The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 44

of shame; and as myrrh soothes and quiets pain, so will the fragrant breath of our Immanuel heal us. 5. TM friendship qf Jesus satisfies every want. "My Beloved is uuto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi." The cluster of caruphire flowers ha~ a !enown both for beauty and for fragrance. So the excellence of Jesus has a fascmat10n for every sense of the renewed man. Every organ is a channel through which Christ's life flows. We look unto Jesus, and we are charmed with the beauty of his character. We listen, and his words of promise kindle in us a holy rapture. His deeds and sacrifices for us have a sweet-smellin"' savour. His intei:-cession for us is like the temple incense. "We taste that the Lo~d is gracious." He 1s to us heavenly manna-" the Bread of life." The coming of Christ is like autumn abundance. "He is all our salvation and all our desire; " "My God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus;" "He that cometh to me shall never hunger; he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Nothing so enchants and satisfies the soul like Jesus. Amongst the verdant and generous vineyards of Engedi, the cluster of camphire was distinguished for fragrance and for usefulness; so among the charms of nature, among the genial society of human friends, Jesus stands out prominently the most precious and the most prized of all There is nothing on earth we can compare with him. He is without a rival. II. OBSERVE THE REGARD WHICH JESUS CHRIST HAS FOR HIS FRIENDS. 1. He fully e:iteems all the good there is in them. "Behold, thou art fair, my love." The eye of friendship will discover many virtues in a man which the eye of malice can never find. It is not love that is blind; it is malice that is blind. Love has eyesight keener than an eagle, keener than an archangel. The eye of Jesus sees in us excellences which he himself has created; and though as yet these are only in tiny germ, yet, with the magnifying power of love, Jesus beholds them as they shall be, full-orbed and beautiful. There is no future to him. What to us is in the future is with -him present. He looks with tenderness upon the tiny blade of pious love, and lo I already 'tis a cedar of Lebanon, among whose branches the feathered minstrels sing. If only a heavenly ambition begins to stir within the breast, he hastens to foster it. Says he," It is well that it wa.s in thine heart." 2. He repeats the commendation in order to confirm it. "Thou art fair; thou art fair, my love." The conscience of the Christian, filled with light from heaven, is painfully sensible of its faults, and asks in astonishment, "Lord, didst thou call me fair?" Then, to bani,sh doubt and to pierce to the heart unbelief, .Jesus repeats his approval, "Behold, thou art fair, my love." "Though it may be that our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all thing~.'• Full clearly be sees the yonng germ of new-born love, and this he will make to grow until it shall fill the soul with beauty. Hence he already says, "'fhou art fair, my love." Under the magic wand of love, the nature that had sunk into a beast becomes incarnate beauty. Love creates. Love transfigures. 3. Love makes like unto itself. Because Christ our Lord is beautiful, we shall be beautiful. Because Christ is pleasant, we shall be pleasant. Every quality of mind and heart that Jesus possesses he will communicate unto us. "He emptied himself" that he might fill us, It is a special pleasure to discover a new excellence in our Immanuel, inasmuch as that excellence shall be ours. "We shall be like him when we see him as he is.'' 4. Jesus identiji,e1 himself complettly with his ransomed ones. 'l'he couch, or resting-place, in the palace garden is said to be "ours." " Our bed is green.'' It is a verdant oasis in this world's desert. Or, if the palace is described, it is our house. To all the possessions of the Bridegroom the bride is encouraged to lay claim. It is always the result of the marriage-tie that the interests and fortunes of the two are identical. One is the complement of the other. Neither is complete alone. There couJd be no shepherd unless there were sheep._ There can be no bridegroom without a bride. '!'here can be no king without subjects. Nor can there be a Saviour unless there are also the saved. The glory of Jesus Christ is seen nowhere but in his ransomed Church. Therefore Jesus completely and generously identifies himself with us, All his po~~ee- sions are to be our possessions. All his noble qualities are to be our noble quaht1es, His purity is to be our purity. His tbrone is to be our throne likewise.. lt is his everlasting purpose that we shall be "joint-heirs," "They shall qave m'f/ JO'fl ful6Ueti in themselves,"-D, tlH, I, 1-17.] THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 33