The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 208

III. HER EAGERNESS FOR BIB COMING. (Ver. 14.) Of. last verse of the Revelation, " Amen, come quickly. Even so, come, Lord Jesus " ( cf. eh. ii. 17). Wherefore this eagerness? Because to the soul aglow with love to him o1ll joy is sorrow without him, and all sorrow joy ,vith him. The kingdom of evil needs to be subdued, the kingdom of God t-0 be set up. Therefore would the soul have it that Christ should come swiftly as the bounding hart or the springing roe. That saintly soul, Sallluel Rutherford, thus writes on this verse, "Oh, how long is it to the dawning of the marriage-day? 0 sweet Jesus, take wide steps! 0 my Lord, come over the moun- tains at one stride I '0 my Blessed, flee as a roe or young hart upon the mountains of separation ! ' 0 time, run, run, and hasten the marriage-9ay, for love is tormented with delays! " And what is St. Paul's word but an echo of this? "Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." Thus " looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Lord" may we ever be I -S.C. Ver. 5.-The Chri.stian pilgrim. Life with every man is a journey; a march fr~m the cradle to the grave. 'l'o the pious man this journey is religious; it has a moral character. It is not simply the inevitable moving on from year to year; beside this, it is a progress in knowledge, faith, holiness, and usefulness. '.l'he grave is not. the Christian's goal. His goal is perfection-perfect excellence and perfect joy. Every day's experience is related to the great eternity. Ea.eh duty well discharged, each sin conquered, each trouble patiently endured, is a distinct step heavenward. It is not. merely a movement onward; it is also a movement upward. The journey of the, Hebrews through the wilderness to the earthly Canaan furnishes many instructive analogies with the Christian's passage to the skies. We, who possess the new life within, "seek a country, that is, a heavenly." I. OBSERVE THE CHB.ISTIAN's FOBMER STATE. It is described as. a "wilderness.": L It is a wilderness on account of its barrenness. So in our unregenerate condition there was in us no fertility and no beauty. There may have been a few barren stalks of co=on morality; but they yielded no fragrance, they bore no fruit. In this wilderness there was nothing to satisfy the desires and aspirations of the soul. This world has its possessions, its pleasures, its honours, its shows, but none of these please. or elevate the soul. We aspire after righteousness, after moral excellence, after the friendship of God; and with respect to these things this world is barren and empty. No man can lie down fully contented in it. It is not suitable for us as a possession; so that most men, burdened with care and infirmity, sigh out, "I would not live al way." "He that loveth 'silver shall not be satisfied with silver." The vapid joys of this world soon pall upon the appetite. They do not increase the capacity for joy ; they dimiuish it. And many a man who has taken his fill of this world's pleasure concludes life with this dismal verdict on his lips, "Va.nity of vanities; all is vanity l" 2. Moreover, this wi?derness is infesred with foes. If in the Arabian desert the Hebrews were exposed to human foes, to wild beasts and fierce serpents, so in this world many foes infest the way. Many and subtle are the snares which the enemy sets for our feet. We are liable to ten thousand annoyances. Evil men tempt us with a view to ruin us. "Satan goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." We have need for perpetual watchfulness. We have to fight with µ:iany adversaries. Clearly " this is not our rest." . II. MARK THE CHRISTIAN'S PRESENT ABOENT. "He cometh up." 'Tis an ascent. 1. Progress is the only way to perfection. It is true that God might have brought about perfection by some other way; but, as a fact, he has ordained this way, and this only. All the similitudes employed in Scripture to set forth the Christian life describ0 it as a thing of progress. The progress may be slow or more rapid ; nevertheless, if there is life there is growth. In some believers the processes of enlightenment, conversion, and edification may be more rapid than in others (just aq in some climates the processes of budding, blossoming, and ripening in fruit trees are more 1rapid than in our own land); still, in every instance perfection is attained by distinct stages. The life of every Christian is a progress along the heavenly way, 2. Discomfort is m~ident to a pilgrimage. No one expects to find the same comforts on a journey which he fiudE at home. On a journey one is content with the bare necessaries of existence. OU, VIII, 1-14,] 'fHE SONG OF SOLOMON. 199