The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 144

things are put under him." 9. Stainless purity and heavenly mindedness mad,ed 1,i., life: (Ver.14.) 'fho body, ?r r~ther the robe that covered it, as bright ivory, tells of the purity and perfectness of his life; the heavenly blue of the "sapphires" is the type of heaven. His conversntion was in heaven. He walked with God. 10. He was firm. and steadfast in God. (Ver. 15.) The legs, as "pillars of marble," tell of his steadfast strength; the" sockets of fino gold," of the Divine basis and foundation of that strength. 11. Full of ma}esty and beauty, as Lebanon and its cedars. Cf. his appearance at the 'l'ransfiguration; to the guards at his rising from the dear!. 12. .And yet full of grace and benignity. (Ver. 16.) "His mouth "-his smile-" most sweet." The little children nestled in his arms. 'l.'he poor fallen women read the benignity of that look. Publicans and sinners crowded round him, irresistibly drawn by his exceeding grace. 13. No human tongue can tell liow fair lie is. " Yea, he is al together lovely." The words tell of the giving up the task, of ceasing from the hopeless endeavour, to fitly fully set forth her beloved. She could only say, "He is altogether," etc. CONCLUSION. Such was the answer given when asked," ·what is thy beloved more," etc.'? ( ver. 9). And such answer is the best. The testimony of the loving heart to what Jesus is to such heart is more convincing than any argument. May such testimony be ours !-S. C. Ver, 16.-" .Altogether lovely." We apply these words to the Lord Jesus Christ, and affirm that they are true of him. May he grant us grace to see that they are so! And we remark- I. THAT WHETHER WE BELIEVE THEM OR NOT, THEY ARE ASSUREDLY TRUE. .All generations have confessed them true. The hero of one age is not the hero of another; but Christ is the Beloved of all ages. Abraham saw his "day and was glad." Prophets and psalmists beheld him, and to them all it was a beatific vision. They sang of him as "fairer than the children of men;" they exhausted all imagery of beauty and delight to tell of him. And since he came, apostles, martyrs, and generation after generation of those "ho have loved and toiled, and often died, for him, have confessed the truth of our text. And to-day myriads of souls are aglow with love to him, and gladly take up the same confession. "The goodly fellowship of the prophets, the glorious company of the apostles, the noble army of martyrs, the holy Church throughout all the world, doth acknowledge" him. And so will all ranks and classes of men. The rich and the poor, the lofty and the low, have met together in this confession. And all ages, the young and the old. And all lands, north, south, east, and west. And all characters and dispositions. See how varied the characters of those who gathered round our Lord, and of the saints of the Bible, and of all ages. And seen in all aspects, he still receives the same confession. As a child, as a man, as a teacher, as a sufferer, iu his death, in his resurrection, in his intercession for us in heaven. With the choicest works of art, with the fairest scenes of nature, with the most glorious buildings that men have reared, all depends on the point of view from which we behold them. Seen from the right stand- point, they are beautiful and glorious; seen from another, they excite no admiration, they mny appear the reverse of beautiful. And so with the characters of men. '!'hey may be excellent in some things, but the best of men are but men at the best. There are faults aud flaws in the fairest human soul. But with our Lord, see him how, when, and whence we may, to the heart that loves him he is still "altogether lovely." The testimony has come from every quarter, from every age; it is full, clear, complete, varied, reiterated, and has been tested and tried and found true always and everywhere. The holiest saints gaze on the perfect loveliness of their Lord as the one model to which they would be conformed, but from which they own they are far removed. His enemies themselves being judges confess that "they find no fault in him.n He is as a lamb without blemish and without spot. But, alas! to many he is not this; they see in him no form or comeliness, no beauty that they should desire him, Therefore we say of these words of our text- 11. THAT BINCE THEY ARE TRUE WE OUGHT TO SEE THEM TO BE TRUE. If beautiful music or works of art, or scenes in nature, do not impress men with their beauty, we pity s~1ch persons, we deem them lacking in ~ great good. And if they have no appre• cialion of rnornl beauty, we do not merely pity, but we blame. What, then, must we say of those who fail to see any beauty in him who is" altogether lovely"? But what  lJ l THE SONG OF SOLOMON. [err. v, 1-lG.