Song of Solomon 1

CHAPTER 1It is important for you to read the beautiful story of this book before you come to the text. I have given this in some detail in the introduction. There are five canticles or brief songs in the book. They depict the experience and the story of a country girl, a Shulamite, up in the hill country. A shepherd came one day, and she fell in love with him, and he fell in love with her. He left her but promised to return. He didn’t return as soon as she had expected. One day it was announced that King Solomon had arrived and wanted to see her. She couldn’t believe it. When she was brought into his presence, she recognized that he was her shepherd-lover. Some interpreters feel that this is a connected story told in sequence. I personally do not hold that view. I think the scene shifts, and there are flashbacks to earlier times. However, the primary concern for us in our study is the application of this book to you and me as believers. It is a picture of the beautiful love relationship between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Song of Solomon 1:1

I suppose one could liken this book to a piece of folk music, or more likely to an opera. These canticles are put together to give us a glorious, wonderful story. This is one of the methods God used in speaking to His people. It rebukes asceticism, but it also condemns lust and unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. This is no soap opera. It is not a cheap play in which the hero is a neurotic, the heroine is erotic, and the plot is tommyrotic. Rather, it is a beautiful song of marital love.

Song of Solomon 1:2

HIS KISSIn this first song, we find the bride and the bridegroom together in a wonderful relationship. The kiss in that day was the pledge of peace, a token of peace. Solomon’s very name means peace. He was a prince of peace and he ruled in Jerusalem, the city of peace. The Shulamite girl is the daughter of peace. The kiss indicates the existence of a very personal, close relationship, such as the Lord Jesus has with His own. He is able to communicate His message personally to you and me through the Word of God. That is why there needs to be a return to a study of the Word of Godmore than just learning the mechanics of the Bible, or even memorizing the Word, but a personal relationship with Him so that He can speak through His Word to our hearts. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” He has spoken peace to us, you see. He alone can speak peace to the human heart. In the Old Testament we have seen types of Christ. A. Moody Stuart has written: “Moses and the prophets have come, Aaron and the priests have come, and last of all, David and the kings have come; but let Him now come himself, the true prophet, priest, and king, of all his people.” And Bernard, one who had drawn very close to Christ, commented: “I hear not Moses for he is slow of speech, the lips of Isaiah are unclean, Jeremiah cannot speak because he is a child, and all the prophets are dumb; Himself, himself of whom they speak, let him speak” (The Song of Songs: An Exposition of the Song of Solomon, p. 95). The one who has ears to hear and has heard Him speak peacepeace through the blood of His cross by forgiveness of sincan take the next step. If you have been reconciled to God by redemption in Christ, He entreats the kiss of the solemn, nuptial contract. It is the kiss which seals the marriage vow between Christ and the believer. We find this same custom in our marriage ceremonies today. When I perform a marriage ceremony and both couples have said “I will” and “I do,” I say, “Lift the bride’s veil and give the marriage kiss.” The kiss is a solemn thing; it seals the marriage covenant. In redemption, the Lord Jesus not only gives us deliverance, but He also gives us freedom. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Joh_8:36). What kind of freedom is that? It is the freedom now to come to Him and to say, “I present my body as a living sacrifice to You” (see Rom_12:1). It is the freedom of dedication, which brings us into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior. Are you such a child of God? Are you a trembling soul who is afraid to lay hold of His grace? He wants you to appropriate it for yourself. In Ephesians we are told that He is rich in mercy and He is rich in grace, and He wants to share with us the riches of His glory. I don’t know how you feel about this, but I know that I need His mercy, and I need His grace. His invitation is, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat_11:28). This is a real rest. It is not rest for just one day on the Sabbath. This is a rest for the seven days of the week. It is resting in His finished redemption. Then He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mat_11:29-30). Being yoked up with Him is a wonderful, glorious relationship. And He is the One who carries the load for you. Erskine expressed it poetically: His mouth the joy of heaven reveals; His kisses from above, Are pardons, promises, and seals Of everlasting love.

Song of Solomon 1:3

HIS LOVE"For thy love is better than wine." In that day wine typified the highest of the luxuries this earth offered. It was the champagne dinner, which included everything from soup to nuts. It speaks of that which brings the highest joy to the heart. Paul wrote, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph_5:18). Oh, to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we might experience that excitement, that exhilaration, that ecstasy of belonging to Christ and of having fellowship with Him! Friend, I am talking about something that neither you nor I know very much about, do we? We play at church. We talk about being dedicated Christians simply because we are as busy as termites, and often have the same effect. We need to come to that attitude of which Peter wrote: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1Pe_1:8). Habakkuk stated it like this: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab_3:17-18). Have you arrived at that place? No wonder it says, “Thy love is better than wine.” I do not mean to be irreverent, but do you get a kick out of life? Well, this is the way to get it. Wine is excess and may lead you to alcoholism. Wine will give a temporary lift, I grant you, but it will let you down. My friend, allow the Spirit of God to come into your life. He will shed abroad in your heart the love of God. That is one reason we need the Holy Spirit. The “ointment” is the perfume. When He began His life on earth, myrrh was brought to be put on His body. There was a fragrance in His entire life on earth from His birth to His death. Oh, the fragrance of His love for us when He died upon the cross!

Song of Solomon 1:4

HIS DRAWING POWERThis is a wonderful passage of Scripture. It is the expression of one who is in love with Him, who desires a close fellowship with Him. But then comes the awareness that we can’t reach that state; we cannot attain to it because it is too high for us. That is the position from which we say, “Draw me.” Bonar expressed his love in these lines: I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord, Like fragrance on the breezes, His name abroad is poured. What does the name of Jesus mean to you? If you know that you have never experienced that wonderful relationship, then listen to the bride, and give her response, “Draw me.” If you are a child of God, then say, “Draw me.” Let Him lift you up and bring you to this place which you cannot reach yourself. Recognize that in yourself you cannot rise to that level. Francis Quarles has expressed this thought beautifully: But like a block beneath whose burden lies That undiscovered worm that never dies, I have no will to rouse, I have no power to rise. For can the water-buried axe implore A hand to raise it, or itself restore, And from her sandy deeps approach the dry-foot shore? So hard’s the task for sinful flesh and blood, To lend the smallest help to what is good; My God, I cannot move the least degree. Ah! if but only those who active be, None should thy glory see, thy glory none should see. Lord, as I am, I have no power at all To hear thy voice, or echo to thy call. Give me the power to will, the will to do; O raise me up, and I will strive to go: Draw me, O draw me with thy treble-twist; That have no power, but merely to resist; O lend me strength to do, and then command thy list. God tells us that His power is available to us. He says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He will answer the heart cry, “Draw me,” Lord. There is an excitement and an ecstasy of being brought into the presence of Christ by the Spirit of God. He can make Christ real to us. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him …” (Joh_6:44). The Lord Jesus said to His own, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you …” (Joh_15:16)“I am the One who went after you.” We did not seek after God; God sought after us. He is still seeking us today. We can only rouse ourselves to say, Lord, “draw me.” We need the Spirit of God to give to us the Water of Life. If we will drink of that Water of Life, we will have rivers of living water gushing up within us and flowing out from us. “We will run after thee.” The idea here is not that we ask to be drawn because we are lazy and indifferent, but we are helpless. We have the desirethe spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We want to run after Him, but He will have to give us the legs to do it. He must give us that enablement, that divine enablement. He must draw us. “Wherefore …let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith …” (Heb_12:1-2). “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa_40:31). HIS CHAMBERSSo when we cry. “Draw me, we will run after thee,” He responds"The king hath brought me into his chambers." The chamber is the secret of His presence, His pavilion, like the Holy of Holies within the sanctuary. It is the secret place away from the crowd. It is the place in the cleft of the rock which He has made for us, where He can cover us with His hand and commune with us. It is like Christ’s invitation: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev_3:20). Oh, what a privilege to fellowship with Him! Yet we withdraw and cry out with Isaiah, “…Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa_6:5). But “the king hath brought me into his chambers"He is the One who has provided a redemption. He is the One who took the coals from the altar and touched our lips. He is the One who made the supreme sacrifice. “We will be glad and rejoice in thee.” We need more joy in our churches, and we need more joy in our lives. Jesus said, “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Joh_10:10, italics mine). And John wrote, “…These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1Jn_1:4, italics mine). The Lord means for us to live life to the hilt. Oh, let’s quit playing church, and let’s quit saying, “I belong to a certain group, and I have had an experience.” The point is, is Christ close to you today? “The king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.” At this moment there are probably millions of people across the country who are crawling up onto a bar stool. Well, if I were in their situation, I’d crawl up there too. They need something to face life. Many a man feels he needs that drink in order to face his business. Many a person needs that drink in order to face a lonely evening. Life is too much for them. It is too complicated. May I say to you, if you are a child of God, you can always know that God loves you. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. He wants to make His love real to us. He wants to manifest His love to us. That is a lot better than crawling up onto a bar stool. “…Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph_5:18). If we would read on in Ephesians 5, we would find the next verse going on to say, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph_5:19). I have always been glad that Paul didn’t write, “Singing to yourselves,” because I can’t sing. But I can speak it. I can say it. It wouldn’t hurt for you to say it either. In fact, it would be good to hear a “Praise the Lord” from all of us believers. Oh, we need to praise the Lord in this day. “We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine.” “The upright love thee.” Who are the upright? They are those who belong to Him. They are those who have said to Him, “Draw me.” He has placed them on their feet, and they are to run the race of life, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. The Christian life is a love affair. We love Him because He first loved us. He loved us enough to give Himself for us. Now He says to us, “I want your love.” That seals it. If you don’t love Him, then don’t go on pretending. Be honest and chuck the whole thing. It is all meaningless if you do not love Him. Now listen to the believer’s loving response, as we find it in Psalm 63: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Psa_63:1). My friend, are you thirsty for God? The Lord Jesus said, “…If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (Joh_7:37). “To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary” (Psa_63:2)this is the bride’s secret place of communion. “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips” (Psa_63:3-5). Oh, friend, let’s get our lips busy praising Him! “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice” (Psa_63:7). You remember that the Lord Jesus said that He wanted to gather the people of Jerusalem under His wings like a hen gathers her chicks (see Mat_23:37). This gives to us a picture of His love and the great desire to protect the helpless ones from harm. “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped” (Psa_63:8-11). What a glorious picture of a believer’s devotion to Christ!

Song of Solomon 1:5

THE SUNBURNED SLAVE GIRL"The tents of Kedar” were made of the skin of the black sheep and the black goats. In that land even today one can see many of these nomad people who have black tents. When the bride says here that she is black, she is not referring to her race. She was a Jewish girl from the area of Shunem. She explains the blackness herself. Her family were tenant farmers on one of the vineyards owned by Solomon, and they made her work out in the vineyard. She is sunburned"I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me." She is black, but she is beautiful. Black is beautiful, we hear today. It certainly can be. Black is beautiful when the heart is right with the Lord. The pigment of the skin is of no importance whatever. The condition of the heart is the important matter. It is interesting that most of the rays of the sun do not bother our skin. It is the ultraviolet segment of the sun’s rays that burns our skin. Those rays can come through clouds, so that we can get sunburned on cloudy days even when we are unaware of it. Since I have had cancer, my doctor warns me about sunlight. He tells me to keep my head covered, even on the cloudy days. He warns me against going out into the sunlight. The ultraviolet rays can burn, and they can cause cancer. A great many people think they can come into the light to the holy presence of God without a covering. I tell you, no one can come into the holy presence of God without the covering of the righteousness of Christ. That is our protectionwhich is another meaning of being covered with His wings. You and I need to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ to come into the presence of God. Let’s get back to our girl who is blackened with sunburn. She has been working outside because her mother’s children were angry with her, and they made her keep the vineyards. Then she says, “But mine own vineyard have I not kept.” This is the bride’s portrait of herself. She has some natural beauty, but she has nothing to commend her because she hasn’t been able to take care of herself. She has had no time to go to the beauty parlor. She hasn’t been able to have her hair styled. She hasn’t been able to get a facial. She hasn’t been able to get whatever it would take to enhance her beauty. That has been neglected because she has been made to work so hard. Mankind is not beautiful in the presence of God. Sometimes we tend to think that the reason God is interested in us is because we are such nice, sweet little children. Actually we are ugly; we are sunburned. We are not attractive to Him as we are, but He says that He is going to make us His beautiful bride. That is the wonderful picture given to us in Ephesians 5. The example given to husbands is the love of Christ for the church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph_5:25-27). You see, Christ is taking us to the beauty parlor. He will fashion us into His bride, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish!

Song of Solomon 1:7

THE PASTURENow the story moves on. The Shulamite speaks to the shepherd whom she has just met. He seemed to be an unusual shepherd in that he didn’t have any sheep that she could see. So she raised a question concerning his sheep. The shepherd seemed to be evasive. Now let’s look beneath the surface and see something very precious. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine…. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (Joh_10:14, Joh_10:16). We all tend to raise questions, as the Shulamite girl asked the shepherd, about “the other sheep,” the heathen. Are they lost? We want to know about the doctrine of election. We want to know about this one or that oneis he saved, or isn’t he saved? We tend to pass judgment on those who are around us. Instead of questioning another’s position in Christ, we need to make sure that we are His sheep. That is our direct concern. The shepherd answers her.

Song of Solomon 1:8

And this would be the answer of the Lord Jesus to us. “Feed thy kids"the little lambs need to be fed, and all of us, my friend, come under that classification. Peter put it this way, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1Pe_2:2). “Feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.” Believers need to feed themselves beside the shepherds’ tents, because that is the place where the grass would be unusually green. Of course it is the Word of God on which we are to feed. We cannot feed others and tell them about the joy of the Word of God unless it is a joy to us. Herbert puts it this way: My soul’s a shepherd too, a flock it feeds Of thoughts and words and deeds; The pasture is thy word, the streams thy grace, Enriching all the place. We need to feed upon the Word of God, then we need to get the Word out to others, you see. The Bride of Christ, who is to be presented to Him in the future, is to get the Word of God out today. As the body of believers, we are failing to do this. “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women"there are many things for which we do not have the answer. When I was a young preacher, I tried to get the answer to everything. I was given some good advice: “Don’t let what you don’t know disturb what you do know!” Do you know that Christ died for your sins? Do you know that you are trusting in Him? Are you resting upon Him? You can say, “…I know that my redeemer liveth …” (Job_19:25).

You can say, “…I know whom I have believed …” (2Ti_1:12)Paul could say that, but I don’t find Paul saying that he knew all about the doctrine of election. So let’s not permit what we don’t know to disturb what we do know. That is what the shepherd is saying to this girl. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. Just be sure to feed your sheep. That is your responsibility. There is a bedridden lady in Ohio who hears our radio broadcasts. She contacts about one thousand people each month, and she asks them to listen to the Bible being taught by radio. She is a real missionary! Now I am sure that she is puzzled by many things and has questions to ask about things she doesn’t know, but so far I have never received a letter from her with a question in it. She isn’t spending her time asking questions. She is spending her time getting out the Word of God. That is exactly what the shepherd tells the girl. He says, “You don’t need to know about all these other sheep. You just feed your sheep.” Be sure you get the Word of God to them.

Song of Solomon 1:9

THE BRIDE’S ADORNINGThe shepherd uses a comparison as he goes on to say: As I have mentioned before, when the word love is used, it is the bridegroom speaking to the bride. When the person is addressed as beloved, it is the bride who is speaking to the bridegroom. “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.” When Moses and the children of Israel came to the Red Sea in their flight from Egypt, they found that any retreat was blocked by Pharaoh’s chariots which were rapidly approaching. It was a fearsome army with horses and chariots and banners flying above the chariots. It was an overwhelming sight. The bridegroom is saying that he is overwhelmed by the beauty of this country, hillbilly girl. She has none of the graces of the court. She has never been to a beauty parlor. She really has never taken care of herself. But she has a striking natural beauty. He goes on to describe the things that he notices.

Song of Solomon 1:10

“Thy cheeks are comely.” Her neck is beautiful. How lovely this is and how intimate. He says that he intends to cover her with jewelry. He sees her cheeks comely with jewels, her neck with chains of gold. He speaks of the parts of the body that appeal in a love affair. I am sure there are many of you ladies who noticed the eyelashes of your husbandof all things! You noticed his physique. You husbands noticed the cheeks and the eyes of your wife, and even the little ears, like shellsand all that sort of thing. He is speaking of this girl who will be his bride. Now in the spiritual sense, the bride is the church, and the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ. Does He find any beauty in the church? Friend, He found all of us lost sinners. The Shulamite girl had a natural beauty even though it had been neglected, but we don’t even have that. There is nothing about us that could be appealing to Christ. We bring nothing to Him; He provides everything for us. The same picture can be applied to Israel. When He came down to deliver the children of Israel, He didn’t say, “I’m going to free you because you’re such a superior people, superior to the Egyptians.” They weren’t. Actually, they were small and inferior. Neither did He say, “You have been so faithful to Me.” They had been unfaithfulcompletely faithless, living in idolatry. They had deserted God. They had turned their backs upon God and were engaged in gross immorality.

Then what was it that appealed to God? Why did He waste His time with them? The answer is given by God to Moses: “…I have heard their groaning” (Act_7:34). That appealed to God. The answer lies totally in His love and grace. It was the lost condition that caused Him to provide a salvation for Israel.

And He said that He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is faithful to His Word. When He says he will do a thing, He intends to make that promise good. And it was our wretched, lost condition that caused Him to provide a salvation for us, for the church. God tells us that we will be saved if we will do nothing more than put our trust in Christ! “We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver"this is a picture of what our heavenly Bridegroom will do for believers. The passage in Ephesians 5 makes this so very clear. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for the church. He did it so that He might sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water by the Word. That is a real miracle soap, by the way. He did this so that He might present the church to Himself, a glorious church without a spot or a wrinkle but holyset apart for Himand without blemish. What has happened to the church? He has redeemed us. He has paid the price for us. He has subtracted our sins and has added His righteousness. We are covered with the righteousness of Christ, we stand complete in Him, accepted in the Beloved.

Song of Solomon 1:12

FEASTING AT THE ROUND TABLESome have translated this, “While the king is on his circuit.” They interpret it to mean while he is out going through the kingdom. Others have translated this, “While the king is at his banquet,” which I think is probably the best translation that could be given. Very literally it is, “While the king sitteth at his round table"that is the circuit. It is actually a round table where he either sits or reclines with his guests around the banquet table. The translation is important because this verse carries with it a deeper spiritual meaning. The bridegroom brings in all of His invited guests to the banquet table. We can go down through history and mark those who have accepted the invitation to the banquet of the Bridegroom. When He was born, the shepherds came down from the hilltops to see Him in the stable. Then wise men came out of the East to present Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. John Milton expressed it like this: See how from far upon the Eastern road, The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet; O run, prevent them with thy humble ode, And lay it lowly at his blessed feet; Have thou the honor first thy Lord to greet. David had the round table in mind when he wrote, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over” (Psa_23:5). A towheaded boy in southern Oklahoma heard the invitation and, thank God, accepted it. I have been sitting at His table for a long, long time. Are you sitting at that round table? You have an invitation to come. Jesus says to you, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev_3:20). Say, why don’t you come and sit at the round table? Sir Lancelot may have had the privilege of sitting at King Arthur’s round table, but that was nothing compared to Christ’s round table! “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” The spikenard is the fragrance of Christ’s lifehow wonderful it is! This same fragrance should be in our lives by association with Him. Sitting at His table will do this for us. The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is a very important service if it is a time of real communion with Him. If it is merely a form and ritual to you, forget itit is of no value. I received a letter from a lady in Miami who wrote, “I had never heard anyone say that we should tell the Lord Jesus we love Him. I had never said it, but I have loved Him. Ever since I heard you say that we should tell Him, at morning, noon, and night (I have been making up for lost time), I tell Him that I love Him.” Then she added, “The Word of God has taken on a new colora new meaning.” How wonderful! We need the fragrance of Christ in our lives.

Song of Solomon 1:13

THE BUNDLE OF MYRRH IN THE BOSOMNow the bride makes a statement which is quite intimatebut don’t be afraid of it and run from it. The original permits us to translate this several different ways: “It shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.” What is “it”? Well, it is the bundle of myrrh. For the believer, the bundle of myrrh represents Christ. You recall that one of the gifts the wise men brought to Him was myrrh. When Christ died, Joseph and Nicodemus brought myrrh to put on His body. The myrrh speaks of His entire life from birth to death. My friend, Christ should lie heavy upon your breast and upon your heart at night. When you wake up during the night, what do you think about?

Do you begin to worry about the next day? I must confess that I do a lot of that. But it is wonderful to be able to turn that off and to turn to Him at night when I’m anxious or worried. We need to follow the admonition in Php_4:8: “Finally, brethren [when you get to the end of your rope], whatsoever things are true [that is Christ], whatsoever things are honest [that is also Christ], whatsoever things are just [that is the Lord Jesus], whatsoever things are pure [He is pure], whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (italics mine). In other words, meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ. A bundle of mellifluous myrrhe, Is my Beloved best To me, which I will bind between My breasts, while I do rest In silent slumbers. Troth-plight SpouseA friend of mine said it this way: “When I go to bed at night, the last thing I do is pull up the covers, look up, and say, ‘Lord Jesus, I love you.’” Isaac Watts wrote it like this: As myrrh new bleeding from the tree, Such is a dying Christ to me; And while He makes my soul his guest, My bosom, Lord, shall be thy rest. Oh, friend, let’s think upon the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful He is! Erskine wrote it this way: From this enfolded bundle flies His savor all abroad: Such complicated sweetness lies In my Incarnate God. My Christian friend, you miss so much when you are satisfied with some little course on how to live the Christian life or on going through some little ritual. Oh, to have Him as the very object of your life, the One who brings in the excitement, the ecstasy, the fellowship, and the joy. His grace and His love and His mercy are all yoursjust open the door. Jesus is knocking right now.

Song of Solomon 1:14

THE CLUSTER OF CAMPHIREThe bride continues to speak of her delight in her bridegroom. The “camphire” mentioned here is the cypress. In some versions it is translated “henna flowers,” and the flowers of the cypress are that color. Scholars have done a great deal of study of different plants mentioned in this book. The cypress is a tree that grows in profusion in Palestine and in Turkey. As I traveled in that area, I was most impressed by the great rows of cypress trees. Here is a statement about the cypress from Kitto, which I would like to pass on to you.

The camphire “is now generally agreed to be the Henna of the Arabians. The deep color of the bark, the light green of the foliage, and the softened mixture of white-yellow in the blossoms, present a combination as agreeable to the eye as the odour is to the scent. The flowers grow in dense clusters, the grateful fragrance of which is as much appreciated now as in the time of Solomon. The women take great pleasure in these clusters, hold them in their hand, carry them in their bosom, and keep them in their apartments to perfume the air.” Now notice the comparison of camphor or cypress to the bridegroomwhat a lovely thing it is: “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.” En-gedi, another place that I have visited, is down by the Dead Sea. It is one of those wonderful oases in the desert because there are springs there. You may recall that the area around En-gedi is a wilderness where David hid from Saul. It is a good hiding placeI don’t see how anyone could be found in those barren hills. But at En-gedi many kinds of lovely spices are grown. It is a very interesting spot in the midst of that desolate desert, and the bridegroom is like a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of En-gedi. He is like a row of those stately trees with that lovely fragrance. Christ as our Beloved is represented here as being full of attractive beauty and an aromatic fragrance. I emphasize the deity of Christ very often, but I wonder sometimes if I give a lopsided view of Him. Have you ever stopped to think how lovely He was in His person? He came and took upon Himself our humanity, and He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. There was no sin in Him. How wonderful He was! There was nothing lopsided about His personality. You may recall that in the Old Testament the meal offering typified the even quality of Christ’s personality. It was well-beaten flournever coarse or lumpy. Frankly, most of us are lumpyI don’t mean physically, but psychologically. All of us are a little “off” in one way or another. We all have our peculiarities. One man talking to another made the statement, “You know we all have our peculiarities.” The man replied, “I don’t believe that. I don’t think I have any peculiarities.” The first man said, “All right. Let me ask you a question. Do you stir your coffee with your right hand or your left hand?” He answered, “I stir it with my right hand.” “There,” he said triumphantly, “that’s your peculiarity. Most people use a spoon!” So, you see, we may not stir our coffee with our hand, but we all have peculiarities. We are lumpy; He was not. He is the perfect human in His incarnation. He is lovely. He is the bundle of camphor. He is the One of whom John could say with enthusiasm and deep expression, “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Joh_1:29). If you will hear Him, your soul shall live. Or, as the psalmist says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good …” (Psa_34:8).

The Lord Jesus was a sacrificeHe “…hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour” (Eph_5:2). He typified the burnt offering that ascended up to heaven. It all speaks of the fact that God is completely satisfied with what Jesus did for you and for me. He is satisfied with Jesus. He said, “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mat_3:17). He has never said that about Vernon McGee, and probably He has never said it about you.

But He has declared that He is satisfied with Jesus. Friend, are you satisfied with Jesus? I don’t think many people are. If they were, they wouldn’t be running here and there over the face of the earth, trying to find satisfaction in something else. People run to hear this thing and that thing, always searching for something that is new. We can even become so engrossed in the mechanics and the details of Bible study that we lose sight of the person of Jesus Christ. How wonderful He is! “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.” There is another interesting symbol in the “bundle” of camphire. There is a great emphasis in the Scriptures on the oneness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten Son of the Father. He is the one good Shepherd. He is the one true Vine. He is the one Light of the world.

He is the one Servant of the Father. He is the one Sacrifice for sin. He is the one Way, the one Truth, the one Life. Yet in His perfect unity there is a fullness that is absolutely inexhaustible. He is also a cluster of fragrant flowers. There is a oneness in Him; but, oh, in Him there is everything.

Innumerable graces crowd harmoniously together in the Lamb of God. In Him we can find the faith of Abraham, the persuasiveness of Jacob, the meekness of Moses, the zeal of Elijah, the holiness of Job, the love of John. They are all full and perfect in Him. In Him are found truth, righteousness, wisdom, love, pity, friendship, majesty, might, sovereignty, lowliness, patience, faith, zeal, courage, holiness, and all the graces. If I have left out any of His qualities, they ought to be included in this list because He is everything. He is all in all.

And He is ours. That is the wonder of it all.

Song of Solomon 1:15

BEHOLD, THOU ART FAIRNow after the bride has expressed her adoration of the bridegroom, he says this to her: And her instant response is in the following verse: “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved.” She is the one who said, “Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me.” But he says to her, “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.” My friend, we as the bride of Christ have sinned. We can confess with Daniel, “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments” (Dan_9:5). This is the confession of every person if he is a child of God. But our Lord Jesus intercedes for us: “…thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word” (Joh_17:6). That is our High Priest pleading for you and me. Because we are in Christ, the Father sees no iniquity in us, as God would not see the iniquity of Jacob or perverseness in Israel and would not permit Balaam to curse them.

God went down and dealt with His own people; He wouldn’t let them get by with sin. But God would not let a heathen prophet curse Israel. He saw Israel in Christ. That is the way He sees us today. “Behold, thou art fair.” The secret of this beauty is in this: “Thou hast doves’ eyes.” Doves are common emblems of chastity and constancy. Her eyes are fixed upon the bridegroom, and all her beauty is the reflected beauty of the bridegroom. Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Mat_6:22)and also full of beauty. “But if thine eye be evil [or double], thy whole body shall be full of darkness …” (Mat_6:23). A believer who has an eye for anything equally with Christ has no beauty in His sight. Jesus laid it on the line: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mat_10:37). It is important for you to answer this question: Do you have your eye fixed upon the Lord Jesus today? I hear a great deal about “dedication” as I attend many conferences around the country. Folk are always talking about how dedicated they are and how they want to manifest Christ, but these very people are actually lazy. Their service is slipshod. You see, dedication is not something to talk about; dedication to Christ is something you reveal. It will be manifested in your life. If your eye is upon Him, then His beauty will be reflected in you. The bridegroom has told the bride how wonderful she is. Now she turns right around and says the very same thing to him.

Song of Solomon 1:16

The Bridegroom is beautiful to those of us who believe. He is altogether lovely. Augustine wrote: “He is fair in heaven, fair in the earth; fair in the virgin’s womb [He was that holy thing], fair in the arms of His parents, fair in the miracles, fair in His stripes …fair in laying down His life, fair in receiving it again; fair on the cross, fair in the sepulchre.” This was the way Augustine, that great saint of God of the past, described the Lord Jesus. “Yea, pleasant"the word is the Hebrew naim, and it is used to describe the wonderful melodies of the sanctuary: “…sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant” (Psa_135:3). Christ is pleasant; He is lovely. Why would anyone want to run away from the Lord Jesus! He is so wonderful. The word is also used to describe a chosen earthly friend. David said of his loyal friend, Jonathan, “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me …” (2Sa_1:26). What can we say of the One who is greater than Jonathan? Can you say that Jesus is pleasant to you? It is sweet to be with Him. He is the One who can bring rest to us. Are you satisfied with Him? God the Father is satisfied with Him. “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant.” “Also our bed is green.” The “bed” is the English translation for lack of a better word. It is actually the reclining couch where they sat around the banquet. Especially at the time of a marriage feast the banquet couch would be strewn with flowers and green leaves. I think this would be the meaning of the green “bed” if the setting is in Jerusalem. However, it may be that this is referring back to the time when they first met and is speaking of the green grass where the sheep were. Maybe they just sat on the grass while the sheep were grazing, and that is where they first got acquainted with each other. It would signify the place of communication. This reminds us of David’s psalm: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures …” (Psa_23:2). When the sheep lies down in green pastures, he is satisfied. He has eaten enough and is full. It is the answer to Christ’s invitation to come to Him and rest. He invites all those who are weary and heavy laden to come to Him. The green pastures are there for us. Christian friend, if you are tired and weary, you can rest in Him. It has been expressed this way by A. Moody Stuart: " ‘Heavy laden’ and hopeless thou art, seeking peace afar off and passing Him who is near, like Hagar in the desert, with the last drop drained from the now shrivled water-skin, thou art ready to lie down and die. But open thine ears and thou wilt hear one say, ‘Come unto Me and I will give you rest’; open thine eyes and thou wilt see the well and the green sward around it; and with a full heart thou wilt answer him, ‘Behold Thou art pleasant, also our couch is green.’” What a beautiful picture this is! Do you remember where He reclined? When He first came to this earth, they put Him in a manger. The last place they laid Him was in the tomb of Joseph. He went to that place so that you and I might sit with Him in green pastures.