RIGHT FEELINGS AND AFFECTIONS IN THE SAINTS
[p. 136] RIGHT FEELINGS AND AFFECTIONS IN THE SAINTS
Song of Songs 1:7 - 11; Song of Songs 2:1 - 7
It is on my heart to speak of David and Solomon as marked by deep feelings and affections. These are expressed in their writings, and I may say they furnish for us the very heart and soul of the Old Testament. They remind us that God will have His people move in the expression of divinely begotten feelings and affections. Amongst other things it is to be observed that these feelings and affections come from two kings; that is, men of immense affairs. We might assume that poetic, and even any other kind of writings, should be left to others; and that such men as David and Solomon had to give so much attention to military and state affairs, that they could scarcely be expected to give time to such a service as this; yet they reflect what God is, and what Christ is, in regard of this service.
As an illustration of this, we see how God, coming to Abraham in company with two others, could afford to wait upon Abraham until he had prepared a meal; and in the New Testament we see how the Lord Jesus Christ could devote time to individuals; as, for instance, on the two wayward disciples going to Emmaus. It is touching to see how the Father and the Son can afford to devote Themselves to one individual, for in John 14 the Lord says that the Father and the Son would come and make Their abode with one who loved the Lord and kept His word. Taking all these things into account, we can understand how David could find time to write psalms, and how Solomon could speak three thousand proverbs and write a thousand and five songs. Think of the great emperor of that day able to devote himself to such services!
Now this is the Song of all Songs; it is called “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s” (Song of Songs 1:1). It is a composition [p. 137] by him, as a type of Christ, to celebrate the triumph of Christ’s love for an individual, as if the Lord were to remind each of us of His triumph in securing us; so that knowing His love for us, we love Him. It is a wonderful thing to heaven that there should be lovers of Christ in this world. He values every one of His lovers, and each of them says. He “loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). I suppose the apostle Paul was the greatest lover of Christ, and the idea of a non-lover of Christ is utterly abhorrent to him, for he says, “If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22). If anyone does not love our Lord Jesus Christ, he is incapable of loving.
This Song shows how love is begotten, and in chapter 1:7 the lover of Christ wishes to know where He feeds His flock and where He makes it to rest at noon. That is, he wishes to see how Christ serves all His flock, and this is what leads up to the Lord’s service to the saints as of the assembly — His best service is seen there. It is illustrated in Jacob, when he quickly rolled away the stone from the well’s mouth as Rachel comes into view. So it is that the best service of Christ is expended on the saints who form the assembly. Therefore we can understand the desire of this lover of Christ to see Him thus serving, so that she says, “Why should I be as one veiled beside the flocks of thy companions?” Why should any one of us be under suspicion in regard to our love to Christ? If one has not come forward and put out his hand to the fellowship of the people of God, his love is under suspicion. Whatever you may say about your love, we cannot be sure of it, for love is not merely spoken of, but it manifests itself, as in the case of Ruth. She says, “Intreat me not to leave thee” (Ruth 1:16); she would be a companion of Naomi. She would have Naomi’s people to be her people, Naomi’s God to be her God; where Naomi died would Ruth die, and there would she be buried. That is complete identification. Hence, if one is not [p. 138] openly identified with Christ as rejected in this world, one’s love is questionable. This one was a true lover of Christ, for she says, “Why should I be as one veiled?” And in verse 8, “If thou know not, thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock”. The Lord is to be found by watching the footsteps of the flock, for you will find that they lead to where Christ is.
The two who were on their way to Emmaus were not marked as of the flock of Christ. Their love was apparently questionable, but the Lord, who knows all things, knew that they loved Him. But who else could have known? They had their backs turned upon the chief interest of Christ on earth. According to Mark they were going into the country, whereas the Lord had told them to remain in the city; so that as far as others could judge, they were not truly lovers of Christ. Those who have Christ’s commandments and keep them not, do not manifest that they love Him, and their footsteps would not be any guide. After the Lord had manifested Himself to these two, they arose the same hour of the night and returned to Jerusalem, and their footsteps now led them to where the eleven were gathered together and those that were with them. That is the history of every soul that is truly gathered.
In verse 9 it says, “I compare thee, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots”. It is as if the Lord would encourage one who is now returning to the only right path for the believer. “Thy cheeks are comely with bead-rows, thy neck with ornamental chains. We will make thee bead-rows of gold with studs of silver”. It is now in the plural, for the saints are included, and you will be ornamented in accordance with the new sphere; for love in the saints is love according to Christ. If He wishes you to be adorned, so do the saints; but there is nothing in us for His pleasure according to nature.
[p. 139] In chapter 2 you will see that the believer is spoken of in the feminine, and regards herself as a “narcissus of Sharon” — a beautiful product. The believer is thus coming into closer acquaintance with the Lord and with His people; and to realise what he is under the Lord’s eye, “A lily of the valleys”. The bridegroom says, “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters”; that is what a lover of Christ is in a scene of contrariety; and as He gives her the lead, she goes on to say what she thinks of Him in comparison. The believer is thus marked by progress, in that he can say, “As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons”. He is not among the thorns, but among the sons, and that is where you wish to see Him. He will be eternally among the sons, but anointed above them. Therefore it is well to make this comparison, for in truth it is how we shall know the Lord Jesus in heaven; He will there be known among the sons, but the lover will detect Him among the brethren. In nothing is the bride more characterised here than by her ability to distinguish Christ, to mark Him off in His infinite excellencies as compared with others. Hence it is the beloved disciple, John, the one who was in the bosom of Jesus, whom the Spirit of God uses to portray Him here in this world, introducing Him to us as God. He is a divine Person, but a perfect Servant here below; love traces Him as such and sees Him at the end as the ascending One: “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (John 20:17).
Now you will observe how she can speak of the way the Lord served, she had come to know Him so that she could sit down in His shadow in rapture; she says, “In his shadow have I rapture and sit down”. She is not now perturbed in the presence of such an One. As He came into the company in Luke, they were perturbed, they did not know Him as He is described here. In John’s record of the same event [p. 140] he omits that part, for he would present the work of God as ever true to itself. The believer, viewed abstractedly apart from all that he is naturally, is raptured in the presence of Christ. In His shadow he sits down, and the palate is free to enjoy His fruit; so that he says, “He hath brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love”. That is the abstract view of the believer, but it is short-lived, for we are still in our condition of flesh and blood and a sense of weakness comes in, so that immediately she says, “Sustain ye me with raisin-cakes”, a food containing a very attenuated or mild stimulant: “Refresh me with apples”; that is to say, there is a sense of need of sustainment, and she prescribes what it shall be — raisin-cakes; and of refreshment — apples — fruit which suggests Christ as pre-eminent. Also she says, “I am sick of love”; this can only allude to the mixed condition in which we are, for there will be no such infirmity as this in heaven. She goes on to say, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me”, suggesting the support of Christ in regard to one’s intelligence, for how quickly one feels the need of support as participating in spiritual things! His left hand under the head refers to the intelligence, and His right hand embracing to the affections. So that through the gracious service of Christ, the believer is sustained in His presence in intelligence and affection. Hence, when she charges the daughters of Jerusalem by the gazelles and the hinds of the field, she is alluding to what she has experienced of Christ; that is, the speed with which He reaches us in the hour of need, we do not require to stir Him up, we leave it with Him. “Stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please”. Love will do its very best for us, and hence we learn by experience that it is best to leave things with the Lord. Love never fails, so we may confide in the love of Christ and leave Him [p. 141] to act as He pleases. There is nothing more important than this, that love in Christ will do its best for us, so that whatever our circumstances we will let love have its way.
I desire that we should keep before us the ministry of David and Solomon, for they both suggest the expression of right feelings and affections; these are the outcome of a personal knowledge of Christ, and of a personal link and relationship with Him.