(1:2—2:7)
1. The Call for Deliverance from the Self (2:8-15) 2. Failure and Recovery (2:16—3:5) Section Three: The Call for Ascension (3:6—5:1)
1. The New Creation (3:6—4:6) 2. The Call for Ascension (4:7-15) 3. A Life of Love (4:16—5:1) Section Four: The Call of the Cross after Resurrection (5:2—6:13)
1. The Cross after Resurrection and the Maiden's Failure (5:2—6:3) 2. A Life within the Veil (6:4-13) Section Five: The Work of God (7:1-13)
1. The Equipping of the Worker (7:1-9a) 2. Working Together with the Lord (7:9b-13) Section Six: The Groaning of the Flesh (8:1-14)
1. The Groaning for Deliverance from the Flesh (8:1-4) 2. Before the Rapture (8:5-14)
SECTION ONE THE INITIAL PURSUIT AND SATISFACTION (1:2—2:7) This section is the key to the whole book. All the spiritual principles are contained in this section. It foreshadows all subsequent experiences. The lessons that follow are not new; rather, they are old lessons repeated in a deeper way. The spiritual experiences in the first section are smooth and easy. The first consecration and revelation always appear to be smooth and easy. However, this consecration and revelation may not be very dependable; there is the need for these experiences to pass through the fire. This section foreshadows the spiritual experiences that are coming. After this section, everything will be tested until it becomes real. The first time a person experiences something, the impression may not be very deep; the second time, the experience may be more advanced and more sure. Yet the second experience may not be as sweet as the first. In the end the experience is the same as that which was encountered at the beginning; the banner is still love.
The experience in this section is equivalent to the "Path of Light" in the book Spiritual Torrents; it is also equivalent to the "revival stage" in the book Four Planes of Spiritual Life. Our personal experience can surely testify to this. I. YEARNING (1:2-3) Verse 2 says, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine." The kisses that one seeks after here are different from the kiss of the Father upon the neck (Luke 15:20). That kiss was a sign of forgiveness, and everyone who belongs to the Lord has received that kiss already. The emphasis in the Song of Songs is the love relationship between the believers and the Lord. As such, forgiveness is an implicit fact. Therefore, there is no mention of forgiveness. The Song of Songs does not speak of how a person turns from the position of a sinner to the position of a believer; rather, it speaks of how a believer turns from a position of thirst to a position of satisfaction. We must remember this fact before we can understand the way the book begins. After a person is saved, we do not know how long it takes before there is a longing within him. However, we do know that a longing arises when a saved person is awakened by the Holy Spirit and begins to seek after the Lord. Because the seeker is full of hunger and thirst, her mouth spontaneously utters, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." She does not say who "him" is. But in her mind, there is only one "him"; it is the One she seeks after. Prior to this, her relationship with the Lord was general, and she was deeply dissatisfied with it. Now she hopes to have a more personal relationship with Him. Therefore, she longs for a "kiss," which is a personal expression of love. No one can kiss two people at the same time. A kiss is an expression of a personal relationship. Furthermore, these kisses are not on the cheek, as were Judas's (Matt. 26:49), nor on the feet, as were Mary's (Luke 7:38, 45). They are the "kisses of his mouth," a sign of personal affection. A general relationship can no longer satisfy her. She wants a personal relationship which no one else has. This inward urge is the beginning of all progress. Spiritual edification can never be separated from a pursuit that is based on hunger and thirst. If the Holy Spirit has not put a real dissatisfaction with a general relationship and a pursuit for personal affection within a believer, he can never expect to have an intimate experience of the Lord. This pursuit is the basis for all future experience. If we do not have such a hunger and thirst, we will only have a poetic song, and it will not be the Song of Songs. We pursue because we have received a vision. The Holy Spirit has shown us a vision which ordinary men have not seen. After we have received such a
revelation, we find that "thy love is better than wine." Therefore, we long for the kisses of His mouth. Indeed, His love is better than wine. Of everything that brings us joy, elation, and excitement, the Holy Spirit shows us that nothing can be compared to His love. Of all that entices us under the sun, nothing can be compared to His love. Once we have seen and known His love, is there anything under the sun that can compare with it? Verse 3 says, "Because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee." Lord, You are the anointed One. God has anointed You with the Holy Spirit, and You have received all kinds of ointment from the Holy Spirit. Not only does God smell Your savor, but we smell it as well. We have not heard about this savor from anyone, and we have not seen it in any place. Rather, we are touched spontaneously with the loveliness of the savor of Your ointment. "Thy name is as ointment poured forth." Lord, You also have a name that attracts us. Through Your name, we are reminded that God has come. The ointment has been poured out! We realize that You have died! Indeed, the ointment has been poured forth! How precious is the name of Jesus! Who can fathom the savor of this name? "Therefore do the virgins love thee." Because of Yourself (the ointment) and Your name (the ointment poured forth), the virgins love You. They love You because of Yourself, and because of Your name. We cannot love a work, and we cannot love a power. We can only love a person, one who has a personality. We love You, and we are attracted by Yourself and Your name. Although we have not yet fully perceived Your savor, what we have perceived is enough for us to love You. The revelation of the person of the Lord invokes not only praise from men, but also love. The beginning of love in everyone toward the Lord is a vision of His person. "The virgins" here are the "hidden ones" (Psa. 83:3). They are the companions of the maiden, and they are equally chaste and earnest in seeking after the Lord. The maiden is not the only one who is walking on the spiritual pathway; she is only one among many virgins.
II. PURSUIT (1:4) Verse 4 says, "Draw me, we will run after thee." Although we have the desire and the willingness to pursue after Him, we cannot help but feel a lack of strength for
the pursuit. This strength for the pursuit is not a mighty power from the Spirit that is given to us once for all. Rather, the Lord's own beauty and glory draw us. His drawing power is our pursuing power. If the Lord has truly drawn us, it is very easy for us to pursue after Him. If You draw us, "we will run after thee." Running after is pursuing something continuously. The power to run after the Lord comes from the drawing of the Lord. We must realize that no one can come before the Lord by himself. When we were sinners, we needed God's drawing before we could come to the Lord. Similarly, after becoming believers, we need the Lord's drawing before we can run after Him. Here we see the relationship between an individual believer and other believers. "Me" is drawn, but "we" are running after the Lord. "Me" has been brought into the chambers, but "we" will rejoice and be glad. If a man receives grace before the Lord, others will surely be affected by him. III. FELLOWSHIP (1:4) Verse 4 continues, "The King hath brought me into his chambers." After the maiden prays, we see her prayer being answered: "The King hath brought me into his chambers." The "chambers" are the "secret place" (Psa. 91:1), which are the bedrooms. Unless we have very deep friendship with a person, we will not bring him into our chambers. Therefore, when the King brings her into the chambers, it signifies the beginning of fellowship and revelation. In the chambers she tastes of a fellowship that was previously unknown. But more than this, she sees something that she has not seen before. The word "King" indicates that before we know the Lord as our Beloved, we must first know Him as our King. A life of consecration always comes before a life of love, and a satisfying experience always comes after an act of consecration. "The King hath brought me into his chambers." She has previously known Him as her King. But now the King will show her the experience of the chambers. Those who are with the maiden can now lift up their heads as their future unfolds before them. There is no limit to their future. Once the experience of the chambers begins, hope abounds in a life of love. They know that since God has begun the work, He will surely complete it (Phil. 1:6). Therefore, they say, "We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine." These are words for the future. Their present experience fills them with hope for the future (cf. Prov. 23:35 for an example of seeking associated with wine).
"The upright love thee" should be translated, "They love thee in uprightness." This means that their love comes out of a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:5). IV. THE REVELATION IN THE INNER CHAMBERS (1:5-7) Verse 5 says, "I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." Who are the "daughters of Jerusalem"? This is a poem. Therefore, the Jerusalem mentioned here does not refer to the earthly Jerusalem, but to the heavenly Jerusalem. Since these daughters are within the realm of the heavenly Jerusalem, they must be saved ones. Calling them "daughters" means that they are begotten of God. However, they are not very seeking; they are a cold, ignorant, and careless group of people. Mr. Hudson Taylor said, "They appear to be the saved ones, but are perhaps barely saved." "I am black, but comely." The first result of being in the chambers is to discover one's own blackness. Without the experience of pursuit, there is no possibility of seeing. Now the maiden sees the kind of person she is. This may be the first time she has seen her own blackness. She did not become black. This blackness was already present; it speaks of everything that is in Adam. However, at the same time, she sees that she is accepted in the Son of His love. Hence, she says, "I am black, but comely." Comeliness refers to her acceptance in the Son of His love. "As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." "Kedar" means a dark chamber. Being as the tents of Kedar means being outwardly dark and uncomely. If "the curtains of Solomon" are made of fine linen, they must refer to Christ's righteousness. The righteousnesses mentioned in Revelation 19:8 refers to the saints' righteousnesses which come from the work of the Holy Spirit. But this is the Old Testament, and cannot refer to the saints' righteousnesses. These curtains should be in the temple. "As the curtains of Solomon" refers to inward beauty, that is, one's beauty before God. Verse 6 says, "Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept." "Sun" in the original language has a definite article with it. Through God's enlightening in the chambers, she realizes that she is black. Therefore, she does not want anyone to look at her. This is her mental state at the moment. Before the Holy Spirit completes His deep work in a man, he may still want to cover himself before others. But after the Holy Spirit has done a deep enough work, a
man will no longer try to hide anything from others. At this point, the maiden's appearance before men is the same as it is before God. As a result, she is willing to confess, "I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me." "My mother's children were angry with me." The verse does not say "my father's children," but "my mother's children," because mother signifies the principle of promise, which is the principle of God's grace. Galatians 4:26-28 says that the Jerusalem above is our mother and that we, like Isaac, are children of promise. "My mother's children" are those who have become God's children according to the principle of God's grace. "Children" is translated "sons" in the American Standard Version. "Sons" signifies something objective. These sons of the mother are strong in doctrine and in objective things, and they are somewhat authoritative. Because of the maiden's love for God and the discipline of the chambers, there is a change in her work. Her mother's sons begin to despise her and even become angry with her. "They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept." The first mention of "vineyard" is plural in number; it is organized by man. The second mention of "vineyard" is singular in number; it is ordained by God. "They made me the keeper of the vineyards." This was her former work. After she has received God's enlightening and is dealt with by Him, she realizes the vanity of her former work—she has only done what man entrusted to her, but not what God ordained for her. Verse 7 says, "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" The word "loveth" is a verb. "Turneth aside" can be translated as "wanders astray." In the chambers, she has already realized the vanity of her outward works. She already realizes that a Christian's need is not work, but personal food and rest. The word "feedeth" speaks of food. From now on, she will only seek after food and rest. This "rest" is a complete rest, because "noon" is the time of perfection. The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day, which is noon (Prov. 4:18). Noon is the perfect position. When the sun reaches noon, it will not grow any brighter. (The Lord suffered from noon to the ninth hour. His sufferings descended upon Him all at once; they came with great intensity from the beginning, and did not increase gradually.) "Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" These "companions" are the Lord's companions. The flock, however, is not the
Lord's flock, but the flock of His companions. Being turned aside is to be put to shame. She is outside of the flock, and she has to say, "Why are You not telling me where to find food and rest? I have been searching for food and rest; I have searched here and there." Because she has been led astray by the flock of His companions and is being ridiculed and criticized, she asks, "Lord, why would You not tell me?"
V. THE KING'S SPEAKING (1:8-11) This maiden sees three things in the chambers: (1) She sees the blackness in Adam and the fairness in the Son of His love; (2) she sees the vanity of outward work through God's dealing; and (3) she also sees the spiritual need. Hence, the Lord answers her according to her seeking, and He praises her and makes a promise to her. A. The King's Answer (1:8) Verse 8 says, "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." The King calls her "fairest among women." "If thou know not"—the tone of this sentence seems to indicate that the King is rebuking her and that she should have already known about such a thing. "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock." On the one hand, "the footsteps of the flock" signifies the footsteps of the believers today; these believers are taking the standing of one flock, that is, the standing of the church. (Although there are many sheep, they have not gathered as a flock, and they are not taking the standing of the church.) Here one can find food and rest. On the other hand, the flock also signifies the saints who have died and have gone on before us throughout the past generations. They have found food and rest. We can also find food and rest if we go to the place where they were. The word "footsteps" means experience. The kids are not the sheep, because the maiden herself is a sheep. Nor are they the flock, because she is outside of the flock. The kids are the lambs who are younger than she. "Feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." This reminds her not to forget her duty toward the kids in her daily life, as a result of her pursuit for food and rest, and not to lock up the gates of the kids. This is something to be watchful about. While we are seeking after food and rest, we must still fulfill our duty toward immature disciples. We cannot close the door and seek only our own