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 white neck. Perfumes and unguents, spices, and cedars of Lebanon, address the sense of smell. The taste is appealed to by the pleasant wine, the honey of exceeding sweetness. And what is the emotion which 1.inks itself with beauty, sweetness, and fragrance? It is love, with which all this opulence of poetry seems most harmonious. Beneath all this vesture of splendour are certain principles which may well be brought into clearness of knowledge. I. ALL LOVE INVOLVES LEAVING. The bride is invited to quit her mountain-home, the scenes of grandeur with which she was familiar, the lonely sources of historic rivers, the romantic home of the lion and the leopard. No power but love could have made her think with acquiescence of such a change as that to which she was now urged. Ever must love come down from its proud hei:;hts, from its vaulted splendours, from its ancient scenes. It is so with human love ; and how willingly is the call obeyed which bids to forsake the surroundings, the very joys and excitements, of the past! It is so with Divine love; and no soul that recognizes the sweet authority of the Saviour's voice will hesitate to quit the scenes and the society which may previously have afforded pleasure, and like the bride to forget her father's house. It is a sound test, and a fair: " Come with me from Lebanon." II. ALL LOVE INVOLVES HEART-LOSING. "The heart is where it loves, and not where it lives." The lover here avers, "Thou hast ravished my heart with a look from thine eyes." Common language recognizes the distinction between him who is "heart- whole" and him who has "lost his heart." If nothing is lost, nothing is gained. It is the same in the spiritual life. Christ gives his very heart to his people, and he expects and receives from them their hearts in return. As he has loved us with an everlasting love, no wonder that his appeal is, "Give me thy heart." III. ALL LOVE INVOLVES PREFERENOE. The language of love is the language of comparison. No similitudes are ample or rich enough to set forth the surpassing charm nnd attractiveness of the bride. Better than all glories and nil gifts, better than all rivals, is the chosen of the heart. Certainly in the religious life this is a noticeable characteristio. The Saviour prefers the soul of man to all that ease and pleasure and worldly dignity can offer. Such is the teaching of bis humiliation and obedience on oarth. And the soul that knows Christ's love deems him chief among ten thousand nnd fairer than the sons of men. None can compete, none can compare, with him. IV. ALL LOVE INVOLVES DELIGHT IN MUTUAL SOCIETY. It does not matter whether lire be passed in the cottage on the mountain-side, in the tent ou the plain, or in thE.1 1,alace in the metropolis, if only it be pnssed in that companionship which is congenial, HS 'l'IIE SONG OF SOLOMON. [en. 1v. 1--lG.
in uninterrupted fellowship with the chosen of the heart. However imperfect in its character i~ this fellowship, however it be suspended. in its enjoy1uent1 the communion of the soul wit.h Christ is subject to no such drawback. " T_hey who once ,his kindness prove, Find 1t everlastmg love." Nothing in Christ can ma'r the perfectio11 of spiritunl intimacy, or can bring that intimacy to a close. The love of Christ is the purest possessiol"I, and the one-unfaillna0 source of strength and joy.-T. •
Vers._12-15.-The garden and the fountain. The bride's beauty, purity,sweetness, and dehgbtfolness are set forth in these verses of the song with all the richness of Oriental imagery. The poet's fancy takes him to the sunny-garden of the half-tropical En-gedi, to the breezy heights of Lebanon, whence flow the ·streams that convert the desert int-0 a paradise. Orchards of pomegranates, gardens redolent with :spicy odours, murmuring fountains, all serve t-0 suggest the charms of the ·peerless one whom the king claims as his own. ' •• I. THE CHURCII IS THE GARDEN OF THE LORD. This similitude oc'curs constantly both in Scripture and in uninspired Christian writers, and has given e. tinge of poetry to many a sacred hymn. "Thy vineyards and thine orchards ~ Mosi beautiful and fair, . Full fumishM with trees nnd fruits Exceeding rich and rare. Thy gardens and thy gallant walks Continually are green; There grow such sweet and pleo.sant fiowers A.!! nowhere else are seen." 1. The Church, like the garden, is the scene and home of life. The world is the arid wilderness, the stony waste. The Church has been breathed upon by the Eternal Spirit, whose influence has called into existence the living plants that adorn the garden of Christ. 2. Tbe Church, like the garden, is a spectacle of beauty. But in this case the beauty is spiritual. " TLe lily white that bloometh there is purity; The fragro.nt violet is surnamed humility; The lovely damask rose is here called patience; The rich and cheerful marigold is obedience ; Bnt one there is that bears a crown the rest above, A cl'OWD imperial, and this flower is lioly love." 3. The Church, 111i:e the garden, is fruitful. There are not only the lovely flowers, there are precious fruits. The fruits of the Spirit have been descrihed·by,the apostle. 'l'heso are they which afford the deepest satisfaction to the Lord of the vineyard himself, 4-. The Church, like the garden, is a secure seclusion and· a ,sole possession. Such a representation sometimes, in our active, bustling, philanthropic age, a.rouses resent- ment. Yet it contains a delightful truth. '!'he" garden walled round" is secure from the assaults of the foe and the incursion of the wil<l beast. The Church is indebted t-0 Divine protection; here is its only security. The wall encloses the domain. Tho Church is Christ'i:, and his alone. The garden of the Lord has "a wall without, e. well within." It ie the rncred and ex.elusive property of him who planted it for his own glory. . II. THE CHURCH 18 THE FOUNTAIN OF THE LoBD. The garden seems to enggest the fountain, which in the Eastern climate was necessary to keep the enclosure moist, verdant, and fertile. And the garden well-spring gushing forth and watering, the many- col0ured and fragrant beds, ·seems t-0 suggest the mountain-springs far up in the northern heights of Lebanon, beyond the early }1ome of the fair .bride herse!f. Such springs are a suitable figure of the living Church of Christ, which to set forth rn all her excellence needs all things fair, bright, and fragrant that earth cau offer. The Church Clt. V, 1-16.] 'l'IIE SONG OF SOLOMON. 119