An Anxious Inquiry and a Gracious Response

Next Part An Anxious Inquiry and a Gracious Response 2

Bride–
"Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make your flock to rest at noon– for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of your companions?"

Bridegroom–
"If you do not know, O you fairest among women, go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed your young goats beside the shepherds' tents."
Song of Solomon 1:7, 8

It is very beautiful, and not less profitable than beautiful, to observe the variety of ways in which it has pleased the God of all grace to reveal his mind and will to the sons of men in the scriptures of truth. Look a little closely at your Bible from this particular point of view. What a wonderful book it is! and not less wonderful for its contents, and the glorious truths which shine and sparkle as with divine luster in every page, than for the amazing variety in which those contents are unfolded to our enlightened understanding, and those glorious truths held up to our spiritual view. This variety is not a matter of accident, or of human contrivance, but a fruit of heavenly grace, originated by divine wisdom, and designed for a special purpose, that God might instruct us more clearly into his mind and will. Let me, then, devote a few minutes to the illustration of this peculiar feature of the Scriptures, as I love to point out the wisdom and grace of God in the revelation of himself in the word of truth.

1. God instructs us, then, sometimes by HISTORYor sacred narrative; as we find it employed in the historical books of the Old Testament, and in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles in the New. What would we have known of the creation and fall of man; of the destruction of the old world by the deluge; of the preservation of Noah and his family in the ark; of the call of Abraham; of the raising up and maintenance of a peculiar people in the children of Israel from generation to generation, that from the tribe of Judah and the loins of David, as concerning the flesh, the promised Messiah should come into the world, except for the historical books of the Old Testament? Again, but for the Gospels, what would we have known, at least fully and clearly, of the holy conception, the lowly birth, the suffering life, the agonizing death, the glorious resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ? Where but for the Gospels would have been our knowledge of the surpassing miracles, the instructive parables, the precious discourses, the garden woes, the bloody sweat, the sacrifice and sufferings of our most gracious Lord? And but for the Acts of the Apostles, what would we have known of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the promulgation of the Gospel at Jerusalem; of the persecutions and sufferings of the Christian Churches in various places, and of the blessings that rested upon the ministry of the apostles?

2. But God has sometimes seen fit to vary his mode of instruction, and to teach us byTYPE and FIGURE, as in the paschal lamb, in the cloudy pillar, in the tabernacle and ark of the covenant in the wilderness, in the bronze serpent, in the scapegoat, and in the whole train generally of Levitical rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices.

3. But as a further instance of this variety of instruction, let me mention how God has been pleased also to teach us by PROPHECY, as in the whole range of prophetical scripture, from Isaiah to Malachi in the Old Testament, and the book of Revelation in the New. He has thus afforded us predictions of countless events, either already accomplished, as those referring to the first coming of Messiah, or yet to be fulfilled, as in his second coming; and has thereby given us the strongest attestation to the truth and inspiration of his holy word.

4. Sometimes he has taught us by POETIC compositionsof men of God in days of old, when they poured out their afflictions, or recorded their joy in "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs"– as, for instance, the songs of Miriam, Moses, and Hannah, and especially that blessed treasure-house of Christian experience, the Book of Psalms.

5. Sometimes he has seen good to teach us by PROVERBS, and short sentences, in which he has been pleased to couch vast depths of moral and spiritual instruction– as in the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

6. Sometimes he has seen fit to instruct us by LETTERS, as in the Epistles of the New Testament, wherein we have the grand truths of our most holy faith so blessedly set forth, and the top stone, as it were, put on of divine precept and godly practice to crown the edifice of doctrine and experience.

7. And in one instance, he has seen fit to instruct us by a SONG– a holy song– called "the Song of Songs," or "the Song of Solomon," but which, from its general arrangement and character, we would, in all godly reverence, rather term a holy drama, or sacred pastoral; for in it we find a kind of dramatic picture or scenic representation of the mutual love and sacred communion of Christ and his Church under the figure of a Bridegroom and Bride, enjoying, in various scenes and places, each other's delightful company.

From this part of Holy Scripture, then, this vivid and picturesque representation of heavenly love, I shall endeavor, with God's help and blessing, to speak in your ears this morning, taking for my text the words which I have already read.

In those words you will find two speakers– one the Bride addressing the Bridegroom in the language of inquiry; and the other the Bridegroom answering her question. This simple division then of Question and Answer will form the two leading branches of my subject.

First, then, we have the Anxious Inquiry of the Bride, who desires to know where the Bridegroom's flock would rest at noon; for she could not bear the thought that she should be "as one that turned aside by the flocks of his companions."

Secondly, the Gracious Answer which fell from his lips, that if she knew not the appointed place of rest and refreshment she was to go her way forth "by the footsteps of the flock, and feed her young goats beside the shepherds' tents."

I. The CHARACTER of the bride. But before we address ourselves to the Anxious Inquiry of the Bride as thus stated, it will be necessary to look a little at her character; because though the Bride represents the Church of God in the aggregate, yet as there is but "one body, and one spirit" (Eph. 4:4), her sighs and songs, prayers and praises, conflicts and conquests, sorrows and joys, are but the reflections of, and intimately correspond with, the experience of every saint of God. So she stands forth in the word of truth, and specially in this sacred drama, not only as representing the whole of God's family in the aggregate, but as depicting the character and experience of each child of God in the particular. You may compare yourself then personally and individually with the description which the Holy Spirit has given here of the Church of God in her inmost experience. He has taken the veil from off her face and heart that you may see the features of the one and watch the pulsations of the other; and if, as in water, face answers to face, you can see your features in her features and read your heart in her heart, you may so far, with God's help, take some comfort or encouragement, as having scriptural grounds to believe that you are a living member of the mystical body of the Lord the Lamb.

1. Now one feature, and a very prominent feature of the Church here is, her HUMILIATION; the low place that she takes, and the language of self-condemnation which she uses. She says, "do not look upon me, because I am BLACK, because the sun has looked upon me." (Song 1:6.) She had a view by divine teaching of her thorough wreck and ruin in the Adam fall, and of the consequences resulting therefrom through the power and effects of temptation. In a woman, a clear, fair, fresh, soft complexion is a special beauty and a most attractive charm. But she, in her own eyes, was "black." Dark and swarthy was her skin, like that of an African, burnt into her by the scorching sun which had dried up all the tender juices of her once fair face and roseate complexion. She could not bear to look at her own tanned and tawny face, and therefore cried out, "do not look upon me, because I am black. I am unworthy of the least glance of your favorable eye. The sun of temptation has looked upon me, and meeting the foul tempers and gross corruptions of my face, has blackened my skin; I am not a fit bride for you who "are fairer than the children of men;" for how can black match with white? and I am black."

But to represent this feeling of her blackness more strikingly, she compares herself to "the tents of Kedar," a place in the wilderness of Edom, where the wandering shepherds dwelt in tents made of camels' hair, and therefore black not only from the original color of the material, but additionally so by being continually beaten upon by the rays of a burning sun and begrimed by the smoke of the tent and the dust of the desert. Such was she in her own eyes– "black" in her original color as woven throughout with sin in the Adam fall; "black," as warped and scorched by the sun of temptation; "black," as begrimed with the daily smoke of internal corruption; "black" as ever blown upon by the dust of this ungodly world. Instead, therefore, of viewing herself fair and lovely, she rather beheld herself as did Job, when he cried out, "Behold, I am vile;" as Isaiah, when he said, "Woe is me! for I am undone;" and as Daniel, when his loveliness was turned into corruption.

2. But with all this view of her own blackness, humbling her into the very dust, she had a sight and some experimental knowledge and enjoyment of her saving interest in Christ; she knew there was something more and better in herself than blackness, for she could add, "I am black, but LOVELY"– yes, as lovely "as the curtains of Solomon." We read in this book of Solomon's bed, and we have a description given of its guards– "Look! It is Solomon's bed, surrounded by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel." But if we adopt the marginal reading of "bed" for "chariot" in the following verse, which seems to be more suitable to the context and to the description itself, we shall find a most glowing and picturesque account of the ornaments and furniture of this bed. "King Solomon made himself a bed of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple; the midst thereof being paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem." Is not that last touch of the picture more suited to a bridal bed than to "a chariot," or carriage, as some explain the word? Now "the curtains" of this bed must have been as beautiful as the four pillars of silver at each corner, the bottom, or main support, of gold, and the covering or coverlid, spread over the whole of purple– the quilt of Tyrian dye, worn only by kings and princes. As there was in those days a great communion between Judea and India, Solomon's ships going from Tarshish to Ophir, there is a great probability that these curtains were formed of the most beautiful India muslin. They might even have been made of shawls from the looms of Cashmere, those costly productions which grace the very shoulders of queens and princesses.

But what a contrast to the tents of Kedar! Can you picture to your eye first "the tents of Kedar," a low, black, dusty group of shepherds' tents, nestling in the desert amid the desert amid the bleating flocks– something like a gipsy camp! Such was the Bride in herself. Now look into Solomon's palace and see the curtains of his royal bed. How clean, how rich, how beautiful! Such was the Bride in Christ.

3. But there are other features stamped upon her; and one of a very marked character. I shall have occasion to dwell by and by more fully upon this point; I shall therefore only just touch upon this feature of her character. She had, then, great LOVE FOR JESUS, for she could say, "O you whom my soul loves." Her tongue here expressed what her heart felt, for she could say that her very soul loved him. Now if a man has no love whatever to Jesus, he certainly has no right to think or call himself a Christian. Do I stretch the cord too tightly when I say this? Is my test too severe? Let me ask have you ever pondered over that solemn word of Paul's? "If any man loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema"– or accursed? Is my sword sharper than Paul's, or my test more severe than his? If then a man professing to know the truth for himself by some experience of its power has never known anything of love to the Lord from some discovery of his Person and work, grace and glory, well may I ask if he has any well grounded testimony of his interest in a salvation so great, and in a Savior so blessed?

4. But besides this love, there was another feature stamped upon her character to which I have already partially alluded– great SINCERITY. She could appeal to him as one who knew her very heart. "O you whom my soul loves." She felt as Peter felt, when the Lord seemed in some measure, as Peter feared, to doubt his love. Knowing his own sincerity, and conscious that the Lord knew it too, he broke out, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." So the Bride not only felt the warm flame of love glowing in her breast, but was so sure it was there that she could appeal to him that she was sincere in the expression of it. It was therefore, not a love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth; not a love of lip, but a love of heart– a love which he himself had kindled in her breast, and given her to know as his own gift and work, the fruit of his own grace.

5. But now look at another feature which beams forth from her portrait under the lively handling of the blessed Spirit; she was HUNGRY, for she asked him to tell her where he fed his flock, evidently showing that she was seeking heavenly food.

6. But she was WEARYalso of sin and self, of the world and of everything below the skies; and yet felt that there was rest in Christ, for she asked him to tell her where "he made his flock to rest at noon."

7. The last feature I shall now name is her holy JEALOUSY and godly FEARover herself. She dreaded lest she should be led to turn aside from the strait and narrow way, from her loyalty and her love, and be beguiled in any measure to say or do anything that seemed like a departure from her willing obedience to the Lord of her heart and affections.

Now can you find any or all of these seven marks of grace in your soul– that you are self-abased; that you have any testimony of your saving interest in Christ; that you do love the Lord Jesus; that you are sincere; that you are hungry and long for food; that you are weary and seek for rest; and are jealous over yourself with a godly jealousy, lest you depart from the right ways of the Lord? The standard I have set up is not very high, but I believe it is true and scriptural. If, then, you can find these seven marks in your soul, wrought there by divine power, you have so far a scriptural testimony that you are one whom the Bride here represents, and will therefore be able to enter more fully and clearly into her Inquiry, and the Lord's Answer.

II. The ANXIOUS INQUIRY of the Bride."Tell me," she says, "O you whom my soul loves." You see how anxious she was to get a word from the Lord. This also I might have named as a special mark of a soul under divine teaching– its earnestness, its anxiety to be taught of God, to get a testimony from the Lord's own mouth, a witnessing word from the Lord's own lips. She could not be satisfied with the testimony of man, or be content with such instruction as she might gather from the lips of others. Nothing short of the Lord himself speaking with power to her soul could give her any solid satisfaction. Were you ever there? Do you know what it is often upon your knees to be begging of the Lord to speak to your soul with power?

She then appeals to him why he should thus speak to her? for it was with her a matter of very anxious inquiry. She would not be deceived for all the world. She knew that everything was at stake, and putting her soul, its salvation and its sanctification into the balance, nothing could induce her to depart from this point, that it must be the Lord, and the Lord alone, who could satisfy her longing desires, by speaking a word to her inmost heart.

And observe the ground on which she appeals to him. It is the ground of love. She would say, "I do not come before you as a stranger, as an enemy, as an alien, as one who has no knowledge of you, or of whom you have no knowledge; but as one who loves you– not in word, or tongue, or profession, but in my very soul, from some communication of your love to my heart." Now can you go before the Lord on the very same ground of love and affection to his dear name, and say with her as sincerely, if not as warmly and as tenderly, "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves?" Is your answer "Yes, I can." You must have some ground for your answer. Love is easily talked about, easily professed, and perhaps no one thing is more counterfeited; but to merely talk about love is to love in word and in tongue. The love that is needed is in deed and in truth. Now what forms the ground of love? for we do not love either naturally or spiritually for no reason. If we fall in love, as it is called, there is some ground for it, something attractive, amiable, winning, loveable in the beloved Object.

So before you can love the Lord, you must have seen something in him to love him for. You must have had, for instance, a view by faith of his eternal Deity and Sonship, as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. You must have had a view of his holy, suffering, and pure humanity, and seen him in some measure as "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," in Gethsemane's gloomy garden, or on the agonizing cross at Calvary; and you must have had also some discovery to your faith of his complex Person as God-man, Immanuel, God with us, at the right hand of the Father, in glory and majesty.

Now I do not say that the Old Testament saints had as clear a discovery of the Person and work of the Redeemer as those have who have lived since his appearance in the flesh; yet Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day, and saw it and was glad; and Job knew that his Redeemer lived. So the Bride, speaking under divine inspiration, and representing the Church of Christ, had, no doubt, a view of the glorious Person of her Beloved, for giving a description of him in this holy book, she says, "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand." She must then have had a view of his glorious Person and surpassing beauty. Nor was she without some intimation of his love, for she says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for his love is better than wine" (Song 1:2); and, after a glowing description of his Person, adds, "his mouth is most sweet– yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." (Song 5:16.) We cannot doubt, then, that the Bride, as representing the church, loved the Bridegroom, not from hearsay description, but from a gracious discovery of his heavenly beauty.

But besides this attractiveness in the Object, winning the heart and affections, there must be some intimation from his own lips that he loves us, as well as that we love him. How tormenting is unrequited love, as many a poor love-stricken maiden has felt and known even to death. How galling, how mortifying to man or woman to love and not to be loved in return. But spiritual love is never unrequited love. No Christian heart need bleed or break under the pangs of love being only on one side. This the Scripture has decisively settled. "We love him because he first loved us." "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you." A child of God may fear, as many have feared, that the Lord does not love him; but there is no real ground for this fear; for our love to the Lord, if indeed we do love him, is but a faint and dim reflection of his love to us.

This love, then, in the Bride's heart moved and influenced her to put up this anxious inquiry, "Tell me," she says, "where you FEED." She was HUNGRY, for she was one of those whom the Lord himself pronounces blessed, as "hungering and thirsting after righteousness;" and under the pressure of this hunger she needed food. The Lord Jesus Christ is set forth in the word of truth as "the good shepherd." "The Lord is my shepherd," says David, "I shall not lack." But a main office of the shepherd is to feed the flock– as in the psalm to which I have already referred, David says, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." And thus speaks the prophet, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." (Isaiah. 40:11.) So in Ezekiel the Lord himself promises, "I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God." (Ezek. 34:15.) Thus viewing the Lord in the character of a shepherd, the bride here says, "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed your flock." It is, therefore, almost as if she said, "Lord, I am hungry; I need some food for my soul; I am starving, sinking, fainting, for lack of food; I am dying for something which you alone can give. O tell me with your own lips where it is you feed your flock, that I may go where they are, and get some of the pasture which you give them."

Does your soul ever want to be thus fed? Have you come up here this morning with any appetite? Do you hunger for a word from the Lord to be spoken to your heart? Are you in search of Gospel food? Have you come here this morning, saying in substance if not in word, "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed, that I may have some food given to me by yourself?"

But if the Lord feeds them, he must have something to feed them with, and that suitable to the hunger of the soul. What does he feed them with? With various kinds of food; but all alike nourishing and satisfying to the soul– for the food he gives is not less than himself.

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