The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 137

"0 ,Tcsn, thou art plea.ding In aooents meek and low: ' I died for you, my children, And will ye treat me so ? ' 0 Lord, with shamo and sorrow We open now the door; Dror Saviour, enter, enter, And leave us never more.'' The b1ide opens to lier beloved. The bridegroom's hand had been dipped in oil or myrrh._ Some of the unguent remai?ed upon the bolt; it droppc<l upon tho fingers or tlic lm<le. It was a token of the bridegroom's presence, He had gathered his myrrh (,·er. 1) from the "garden enclosed" before this passing shadow had fallen upon their love. H may be, too, that we may see in the myrrh a parable of self-denial. It may lw rc.~ardcd as a loving warning left hy tho bridegroom to teach the bride a necessary les,on. She mnst not sin mber on; it is time to wake and to work. Working for Christ is sometimes like the wine mingled with myrrh (Mark xv. 23); it has a bitter taste to our pampered palate. But if we take the cup which the Lord gives us to drink, we shall find at last that the smell of it is sweet; even as his yoke, hard at first, becumes easy in the discipline of obedience, and his burden, heavy -at first, becomes light when he bears it with us. For self-denials meekly borne for him bring us nearer and nearer to him who bore the supreme self-sacrifice or the cross for us; and in his presence there is a depth of sweetness which t.a.kes away the bitterness. 4. It is too late, The beloved had withdrawn himself. "My beloved withdrew himself, wo.s gone," she s.-iys, in the plaintive wailing of disappointment (there is no conjunction in the original). "My soul went forth," she continues, "as he spake." My soul, my heart; , my affections, went forth to him at the sound of his voice. The well-known tones a.roused the old love. She had once given her heart to him; and now, though in her dream her love seemed to have been chilled, and she seemed to Ji,, heedless, unwilling to rouse herself to exertion, yet now his words at last reached her heart. Her soul went forth to him in response to his calling. Or the Hebrew words ma,y rather mean, as in the Revised Version, "My soul had failed me when he spake." 'l'he same words are used in describing the death of Rachel: "It came to pass, as her soul was in departing" (Gen. xx:i::v. 18). His words awoke in her soul the fear lest she should lose him by her coldness and selfish neglect. The thou~ht was like death to her. "Love is strong as death" (eh. viii. 6). Her soul went forth; it failed her. For the moment she was helpless-prostrate as in a death-like swoon. Then she aroused herself. It was time, toact,to bestir herself. He was gone; she might lose him for ever; andherheart was bound up in him. To lose him was death-worse than death. She sought him; hut she could not find him ; she called him in her dream, but he gave her no answer. The dream of the bride is a parable of the Christian life. The ~oul sometimes sinks into a state of listlessness and apathy. There is no actual transgression, perhaps-no open sin. The evil spirit is not there; the house is empty (Matt. xii. 43, 44). But the Bridegroom is absent, and· love has grown cold. There is no recollection of the absent Lord-no regret, no longing for his return. The soul lives on, as it were, in o. dream, not realizing the solemn meani □ g of life, not thinking of the awful future. But God in his gracious mercy will not let us dream away our lives without a :warning, He calls us by his blessed Son: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Sometimes, alas! we will not hear; sometimes we listen dreamily, half-conscious, recognizing in a sense the Bridegroom's voice, but not realizing the solemn, holy meaning of the call; not thinking of his Jove and of our ingratitude, his promises and oU:r broken vows, what he did for us and what return we have made to him; not thinking of his grace and our responsibility, his longing for our salvation and our fearful danger. That lethargy, that slumber of indifference, creeps over us all from time to time when we have not been watchful-when we have neglected our prayers and other blessed means of grace. But the dear Lord secketh that which is lost untit he find it. He "is Ieng suffering to ueward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. iii. 9). He comes again and again, calling us, sometimes in the gentle tones uf entreating love, sometimes in the sterner language of reproof and c1aslisemeut. Sutottimes he wakes as though he would force hie way. Ho puts hie OH, V, 1-16.] 'l'HE SONG OF SOLOMON. 127