He would utterly be contemned.— Song of Songs viii. 6, 7.
LiTEEATURE fumishes no eulogy of love more splendid than this. Some of the clauses have passed into proverbs, and are often upon the lips. Such language as this has been adopted as their own by those ardent souls with whom piety is a passion, and for whom the love of God consumes all earthly emotion and desire. Here is love not simply, and not mainly, as it shows itself in our imperfect affections for each other, but as an universal and Divine principle, the motive and supreme principle of universal being ; of the love which is from God, the love which is God and in which He dwells ; the love in which if we dwell, God dwells in us and we in Him. And, taken in this high sense, the hymn is surely no unworthy precursor, no mean rival even, of St. Paul's noble and famous song in praise of charity.
^ The vigour, one might say the rigour, of the passage distin- guishes it from nearly all other poetry devoted to the praises of love. That poetry is usually soft and tender; sometimes it is feeble and sugary. And yet it must be remembered that even the classical Aphrodite could be terribly angry. There is nothing morbid or sentimental in the Shulammite's ideas. She has discovered and proved by experience that love is a mighty force, capable of heroic endurance, and able, when wronged, to avenge itself with serious effect.^
> W. F. Adeney. 471
472 IN PRAISE OF LOVE
The Demand of Love.
"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm."
The seal is the signet-ring which was sometimes carried by a string on the breast, and sometimes worn on the hand. Specially prized possessions in the way of jewels or ornaments used to be worn by the natives of Palestine, and perhaps are still, firmly sealed upon the person to prevent their being lost, stolen, or snatched away. Anything sealed in this way, whether an object of intrinsic value or not, was always precious in the eyes of the owner above all the other articles constituting the store of his worldly goods. It might be so regarded for old association's sake as a token of special favour conferred or of honour gained, just as we to-day might wear an armlet, a ring, a locket round the neck, or some order or decoration on the breast denoting the status or exploits of the person thus distinguished. The point of every such proceeding is, of course, that there is a close individual connexion between the life of the wearer and that which is indicated by the object worn.
1. The seal is to be set upon the heart. Begin at the heart if you would begin wisely; begin metaphysically, begin a long way from the visible, the concrete, and what is called the practical — poorest, meanest of the little heaps of dust that gather around the feet of our pilgrimage ! We must have Christ in the heart, a great secret, a solemn yet joyful silence. Christ and the heart must have tender communion; they have festive times that are not marked on the calendar ; they muse together, they ask questions of one another, then come more intimately near ; in the soul there is a mystic wedding, without which any other wedding is an oath broken at the altar.
^ An ancient writer said, " Christ seals us in the heart, that we may love Him ; in the forehead, that we may confess Him ; in the hand, that we may profess Him, and that we may practise what we profess." Over this love time and death have no power. It burns brighter when the lamp of life burns low ; it breaks forth
SONG OF SONGS viii. 6, 7 473
in perfect lustre when, beyond this murky atmosphere of earth, it reaches the clear air of heaven.
2. Then set this seal upon the arm. There is a time for pro- test, confession, public confession of the Eternal Name ; there is a ministry of symbolism ; there is a way of walking which shows that the pilgrim has a sanctuary in view ; there is a mysterious influence upon the attitude, the figure, the dress, the whole tone and the speech of the life. What is it ? We often call it the profession of the Name of Christ. Some of us would perhaps under certain circumstances turn our clothing so that we could conceal the seal from everybody ; but there is a way to be equally detested, and that is an opening and showing of the seal as if making an invest- ment and testimonial and credential of it. There is another way, the way of true modesty, gentle but invincible love that is not ashamed of Jesus or ashamed of the Christian seal.
^ The high priest of old had the names of all the tribes of Israel upon his breastplate, he also carried them upon his shoulders. He was a type or representative of our great High Priest, who bears our names upon His breast, the seat of His affections ; the shoulders indicating His mighty power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.
My name is graven on His hands. My name is written on His heart.