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Pleasantness of Christ:

In Him the greatest moral excellence combined with the greatest pleasantness. Pleasantness a special quality, and superadded to excellence. Indicates what a person is in relation to others. That which renders a man amiable, agreeable, and enjoyable to those around him. The quality in an indiand delight in vidual that affords pleasure his presence and society. Has special reference to one's spirit and temper, manners and deportment,-a person's looks, and the tone of his voice, as well as his words and actions. Implies a combination of graces as well as virtues; of charms, as well as excellencies; of agreeable as well as solid qualities, fitting their possessor for impart ing pleasure as well as profit to those in Such pleasantness in contact with him. Jesus. Jesus fair in Himself; pleasant to others. Such that not only angels but mennot only the godly but sinners-may find pleasure in Him. The evidence of His pleasantness seen in His disciples who so fondly adhered to Him and so closely followed Him; in John the fisherman, who was wont to pillow his head on His bosom; in the multitudes that every where thronged about Him; in the publicans and sinners that drew near to hear Him; in the children that followed Him with their parents, and sang His praise in the temple-courts; in the infants that He took up in His arms, putting His hands on their head and blessing them. David's testimony in regard to Jonathan that of every believer in regard to Jesus: Very pleasant hast thou been unto me.' Jesus 'very pleasant' to believers now while

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conversed with through a veil. What when
they see Him face to face?

3. SHULAMITE REJOICES IN THE KING'S
FELLOWSHIP AND THE PLACE OF ITS
ENJOYMENT.

Verses 16, 17.

Also our bed is green;

The beams of our house are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.

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The scene now the grounds of the palace.
Shulamite has found the King at the shep-
Intensely happy in each
herd's tents.
other's society and love, they sit down and
repose on a green and flowery bank — the
resting-place at noon (verse 7). The cedars
spread their shady branches over them like
the beams of a palace, while the fragant fir
trees form a gallery for their walk. Shula-
mite notices these things, and in her de-
lighted enjoyment of the King's fellowship,
and her fine appreciation of the objects of
nature, expresses her gratification in these
Brought up in the
agreeable surroundings.
country, she is everywhere exhibited in the
Song as an enthusiastic admirer of natural
beauty. In this way as well as others, a
meet companion for him who spake of
trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon,
even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall' (1 Kings iv. 33). Enjoyment of
a dear one's fellowship gives of itself a
charm to the place which is the scene of it.
The place where a believer has enjoyed sweet
and hallowed communion with his Saviour,
especially in the season of his first love,
rendered beautiful in his eyes, and endeared
been in the midst of natural scenery. With
to his heart. All the more so when this has
the joy of a soul's deliverance from bondage
and possession of a newly found Saviour, all
surrounding nature seems to be in harmony.
By a law of our mental constitution, the
The mountains and hills break
joy transfuses itself over all surrounding
objects.
forth into singing, and all the trees of the
field clap their hands (Is. lv. 12). Christ's
graciously manifested person sheds a beauty
and sweetness over every thing around us.
Himself fair and pleasant, the very place
becomes such where He is found and en-
bloom. Hence the sweetness of Divine
joyed. Where He treads, lilies and roses
ordinances. Christ's fellowship usually most
enjoyed in connection with the ordinances of
His own institution. Gospel ordinances the
shepherds' tents where the Chief Shepherd
is found, and where He makes His flock to
The promise,-'I will com
rest at noon.
39

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mune with them from off the mercy seat.' Hence, the very place of these ordinances, beautiful and delightful to a loving believer. 'How amiable are Thy tabernacles;' 'Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.' 'A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.' Hence his longing desire after them. My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord.;' 'One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in His temple (Ps. lxxxiv. ; xcvi.; lxiii.; xxvii.). This sweetness and charm connected with the sanctuary something very different from mere outward attraction; though it may be desirable that even that should not be altogether wanting. Nothing lost when that which meets the bodily eye is somewhat in harmony with the spiritual beauty of the sanctuary, which only the eye of the living soul can perceive and the renewed heart delight in.

Shulamite commends both the beauty of the grassy couch on which they reposed, and the agreeableness of the shade afforded by the trees which spread their branches over their heads like the beams of sylvan chambers. Our bed (or couch) is green (or flourishing); the beams of our house (Heb. "houses") are of cedar (or cedars are the beams of our chambers); and our rafters (or galleries) are of fir' (or fir trees are our rafters or galleries). Suggesting, in regard

to

Divine Ordinances,

Our

1. Community of interest and participation on the part of Christ and His people. bed;' our house; as pertaining both to the bride and bridegroom. So Divine ordinances the joint property of Christ and His people. The temple at Jerusalem spoken of as both God's house and that of the people: 'Our beautiful house;' 'Your house is left unto you desolate.' The sacrifices participated in both by God and the offerer. Called 'the bread of their God,' the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord' (Lev. iii. 11; xxi. 6, 8, &c.). Christian ordinances intended both for the enjoyment of Christ and His people. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him and he with me (Rev. iii. 21).

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2. Repose as well as comfort to the soul. Christ found in the ordinances of his house as the rest and the refreshing' wherewith 'the weary' are to be made to rest, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land' (Is. xxvii 12; xxxii. 2). One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.' There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high' (Ps. xlvi. 4; xxvii. 4, 5).

3. Freshness and life. Our bed is green' or flourishing. The ordinances of the Christian Church, wherever two or three are gathered together in the Master's name, as fresh and lively, as full of blessing and as precious to believers now as when after Pentecost the disciples 'continned steadfast in the Apostles' fellowship and doctrine, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts ii. 42). These ordinances as sweet and refreshing to the believer at the close of his earthly pilgrimage as at the beginning of it. The promised presence of Christ and the operation of His Spirit, that which keeps the couch green and flourishing. There is a river, &c.'

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4. Strength and permanence. The beams of our house are cedars.' Strength as well as beauty in God's sanctuary (Ps. xcvi. 6). Christ's promised presence gives permanance, as well as life and freshness, to ordinances. The Lord's Supper, the central ordinance of Christian worship, to continue till He come again. These ordinances have continued throughout eighteen centuries in almost all parts of the known world, and are, to a great extent, the same even in form at this day as when originally instituted and observed by the earliest converts. One precious fruit of the Reformation, the restoration of these ordinances to their pri mitive simplicity, after having been overlaid and disfigured both in the Eastern and Western Churches with rites and ceremonies of mere human invention. What is Divine in ordinances permanent as the cedars; what is merely human, perishable, and to be put

away.

5. Fragrance and beauty. 'Our rafters (or galleries) of fir' (or, are firs or cypresses). The fir or cypress distinguished for its beauty as well as its fragrance. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree.' Promised in connection with the sanctuary in Gospel times. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree and the pine tree and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary' (Is. lx. 13; lv. 13). Beauty, as well as strength, in God s sanctuary (Ps. xcvi. 6). The fragrance and beauty of Divine ordinances not in the fumes of incense, or in external decoration, whether of place or persons; but in the truths of the Gospel exhibited, the presence of Christ enjoyed, and the power of the Spirit experienced in them.

Further Intercourse between the beth: Whence is this unto me, that the

Betrothed.

Chapter II. Verses 1-3.

SHULAMITE'S SELF-DEPRECIATION.

(Verse 1).

I am the rose of Sharon,

And the lily of the valleys.

The King and Shulamite still seated on their grassy couch. She, happy in his fellowship and love, and remembering her humble origin, appears to feel herself all unworthy of such a position, and with her eye on the wild flowers around her, to sigh out: I am but a wild flower of the plain, a humble lily in the valleys.' This view of the words probably more correct than that to which we have long with pleasure been accustomed, and which is rather the one suggested by our English version, viz., that which ascribes these words to the King instead of the Bride. Scarcely likely that here, and here alone, tle speaker commends himself. Self-commendation, however just and becoming in the true Bridegroom, not the language of love, nor in consonance with the context and the rest of the poem. The rose probably not the flower here intended; but one of the bulbous kind; perhaps the meadow-saffron, crocus, or narcissus. The flower both common and abundant, and with little or nothing striking in it. Natural, in the circumstances of the case, for Shulamite thus to depreciate herself in the presence of the King, of whose love she sees herself so unworthy. Commentators and versions divided on the passage; the older ones applying these words rather to the King, the moderns more generally to the Bride. The spiritual instruction precious in either

case.

1. The believer's feelings, in the enjoyment of the Saviour's manifested presence and love, naturally those of deep humiliation and self-depreciation. Such the feelings of Mephibosheth at the King's table, and of Peter on the revealed divinity of his Master in the fishing-boat. On the perception of Christ's glory, and the sense of His love to ourselves, our thoughts naturally thrown on our own unworthiness. I am not worthy of the least of (Heb., I am less than) all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands' (Gen. xxxii. 10). So David: What am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?' (2 Sam. vii. 18) and Eliza

mother of my Lord should come unto me?' (Luke i. 42) Lowly views of one's self, and lofty views of Christ, the legitimate fruit of Divine communion. The lasting wonder of heaven and earth, that the King of Kings, possessed of infinite dignity and matchless excellence, should ally Himself in bridal union with a poor vile sinner.

"How should it be, Thou heavenly King,
That Thou shouldst us to glory bring?
Make slaves the partners of Thy throne,
Deck'd with a never fading crown.
"Hence our hearts mel; our eyes o'erflow;
Our words are lost; nor will we know,
Nor will we think of aught beside-
My Lord, my love, is crucifi. d."

2. The description in the text true of the believer (1) Nothing more in him than in the millions of his race. A fallen child of Adam, shapen in iniquity, and a child of wrath even as others (Eph. ii. 2, 3). (2) Exposed to danger and destruction; like the flower of the field, ready to be trodden on, and crushed by every foot. Often accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Like his Master in the eyes of the world-a root out of a dry ground; despised and rejected of men.' (3) Often chosen from among the poor and illiterate. 'Ye see your calling, brethren; how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.'

Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?' 'He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people' (Ps. cxiii. 7, 8; 1 Cor. i. 26; James ii. 5).

THE KING'S COMMENDATION OF SHU

LAMITE.

(Verse 2).

As the lily among thorns,

So is my love among the daughters.

To Shulamite's self-depreciating remark‘I am but a lily in the valleys,'-the King immediately replies: But as a lily among thorns, so is my love among and in comparison with all other women.' The more a believer sees and acknowledges his own unworthiness, the more lovely he appears in the eyes of the Saviour, and the more does the Saviour assure him of His esteem and love. The language of the text true as addressed by Christ to His people. His eyes, which are as a flame of fire,' view both believers and unbelievers in their real character. His testimony that of the Faith

ful and True Witness.' His Church collectively and His people individually, while in this world and in comparison with others, a Lily among Thorns.

In this Divine assertion, notice

I. The LILY. Uncertain what species of lily is meant. According to some, the Scarlet Martagon, which grows in profusion in the Levant. Possibly the White Amaryllis intended. A species mentioned by Salt, in his Voyage to Abyssinia, whose white petals are marked with a single streak of bright purple down the middle. Believers compared to lilies, from

1. Their beauty. Jesus speaks of the lilies of the field as adorned with a beauty to which that of Solomon, in all his glory, could not be compared. The Scarlet Martagon an exceedingly gorgeous flower. The wild flowers of Palestine in general very beautiful. Believers possessed of a moral and spiritual beauty-the beauty of holiness. Made partakers of the Divine nature, which is love. Renewed after the image of God and conformed to the likeness of Christ, who is 'fairer than the children of men,' and the embodiment of all beauty. Believers, as members of Christ, adorned with the graces of His Spirit-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, &c Enabled by grace to cultivate, and increasingly to exhibit, whatsoever things are pure, just, lovely, and of good report' (Phil. iv. 8; Gal. v. 22).

2. Their purity. The White Amaryllis, or our common white lily, an emblem of purity. Believers made, by Divine grace, pure both in heart and life. Enabled by the hope of seeing Christ as He is, to purify themselves even as He is pure. Have purified their hearts through obeying the truth. Are sanctified through the truth. Sanctified in Christ Jesus. Made clean through the Word He has spoken to them. As 'pure in heart,' are admitted at death to the beatific vision of God.

3. Their humility. The White Amaryllis rises only two or three inches from the ground. The common white lily, with its drooping head, an emblem of humility and modesty. Believers called to be clothed with humility,' and to learn of Him who was meek and lowly in heart.' Made by Divine grace to be meek' and 'poor in spirit. Represented by the Publican in the temple. Enabled to grow in humility as in other graces. Exemplified in Paul. His first acknowledgment: not worthy' to be called an apostle;' later on: 'less than the least of all saints;' last of all: the chief of sinners.' The heavier the ear of corn, the more

it bends. A proud Christian a paradox. Faith essentially humble, as being simply emptiness receiving out of another's fulness, and weakness leaning on & Saviour's strength.

4. Their fragrance. According to Salt, the flower of the White Amaryllis is sweet scented, its smell resembling that of the Lily of the Valley, but much more powerful. Believers, according as they walk with Christ and possess His spirit, enabled to exercise a beneficial influence on others, and to diffuse a moral fragrance which makes their very presence a blessing. God's promise even to penitent backsliders: 'I will be as the dew unto Israel;' and as the consequence of it- he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon: his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon' (Hos. xiv. 5, 6). The believer's

privilege so to carry Christ with him as to be a perfume and a benefaction wherever he goes.

II. The THORNS. The ungodly so called (2 Sam. xxiii. 6). Compared to a thorn hedge (Mic. vii. 4). Thorns as being

1. Unsightly. Little beauty in a thorn. As little in the unregenerate in the sight of God and angels. Men in their fallen state and still unrenewed by Divine grace, corrupt, filthy, and abominable;' hateful and hating one another; under the power of a carnal mind, which is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' No truly good thing in them, or in the fallen nature which governs them. No longer bearing the moral image of God, but of His great adversary. 'Alienated from the life of God' who is love, and dead in trespasses and in sins.' Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart only evil continually (Gen. vi. 5; viii. 21; Ps. xiv. 1-3; Rom. iii. 10, &c.; viii. 7, 8; Tit. iii. 3; Eph. iv. 18; ii. 1):

2. Hurtful. Thorns pierce the hand that takes hold of them, and tear those that come in contact with them. So the ungodly (2 Sam. xxiii. 6). The unregenerate hurtful to their neighbours. Their influence, both conscious and unconscious, for evil rather than good. Their example injurious, as turning others away from God rather than turning them to Him. The Divine testimony: One sinner destroyeth much good.' Paul, in his unconverted state, a persecutor, and injurious. The poison of asps under the lips of the ungodly. Their feet swift to shed blood. The impenitent and unbelieving often grieving thorns in the sides of believers, and even of their nearest relatives and best friends. Their words often such as

to leave a stain on the mind and a wound in the heart of others.

3. Unprofitable. Thorns and thistles part of the curse of barrenness inflicted on the earth for man's sin. Do men gather grapes of thorns?' Thorns only useful in making a hedge for the protection of what may do good to others. The Divine testimony regarding men in their natural state: "They are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good; no, not one' (Rom. iii. 12). The unregenerate unable to benefit men as immortal souls. Aim neither at bringing glory to God nor salvation to men. Are only employed by God for subordinate purposes, and as His unintentional instruments for the protection of His people and the interests of His kingdom. The final sentence pronounced on the ungodly: 'Take ye the unprofitable servant,' &c.

Thorns,

4. Destined to destruction. especially in the East, cut up to be burned, or set on fire as they grow (2 Sam. xxiii. 6; Is. ix. 18; x. 17; xxvii. 4; Heb. vi. 8). The end of the ungodly (Matt. xxv. 41).

III. The SITUATION OF THE LILY. 'Among thorns.' Beautiful wild flowers in Palestine often seen growing in the midst of a thorn bush or a thorn hedge. Believers, while in this world, necessarily among unbelievers. In an ungodly world, though not of it. Saints in Cæsar's household. The tares still suffered to grow among the wheat. The chaff and the wheat together till death separate them. Heaven or the new earth the only place where the thorns are not. The situation of believers among the ungodly over-ruled for their own improvement, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of Him whose grace makes them to differ, and whose power preserves them safe to His heavenly kingdom. The calling of believers, while in this world, to magnify the grace of God towards them, and to shew the excellency of His grace in them. Their aim to be among the unregenerate as the pure, modest, and harmless lily among thorns. Their loveliness, like that of the lily, to be all the more manifest and striking from their situation. Believers not to be surprised if called to suffer tribulation and persecution from the world. A lily among thorns' likely enough to be torn by them. Their comfort that it is only here, and for a short time, that their situation is that of a 'lily among thorns.'

IV. The SUPERIORITY OF THE LILY TO THE THORN. The language expressive of comparison as well as situation. The lily superior to the thorns among which it grows. So believers in relation to the world (1 John

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1. In Character. Believers renewed in the spirit of their mind after the image of God. Have Christ dwelling in them as their inward life, so that they become like Him who was 'holy, harmless, and undefiled.' Created

anew in Christ unto good works; and engrafted into Him, so as to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, &c.

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2. In Usefulness to others. Believers, from the new Divine nature implanted in them, able to benefit others for eternity as well as for time. Enabled by the Spirit of Christ in them to act upon the words of Christ: It is more blessed to give than to receive.' Freely ye have received, freely give.' Are qualified for being made, like Christ, a blessing to the world, by their example, their prayers, and their personal efforts. The salt of the earth, and the lights of the world. Unbelievers rather a hindrance than a furtherance to the real interests of others.

3. In their Final Destiny. Believers at death are transplanted in their spirits, and at the Lord's appearing also in their bodies, to a happier clime, to bloom as immortal lilies in the Paradise of God. Destruction and eternal death the end of the impenitent and unbelieving (Rom. vi. 21, 23; Phil. iii. 19). As thorns, destined to everlasting burnings (Is. xxxiii. 12, 14; Rev. xxi. 8).

Application. The world divided into two parts, lilies and thorns-regenerate and unregenerate, believers and unbelievers. To which do I belong? Am I lily or a thorn ? All are thorns by nature. Lilies only made such by regenerating grace. Have I undergone this change? Out of a thorn has almighty grace made me a lily? If not, am I willing that it should be so now? Thorns spared for this purpose. The grace that has transformed others able to tran-form you also. That grace offered. Jesus, working in the Gospel by His Spirit, still transforms lilies into thorns, and is ready even now to transform you. He says: Look unto me, and be ye saved;' 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; He that believeth on me though he were dead, yet, shall he live.' Wilt thou be made whole?'

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SHULAMITE'S COMMENDATION OF HER BELOVED.

VERSE 3.

As the apple-tree

Among the trees of the wood; So is my beloved

Among the sons.

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