The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 145

is it thal hinders in any soul that fails to see in Ch,-ist what the holiest nud best of men always and everywhere have seen in him? Wdl, if men will not loolc they will not see. And tl,is is one hindrance. The portraiture of Christ is given perfectly in tho Gospels, but if men will not look into them, read them, and consider them, what wonder that they fail to see? And to see him &s altogethel" lovely, that demands that we loolc long and attentively, that we study the portraiture that is given, and that \VO seek to he_ rid of all that would h~nder the truth of our seeing. But these 11ersons never do tl11s. Moreover, to see him as he is, we must stay with him. You cannot know a fellow-man by a short interview. To know a n1an you must live with him. And so if we would really know Christ and see him as his saints have seen him, we must live with him, keep in his company, commune with him and be in daily intercourse with him. And we must be in right relatwnship to him; we must serve him, for that is his due. And then ns we work for him, bis true character will dawn upon us more and more; and we, too, shall come to see him as altogether lovely. 'l'herefore- III. LET us RESOLVE THAT WE WILL THUS SEE HIM. To encourage us herein let us think of the results and recompenses of such beholding him. We shall come: 1. To rnsemble him. For we shall come to love him, and nothing so assimilates character as love. 2. To rejoice in him. Of common earthly things the well-known line say~, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." But of our Lord to behold him, it ie the very joy of hearnn. For there "they shall see his face." 3. Rest. The worries and frets of life will vanish in that beatific vision, like as even an unlovely landscape looks beautiful 'l',lien the bright sun shines upon it. And so will it be with whe.t is unlovely in life, that in itself irks and distresses us. If we see his face, if that vision of perfect loveliness shines before us, all will share more or less in that. 4. Reap for him, as never we did before. With our souls full of his love, even the stammering tongue will become eloquent, and our words will tell, and we shall wonder ?,nd rejoice to eee how our children, our people, our friends and neighbours, listen to us and believe, and turn to him from whom we cannot and would not tum away. And at last we shall be: 6. Received "by him into his own blessed presence, where we shall own that "the half was not told" us, and even the best of our seeing was but as through a glass, darkly.-S. C. Ver. 2.-Languid life. 'l'he experiences of the saints are useful guide-posts on the hea ,·enly mad. 'l'hey help by way of counsel, caution, inspiration, comfort, warning. Some experiences recorded serve as lighthouses, some as beacons. A wise pilgrim will not despise any one of them. If a traveller is about to cross Africa from west to east, he will not fail to ask what were the fortunes and experiences of those who have already made that perilous journey. He will learn from . their mistakes and their sufferings what to avoid. He will learn from their successes how far he should tread in their footsteps. The journey is not so difficult now as it was to the first adveuturer. A similitude thi! of the heavenly pilgrimage. Others have passed this way befure us. We are indebted to them for the recor<l of their checkered fortunes. They tell us how they climbeJ ihe hill Difficulty. 'fhey t"ll 11s how they were overtaken with the foe unwarily. 'l'hey tell us bow they fought, and by what methods they conquered. 'l'hey tell us how at times spiritual drowsiness crept over I-hem; how they bemoaned their folly; how they aroused themselves afresh, Then we discover that this infirmity is not peculiar to ourselves. We do not deny ourselves the consolation that we really Lelong to Christ, though we have been foolish enough to sleep in his service. There is Lligb t upon the tree, and a reduction of fruitfulness; nevertheless, the tree has life in its roots. Blemiiiliee are upon me; still I am in Christ. I. HERE IS A STATE OJI' INSENSIBILITY CONFESSED. "I sleep." It is a figure of speech L,,rrowed from the sensations of the body. Our physical nature needs periodic sleep, Dut mauy indolent J.Jersons sleep when they do not need it; and it is this needless sleep- this ignoble sleep-that is here described. Unlike the body, the soul requires no sleep. 1. It is a state of inaction. Fur the time being sight and hearing are suspended. All L,<lily sensatious are awanling. The i;leeper is unconscious of all that Li occurring rc,un,l about him. Sleep is the brother of death. So, if the soul sleeps, it is a transieut ckat h. Our btst Friend is near, but we cannot we him. If he speaks, we do not hear his vuice. \\'e have no enjoyment of his friendabip. The sun of God's favour may shine OU, V, 1-16.] TUE SONG OF SOLOMON.