vincyRrd with her own. The king, she says, had one of great extent and value; every one of the keepers was to bring him a thousand shekels. Then she adds, "My vine- yard, which is mine, is before me." Her vineyard was small; it lay before her eyes. It now passes into the hand of Solomon; it is his. He must have a thousand shekels from it. She wishes the keepers (her brothers, apparently) to have two hundred. 'l'he !!reater than Solomon, the heavenly Bridegroom, has a vineyard. It is the world (comp. Matt. xiii. 38, "The field is the world"). Solomon's vineyard was l\t Bnal- hamon, which means "the Lord of the multitude." We may perhaps eec in the word an allusion to him who is called in Holy Scripture "the prince of this world" (John xiv. 30). The Lord bas a vineyard in the world, which Satan strives to rule. And men have still, as in ElijRh's time, to choose whom they will serve. "If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him" (1 Kings xviii. 21). But though Satan is called the prince of this world, and in one place (2 Cor. iv. 4) "the god of this world," he is a usurper; the vineyard is the Lord's. And the Lord' has done all that could be done for bis vineyard: "he has hedged it round about, and digged a. winepress in it, and built a tower, a1:d let it out to husbandmen" (Matt. xxi. 33). The husband- men were to bring him in due time of the fruits of bis vineyard. They were to do so, but, alas! they did not; they served Ba.al, many of them, rather than the Lord. The Church's vineyard is before her; it lies within a. comparatively narrow space; it does not cover a third of the population of the world. It belongs now to the heavenly Bridegroom, for the Church is his. He loved the Church, and gave himself for her; and that unspeakable gift, that stupendous ransom, has made her and all that she bas wholly bis. 'l'he fruits which that vineyard brings forth must be paid duly to the Lord of the vineyard. Those fruits a.re souls converted, sanctified, saved. The keepers too, if they a.re found faithful, have their reward. The souls saved through their means, their warnings, their example, their preaching, their labours, are their best and most precious reward in this world (1 Cor. iii. 14), and in the world to come, "when the chief Shepherd shall appear, they shall receive a crown of glory which fadeth not away" (1 Pet. v. 4). Each Christian soul is the Lord's vineyard; it must be cultivated for him, not for BaaL It may be a vineyard in Baal-hamon, eet among a multitude who follow the prince of this world; but it is the Lord's, bought with his most precious blood. It must not bring forth wild grapes, fit only for the world, the flesh, and the devil; it must bring forth good fruit-fruit meet to be rendered to the Lord, to be treasured in his granary ; the fruit of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And the soul itself which keepeth the fruit; the soul that treasures up the graces of the good Spirit of God, that listens with reverent attention to his gracious warnings, and follows his guidance; the soul that worketh out its own salvation with fear and trembling through the grace of God, who worketh within both to will and to do,-that soul shall receive of the fruit; for "blessed ere they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Love, trustfulness, obedience rendered to Christ, bring their own great reward in the irradiating presence of the Saviour. "If any man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him." III. FINAL woxns OF LOVE. 1. The voice of tM brid,egroom. He a-ldresses the bride as "Thou that dwellest in the gardens," meaning, apparently, the vineyard which she had just mentioned. She has done her best for it. He accepts her past service. Now the king and his companions were listening for her voice; it was sweet to hear. "Cause m,e to hear it," the king says, meaning, it seems, that the voice of the bride was very sweet to him ; he loved to hear it; and perhaps also implying that he was ready to grant any request that she might make, as well as that which she had already made. When the Church does her duty, dwelling in the gardens of the Lord, tending bis vineyard, then there is joy in heaven, joy in the presence of the angels of God; they hearken to the prayers and praises of the Church. The Lord himself, the heavenly Bridegroom, delights to hear the voice of the bride; her prayers and adorations are as the holy incense, acceptable to him (Rev. viii. 3, 4). The Lord woul<l have all Christian men to pray, and that constantly. His will is t~at men should pray always, and not faint. He graciously liatenR to the voice of his people -c-hen they speak to th~mselvei in psalms and hymns and eriiritua.l song~, wqon they OH, VIII, 1-14,] 'fHE SONG OF SOLOMON. 103
make melody in their hearts unto the Lord (Eph. v. 19). And he grants their request8. "If ye e.sk anything in my.Name," he says, "I will do it;" "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy me.y be full;" "Whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." We must claim his blessed promise; \Vo must make him hear our voice while we are" dwelling in the gardens," while we are labouring in the Lord's vineyard. 'l'rue prayer lee.de to faithful work; faithful work stimulates prayer, and gives it energy and devotion. He will hear our prayers for ourselves, our intercessions for others, if only they are offered up in faith, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 2. The response of the bride. The king sought to hear the voice of the bride. She in response repeats the last clause of her song in eh. ii.17; but she makes one important change-the mountains are no longer "mountains of Bether," which means "separa- tion," but "mountains of Besamin" ("spices"). Perhaps there is a reference to "the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense" in the royal gardens (eh. iv. 6). The bride no longer thinks of the possibility of separation. Formerly her beloved was separated from her for a while in his bunting excursions; now he is to be as bright and exultant as of old, but with her in their common haunts. The Church prays, "Thy kingdom come." Her prayer is that God of his gracious goodness would be pleased shortly to accomplish the number of his elect, and to hasten his kingdom. 'l'he Christiau prays and longs for the coming of the Lord, beseeching him in ever- deepening earnestness to come, first in the kingdom of grace, into his people's hearts, then in the kingdom of glory, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of God and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords.