The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 199

while by faith we lea.n upon him, resting our weakne~s on his stren•>tli, thr•n c,11r 11rogress is a.ssured. We need that presence always, in all the little trials of our cbily lives, in the greater sorrows and perplexities that emerge from time to time. That presence trnnsfigurcs our life, turning troubles into blessings; making sorrows so many steps upwards, ever nearer to God. 'l'o realize that presence, the Lord Jesus mr1st be "my Beloved;" I must give him my whole heart; I must know him with that holy knowledge with which the true sheep know the good Shepherd; and to gain the excellency of that blessed knowledge I must be content, like St. Paul, to count all things else as dross, as very dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, " I need thy presence every passing hour : What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. "I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me." 2. The voice of the bridegroom. According to the present pointing of the Hebrew, the second clause of ver. 5 is an utterance of the bride. Many of the Fathers and other Christian writers assign it to the bridegroom. This last arrangement seems by far the most natural. The king points out the birthplace of the bride; he recalls to her remembrance an incident of their early attachment-he shows her the tree under which they first met. So man and wife now, when united in a happy marriage, love to visit the early haunts of one another, and especially the places endeared to both by the memory of their first vows and promises. So to the Christian those places must be always full of sacred interest where the heavenly Bridegroom first won the love of his bride, the Church-Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Calvary. So to each Christian soul those spots are hallowed ground which are connected with events in our own religious life-our baptism, our confirmation, our first communion; or associated with any great and abiding impressions or influences for good which Almighty God has been plea.sed to grant to us from time to time. 3. The response of the bride. The bride is leaning on the bridegroom's arm ; perhaps she was reclining her bead upon his breast. She would ever remain in that dear embrace, near to him as the seal which was attached to the arm or neck. 'l'he seal of the king had great weight and value; it gave bis authority to the document which bore it (Dan. vii. 17); it was precious and sacred, and would, of course, be jealously guarded. The king himself would wear it; it would be fastened on his arm, or it would be suspended from his neck and rest upon his heart. '!'here the bride would ever be, encircled with her husband's arms, pressed close to his heart; it is her rightful place, for she is bound to him by the indissoluble ties of holy wedlock. So the Church, the bride of Christ, clings to her Lord. Without him she can do nothing; but, borne up in the everlasting arms, she bath a strength not her own. She would be near to him as a seal. She bath the seal of God, for she is "sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance" (Eph. i. 13, 14). She is God's foundation upon the holy bills (Ps. lxxxvii. 1), built upon the Rock of ages; and "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, 'l'he Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. ii. 19). Sc each Christian longs to be borne up in the arms of Christ-those arms that were opened wide upon the cross, as if to fold bis chosen in the embrace of bis love; so each Christian longs to rest, as once St. John rested, upon the Saviour's breast; to be 11ear to him, cherished as a seal that lies in its owner's bosom; so each Christian hopes to bear the impress of that sacred seal stamped more and more de11ply into bis inner life, that being now sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, h~ may one day stan~. among the blessed! sealed with the seal of the Jivin"' God upon bis forehead (Rev. vu. 3). 4. Her praise of love. Why does she desir~ to be so close to the bridegroom, to be as a seal upon his heart? Because, she says, "love is strong as death." She bas give~ him her love, and that_ loYe entirely fills 11,11d dominates her soul; she has taken him to be her htlilband till death; shr:i  THE SONG OF SOLOMON. [on. vm. 1-14,