Still the bride found not the beloved; ·she repel\tl! her first lament like a plaintive refrain:" I sought him, but I found him not," 'l'he soul does not always find the Lord 11t once when it first feels its need of the Saviour. We tryone pll\n after another; we make effort after effort ; but for a time all our efforts are vain. We know that he may he found, that others have found him and have felt the blessedness of his love, • But the search seems long fruitless. God would have our search to be sincere, thoughtrul, earnest. Therefore he tries our faith. He proves us, as once be proved Abraham; as lhe Lord Jesus tried the faith of the Syro-Phamician woman. Again and again she sought his help, but for some time there was no response; silence at first) then what seemed to be a stern refusal. Still she persevered, she urged her prayer; her case was like that of the bride--sbe sought him, but she found hfm not. We must follow her example, remembering the Lord's teaching, that men ougl1t always to pray, and not to faint. We must imitate the bride in her dre..'\m, and seek on, though for a long season our search may seem unsuccessful-though we find him not, II. TIIE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THE BRIDE'S SEARCH. ). She meets the watchmen. The watchmen found her (as a.gain in eh. v. 7). She asks them the question which was so near her heart," Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" They were going about the city; they might be able to guide her,to the object of hersearch. But they were like the watchman of Ps. cxxvii., waldng but in vain for the bride's purpose, unable to help her. It is not always that Christian friends, or the ministers of God's holy Word aod sacraments, who "watch for our souls" (Heb. xiii. 17), can help us in our search for Christ. We ask them, we seek their help; it is right to do so; sometimes they can help us, But each soul must find Christ for itself. "Work out your own -salvation," St. Paul said to the Philippians; and that, "not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence" (ii. 12). 2. She finds the bridegr()()lfll,, The watchmen could give her no good tidings; but she did not faint; she did not return home or throw herself down in despair; she continued her search alone. She would search on till she found the beloved of her soul. And her search was rewarded at last. " It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth." God is not far from us even in the hour of deepest gloom, when we seem to strain our eyes through the dark- ness, and can see no light. If we seek him earnestly we shall surely find him at the last; for he, we know, is seeking us. The Lord J esue Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He seeketh the lost sheep until he find it, He giveth his life for the sheep. Then we may be quite sure that he who loved us with such a love, a love stronger than death. will not suffer any penitent soul that seeketh him in faith, in sorrow for the past, in earnest painful longings for forgiveness, to lose its wa.y, to wander on without finding, to inquire everywhere without result," Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" He will surely manifest himselfacoorcling to hie blessed promise;as he did to the two disciples who on the first Easter Day were mourning for their lost Master, and wonld not be comforted by the words of the women who " had seen a vision ef angels, who said that he was alive." He will come in his gracious love, and .then our. heart will burn within us as he manifests himself, and our eyes shall be opened, and we shall know him; and that knowledge is eternal life (John xvii. 3). 3.. She brings him to· her home. The long wanderings of the dream were over. She had found him whose love filled her wakincr tbouahts, of w.hom her dreams were full when she slept. She would 0 not let him go. The ~nguish of that long, almost despairing search should not be in vain. She held him fast, and brought him to her own home, into its inmost cho.mbers. The soul that once has found Christ clings to him with the strong embrace of faith, He may "make as though he would go further" (Luke xxiv. 28), to try our faith, that we may feel our need of him. But as the two disciples then "constrained him, sayii;>,g, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent,'' so the soul holds him and will not Jet him go. 'fhe soul, weak as Jacob was weak, struggles with the strength that the sense of weakness gives. "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me," "YiPld to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self.despair: Speak to my heart, in blessings speak; Be conquered by my instant prayer: Speak I or thou never hence shalt_move, And tell me if thy naIQe is Love, (lll, III, 1-11.] THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 79
"My prayer he.th power with Go,! : the graoe Unspee.kable I now receive; Through fe.ith I see thee fa.1Je to fa.ee- l see thee fe.ce to face, e.nd Ii ve I In ve.in I he.ve not wept and strove : Thy ne.ture and thy name is Love."