THE UNSATISFIED LIFE AND ITS REMEDY
Cant. i. 2-ii. 7
There is no difficulty in recognizing the bride as the speaker in verses 2-7.
The words are not those of one dead in trespasses and sins, to whom the LORD is
as a root out of a dry ground--without form and comeliness. The speaker has had
her eyes opened to behold His beauty, and longs for a fuller enjoyment of His
love.
Let Him kiss me
with the kisses of His mouth:
For Thy love[1] is better than wine.
It is well that it should be so; it marks
a distinct stage in the development of the life of grace in the soul. And this
recorded experience gives, as it were, a Divine warrant for the desire for
sensible manifestations of His presence--sensible communications of His love.
It was not always so with her. Once she was contented in His absence--other
society and other occupations sufficed her; but now it can never be so again.
The world can never be to her what it once was; the betrothed bride has learnt
to love her LORD, and no other society than His can satisfy her. His visits may
be occasional and may be brief; but they are precious times of enjoyment. Their
memory is cherished in the intervals, and their repetition longed for. There is
no real satisfaction in His absence, and yet, alas! He is not always with her:
He comes and goes. Now her joy in Him is a heaven below; but again she is
longing, and longing in vain, for His presence. Like the ever-changing tide,
her experience is an ebbing and flowing one; it may even be that unrest is the
rule, satisfaction the exception. Is there no help for this? must it always
continue so? Has He, can He have created these unquenchable longings only to
tantalize them? Strange indeed it would be if this were the case. Yet are there
not many of the LORD'S people whose habitual experience corresponds with hers?
They know not the rest, the joy of abiding in CHRIST; and they know not how to
attain to it, nor why it is not theirs. Are there not many who look back to the
delightful times of their first espousals, who, so far from finding richer
inheritance in CHRIST than they then had, are even conscious that they have
lost their first love, and might express their experience in the sad
lament:--
Where is the
blessedness I knew
When first I saw
the Lord?
Others, again, who may not have lost their
first love, may yet be feeling that the occasional interruptions to communion
are becoming more and more unbearable, as the world becomes less and He becomes
more. His absence is an ever-increasing distress. "Oh that I knew where I might
find Him!" "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for Thy love is
better than wine." Would that His love were strong and constant like mine, and
that He never withdrew the light of His countenance!"
Poor mistaken one! There is a love far stronger
than thine waiting, longing for satisfaction. The Bridegroom is waiting for
thee all the time; the conditions that debar His approach are all of thine own
making. Take the right place before Him, and He will be most ready, most glad,
to "Satisfy thy deepest longings, to meet, supply thine every need." What
should we think of a betrothed one whose conceit and self-will prevented not
only the consummation of her own joy, but of his who had given her his heart?
Though never at rest in his absence, she cannot trust him fully; and she does
not care to give up her own name, her own rights and possessions, her own will
to him who has become necessary for her happiness. She would fain claim him
fully, without giving herself fully to him; but it can never be: while she
retains her own name, she can never claim his. She may not promise to love and
honour if she will not also promise to obey: and till her love reaches that
point of surrender she must remain an unsatisfied lover--she cannot, as a
satisfied bride, find rest in the home of her husband. While she retains her
own will, and the control of her own possessions, she must be content to live
on her own resources; she cannot claim his.
Could there be a sadder proof of the extent and
reality of the Fall than the deep seated distrust of our loving LORD and MASTER
which makes us hesitate to give ourselves entirely up to Him, which fears that
He might require something beyond our powers, or call for something that we
should find it hard to give or to do? The real secret of an unsatisfied life
lies too often in an unsurrendered will. And yet how foolish, as well as how
wrong, this is! Do we fancy that we are wiser than He? or that our love for
ourselves is more tender and strong than His? or that we know ourselves better
than He does? How our distrust must grieve and wound afresh the tender heart of
Him who was for us the Man of Sorrows! What would be the feelings of an earthly
bridegroom if he discovered that his bride-elect was dreading to marry him,
lest, when he had the power, he should render her life insupportable? Yet how
many of the LORD'S redeemed ones treat Him just so! No wonder they are neither
happy nor satisfied!
But true love cannot be stationary; it must
either decline or grow. Despite all the unworthy fears of our poor hearts,
Divine love is destined to conquer. The bride exclaims:--
Thine ointments
have a goodly fragrance;
Thy name is as
ointment poured forth;
Therefore do the
virgins love Thee.
There was no such ointment as that with which the
High Priest was anointed: our Bridegroom is a Priest as well as a King. The
trembling bride cannot wholly dismiss her fears; but the unrest and the longing
become unbearable, and she determines to surrender all, and come what may to
follow fully. She will yield her very self to Him, heart and hand, influence
and possessions. Nothing can be so insupportable as His absence! If He lead to
another Moriah, or even to a Calvary, she will follow Him.
Draw me: we will
run after Thee!
But ah! what follows? A wondrously glad surprise.
No Moriah, no Calvary; on the contrary, a KING! When the heart submits, then
JESUS reigns. And when JESUS reigns, there is rest.
And where does He head His bride?
The King hath
brought me into His chambers.
Not first to the banqueting house--that will come in due season; but first to
be alone with Himself.
How perfect! Could we
be satisfied to meet a beloved one only in public? No; we want to take such an
one aside--to have him all to ourselves. So with our MASTER: He takes His now
fully consecrated bride aside, to taste and enjoy the sacred intimacies of His
wondrous love. The Bridegroom of His Church longs for communion with His people
more than they long for fellowship with Him, and often has to cry:--
Let Me see thy
countenance, let Me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy
voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Are we not all too apt to seek Him rather because
of our need than for His joy and pleasure? This should not be. We do not admire
selfish children who only think of what they can get from their parents, and
are unmindful of the pleasure that they may give or the service that they may
render. But are not we in danger of forgetting that pleasing GOD means giving
Him pleasure? Some of us look back to the time when the words "To please GOD"
meant no more than not to sin against Him, not to grieve Him; but would the
love of earthly parents be satisfied with the mere absence of disobedience? Or
a bridegroom, if his bride only sought him for the supply of her own need?
A word about the morning watch may not be out of
place here. There is no time so profitably spent as the early hour given to
JESUS only. Do we give sufficient attention to this hour? If possible, it
should be redeemed; nothing can make up for it. We must take time to be holy!
One other thought. When we bring our questions to GOD, do we not sometimes
either go on to offer some other petition, or leave the closet without waiting
for replies? Does not this seem to show little expectation of an answer, and
little desire for one? Should we like to be treated so? Quiet waiting before
GOD would save from many a mistake and from many a sorrow.
We have found the bride making a glad discovery
of a KING--her KING--and not a cross, as she expected; this is the first-fruit
of her consecration.
We will be glad and
rejoice in Thee,
We will make
mention of Thy love more than of wine.
Rightly do they
love Thee.
Another discovery not less important awaits her.
She has seen the face of the KING, and as the rising sun reveals that which was
hidden in the darkness, so His light has revealed her blackness to her. "Ah,"
she cries, "I am black";--"But comely," interjects the Bridegroom, with
inimitable grace and tenderness. "Nay, `black as the tents of Kedar,'" she
continues. "Yet to Me," He responds, "thou art `comely as the curtains of
Solomon!'" Nothing humbles the soul like sacred and intimate communion with the
Lord; yet there is a sweet joy in feeling that He knows all, and,
notwithstanding, loves us still. Things once called "little negligences" are
seen with new eyes in "the secret of His presence." There we see the mistake,
the sin, of not keeping our own vineyard. This the bride confesses:--
Look not upon me,
because I am swarthy,
Because the sun
hath scorched me.
My mother's sons
were incensed against me,
They made me keeper
of the vineyards;
But mine own
vineyard have I not kept.
Our attention is here drawn to a danger which is
pre-eminently one of this day: the intense activity of our times may lead to
zeal in service, to the neglect of personal communion; but such neglect
will not only lessen the value of the service, but tend to incapacitate us for
the highest service. If we are watchful over the souls of others, and neglect
our own--if we are seeking to remove the motes from our brother's eye,
unmindful of the beam in our own, we shall often be disappointed with our
powerlessness to help our brethren, while our MASTER will not be less
disappointed in us. Let us never forget that what we are is more important than
what we do; and that all fruit borne when not abiding in CHRIST must be fruit
of the flesh, and not of the SPIRIT. The sin of neglected communion may be
forgiven, and yet the effect remain permanently; as wounds when healed often
leave a scar behind.
We now come to a very sweet evidence of the
reality of the heart-union of the bride with her LORD. She is one with the GOOD
SHEPHERD: her heart at once goes instinctively forth to the feeding of the
flock; but she would tread in the footsteps of Him whom her soul loveth, and
would neither labour alone, nor in other companionship than His own:--
Tell me, O Thou
whom my soul loveth,
Where Thou feedest
Thy flock, where Thou makest it to
rest at noon:
For why should I be
as one that is veiled
Beside the flocks
of Thy companions?
She will not mistake the society of His servants for that of their
MASTER.
If thou know not, O
thou fairest among women,
Go thy way forth by
the footsteps of the flock,
And feed thy kids
beside the shepherds' tents.
These are the words of the daughters of
Jerusalem, and give a correct reply to her questionings. Let her show her love
to her LORD by feeding His sheep, by caring for His lambs (see John xxi.
15-17), and she need not fear to miss His presence. While sharing with other
under-shepherds in caring for His flock she will find the CHIEF SHEPHERD at her
side, and enjoy the tokens of His approval. It will be service with
JESUS as well as for JESUS.
But far sweeter than the reply of the daughters
of Jerusalem is the voice of the Bridegroom, who now speaks Himself. It is the
living fruit of her heart-oneness with Him that makes His love break forth in
the joyful utterances of verses 9-11. For it is not only true that our love for
our LORD will show itself in feeding His sheep, but that He who when on earth
said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me," has His own heart-love stirred, and not infrequently
specially reveals Himself to those who are ministering for Him.
The commendation of the bride in verse 9 is one
of striking appropriateness and beauty:--
I have compared
thee, O My love,
To a company of
horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
It will be remembered that horses originally came out of Egypt, and that the
pure breed still found in Arabia was during Solomon's reign brought by his
merchants for all the kings of the East. Those selected for Pharaoh's own
chariot would not only be of the purest blood and perfect in proportion and
symmetry, but also perfect in training, docile and obedient; they would know no
will but that of the charioteer, and the only object of their existence would
be to carry the king whithersoever he would go. So should it be with the Church
of CHRIST; one body with many members, indwelt and guided by one SPIRIT;
holding the HEAD, and knowing no will but His; her rapid and harmonious
movement should cause His kingdom to progress throughout the
world.
Many years ago a beloved friend,
returning from the East by the overland route, made the journey from Suez to
Cairo in the cumbrous diligence then in use. The passengers on landing took
their places, about a dozen wild young horses were harnessed with ropes to the
vehicle, the driver took his seat and cracked his whip, and the horses dashed
off, some to the right, some to the left, and others forward, causing the coach
to start with a bound, and as suddenly to stop, with the effect of first
throwing those sitting in the front seat into the laps of those sitting behind,
and then of reversing the operation. With the aid of sufficient Arabs running
on each side to keep these wild animals progressing in the right direction the
passengers were jerked and jolted, bruised and shaken, until, on reaching their
destination, they were too wearied and sore to take the rest they so much
needed.
Is not the Church of GOD to-day more like these
untrained steeds than a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariot? And while
self-will and disunion are apparent in the Church, can we wonder that the world
still lieth in the wicked one, and that the great heathen nations are barely
touched?
Changing His simile, the Bridegroom
continues:--
Thy cheeks are
comely with plaits of hair,
Thy neck with
strings of jewels.
We will make thee
plaits of gold
With studs of
silver.
The bride is not only beautiful and useful to her
LORD, she is also adorned, and it is His delight to add to her adornments. Nor
are His gifts perishable flowers, or trinkets destitute of intrinsic value: the
finest of the gold, the purest of the silver, and the most precious and lasting
of the jewels are the gifts of the Royal Bridegroom to His spouse; and these,
plaited amongst her own hair, increase His pleasure who has bestowed them.
In verses 12-14 the bride responds:--
While the King sat
at His table
My spikenard sent
forth its fragrance.
It is in His presence and through His grace that whatever of fragrance or
beauty may be found in us comes forth. Of Him as its source, through Him as its
instrument, and to Him as its end, is all that is gracious and divine. But HE
HIMSELF is better far than all His grace works in
us.
My Beloved is unto
me as a bundle of myrrh,
That lieth betwixt
my breasts.
My beloved is unto
me as a cluster of henna-flowers
In the vineyards of
En-gedi.
Well is it when our eyes are filled with His
beauty and our hearts are occupied with Him. In the measure in which this is
true of us we shall recognize the correlative truth that His great heart is
occupied with us. Note the response of the Bridegroom:--
Behold, thou art
fair, My love; behold, thou art fair;
Thine eyes are as a
dove's.
How can the Bridegroom truthfully use such words of one who recognizes herself
as
Black as the tents
of Kedar?
And still more strong are the Bridegroom's words in chapter
iv.7:-
Thou art all fair,
My love;
And there is no
spot in thee.
We shall find the solution of this difficulty in 2 Cor. iii. Moses in
contemplation of the Divine glory became so transformed that the Israelites
were not able to look on the glory of his countenance. "We all, with unveiled
face (beholding and) reflecting as a mirror the glory of the LORD, are
transformed into the same image from glory to glory (i.e. the brightness caught
from His glory transforms us to glory), even as from the LORD the SPIRIT."
Every mirror has two surfaces; the one is dull and unreflecting, and is all
spots, but when the reflecting surface is turned towards us we see no spot, we
see our own image. So while the bride is delighting in the beauty of the
Bridegroom He beholds His own image in her; there is no spot in that: it is all
fair. May we ever present this reflection to His gaze, and to the world in
which we live for the very purpose of reflecting
Him.
Note again His words:--
Thine eyes are as
dove's,
or
Thou hast dove's
eyes.
The hawk is a beautiful bird, and has beautiful eyes, quick and penetrating;
but the Bridegroom desires not hawk's eyes in His bride. The tender eyes of the
innocent dove are those which He admires. It was as a dove that the HOLY SPIRIT
came upon Him at His baptism, and the dove-like character is that which He
seeks for in each of His people.
The reason
why David was not permitted to build the Temple was a very significant one. His
life was far from perfect; and his mistakes and sins have been faithfully
recorded by the HOLY SPIRIT. They brought upon him God's chastenings, yet it
was not any of these that disqualified him from building the Temple, but rather
his warlike spirit; and this though many of his battles, if not all, were for
the establishment of GOD'S Kingdom and the fulfilment of His promises to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Solomom, the Prince of Peace, alone could build the
Temple. If we would be soul-winners and build up the Church, which is His
Temple, let us note this: not by discussion nor by argument, but by lifting up
CHRIST shall we draw men unto Him.
We now come to the reply of the bride. He has
called her fair; wisely and well does she reply:--
Behold Thou art
fair, my Beloved, yea, pleasant:
Also our couch is
green.
The beams of our
house are cedars,
And our rafters are
firs.
I am (but) a rose
of Sharon,
A lily of the
valleys.
The last words are often quoted as though
they were the utterance of the Bridegroom, but we believe erroneously. The
bride says in effect, Thou callest me fair and pleasant, the fairness and
pleasantness are Thine; I am but a wild flower, a lowly, scentless rose of
Sharon (i.e. the autumn crocus), or a lily of the valley.
To this the Bridegroom responds: "Be it so; but
if a wild flower, yet
As a lily among
thorns,
So is My love among
the daughters."
Again the bride replies:--
As the apple tree
(the citron) among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved
among the sons.
I sat down under
His shadow with great delight,
And His fruit was
sweet to my taste.
The citron is a beautiful evergreen,
affording delightful shade as well as refreshing fruit. A humble wild flower
herself, she recognizes her Bridegroom as a noble tree, alike ornamental and
fruitful. Shade from the burning sun, refreshment and rest she finds in Him.
What a contrast her present position and feelings to those with which this
section commenced! He knew full well the cause of all her fears; her distrust
sprang from her ignorance of Himself, so He took her aside, and in the sweet
intimacies of mutual love her fears and distrust have vanished, like the mists
of the morning before the rising sun.
But now that she has learned to know Him, she has
a further experience of His love. He is not ashamed to acknowledge her
publicly.
He brought me to
the banqueting house,
And His banner over
me was love.
The house of wine is now as appropriate as
the King's chambers were. Fearlessly and without shame she can sit at His side,
His acknowledged spouse, the bride of His choice. Overwhelmed with His love she
exclaims:--
Stay ye me with
raisins, comfort me with apples:
For I am sick of
love.
His left hand is
under my head,
And His right hand
doth embrace me.
Now she finds the blessedness of being
possessed. No longer her own, heart-rest is alike her right and her enjoyment;
and so the Bridegroom would have it.
I adjure you, O
daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roes, and by
the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up
nor awake My love,
Until she[2] please.
It is never by His will that our rest in Him is
disturbed.
You may always be
abiding,
If you will, at
Jesus' side;
in the secret of
His presence
You may every
moment hide.
There is no change in His love; He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
To us He promises, "I will never leave thee, never fail thee, nor forsake
thee"; and His earnest exhortation and command is, "Abide in Me, and I in
you."
[1]
Loves = endearments, caresses.
[2] The pronoun here and in chapter iii. 5, and viii. 4, should not be "he" as A. V., nor "it" as R.V., but "she".