the mind and its feelings are not nltogether asleep. A slumbering heart is inaccessible to the Di…
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I. TnE SUMMONS. 1. Its no.tore. There is the knoclc which demo.nds attention, and there is the speech which o.rticulately conveys the appeal. Christ comes to the world, and comes to the heart, with such tokens of Divine authority as demand that heed sho11lrJ he given to hiH embaaso.ge. '!.'be euperno.turo.l o.rrests…
1,224 wordsSECTION 153The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 153
Ver. 10.-" Ohiefest =ong ten th=and." The figure here employed by the bride to depict the superiority and excellence of her royal husband is very striking. In reply to the inquiry of those who mock and taunt her in the season of her sorrow and her loss, asking what her beloved is more than another, she replies that he…
1,230 wordsSECTION 154The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 154
he still kept before the mind of t,he render. Ho lifts me to the golden doors; The scene is still in the pal1toe. The ladies Tho flashes come nnd go; plavfully carry on the bride's cue, and help All Heavon bursts her etRrry floors, her.to pour out her feelings. The bridegroom, And strews her lights below, they 1.--…
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complcdns while he is u.bsont; but when be Lriclo was liko tl,e streams and fl,,;,cr.,, ll19 comes nn,l reveals himself, clelighting in his bircls and flocks, of beautiful Galile0; " poople, their beu.uty, which is a roHection society of believing peasants untouche,l 1,y of his, will shine forth as the sun for ever …
1,067 wordsSECTION 156The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 156
hrel\king through the ~hades of lhe garden, monai·chs, by \'iolence into his lrnrem ; she like t.ho morning star appearing above the wae subdued by the power of love. It wns horizon (t•s eo,utp6pos, Venetian) (cf. Isa. xiv. love that raised her to the royo.l ohariots of J2, wbc-re the morning star is called ,ci~ 1-,…
1,068 wordsSECTION 157The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 157
lu doubtless B poetic orlillce, as before in a dance, perhaps one in which the inhnhi- the oo.se of the dream, for the purpose of tants of l\fahanaim excelled, or one in which introducing tho lovely clcscriplion of her angele, or hosts wero thought to engage. The pcr~onal attro.ctions. Plainly sho is dcscribecl old tmn…
898 wordsSECTION 158The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 158
to our weakness to remember that the great King humbled himself to our low estate, that he was made as one of us, that he shared all our human infirmities, sin only excepted ; that he who is the Life of the world hmnbled himself for us unto death, cYen tbe death of the cross. And of all the titles by which he has be…
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about Zion," tho psalmist continues, "and go round about her: tell the tower3 thereof. Mark woll her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following" (Ps. xlviii. 2, 12, 13). Zion was to the Israelites "the perfection of beauty" (Pa. 1. 2; Lam. ii. 16). The exiles in the days of the C…
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Then we must pray for grace to follow the banner of the cross with loyal heart and ~teadfast puri:'ose,_tha_t, our service may be acceptable to the Oaptain of our salvation, and pleasing m his sight, as a. bannered host m~rshalled and ordered, as each noblo w:mior well equipped and disciplined, is a sight th11,t giv…
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'l'he evil spirit of sensuality returned. When l,e was old, his wives turned a\\'ay hi8 heart; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, ancl built high places for the wornhip of idols in the hill that is before Jerusalem (1 Kings xi. 4-, 6, 7). How earnestly we ought to strive to retain in our souls those happy feelin…
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;:,,,pcl to cYery creature," that first ce.lled the Gentiles into the city of God. Till he enlb us ~ve arc like the bride in the song, immersed in worldly pursuits and earthly cnrcs; be brings us into the new Jerusalem and makes us fellow-citizens with the saint,. ,ve must remember always that" By the grace of God I…
1,202 wordsSECTION 163The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 163
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-3.-Earnest inquirers after Christ. The conversation still goes on between her who bas lost her beloved and the daughters of Jerusalem. She has just poured out her heart to them in the description of him whom her soul so loved, and these verses give their regponse. We learn- I. THA…
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fied," As his" meat and drink" when here on el\rth was "to do the will of" the Father, ><o now his sustenance is those fruits of the Spirit which abound in his true Ohurch. And he "~nthers lilies." "He shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom" (Isa. xl.). Whenever a }lure and holy soul, like thos…
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Ver. 10-ch. vii. 9,-How souls come into perilous places. '' Or ever I was a.ware." This eeotion contains-so the literalists say-the account of the speaker's coming to Solomon's palace. (For right rendering of text, see the Revised Version and its margin.) She relates how she met the king's court (ver, 11). She was dwel…
606 wordsSECTION 166The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 166
Vers. 1-3.-Succesiful quest after the chief good. The inquirer has ta.ken a step in advance. Awhile ho asked," What is there in Jesus that makes him so attractive'?" To this question the loving disciple had responded, He had answered the question fully. He had given a full description of the sinner's Friend. He had tes…
1,174 wordsSECTION 167The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 167
loathes and nbhors sin. His companions shall be spiritual virgins. Until a man is new- born he cannot see the kingdom of heaven, much less can he see the King. Purity r,f lifo may not yet be reached, but if in the central heart the purpose and firm resolve bo for purity, then Jesus will soon be found. "Blessed are t…
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will be quencl1ed in darkn~s~, the stars will disappear or elso assuino new forms• but the ransomed saints will he rising in excellence, and adding to their spiritual adorn- ments, world without end. This high estate of beauty may not as yet bo in esse 1 but It is in pos.•c. It is not yet an actual possession, But i…
882 wordsSECTION 169The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 169
nnd peace. She changes deserts into gardenH, and prisons into palaces. Where dark despair awhile reigned, she comes like the light of morning, and opens a new day. V. HERE 1B THE IDEA OF USEFULNESS. "Jt'air as the moon, clear as the sun." A~ the luminaries of night and of day perform an office of unspeakable usefuln…
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is it. that the Lord Jesus is so utterly misunderstood by many able and distin"uished men? t.hnt some such class him with impostors or with fanatics? that oth~rs are e1·idently at a loss to explain the hold he has over the heart of humanity? How many distressing representations of the Saviour's character, sayings, a…
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Ver. 4.-The ter,·ibleness of the Church of Christ. There is nothing inconsistent in the asserLion that the same living society is possessed of beauty and of terribleness. To the susceptible mind there is ever something awful in beauty; it is felt to be Divine. '!'here is a side of beauty which verges upon sublimity. We…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER vn ~ is of a light texture. We must not expect to find a symbolical meaning for a.II the Ver. 1.-B:ow beautiful are thy feet in details of such a description. The general sa.ndals, O prince's daughter! The joints of intention is to set forth the beauty and glory thy thigh.I are like jewels, the w…
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of Urn botly, which it is iu infants, and nearly Solomon there were many noted specimens so in o.dulLs. Perho.ps Delitzsch is right in of architectural and artistic splenc!our, "A thinking that there may be an attempt to tower which looks in the direction of Da- describe the navel itself as like the whirling mascus is …
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nbstrnct "love·• is plainly here used for tbo Version is supported by some critics ns tho concrete," 0 loved ono." It is just possible best, "causing the lips of those tlmt nro thnt the menning me.y be-How d0lightful asleep to speak." Dclitzsoh adheres to this. is the enjoyment of love I but the bodily The LXX. renders…
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villages. Let us get up early to the vine- the MandragOTci officinalis (Linn.), whitish- yards; let us see whether the vine bath green in colour, with yellow apples about budded and its blossom be open, and the the size of nutmegs; they belong to the pomegranates be in flower: there will I order of Solanacem, and both …
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approach of the bride, aud perhaps also of the queenly grace of her movements. The opening words remind us of the prophecy of Isaiah, quoted by St. Paul in Rom. x. 16, "How beantiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisbeth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that pub…
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towers, her head to the mountain so famous in the history of Elijah. So In the Book of the Revelation, when the angel had said to St. John, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife," "he carried me," the eva.naelist continues, "away in the Spirit to e. great and high mouutain, and showed me that great …
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onr heart, wilh all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, because our highest powers oan find their proper exercise only thus; and it is in the exercise of the highest powers that the highest happiness is found. It is the love of God that sheds glory and joy and blessedness through Maven, his dwell…
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runny broken rcsoluUons. It is easy to say, very hard to persevern in bearing the cross. How often we hnve promised, at our baptism, at our confirmation, in the Holy Oommunion, in the hour of private prayer and self-examination-how often we have said," I will go up" I But the necent is steep and difficult; the palm tre…
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the loved one's sake find how blessed is self-sacrifice for his sake who loved us and ga,e himself for us. II. THE BRIDE'S ANSWER. 1. Tl~ mutual lo'IJe that binds them together. She repeats the assertion of eh. ii. 16 ; vi. 3. As in eh. vi. 3, she puts first her own gift, the gift of her whole heart, to her beloved. S…
1,024 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.