Ver. 10.-" Ohiefest =ong ten th=and." The figure here employed by the bride to depict the superiority and excellence of her royal husband is very striking. In reply to the inquiry of those who mock and taunt her in the season of her sorrow and her loss, asking what her beloved is more than another, she replies that he is the banner in the vast embattled host, rising conspicuous and commanding above the thousand warriors by whom be is encompassed. Christians are often reproached with their attachment to Christ. Men who are willing to acknowledge him as one of many, to rank him with "other masters," cannot tolerate the claims advanced by his Church on bis behalf, and ask what there is in him to entitle him to adoration so supreme, to devotion so exclusive. The answer of Christ's people is one which gathers force with the lapse of time and the enlargement of experience. Christ is "chiefest among ten thousand." He excels all other teachers, leaders, saviours of society, in every respect. I. lN THE PROFUNDITY OF HIS INSIGHT INTO TRUTH, AND IN THE 0LEABNESS WITH WHICH HE BKVEALB TRUTH. .Among the sages and philosophers who have arisen in ancient and in modern times, and to whom the world is indebted for precious communi- cations, for great thoughts, which it will not willingly let die, there is none who _can compete with Christ. His sayings are more original in their substance than those of others, with regard both to the character and service of God and to the duty and hopes of men. In fact, he is "the Truth," proved to be such by the persistence of those utterances which have sunk into the minds of men, enlightening and enriching humanity with its choicest treasures. IL IN THE EFFECTUAL COMPASSION WITH WHICH HE RECOVERS THE MORALLY LOST. 'l'he Lord Jesus is not merely a wise Teacher; he is a mighty Saviour. He knew well that little good is done by communicating truth, unless at the same time the heal't can be reached and the character moulded anew. During hie earthly ministry he pnt forth his moral power in many and most memorable instances, and rescued the sinful, the degraded, those abe.ndoned by men, restoring them to integrity, to purity, to newness of moral life. .And since his ascension he has been exercising the same power with the same results. His Name, by faith in his NaU1e, has made many whole. His gospel loses none of its efficacy, his Spirit exercises the same energy of grace, as generation succeeds generation. Ten thousand attempt what Christ alone performed. Ill. b, THE SPIRITUAL POWER WITH W.11.lCH HE RULES OVEB HUll4N SOC!ET¥. If!' CU, VI, 1-13.] 'rHE SONG OJ)' SOLOMON. 113
comparison be made between Christ and other founders of religious systems an,! Churches, it will be seen that the superiority rests with him, in the sway wielrled over the true nature of men, Compare him, for example, with Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, or with Mohammed. What is the result of such a comparison? There can be no question that, in the matter of spiritual authority, it will be to establish the supremacy of the Son of man. He lays hold, as none other has done, of the affections, the moral susceptibilities and convictions, the inner principles, of men's bein", and thus controls and inspires their true life. lo this respect ten thousand are i11feri~r to him· but he stands alone-his banner towers above the host. ' IV, lli THE WELL-FOUNDED PROSPECT WHICH HE IMPARTS TO THF, WORLD'S FUTURE, Every well-wisher to his race, in looking forward. to what shall be after him, must often be assailed with fear and foreboding. There is mt1ch to make the out- look gloomy and stormy. .And there is no pri11ciple which ca11 subdne such natural anxiety, which can inspire confident and sustaining hope with regard to the futnre of human society, except the principle of Christianity, i.e. the personal and spiritual power of the Lord Christ to govern and to guide mankind to glorious issucs.-1'.
Ver. 16.-" Altogether lovely:'' In the verses from the tenth to the sixteenth, the bride sets forth in detail the excellences and the attractiveness of her spouse. In similitudes according with Oriental imagination she describes the charm of his person, and accounts for the fascination he exercises. And she sums up the characterization by the assertion that he is "altogether lovely"-" totus est desidcrabilis, totus est amor," Augustine, in language dictated by the fervour of his heart, expresses the spiritual truths enshrined in this exclamation : "My soul is a sigh of God; the heart conceives and the mouth forms the sigh. Bear, then, my soul, the likeness of the heart and of the mouth of God. Sigh thou for him who made thee!" I. CHRIST IS ALTOGETHER TO BE LOVED AND DESIRED FOR WHAT HE IS IN HilISELF. In his Person and character Christ is a Being who commands and attracts the love of all who aro susceptible to the charms of spiritual excellence. 'l'here is beauty beyo11d that which is physical, beauty of which the charms of feature and of form are tho appointed symbols. And for this beauty in most perfect manifestation we must look to Christ. Others have their excellences, but they have also their defects. In hill1 alone every virtue is prese11t and complete, in him alone every blemish is absent. He is at once above all praise and free from all blame. The soul that can recognize and delight in moral excellence finds all scope for such recognition and delight in him who is "·fairer than the sons of men." II. CHRIST IS ALTOGETHER ro BE LOVED AND DESIBED FOR WHAT HE HAS ACTUALLY AND ALREADY DONE FOB ms FRIENDS, 'fbese know that he loved them, and that he loved them even "unto the e11d," that he "gave his life for his friends;" and this knowledge is ever in their memory, is ever affecting their hearts, is ever influencing the attitude of their whole being towards him. Nothing enkindles love like love. " We love him, because he first loved us," III. CHRIST IS ALTOGETHER TO BE LOVED AND DEBIBED AS THE SAVIOtJR OF THE WORLD, He who is possessed with the Spirit of Christ is not selfish in his affections. He feels the spiritual power of his Saviour's self-sacrifice. He loves hia Lord, because that Lord has pitied and has died for men. Our love to Christ is not pure, is not perfect, until it spri11gs from a grateful and sympathetic recognition of what he has done who "came into the world to save si11ners."-'l'.
EXPOSITION. gests, the effect of the dream which Shuln- CHAPTER VI. mith narrates is not passed away in the Ver. 1.-Whither ii thy beloved gone, 0 morning. Under . the influen0e of it she thou fairest among women 1 Whither hath goes forth and meets the daughters of J ern- thy beloved turned him, that we me.:, seek salcw, who offer their 11Ssistance. But there him with thee1 The dialogue still con- is no necessity fol' this. 'fhe poetry mrrcly tinues, possibly becuuije, as Delilzseh sug- deml\nds thnt the iJc11 of the ili·el\1u suould 144 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. [en. vr. 1-1:J.