The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 114

he tells of; her lips ruddy; her mouth so comely; her cheeks rosy red, like the opened tiomegmnate; her neck grnceful, and adorned with precious jewels; and so on. Even her home, because it is her home, is as a hill bearing trees of myrrh and frankincense, nnd thither would he resort. And he sums up his description by declaring that she is "all fair "-that there is no blemish in her. Now, on such flattery, cf. on oh. i. 9- 11. , • But had these verses no other meaning than this literal one, we cannot think they would have found place in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore we take them as setting forth, under their rich Oriental colouring, the blessed truth that, in the sight of their Lord, bis people are without blemish, "all fair." It is the same truth as was meant by that at present unloved phrase, "imputed righteousness." .And that it is unloved is owing to the fact that its meaning has been grossly perverted, and made to stand for ideas dishonouring to God and disastrous to the spiritual life of men, But in reality the phrase means jtist that which in these verses is allegorically set forth. In interpreting tbese verses it is not the right or reverent way, though many ha.vo followed it, to affix some definite meaning to every detail or the description given,· but to take the description as a whole, as attesting the beauty of the red~med in the sight of their Lord. 1'herefore, though some have interpreted the dove's eyes: as th!I eyes that me ever towards the Lord in holy desire; and the hair as the unshorn locks of the soul's consecration to Christ; and the teeth, undecayed and perfect, as 'the fai:th which feeds on Christ; and the lips as those of one once. leprous, but now purified by the precious blood of Christ, and so like a scarlet thread; the blushing temples no longer bold and brazen, but suffused with crimson as the pomegranate, telling of the soul's true repentance; the neck, tall, stately, graceful, strong, telling of the liberty and courage Christ has given the soul; the breasts of the twin graces of faith a.nd love, which Paul says are the believer's breastplate ;-all this (cf. Stuart), though interesting and ingenious, appears to us unnecessary and, in some hands, injurious, We therefore take the description generally, and note-- . I. THE FACT THAT CrrRIST DOES REGARD AB BEAUTIFUL THE REDEEllED,BOUL. She is spotless in his sight. He says, "The glory thou gavcst me I have given them." Christ is made unto us "Righteousness and Sanctification." He shed his blood that his Church might be "a glorious Church, not having spot," etc. (Eph. v. 27). He will present us ., faultless before the presence of his glory'' (Jude 24:). "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," said our Lord (cf. also 1 Cor. vi.11). .And if be did not so regard his people and count them" precious in his sight" (Isa.. xliii.), wherefore should he have done and suffered for them all that be has? Whatever we make sacrifices for we count beautiful Our love pierces through the outer .husk of cir- cumstance and evil ha.bit, and sees the beauty within; and it is for that we will make sacrifice if need be. .And so with onr most blessed Lord'"""'"his .eye of love pierced through the often hideous husk of men's vile ha.bits and ways to the soul on ,which his heart was set, that he might redeem and save it, and make it beautiful, like· his own. And when that soul turns to him in trust and penitence, then at once that soul is "all fair " in his sight, and " there is no spot in II it. . .. II. W ,rr SHOULD HE NOT? Men say, "It is wrong to represent God as seeing other- wise than according to the truth of things. Therefore to say of a soul, 'There is no spot in it,' when we know that 'from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in it' (Isa; i.), this is to introduce unreality and make-believe into the most sacred regions." But look at the mother's joy in her babe, Whence comes that? Is it not largely the loving onlook she takes into the future of that child? She sees, or at least believes she sees, that child grown up in purity, intelli- gence, goodness, and all that is lovely and lovable. She is a believer, and you cannot move her, in imputed righteousness; for what is she doing but imputing a.II that righteousness to her babe? See the shipbuilder in his yard. There is a ship in its earliest stages of construction. You can see nothing but chips and dirt and confusion, But he sees that ship in her completion-in all her strength, the beauty of her lines, and all the perfectness which he intends shall belong to her. And he "imputes" to her all that. .And so with our Lord. He sees all that the soul .shall be when he has perfected the" good work" which he has already begun for and in it. This is why, even now, it is fitting that he should see and say," There is no spot in thee." III. AND wIIA'r 11!' a i,: DOEB? '!'here is : 1. .All consolation for the anxious, mis- OII, IV. 1-10,] THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 103