at Calvary open for sin and for uncleanness.

at Calvary open for sin and for uncleanness.

Chapter 10

"We which live are always delivered unto death …that the

life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Corninthians 4:11).

THE RESURRECTION SIDE

OF THE CROSS

"Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will

get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of

frankincense" (4:6).

The soul in union with the Lord, seated with Him in the heavenlies, may be disposed to think now that all "shadows" are over, and that while abiding in the Well-Beloved she will walk in cloudless light. This is true on the Godward side, for there need be nothing between her soul and God if she "walks in the light as He is in the light," for the blood of Jesus Christ His Son "keeps cleansing" her from all sin. But though inwardly she moves in the light of the Resurrection Morning, outwardly her path is that of the Man of Sorrows when on earth, and must be so increasingly. Outwardly the shadows must deepen in the sorrow that comes through clearer vision of the "mystery of iniquity," and the awful shame of sin against such a God of love. The shadows must deepen until His appearing, when "at evening time there shall be light" (Zechariah 14:7). In a few brief words the Well-Beloved indicates to the soul that there lies before her a further knowledge of His cross, only possible in the power of His resurrection. It is significant that such words should follow so quickly after His description of her as a new creation, as if He would remind her:

1. That the Manifestation of His life will depend upon her continuous resting upon and assimilation to His death; for she must always bear about the dying of Jesus, if the life also of Jesus is to be manifested in her mortal body. 2. That in the life of union with the Risen Lord the soul must still go to the "place called Calvary," and must deal with her God upon that ground alone. 3. That, until the day of grace closes with His appearing, there is a fountain at Calvary open for sin and for uncleanness.

In the "heavenlies" He says to His beloved one, "I will get Me to the hill of frankincense." All through the story He is the magnet. He shows Himself at the place to which He desires the soul to be drawn. He will reveal to her His meaning in His own good time. He has yet to teach her what Calvary meant to Him, that she may in her measure "fill up the affliction of Christ for His body's sake" and be conformed to the image of the Lamb. O mystery of mysteries, Calvary, dark Calvary! "The sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow," are things which the angels "desire to look into" (1 Peter 1:11-12), yet fallen creatures despise and reject the Lamb, the object of all heaven's worship. In eternity alone, purified and freed from the restrictions of the body of clay, shall the redeemed from among men be able to understand the full meaning of His cross of shame and in deepest worship sing:

"Worthy art Thou…for Thou wast slain" (Revelation 5:9).

The Outlook in the Heavenlies

"Thou art all fair, My love….Come with Me…My bride: look from the top of Amana,

from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lion's den" (4:7-8). For the first time the Well-Beloved calls the soul His bride, as if to give her the clearest assurance of her union with Him. When He desired her to forget everything behind and to follow on to apprehend the "upward calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14), He had said, "Come away"; but now that she is united to Him, He is able to say, "Come with Me, and look from the top." He would have her look through His eyes from His place of vision and see where He has brought her, that she may triumph in His victory. From the hour that she said, "I will arise," she has been so occupied with Him that she has altogether forgotten herself, and even her own progress. After the bitter path through the valley of darkness, when she feared that she had grieved Him beyond repair and that He had forsaken her entirely, she passed by all things and found Him. Since then she has given up watching the vineyards and the foxes; she has been quietly intent on doing the will of God from the heart and seeking to walk in the footsteps of her Lord. Her friends looking on had glorified God in her and had seen that she was being led in the triumph of the King, but she had asserted nothing about herself; she did not know that her face shone, or that the glory of the Lord was seen upon her. She had heard the Well-Beloved speaking to her heart, telling her many things about the new life in union with Him; so when the call comes to "look from the top," she joyfully awakes to the mountain vision.

The Risen Lord bids His hidden one look with Him from the top of Amana (signifying integrity and truth); from Senir (a coat of mail); and from Hermon (destruction). In integrity and truth, covered with the whole armor of God, hidden in Him who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, she is to look and see that in the triumphant Conqueror of Calvary she is "far above all principality and power" (Ephesians 1:21), for in His cross He triumphed over "principalities and powers" and put them to open shame. The "lions dens" are far beneath His feet; in Him she may tread upon the young lion and the serpent (Psalm 91:13) – for the God of Peace will bruise Satan under her feet as she learns to overcome through the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11).

Chapter 11

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the

heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

THE BLESSINGS IN THE

HEAVENLIES

The glorious Lord now reveals what He is to be in the soul, in the various aspects of the heavenly life, which He describes as manifested in the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Love of the Spirit

"Thou hast given Me courage, My sister Bride; ….with one look from

thine eyes….How fair is thy love, My sister bride!….Thy lips, O bride, drop honey; honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon" (4:9-11). The heart of Christ is satisfied. Did He not pray to His Father that the love wherewith He had loved Him might be in His redeemed ones (John 17:26)? The love of God is now shed abroad in the heart of the hidden one by the Holy Spirit; therefore the Well-Beloved can say, "How fair is thy love, My sister bride." The believing soul is called His sister because "He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11), or to speak of "My Father and your Father" (John 20:17). She is also a member of His Bride because joined to Him – one spirit. Moreover, she is now so responsive to him that one look is her answer to His every call. He tells her that He is encouraged to lead her on, and to "fulfill every desire of goodness, and every work of faith, with power" (2 Thessalonians 1:11). She is becoming fragrant with the sweetness of His presence in her; and the love that fills her heart makes her lips drop words sweet as "honey" and pure as "milk"; yea, her very garments give forth fragrance as the smell of Lebanon.

The Fruit of the Spirit

"A garden barred is My sister bride; a spring shut up, a fountain

sealed. Thy shoots are a paradise with precious fruits; …with

all the chief spices: (4:12-14).

The glorious Lord likens His redeemed one to a garden enclosed for Himself alone, because she is wholly under His control, to fulfill all the good pleasure of His will. He has chosen and appointed her to bear fruit (John 15:16), and He sees the fruit of the Spirit, "precious fruits," and all the "chief spices" now appearing (Galatians 5:22). His father is glorified when there is "much fruit" (John 15:8), for "they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden" (Ezekiel 36:35); they shall see that the "Hand of the Lord" has done all this – that all is of the Holy One's creating (see Isaiah 41:18-20).

The Living Waters of the Spirit

"Thou art a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing

streams" (4:15).

The Beloved makes the believer a "spring shut up," a "fountain sealed," simply that He may be the source of the "flowing streams." He must so guard the soul that it shall never be independent of Him, or able to give forth His life at its own will, or even according to the will of others. It must know that it is helpless apart from Him. He must be the Supreme Possessor, Controller, User, of all that He Himself is within us. Thus would He keep the creature in its right position of dependence upon its Creator. The Lord now manifests Himself in the redeemed one as a fountain of living water. "The water that I shall give him shall become in him…water springing up" (John 4:14), evermore springing up (as unsealed by Him) to become "flowing streams" and "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). What are the conditions of His unsealing? On the part of the soul in union with the Lord, the continuous abiding in Him indicated by the words: "He that believeth into Me…out of him shall flow rivers." Not only one single act of faith, but a continual attitude of faith that will keep the soul in Him as its life. He that "believeth into Me" moment by moment perpetually, will "abide in Me," and out of him shall flow the rivers of My life. On the part of others who desire to be blessed, the conditions of the unsealing of the springs are taught us in a picture lesson in the story of the oil that flowed into empty vessels (2 Kings 4:2-7), and by the water that filled the "valley full of ditches" (2 Kings 3:16-16). When walking in unbroken communion through the power of the blood of sprinkling, and in entire obedience up to light, the believer need carry no care

about the "flowing streams," for the Lord knows how to bring needy hearts in contact with the overflow of His life, which breaks forth spontaneously from His hidden ones as thy remain restful in His keeping.

The Heavenly Wind of the Spirit

"Awake, O North Wind; and come, thou South ; blow upon

My garden, that the spices thereof may flow out: (4:16).

The Holy Spirit is likened in the Scriptures to "wind" or "breath" (see Ezekiel 37:9). The Soul is already a temple of the Holy Spirit. It was the Eternal Spirit who imparted to her the gift of life from above, at the very beginning (John 3:8). It was He who cleansed her heart (Acts 15:8-9), took possession of its throne for Christ the King, and caused her to receive Him as a Living Person. It was He who testified to her of the Crucified , Risen and Glorified Lord (John 15:26); and guided her into all truth concerning her death with Him on Calvary's cross and her union with Him in His resurrection and ascension. It was He who brought her out of the sphere of the earth-life into the heavenly realm on the resurrection side of the cross. Abiding in the clear light of the heavenly sphere, clearly beholding the Risen Lord, the soul is now ready for the breath of God to move upon her, and to use her as never before. In the sphere of the heavenlies she may now know the working of the Spirit in Pentecostal power, at the will of Him who baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit is a "rushing mighty breath" that fills not only the soul but the house with His fragrance. It is He who causes the chief spices of the Christ-life to flow out in words of life, "as the Spirit giveth utterance."

The Attitude of the Soul

"Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His precious fruits"(4:16).

This is the first recorded utterance of the redeemed one since she entered into rest with Christ in the heavenlies. She has learned the silence of love, and to be so still that He can speak. In early days she could easily describe her experience; every fresh revelation of Himself was blazed abroad. A few words from Him so overcame her that she could hardly bear them, for she was weak in divine things and needed a wilderness experience to strengthen her before she could know the full communion of the mountain life.

That her Beloved should be satisfied is now her one desire; she can only respond, "Let my Beloved come." The garden is His, the precious fruits are His, all is of Him and for Him. Her prayer has become the essence of all prayer – a prayer without ceasing!

"Thy will be done."

The Life Abundant

"I am come into My garden, My sister, My bride: I have gathered

My myrrh….My spice…..My honeycomb…My honey…My wine…

with My milk." "Eat, O friends; ….drink abundantly" (5:1). The Spirit-breathed desire of the soul meets immediate response, for the Spirit "maketh intercession…according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27). To the expressed desire of His redeemed one that He will use what He has implanted in her, the Bridegroom gives the quick reply, "I am come." He delicately accepts her reminder that all is His, for He repeats the word "My" again and again – no less than nine times. He appropriates the precious fruits; and without needing to ask the consent of such a surrendered soul, He turns to the unsatisfied ones around and bids them share with Him the abundant fruit, and to eat of the heavenly food provided by Himself.

"Eat, O friends, drink abundantly of love." He will now be able to point to the fainting multitude and to say to the obedient heart, "Give ye them to eat."

Chapter 12

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection ,

and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed

unto His death" (Philippians 3:10).

FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST

"I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved

that knocketh" (5:2). We have in the Song of Songs various photographs, so to speak, of Him in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Divine Spirit flashes the light upon Him, first from one point of view and then from another, that the soul may have a complete revelation of Him and be brought into full conformity to His image. We saw Him first unveiled as "King," taking possession of the throne in the heart, and bringing the will into full surrender and obedience to Him as Lord. We saw Him next as "The Risen One," approaching the soul from His resurrection glory, inviting her to come out of herself into her hiding place in the cleft of the Rock, her crucified Lord, that she may know that she is joined to him who was raised from the dead. We saw Him afterwards as the "Lover" of the soul, rejoicing over the hidden one in her newness of life, and of its manifestation to others. We come now to His revelation of Himself as the "Man of Sorrows," as He invites the bridal soul to prove her heavenly calling by choosing of her own free will to follow Him in His path of rejection, and to be conformed to His likeness as the Lamb. Though the only begotten Son was appointed "Heir of all things," and was the "effulgence6" of the Father's glory, and the "very image of His substance" (Hebrews 1:3), yet, "being found in fashion as a man," He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and was made "perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10). The disciple must be perfected as His Master. We are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him" (Romans 8:17). The hidden one suggests to us her spiritual experience at this point in the words, "I sleep, but my heart waketh." Her whole being is possessed by her Beloved, and dominated by the Holy Spirit, so that she knows now that she is hidden in the cleft of the Rock – the wounded side of the Savior on Calvary's cross.

6 Effulgence: brightness or a brilliant light radiating from something.

Consequently the "I" life is so displaced to her consciousness that she can only say in the language of St. Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ…it is no longer I that live" (Galatians 2:20). She is so indwelt and environed by the Lord Himself that she is kept in an indescribable calm. Nothing breaks her rest; she is in perfect peace, stayed upon Him. The fruit of the Spirit – "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22) – is so manifested that she is visibly like a "watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58:11). The living waters flow spontaneously, and she has heavenly abundance for all the weary hearts who seek her out, drawn to her by the Divine Spirit. Her cooperation with the Risen Lord is but that of the Vine-Branch: she abides in Him, and He brings forth the fruit. Often she seems to herself but an onlooker, watching her Beloved doing all through her as she relies upon Him. There is now no struggle or effort. She is, so to speak, "asleep" as to her own separate activities, yet never was she more awake to Him, listening for the faintest indication of His will through the Spirit; for the cry of her whole being is: "That I may know Him…if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection [lit. "outresurrection"] from the dead. Not that have already obtained, or am already perfect," i.e., perfected; "but … I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling" (Philippians 3:10-14).

The Voice of the Son of God

"It is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh" (5:2).

The soul failed to understand His voice and movements when He came to her as the Risen One, calling her into fresh knowledge of Himself; but now in the secret intimacy of unbroken union and communion she has learned to be "of quick scent in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:3), for a look or a word between those who are in closest intimacy conveys a meaning no stranger can understand. She knows His voice, and now she intuitively recognizes in its tone a fresh "call," for there is the sound of a "knock" in it.

The Call of the Man of Sorrows

"Open to Me, My sister … for My head is filled with dew,

My locks with the drops of the night" (5:2). Historically, these words refer to the agony of Gethsemane, when "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44), and the spiritual meaning of the call to the soul, and her response, may be interpreted from that standpoint. Because she is joined to Him in His resurrection, the Well-Beloved reveals Himself to His betrothed as the Rejected One, that His bride may share His lot and be identified with Him as He was, and is, in this world. He was rejected when on earth in human form, and His is rejected still. His purchased one must

go with Him, and be rejected also, in the world that hates her Lord, if she faithfully cleaves to her heavenly Bridegroom and is truly conformed to His image, following His steps. "I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). Based upon this foreshadowing of the Lord as the One who suffered in the agony of Gethsemane, we turn to the picture lesson of this passage in the history of the bridal-soul. The Well-Beloved stands apparently without, and cries, "Open to Me, My sister," as if He said, "You have opened your heart to Me as King, as the Risen One; open to Me now as the One who was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.' Open to Me that you may enter into the fellowship of My sufferings, and be made a partaker of My glory." The Bridegroom cries, "Open to Me" because she must always follow Him by her own voluntary consent and choice, by the "opening" of her will; but this is the necessary preparation for reining with Him. This call is to many wholly unexpected, for they have had such a clear sight of Calvary, and of their identification in death with their Substitute, as to be persuaded that they have entered into its fullest meaning. They expect (and rightly so) an increasing knowledge of the Lord as the Risen and Glorified One, on the resurrection side of the cross; but their eyes are not yet opened to see that, in the power of His resurrection, they will know Him in proportion as they enter into the fellowship of His sufferings, "becoming conformed unto His death" (Philippians 3:10). But the redeemed soul must be truly "in the Spirit," and established in its union with the Risen Lord, and fully possessed by the Holy Spirit, ere it is able to rejoice that it is "counted worthy to suffer," and to fill up "that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ … for His Body's sake, which is the Church" (Colossians 1:24)7.

"Many sit at Jesus' table;

Few will fast with Him, When the sorrow, cup of anguish

Trembles to the brim. Few watch with Him in the garden,

Who have sung the hymn."

"But the souls who love supremely,

7 "It must not be supposed that the sufferings of Christians now atone for sin. No greater dishonor could be cast upon the work of Christ than that! Nevertheless, Scripture identifies the sufferings of Christians with those of Christ. He suffered while hanging on the cross, six hours; He has left one brief hour for the Bride to accomplish, and fill up the perfect number seven. He said to the chosen three in the Garden, 'Could ye not watch with me one hour?' (Matthew 26:40)" – Farr.

Let woe come or bliss – These will count their dearest heart's blood

Not their own, but His, Savior, Thou who thus hast loved me,

Give me love like this."

CHAPTER 13

"He that loseth his life loseth it; and he that hatheth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25).

THE SHRINKING SOUL'S REPLY

"I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" (5:3). It was such a strange call and revelation of the Lord! The vision breaks upon the soul as to all that it will mean. When He was on earth as the Man of sorrows, there was no beauty to make others desire Him. "He hid as it were His face" (Isaiah 53:3) – that is, the out-flashing of His inward glory – so that men hid their faces from Him. He was despised; He was esteemed to be smitten by God and afflicted. It has been said that all martyrs have looked mean in their martyrdom. If the cross was stripped of the glory that centuries of worship have thrown around it, we would see more clearly its shame and the depths of Christ's humiliation. It was a blow to the disciples to be identified with their Lord in His hour of shame, and they could not imagine such a development of events even though He had such said that He would be delivered into the hands of men. In spite of all His words, it must have come upon them like a thunderbolt, and we cannot gauge the depths of their terror and despair as they all forsook Him and fled. There is a moment also when, in the illumination of the Spirit, all this breaks upon those who seek to follow the Lord fully, and the meaning of conformity to Christ stands revealed. All preconceived ideas vanish; the soul had thought only of His "power" and "glory," and had overlooked His reminder that the servant is not greater than his Lord, and that the crucified Christ must have crucified followers. Instinctively the betrothed one shrinks back, not in the purpose of her will, but in her humanity.8 Maybe she thinks of her Well-Beloved, and of her testimony to others who have glorified God in her. If she follows Him in His path of rejection and sorrow, how can He be shown to others in His glory? She had always thought that He must be made "attractive"! Moreover, she is indisposed to leave her present experience; she does not know what it may lead to if she accepts His call! Can she not, may she not, abide where she is? She is now "sought out," and is being used by Him as a channel of abundant life to others; His glory is so manifestly resting upon her that weary hearts are attracted to Him.

8 May we not reverently refer in this connection to Gethsemane? Listen to the words of Him who was "God manifest in the flesh," yet perfect man, "in all points tempted like as we are," and hear Him say, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39).

If she follows Him in the pathway of the cross, will these souls still seek her out? What about the offence of the cross? Will the true cross, it its real meaning of sacrifice and separation, ever be popular? All these thoughts flash through her mind as she listens to the Well-Beloved's voice. Note, too, His language to her. He omits the name of "bride" and calls her "sister," and "friend," "dove," and "perfect" (v.2). His "sister," as doing the will of God; His "friend," because she is in His counsels; His "dove," as hidden in His side; His "perfect" one, because her heart is wholly His. Does the omission signify that her answer will determine whether or not she understands her calling? Whether or not she will apprehend that for which she has been apprehended by Christ Jesus? The Lord knoweth. Let us fear to come short of the fullness of His grace; let us press toward the prize of His high calling. In the soul's reply to the Well-Beloved we are also given a hint of the need of a fuller conformity to His death for her own sake! We may discern a little of the "my" creeping in – it may be unawares. She seems to be appropriating to herself what God has manifested through her, as if it were her own; as if it were something that she had to jealously guard from defilement. She says that she has "put off her coat" – reminding us of the action of Elisha when he took hold of his own clothes and rent them, prior to his taking up the mantle of Elijah (2 Kings 2:12), typifying the rending of the garments of the flesh so that the Spirit of the Lord may Himself clothe the soul. The betrothed one shrinks back from the call to conformity to the rejected Christ and replies to her Lord that she has already been to the cross, "put off her coat," and laid aside the garments of the old life! She knows full well that the foundation of the new life is "I have been crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). But even yet she does not fully understand. He is not calling her now to "put off the old man and his doings" (Colossians 3:9-10), but to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings and be conformed to the image of the Lamb. She has yet to learn in deeper measure that her whole being must be brought into practical conformity to the position already given her in the purpose of God, that she has died in Christ; that "always bearing about in the body the dying ["putting to death"] of Jesus" is the condition of the "life also of Jesus … manifested in [her] body" (2 Corinthians 4:10). The soul has already "put off her coat," it is true; but the question "How can I put it on?" will quickly be answered for she fails to respond to the divine call – for there is no point in the spiritual life where the believer may not drift back, or "build up" that which has been "overthrown" (Galatians 2:18). However full and blessed the past experience may be, its power depends upon the fresh inflow of the divine life, and the obedience of the soul to the very utmost. The slightest retreat admits the inflow of the old life and is quickly followed by failure and sin.

The fight of faith is to stand firm upon each successive step in the heavenlies, for every step will be contested by the spiritual hosts of wickedness: "having overcome … stand" (Ephesians 6:13). Yet the believer dare not stand when God says "Forward," for every call disobeyed means retrogression – and the adversary is ready with the "old coat" under a new name, so that the soul may not know its character. "I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" replies the "friend" to her Lord. The moment she begins to think of protecting herself from defilement, she will need to be shown by the Holy One that He alone is able to keep the feet of His saints. Soul, you are forgetting that in yourself you are black (1:5); in you dwells no good thing; you are but a capacity for God – a "nothing" – that God may be all in all!

The Touch of the Pierced Hand

"My Beloved put in His hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for Him" (5:4). The waiting Lord sees the soul shrinking from His call through fear – fear of consequences, fear of losing present blessing – an undefinable fear of what it may all mean in actual suffering. He knows that she is "in great fear, where no fear is" (Psalm 53:5). She should remember all the way He has led her hitherto. His grace has always been sufficient to make each apparently "impossible" step quite easy. She ought to know that the fact of His call proved that He had prepared for her all that He was preparing for her. He had never bidden her take a step beyond her measure. Why should she hesitate? If it were a deliberate rejection on the part of her will, He could do no more until she yielded; but He sees that it is only, as it were, a surface shrinking, and that she must be enabled to ignore it and to act by her will alone, for in the center of her will she is steadfastly purposed to follow Him at any cost. He therefore puts forth His hand, and immediately her heart is moved. He knows the character of each of His redeemed ones, and the spring that will respond to the touch of His pierced hand. In some it is the shame of cowardice in leaving to Him alone the path of rejection; in others a high sense of honor in loyalty to their Lord. What spring did He touch in Peter, with that one look that broke his heart? "My heart was moved for Him," says the shrinking soul! Now comes the drawing power of His love. She looks at Him, and she forgets her fears. Him! That He should need her fellowship, and seek it in vain; that He should count her worthy to suffer on His behalf (Philippians 1:29), and she shrink back! It cannot be! She is moved for Him, and her hesitation is over. She will trust Him! She will follow

Him all the way! Her choice is made. "My heart was moved for Him. I rose up to open to my Beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt" (v.5). "My Beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh," she had exclaimed in early days at the King's table. As she renews her abandonment and re-opens her whole heart to her Lord, the divine life within her breaks forth in its costly fragrance, as a "sweet savor of Christ unto God" (2 Corinthians 2:15). As the soul chooses the path of sacrifice, her hands – suggesting the hand of faith that draws the bolt of the will – are fragrant with the costly and liquid myrrh.

Chapter 14

"Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of

springs; … everyone … apppeareth before God in Zion"

(Psalm 84:6-7).

THE TRIAL OF FAITH

"I opened to My Beloved; but my Beloved had with-

drawn Himself, and was gone" (5:6). Poor soul! Your hesitation will cost you dear! She opens the door, or abandons herself to Him afresh, but instead of His voice and His face – silence. The WellBeloved had withdrawn, apparently wounded in the house of His friend. "I opened … but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself, and was gone." The withdrawal of the light of His face now is far more bitter than when He hid Himself before. Then it seemed to be without apparent cause, only that she was dull of hearing and had not understood His call. Now she is torn with the selfreproach that He has turned away because she did not open to Him immediately. To a soul in her position of privilege it appears as the blackest crime. She had been brought into such union with Him that He had given her signal proofs of His love and joy in her; and His glory had been seen upon her by others. The she should have hesitated, even in thought, over obeying and following Him at any cost, brings unspeakable sorrow and shame to her heart. No marvel that He has turned away; He is grieved and wounded by the one whom He should have been able to count to the very end. How the anguish sweeps over her soul! To her it is sin – blackest sin. How could she have dared to speak of having washed her feet, and of fearing to defile herself, when she was grieving Him at the very time? What can she do but fly to the "fountain opened for sin" and humble herself before her God. The Lord, "excellent in counsel, and wonderful in working," seems to make use of her shrinking (which was not in her will), to bring about the fellowship with Him which He desires. Her destination of sin, heightened by the knowledge of its exceeding sinfulness as revealed in the light of His holiness, is so deep that she could have borne any suffering so long as she knew that her conscience was void of offence. The agony of having wounded her Well-Beloved in unspeakable. She now confesses that she intuitively knew in the depths of her spirit what His call meant. At the first sound of His voice her soul had failed her, as if it "went forth" from her (v.6), and her "spirit fainted" within her (Psalm 142:3).

The Silent Lord

"I sought Him, but I could not find Him; I called Him, but He gave me no answer" (5:6). She does not go out into the city to look for Him now; she seeks Him in the solitary place with her broken spirit, desolate and crying in the darkness after Him. It is the darkness over her spirit that is now so terrible. In the wilderness path, when she came out of herself to hide in Him, it was simply a darkness that meant no consciousness of His presence, no joyous emotion such as she had known in the banqueting house, but she could still rise up with decision, and say, "I will seek Him." Now her spirit is grieved within her. He, who is its very life and light, has hidden His face. Her "spirit is overwhelmed" (Psalm 77:3). She calls to her WellBeloved, but He is silent. "No answer," to the one to whom He responded so quickly in the past, "Here I am." At last the cry breaks from her in the darkness, "Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul" (Psalm 69:1). The Well-Beloved is silent. Still His hand will uphold her through all the deep waters; He will bring her out through fire and water into a wealthy place. When the Master heard that Lazarus was sick, He abode still in the same place where He was. He did not move to the help of the stricken sisters until He could say, "Lazarus is dead"; then He said, "I go, that I may awake him." Even so the Lord waits to be gracious to each of His redeemed ones, as He leads them through the deep waters of the way of Calvary.

The Desolate and Tempted Soul

"The watchmen that go about the city found me, they

smote me and wounded me" (5:7). She did not ask the watchmen this time if they could tell her about the WellBeloved. She knew now that she was in the hand of God, and that she must wait His revealings. None could help her, and few would understand her. If she could but have hidden away in her brokenness of heart! But it could not be; she had to move among others as usual, and thus the "watchmen" found her! They were true, whole-hearted "remembrancers" of the Lord, perhaps (Isaiah 62:6), keenly anxious to be faithful to their calling of warning the wicked to escape from the judgment to come, and of warning the righteous man "that the righteous sin not" (Ezekiel 3:21). When they came upon this desolate child of God, they thought that they saw their opportunity of fulfilling their ministry. "What has happened to this soul that has been so transfigured, so beautiful, so manifestly God-possessed?"

Like Job's friends they gather round, intending to help or comfort, but wounding all the more. "They talk to the grief of those whom Thou hast wounded" (Psalm 69:26), she sobs out to her Lord. "I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and comforters, but I found none" (Psalm 69:20) is the complaint of her desolation. The darkness over her spirit seems to leave her exposed to wounds from every side. The iron is entering into her soul. There are other "watchmen" that are also likely to "find" the child of God at such a time as this – the hosts of spiritual wickedness I the heavenly places. It is the hour and power of darkness, the "evil day" of a terrific assault upon the soul. In the hiding of the manifested presence of Him who not only gives her light but is Himself her Light, the enemy comes upon her like a flood. They aim at beating her back from her position in the Beloved, by attacking her faith in the Faithful God. They press upon her to admit the thought that God has laid upon her more than is right (Job 34:23) and that she must retreat to an easier path. They taunt her with the silence of her Lord and tell her that if He delighted in her, that if all was right in His sight, He would surely interpose and spare her from all this sorrow. They present to her some compromise with sin which would seem to be a "way of escape" from much of the conflict. The attack grows so fierce that it looks as if she must yield – it is a "resistance unto blood." Her flesh and her heart fail, but "God is the strength of [her] heart and [her] portion forever" (Psalm 73:26). When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him. The soul is strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man, to stand steadfast in the faith. She lays the hand of faith afresh upon the head of the Sacrifice on Calvary's cross and waits for God to explain.

The Suffering Soul Laid Bare

"The keepers of the walls took away my veil" (5:7).

The soul who had walked so alone with her God that others had only seen the outcome of her hidden life had now to face the additional pain caused by the "scourge of the tongue" (Job 5:21). These watchmen, or "keepers of the walls" – active workers in the Lord's service – not only smote and wounded her in their attempts to help her, but took away her veil, exposed her sorrows to others, and laid bare the sacred depths of her soul. Her sensitive spirit knew that they whispered about her, and wholly misjudged the cause of her suffering. They could not know all that had passed in secret between her and the Lord. In her anguish it seemed to her as if her heart had been "unveiled" to the whole world. The "daughters of Jerusalem" (5:8) had also doubtless tried to help her, but how could they understand? Between the "watchmen," the "keepers of the walls," and these anxious, kindhearted but meddlesome "daughters," the poor desolate soul felt weary and worn.

All the waves and billows break over her; she weeps out in the utter loneliness of her spirit:

"My kinfolk have failed, my familiar friends have forgotten, …my inward

friends abhor me: they whom I loved are turned against me … Have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me" (Job 19:14,

19, 21.) Note:

1 How can this brief passage in the history of the purchased one be said to describe the fellowship with Christ in His sufferings, when it appears as if all had come upon her because she did not respond quickly to her Well-Beloved's call? We have seen that her hesitation was not a refusal in the will but only a shrinking from the pathway of suffering, and we are given but a glimpse into one aspect of what fellowship with Christ means. Her "sharing the likeness" of His death is faintly seen in the anguish of her soul at the hiding of the face of her Well-Beloved; in her desolation of spirit as she found no comforters; in the hour and power of darkness as the enemy swept upon her like a flood with bitter mocking about the faithfulness of her Lord. The "shadow" of His cross has come upon her, but only a shadow - a "likeness"- for He removed the sting of death as He trod the winepress alone, drank the bitter cup to its dregs, and made propitiation for the sins of the people. Nought but the "shadow" of death for His redeemed ones – that they might give Him the fellowship He seeks and be conformed to the image of the Lamb.

Chapter 15

"He knoweth the way that I take, when He hath tried me,

I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

THE FAITHFUL SOUL

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my

Beloved, that ye tell Him, that I am sick [with] love"

(5:8). In the depths of her humiliation and brokenness, she who is the purchased one of the Well-Beloved, the joy of His heart, sends a message to Him by the daughters of Jerusalem. She entreats them to speak to Him for her – that is, if they find Him, for their access to His Presence is so variable that she cannot be sure when the message will reach Him. Will they tell Him that He is more precious to her than ever, that the "hardness of His love" is as sweet to her as all His favors? Will they tell Him that she is "lovesick" in spite of all the strangeness of His dealings, and of all that He has permitted to come upon her? When she used this expression before (in 2:5), it was on account of the unspeakable joy of His manifested Presence. That she can use such words now, even when He has appeared to withdraw Himself from her, shows us the depth of His work in her and of her union with the Lord. She has stood the test of the fiery trial. She justifies her God and not herself; she kisses the hand that smites her, and glories in the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. "Blessed is he, whom shall not be offended in Me" (Matthew 11:6). O faithful heart, this blessedness is yours! You have proven that you do love your Lord for Himself alone. You have proved that you do know your God and, "filled with the strength9 of faith: (Romans 4:20), can trust Him to do with you as He wills. You have proved, by His sustaining grace to the depth of your need, that your God is able to make you stand, so that neither the power of darkness nor the misjudgments of the creature can make you doubt your God. You have learned to live in His faithfulness, when "for a little while" you were "put to grief in manifold trials" (1 Peter 1:6). The proof of your faith, proved by fire, is more precious to Him than gold that perisheth, and will be found unto praise and honor at His appearing. (1 Peter 1:7).

The Question and Testimony of the "Daughters"

"What is thy Beloved more than another beloved?

O thou fairest among women? (5:9). 9 Gr. Enedunamothe – "endynamited."

These "daughters," whether they represent professing Christians or true children of god, have evidently never had the Glorious Lord revealed to them or they would not have asked the faithful soul such a question. To them she is still the "fairest among women," and they do not al all understand the conflict and sorrow through which she has just passed. They have no conception of her anguish over the least unfaithfulness to God and of her fear to grieve Him. We see, also, that the dread of the bridal soul lest her testimony to the beauty of the Lord should be marred in the path of fellowship with His sufferings was groundless. The "daughters" have seen His glory upon her all the time; His beauty has been revealed through her brokenness. They have seen His humility revealed in her as she reflected Him of whom it was written, "As a sheep that before her shearers is dumb, yea, He opened not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). They have marveled at her faithfulness and wondered what her Well-Beloved could be in Himself in order to call forth such devotion as this.

The Soul's Description of the Glorious Lord

"My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand [lit. "marked out by a banner," i.e., "a standard bearer"]…yea, He

is altogether lovely" (5:10,16). What is her Beloved more than another? The question stirs her whole being. Her Beloved! How can she describe Him who is the effulgence ("emanation," as of light from the sun) of the Father's glory, "the Son of His love…who is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:13, 15)? The bridal soul is moved to the depths of her being. The shadow upon her spirit fades away. The Well-Beloved arises upon her in new glory as the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2). She bursts out with such a vivid word-picture of Him that her hearers, too, are moved. "My Beloved is white and ruddy," she says, as He breaks afresh upon her soul's vision. He is the Lamb slain in the midst of the throne. "'The Lamb' is at once His nuptial and sacrificial name, characterized by white and red. The Hebrew for white is properly illuminated by the sun. He is red in blood-dyed garment as slain" (see Matthew 17:2; Isaiah 63:1-2). The Apostle John knew the Lord as the Crucified and Risen One many years before he beheld Him in His glory with His face as the sun shining in full strength (Revelation 1:16); and this was followed by a still further revelation of Him, through the door which was opened in heaven, as the Lamb in the midst of the throne.

Is this a fresh vision of the Lord that has come to the hidden one because she has followed on to know Him and to be made conformable to His death? It may be so, for she describes Him, for the first time, in the glory of the white light that Ezekiel calls the "terrible crystal" which surrounds the throne of God; yet in the light of heaven he is "ruddy" with the marks of His passion. May we not connect the thought suggested by her words "white and ruddy" and see Him there illuminated in the eyes of her heart as the

LAMB SLAIN-

a "standard bearer" for all who will "follow the Lamb" and be conformed to His likeness? – the Chief among ten thousand, the Firstborn among many brethren. The faithful soul seems at a loss for language to describe her Well-Beloved, so she gathers together all that she can conceive of in human beauty to depict her glorious Lord. He is the one in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; therefore "His head is as the most fine gold" (5:11). She sees Him in His Ascension as in the "dew of His youth" (Psalm 110;3), although He is the "Father of Eternity" (Isaiah 9:6), the same yesterday, today and unto the ages; therefore "His locks are … black as a raven" (5:11). He is the Lamb "having seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6); the One in whom is centered the sevenfold vision and power of God the Holy Spirit; therefore "His eyes are like doves … sitting by full streams" (5:12). He is, moreover, the One through whose merits alone can the prayers of all saints be acceptable to the Father, as they ascend like the perfume of the incense compounded of sweet spices – therefore "His cheeks are as a bed of spices" (5:13). His words are spirit and life, every word pure – therefore "His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh" (5:13). His hand symbolizes His power in action – the "right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly" – therefore to His helpless one "His hands are as …gold" (5:14), wholly divine in their skillful working. Her body was prepared by His Father to be His tabernacle on earth, and is likened to Solomon's throne made of ivory. "His body is as bright ivory encrusted with sapphires" (5:14).

She sees Him standing up with legs as "sockets of fine gold" (5:15) and describes His whole aspect or countenance as majestic and glorious. "Yea," she says, "He is altogether lovely" (5:16). The hidden one is beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, to be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, and she exclaims, "This is my Beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!"

The Question of the "Daughters"

"Whither is thy Beloved gone … that we may seek Him with thee?" (6:1).

"It pleased God to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him" (Galatians 1:16), said the Apostle Paul. To preach Him is very different to preaching about Him, even though His Person be the theme. The daughters get

a reflected revelation of Him as they listen to the words of the faithful soul and

say, "Where is He, that we may seek Him with thee?" "The two disciples heard him [John speak, and they followed Jesus" (John

1:37).

The Soul at Rest in the Beloved

"My beloved is gone down to His garden … I am my Beloved's, and my

Beloved is mine: He feedeth among the lilies" (6:2-3). The first question of the "daughters" drew the soul out of her sorrows to speak of her Well-beloved. It was then that He immediately arose upon her as the Sun of Righteousness! Their second question, "Whither is thy Beloved gone?" brings her into her true center of rest, her recollectedness in God, which for the time being she seems to have lost. Why has she been bemoaning His absence and sending Him messages via others, when all the time He has been in His garden? When she shrank from obeying His call, He retreated there, to await the moment when she would respond to Him. She said He had "turned away," "withdrawn Himself," and was "gone." He had simply veiled His Presence to teach her the cost of withholding anything from such a Lord and that there is no other course but to follow the Lamb when once He has obtained entire control of His purchased one. She knows now that failing to cooperate with Him in all His will costs far more than any suffering she feared, and there is no pain so keen as that of wounding His heart.

"My Beloved has gone down into His garden," she replies to the question of the daughters. He is there "feeding among the lilies" of His own life. "I am my Beloved's," the covenant has never been broken, He changes not; with Him "there can be no variation, nor any shadow cast upon me by His turning." He possesses me, and the glorious Lord is mine. The soul is now at rest with Christ in God. She does not try to hold Him, as she did when she emerged from the wilderness (3:4); neither does she say, "I have found Him." She simply rests upon the faithful God, who changes not. For a "little while" she thought He was gone, but she has "seen Him again" and knows now that He has been with her all the time. From henceforth she will abide in His love and say, "I am persuaded that neither death nor life … nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38). This is the secret of abiding with Christ in the bosom of the Father. To run after Him presupposes Him as separate from the soul and as yet to be known in oneness of life; this would get her out of the right attitude of faith. Should there come a cloud from some failure to respond to His will, or even some conscious transgression, there should not be feverish seeking but a quiet resting on the word and on His changeless love – a sinking down upon His heart in assurance of faith, while trusting Him by the Spirit to apply the power of the blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat and to bring the whole being into stillness again, in the calm of His holy love.

Chapter 16

"For Ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God"

(Colossians 3:3).

THE HIDDEN LIFE

"Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem,

terrible as an army with banners" (6:4). The Well-Beloved speaks again, s the soul rests in Him, and for the first time He calls her "beautiful." His eyes already behold in her the marks of the Bride-city, the new Jerusalem, as she will come down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2) in the fullness of time. The hidden one has passed through deep waters in fellowship with her Lord; and, in the consequent brokenness, her spirit has been freed from much that kept her from full knowledge of the life with Christ in God. Now He will teach her how to dwell with Him in the Father's bosom, and will open to her the life within the veil. In the Holiest of All she knows as never before the priceless value of the blood of Christ; she has come not only to Mount Zion and unto the "heavenly Jerusalem," but to "Jesus the Mediator….and to the blood of sprinkling" (Hebrews 12:22-24). She sees that the way to God is a blood-sprinkled way, and she knows that through the blood alone can she have liberty and boldness to enter. She is not there by virtue of any past experience of fellowship with the Well-Beloved in His cross; she draws near only through His blood of propitiation, which He carried within the veil, "having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:12). Through that same priceless blood of the Lamb, sprinkled upon the mercy seat, she will be kept abiding in the Shekinah light – sanctified by the Spirit "unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2). The soul is now a "hidden one" in the deepest meaning of the words. "Hidden" with Christ in God, she must "go no more out" (Revelation 3:12), until "Christ who is our Life, shall appear" (Colossians 3:4), when she, with all who are united to Him, shall be manifested with Him to the world, partakers of His glory. Following this comparison of His purchased one to the city of the King, we find repeated in the Well-Beloved's language some characteristics of the new creation. These are set forth in verses 5 through 7 and parallel His loving description given previously in chapter 4:1-5, when she was first brought into union with Him as the Risen One and then into the communion of the heavenlies. Some changes and omissions in using the same figures show us that she is reaching full growth, and is "of ripe age to receive the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13) and to be taught her heavenly calling more fully by Him so that

He may be able to fulfill in her every "good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power" (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

The worship within the veil

"Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me" (or "make Me

afraid,") (6:5). The first time the Well-Beloved called His redeemed one "fair" was when He saw the Holy Dove shining through her eyes, the windows of the soul (1:15); and this thought was repeated in 4:1. Now to His purchased one, brought into assured union with Him, He speaks again of her eyes, but with an entire change of expression. "Turn away thine eyes" is His new request. She is in the place of worship – in the Holiest of All. The seraphim covered their faces as they cried, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3). A covered face is the appropriate attitude of worship in the presence of a Holy God. Reverence and godly awe must be the marks of the soul admitted to the Holy Place. "Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me" (lit. "have taken Me by storm"). In her access to the throne of God, she is in the place of power, for the eyes of the surrendered one, turned toward Him in helpless weakness and dependence, have power with God. The Well-Beloved is overcome, conquered, by the speechless cry of one look of appeal from His hidden ones so that He is constrained to answer, "Here I am," and to interpose on their behalf in every conflict. Thus are the hidden ones made "terrible as an army with banners," as they have power and prevail with Him who is a "great God, a mighty, and a terrible" (Deuteronomy 10:17) – "terrible," as they advance forth from His holy places (Psalm 68:35), to the hosts of darkness. "Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they make Me afraid," whispers the WellBeloved.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go….charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish." AND A SECOND TIME He SAID, "Go…let not the priests and the people break through…unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them" (Exodus 19:21, 24). The Lord was afraid for the people lest they should not understand His terrible Holiness, and should gaze and perish. No man could see His face and live (Exodus 33:20).

"Be not highminded, but fear," O child of God, for your God is a consuming fire. Take heed that you cover your face, and walk in godly awe, as you seek to abide in His holy Presence; and remember your ceaseless need of the "blood sprinkling," which speaks for you upon the mercy seat, as you walk in the light of God. The Well-Beloved's words, "Turn away thine eyes from Me," may also be taken to signify, in the case of the soul united to Him, a maturity of faith that can walk blindfolded with God (Isaiah 42:19), knowing Him so well that it is content to trust Him without sight, not seeking to pry into His dealings – within in experience, or without in His providence – like a restless child who "wants to know" before it can trust its father. The soul that truly knows God can wait until He pleases to reveal His purposes. It may also be suggested that the Well-Beloved bids the soul turn away her direct gaze from Him because at this stage she is one with Him and should take the appropriate attitude of "oneness" – not directing her eyes toward Him, as if she were separate from Him, but so abiding in Him that He can enable her to look through His eyes, and from His standpoint, at what He pleases.

The strength of the hidden one

"Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead" (6:5). The words of chapter 4:1 are exactly repeated, to signify that the strength of the new creation in childhood and maturity remains the same. That is, it has none in itself, but all in God. The goats upon Mount Gilead climb and feed where none other can find a footing. So this soul finds all strength in God, and she is able to say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). Now, as in its childhood, the secret of the manifestation of that strength lies in separation to God and in abiding in Him in helpless weakness.

The renewed mind of the hidden one

"Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes…come up from the washing…none is

bereaved among them" (6:6). The mind or mental powers are again described under the figure of "teeth," and the glorious Lord repeats His previous description (see 4:2), omitting only that the "flock" has been "newly shorn." The understanding has needed continuous separation from the intrusion of the wisdom of God; therefore it is said to be "come up from the washing," the "washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26). Only thus can the mind be continually renewed and be kept so clear and empty that it may be "filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord … bearing fruit ….and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:9-10).

The hidden glory of the soul in union

"Thy temples are like a ….pomegranate behind thy veil" (6:7). Again the Well-Beloved repeats exactly His words of chapter 4:3, showing the life to be a hidden one at every stage. The skin of the pomegranate hides its beautiful interior, which is only seen when cut and laid open. "The King's daughter is all glorious within" by the grace of His presence. But all that she is in Him, as she is "accepted in the Beloved," is veiled to a great extent by the earthly house of the body of humiliation. When Christ, who is her life, shall be manifested, then shall she also appear with Him in glory. Then shall He be marveled at in all them that believe. Meanwhile the high and heavenly calling of the bridal-soul is hidden, yet shown through a simple and lowly exterior. It was written of the only begotten of the Father: "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth unto God…began to wash the disciples' feet" (John 13:3-5). When the creature-life seeks to be conformed to the Divine and to be "Christlike," it stoops because it ought, even when contrary to its likings, but does so with an effort; but the spirit of Jesus enables the soul to take the lowest place easily, unconsciously, quietly and habitually, by the power of the indwelling Lord. Moreover, the heavenly life is characterized by increasing simplicity of manner. All outward veneer passes away, because transparency desires no cover. It is genuine, sympathetic, and courteous – not from conventional motives, but because of a true grace that flows from Him who dwells within. Thus it is with this soul in union with her Lord. The meek and quiet spirit makes her unconscious of herself, as she hides in her Well-Beloved and trusts Him to manifest Himself through her spontaneously and naturally, making her gracefully the servant of all.

Chapter 17

"The mystery of His will….to make all things one in Christ…

in whom we also receive the portion of our lot… is but one;

she is the only one…the choice one" (Ephesians 1:9-11).

THE SHULAMITE

"There are …queens…concubines…maidens without number. My

dove…is but one; she is the only…the choice one" (6:8-9). The redeemed one has been brought into union with the King of glory. She worships within the veil. Her strength is in the Lord strong and mighty; He is made unto her wisdom, the wisdom of God. And behind the veil of her lowly exterior, she is beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and is being changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Lord the Spirit. She has gladly sunk her separate identity in Him, for her sole wish is to have nothing of her own and to be "found in Him" (Philippians 3:9). She is called the Shulamite (6:13), the "daughter of Peace" – the feminine of Solomon, the Prince of Peace. She is identified with Him in the eyes of others and shares His name, "This is His name…the Lord of Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6); and, "she shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 33:16). "My dove…is the only one, the choice one," says the Well-Beloved to the soul. He speaks of His Bride, the choice one of the Holy Spirit's seeking and preparing. "They two shall be one …This is a great mystery…concerning Christ and the Church" (Ephesians 5:31-32). He speaks of her as a dove who has hidden in His side – the cleft Rock of Ages; one who is joined to Him in His risen life, to be increasingly conformed to His image in its purity and meekness. He says she is but one, and His language corresponds to the words in which He expressed to His Father the supreme desire of His heart before He surrendered Himself to the cross – that His prayer might be fulfilled:

"That they may be one, even as WE are one; I in them, and Thou in me…

perfected into one" (John 17:22-23). The heavenly Bride will consist of many souls who have been brought into oneness of life and spirit with the triune God. "Perfected into one," He said, "as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us" (John 17:21).

Each soul who is one of the many who will form the heavenly Bride will prove her calling and show the Bride-spirit by consenting to "leave all" to follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth. This spirit we trace in the Song of Songs, and we also see the faithful heart assured of her union with Glorious Lord. His Spirit bears witness with her spirit that she has come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the church of the Firstborn, enrolled in heaven.

"One in Us!" Oh, marvelous words and mystery of God! Can they be written of fallen sinners who have been sunk in the hole of the pit, the horrible pit of sin? The mystery of sin has been met by the mystery of God – God manifest in the flesh, God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, followed by "this mystery … which is Christ in you, the hope [or assurance] of glory" (Colossians 1:27). The Well-Beloved describes others in His Father's Kingdom who have not yet entered into the "oneness" of His Bride. There are souls who are "queenly" – noble, victorious ones: these are not like others who are half-hearted, always saying, "Lord, I will follow Thee, but…" (Luke 9:61). And yet others, "maidens without number," though "hidden ones," are still babes in Christ, not yet able to bear the fellowship of His cross, or to follow Him in His path of rejection and suffering. There are also "companions," who follow her when she is presented to the King (Psalm 45:14), on the day when the voice of the multitude in heaven will say, "Hallelujah….let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:6-7). And lastly, there are those who are peculiarly called "Blessed," because they are bidden to the marriage supper. Meanwhile, the glorified Lord, walking in the midst of His people, rings out the call, by His Spirit, to every blood-bought soul: "He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame" (Revelation 3:21).

"He that overcometh…I will write upon him the name of …the city…the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My

God. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith [not to

the world but] to the churches" (Revelation 3:12-13).

The Illuminated Vessel of Clay

"The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Who is she that looketh forth as

the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible as an army

with banners?" (6:9-10).

"All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed" (Isaiah 61:9). The glorified Lamb has been revealed to the bridal soul. She has seen His glory, as in the mount of god, while hidden in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:22). He has made all His goodness to pass before her, so that those around her break out into a description of her as they see her in Christ. Without one word from her, they glorify Him! They say, "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning?" for they see her in union with Him who is "the hind of the morning," the firstborn from the dead. Who is she? Just one who would say, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). Who is she? Just one of those whom God has chosen, those who are described by the Apostle Paul as "foolish," "weak," "base," "despised" – nothings – but in whom Christ Jesus has been made "wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:27-30). The Onlookers describe her as "fair as the moon." A most appropriate description, because the moon is a "faithful witness," and this redeemed one is nothing else. The moon is entirely dark in herself and simply reflects faithfully the light of the sun; she remains the same above all the clouds. She moves as her sun moves, wholly dependent upon his upholding power; he is her center and her all. She has nothing apart from him. If he were removed she would sink into space, useless and helpless. Thus it is with the soul brought into the life of God: she is utterly dark in herself; she has no light but Him. Resting upon the Heavenly Sun as her Center and her All, she moves with Him, and in absolute dependence upon Him, above all and through all the changing scenes of earth. With the soul's vision turned wholly toward Him, her one work is to move in her orbit in the path marked out for her, in correspondence with her Sun. The onlookers again describe the Shulamite as being "clear as the sun," thus emphasizing the words of the Well-Beloved that she is "comely as Jerusalem" (6:4), for the principal characteristic of the Bride-City is its clearness. It is said to be "clear as crystal" (Revelation 21:11), "transparent as glass" (Revelation 21:210, for it is only a medium for transmitting the glory of Him who is the light thereof (Revelation 21:23). Moreover, the soul united to the Lord is not conscious of this clear light of God shining through her. If she were to look within to know why the onlookers speak thus of her, she would be dark to herself; she is only "filled with light" as she is occupied with Him who is her sun. While "full of light" (Luke 11:34), she is terrible indeed to the works of darkness and to the Prince of darkness; she is terrible as an army with banners, for clothed

in the armor of light she is one of the souls of whom it is written, "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and…they loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11). She becomes more and more an illuminated vessel of clay through which her Lord will show Himself again to weary hearts lying in darkness and the shadow of death. She is increasingly being prepared for the hour when her body of humiliation will be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby He is able to subject all things unto Himself.

Chapter 18

"Who is blind as he that is at peace with Me, and blind as

the Lord's servant!" (Isaiah 42:19).

THE SOUL'S FAILURE IN ABIDING

"I went down into the garden…to see the green plants…to se whether the vine budded…Before I was even aware, my soul set me among the

chariots of my princely people" (6:11-12). The Shulamite had now to learn the conditions of abiding in the light of her Lord's countenance. She is not yet established in this degree of union, nor does she know all its special dangers, or the wiles of the adversary at this stage of the spiritual life. The hidden one quickly learns how not to abide, for she says, "I went down into the garden to see!" This, in practical experience, means self-introspection, which immediately brings a cloud upon the soul. She is the Lord's garden; it is not her place to go down to see how the Lord's plants are growing. In other words, she must not look at her own experience or be occupied with how she is "getting on," but she must be obediently "looking unto Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2). This is her part alone. It is not without reason that the Lord always mentions first the "eyes of the heart," for they indicate the main attitude of the soul, and upon their faithfulness depends the "abiding." If "thine eye be single, they whole body shall be full of light" (Matthew 6:22). The Shulamite must learn that the single eye is blind to all else but the will of God; she must be content not to "see" other things if she is to abide in her Lord. We may also think of the "garden" as Christian work with which the hidden one is deeply concerned. She wanted to see whether there were signs of fruit, and so she "went down into the garden." She has yet to be taught that she may not act independently of her Well-Beloved in the smallest matters; for little things are very great in their consequences. The right thing may be done at the wrong time. He would have her concerned in His gardens, and in the budding vines, but she must not go until she is sent; she must learn to walk in step with Him, and to know that those who truly believe in His all-wise working are content not to "make haste" (Isaiah 28:16), but to await His will. The Shulamite tells us frankly what she did, and how quickly she found out her mistake. Possibly the chorus of the onlookers distracted her a little from the still small voice of her Lord. Whatever the cause, in the assurance of her union with Him, probably without "inquiring at His mouth," she went down to have a look at how things were going on in the "work!" Maybe it was because of her natural

activity and energy that she was one of those souls so difficult to bring into the stillness and rest of God. "Just a peep," she said to herself, and before she knew it she found herself swept into a whirl that she likens to "chariots"; she had missed the Lord's path and had lost her deep, centered calm. But who are the "princely people" who were the immediate cause of this? Possibly soul's knit to her in a special spiritual tie, her own children, who have become princely souls (Psalm 45:16); or others who had been changed from "Jacobs" to "Israels," spiritual princes having power. Oh soul, you will have to learn to be both blind and deaf if you are to walk continuously in the will of your God and thus to abide in the Holiest of All.

The Call to the Shulamite

"Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee"

(6:13).

The soul united to the Lord is made quickly conscious of a step out of His will, and is so readily obedient that to see her mistake is to retrace that step without hesitation; and to retrace means an immediate confession of sin, and restoration through the precious blood of Christ. The language of this call shows us that the Shulamite has fled to her hiding place in the sanctuary of God. She could not delay a moment – she must get back into step with her Beloved, whatever it means. She is hidden secretly in His pavilion from the clamor of tongues that follow her, "Return, return, that we may look upon thee." They who call are loath to lose her and are in danger of clinging to the vessel illuminated by the Lord – for indwelt by Him, she is pressed upon by the multitude with their needs. She is "sought out, a city not forsaken" (Isaiah 62:12). The Beloved has fulfilled His promise: "Thy life shall be clearer than the noonday…yea, many shall make suit unto thee" (Job 11:17-19).

The Bridegroom's Question

"Why will ye look upon the Shulamite, as upon the dance of Mahanaim

[or "two companies,"]?" (6:13).

The Well-Beloved replies10to these souls on behalf of His hidden one, because "all things are named and laid open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). He asks a question! "Why will ye look upon the Shulamite?" What are your motives, eager souls? Do you want the Shulamite, or the Shulamite's Lord? He gently rebukes that element of the earth-life which His eyes of fire behold, as He adds, "Why will ye look upon the Shulamite, as upon the dance of Mananaim?" His word is quick and powerful, and pierces "to the dividing of soul and spirit" and is "quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Their desire to look upon this God-possessed one is not wholly pure; she is attractive to them in some measure because she pleases their eyes and gives them pleasure. The word "Mahanaim" means "two hosts," and it was a name given by Jacob to the place where the angels of God met him (Genesis 32:1-2). "Why will ye look upon the Shulamite, as upon two hosts of angels:" Does the Well-Beloved see the eager hearts thinking of her "above that which is written"? St. Paul said he would not speak of the glory of the revelations of Christ to him, "lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be" (2 Corinthians 12:6), a sinner saved by grace! 10 This may be also the reply of the soul to the call, "Return." In either case she is one with her Lord; she has fled to her hiding place in Him, and if she speaks, it is because she has been "sent" by her Beloved with the question that lays bare the hearts of the eager ones who desired her to "return."

Chapter 19

"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

God afore prepared that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

THE SOUL EQUIPPED FOR SERVICE

"How beautiful are thy steps….O Prince's daughter!

[Thou art] the work….of a skilled Workman" (7:1). In reply to the question "Why will ye look upon the Shulamite?" the eager onlookers who beg her to return describe the redeemed one as they behold her equipped for service. They see her as the work of the hands of a skillful Workman, and call her blessed; they show that they are beginning to understand her separation unto the Lord and her inability to please men, and that she is the faithful servant of Christ. She cannot "return" unless she is "sent!" The Well-Beloved has used His hidden one before. We have seen His joy over the "precious fruits" and "rivers of living water" – the spontaneous outflow of the abundant life. At that time the soul did not understand the conditions of His working through her and how she was intelligently to cooperate with Him as a fellow-worker. She is now of full age to receive the fullness of Christ, and she must know the solemnity of being called to work with God, that His fullest purposes through her may not be hindered by her ignorance. In the language by which the "princely people" (or the "daughters") describe the Shulamite, we may trace the characteristics of the prepared fellow-worker and the conditions of effective service in cooperation with God.

Step by step in the Spirit

"How beautiful are thy steps" (7:1).

The Shulamite has returned to her abiding place and is now seeking to walk "step by step in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). She is the workmanship of a "skilled Workman" who has created her anew in Christ Jesus. She will not need to run hither and thither now and plan for herself, because He has prepared a path of service for her. The "skillful Workman," who is almighty, has prepared the worker and the work. The plan will be kept in the hands of the Master Workman, and by the skillfulness of His hands upon her He will guide her moment by moment in the prepared path and increasingly prepare her for each new step as she walks with Him. Her feet will be beautiful if she thus walks with God, and she will find that the sandals he has given her – "the preparation of the gospel of peace" (Ephesians

6:15), peace within and peace around, keeping her stayed upon Him in perfect peace – protect her from contact with the earth. All grace abounds for her – all she needs, if she agrees to walk in the way of His steps: not going down to see the vineyards until she is bidden, but content to do the next thing like a little child.

Strengthened with heavenly food

"No mingled wine wanting…wheat set about with lilies" (7:2). The "wine of the New Testament is His blood." The "wine" and the "wheat" referred to here remind us of the words of the Lord: "My flesh is true meat, and My blood is true drink. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him…He that eateth Me…shall live because of Me" (John 6:55-57). The quickening life of Him who is a "life-giving Spirit" – signified by the wine – must never be lacking if the soul is to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. His flesh is the "bread of life" and is the heavenly substance provided as "food for the new man" – suggested by the "heap of wheat." If she would not be "weak and sickly," but in her weakness be made strong and "wax mighty in war" (Hebrews 11:34), she must be taught by the Spirit to "discriminate…the body" (1 Corinthians 11:29-30) and to feed upon Him in her heart "by faith with thanksgiving." Feeding upon and assimilating the "true meat" and "true drink" day by day, she will find her food supplied to her in doing the will of God, even as the weary Son of God in the days of His flesh was fed with heavenly food while meeting the need of one sinful heart. "The disciples prayed Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But He said…I have meat to eat that ye know not…My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me" (John 4:31-34).

Her capacity for God

"Thy two breasts are like two fawns" (7:3). The capacity of the soul is again spoken of under the figure of the "breasts," and it is significant that the fawns are not said to be now "feeding among the lilies" (4:5). "There are two kinds of capacity. (1) A capacity proper to the creature, which is small and limited. (2) A capacity of being lost continually more and more in God. "The melting process through which [the soul] has passed has taken from him all form (which compressed him within the rigid limit of his own capacity) and disposes him to flow into God, as water joined to its sources blends with it ever

deeper and deeper. (This does not mean that he loses his nature as a creature, and that God could not cast him forth again – although this is what He will not do.)" The purchased one has been brought, in union with her Beloved, to be "hid with Christ in God." As she abides in him as her dwelling place, she will be able to give out of His fullness to needy souls, for she is no longer straitened in herself, or in her own affections. "Open your hearts to us," or "Make room for us", said Paul to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:2). There is room in her heart for all for whom Christ died, and as her capacity is continually increased by His hand upon her, His fullness will flow into her, and through her, as she pours out to others.

Unswerving obedience to God

"Thy neck is like the tower of ivory: (7:4). Her neck is described as a "tower of ivory," suggestive of steadfastness. Once it was as iron, because she was so obstinate (Isaiah 48:4). Now it is compared to ivory, because it is changed to unswerving, faithful obedience to the revealed will of God. As a "fellow-worker with God" she is set by Him as a "tower and a fortress" among His people (Jeremiah (6:27), "that thou mayest know and try their way." She must be meek and yielding in all matters concerning herself, but be as a "tower of ivory," unbending, in faithfulness to her Lord.

Stillness of heart to hear the voice of God

"Thine eyes as the pools of Heshbon" (7:4).

From the beginning of her history, the different expressions by the Well-Beloved concerning the "eyes of her heart" have been the gauge of her growth in the divine life. They eyes are now compared to pools in their clear, still depths, showing how the inner life has been brought into the deep calm of God. She has learned to be still and know her God. No need of "earthquakes" now to tell her that the Master Workman is working salvation in the midst of the earth; she is able to hear the "sound of gentle stillness" (1 Kings 19:12) in her heart as He makes her to know His will, so that she may be His instrument to teach His people "the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean" (Ezekiel 44:23). While she abides in her Beloved she is given discernment of the spirit in the stillness of her heart, so that she may not judge after the flesh and the sight of her eyes but in the sanctuary and light of God.

Intuitive scent in the will of God

"Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon" (7:4). The "nose" has not been spoken of before, because the "scent" is one of the sense of the new creation which only seems to be recognizable in the stage of maturity, and seems the quickest to be dulled by any act out of His will. The God-man was said to be "quick of scent in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:3). The "scent" implies that exceedingly delicate intuitive knowledge of God which can only be likened to the sense of smell. The nose is said to be like a "tower," because this quick scent can only be maintained as the soul walks in His will in steadfast obedience and abides in the rarefied atmosphere of the most intimate fellowship with Him.

Power with God to prevail with man

"Thine head…is like Carmel, and the hair…like purple; the King is held captive in

the tresses thereof" (7:5). Her head is compared to Carmel, the mountain where Elijah had power with God and prevailed with man. "The hair…is like the purple of a king, bound in the tresses thereof". How beautifully this suggests the "royal priesthood" of those who are loosed from their sins in His blood and made "kings and priests" unto God (Revelation 1:5-6) – separated to minister within the veil with their Great High Priest on behalf of the people. The hair – the figure of strength (as illustrated in the case of Samson) – is now described as having royal power, holding captive the King himself. Thus did clinging Jacob hold the God-man on the lonely hillside. "By his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto Him" (Hosea 12:3-4). His strength lay in his weakness; he could only cling, and dare to hold captive the King of kings in human guise. He dared to say, "I will not let Thee go, except…!" and thus he had power with God and could prevail with man. The soul in union with the Well-Beloved will now be taught how to move men through God, rather than, as heretofore, by seeking grace from God to move them for God! She will "stand before God for the people" (Exodus 18:19) by dwelling under the Shekinah light; "accepted in the Beloved," she will "move the hand that moves the world" by holding the King captive with His own written word and humbly crying, "Do as Thou hast said."

The Work of a "Skillful Workman"

"How fair…art thou…This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and

thy breasts to clusters of grapes" (7:6-7).

"How fair and how pleasant art thou," exclaim the onlookers as they gaze upon the workmanship of the Divine Workman. He has brought her to know a moment-by-moment dependence upon Him that will keep her in His will; her capacity for Him is being enlarged day by day, so that the fruit which He brings forth is as clusters of grapes. She is now at His disposal in truest selflessness; she is a tower for Him in immoveable steadfastness. He has brought her whole being into the stillness that is essential for His fullest working. He has taught her the quick perception of His will. He has given her to know that strength of faith in His word which will hold the King captive to perform it. "Thy stature is like to a palm tree" is the verdict of those who call her blessed, for she has reached the measure of "manhood" and is as a pillar in the house of her God. "The palm tree is an upright, fruit-bearing tree. It will not be pressed or bound downward, or grow crooked, though heavy weights be laid on it. The more it is oppressed the more it flourishes; the higher it grows, the stronger and broader it is in the top." The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" (Psalm 92:12), said the psalmist of those who are "planted of the Lord." The growth is rapid in the sunshine of His face. The life of God cannot be bound, or turned aside into crooked ways. It can have no fellowship with darkness. By its very nature, however much it may be oppressed and despitefully used, it will spring higher and stronger into the pure air above the things of earth and bear fruit unto God.

A Listening Soul's Desire

"I said, I will climb up into the palm tree, I will take hold of the branches

thereof" (7:8). There were probably others listening to the description of the "Prince's daughter" as one in union with the Lord and a fellow-worker with Him. One listening soul, moved with desire for the same fellowship with the WellBeloved, breaks out with the words, "I will climb up!" No, eager heart, that is not the way; you must first "climb" down. You say, "I will take hold of the branches." No! Of what use can that be? Why take hold of the branch when you may have the sap – the divine life that flows freely through the Lord's palm tree? Many have "taken hold" of the Lord's palm trees, and hang upon them. But put to the test, they show that they know little about the solitary walk with the WellBeloved through the valley of the shadow of death, into the calm of the life with Christ in God. Alas, for the "climbers" in the day when God will shake all things, that those "things which cannot be shaken may remain" (Hebrews 12:27).

Oh, seeking soul, it is well that you desire a like fellowship and conformity to the image of the Well-Beloved, such as you see in His possessed ones; but you must go "solitary" (Numbers 23:3), and yield wholly to Him with fixity of heart to follow Him wherever He goes – and then you shall know the Lord. "Be it so," replies the eager heart, as she turns to the Shulamite and speaks to her thus:

"Let thy breasts be as clusters of the vine … the smell of thy nose like apples… thy palate like the best wine, that goeth down aright…causing the lips of those

that are asleep to speak" (7:8-9). It's as if she were saying, "Let your capacity be ever more increased as you pour out draughts of the fullness of your Well-Beloved to needy hearts, and let Him find abundance of fruit upon you, even as the clusters of the vine. "Let your 'scent' in the fear of the Lord grow stronger and stronger, even as the smell of apples – as the scent of your Well-Beloved, whom you likened to an apple tree among the trees of the wood. "Let your 'taste' for the new wine of the Kingdom, the best wine kept even until now, be ever sensitive and true. Thus shall your lips be caused to speak as you are in the deep rest of God, asleep, as it were, to all but Him, who is your strength, your All."

Chapter 20

"God's fellow-workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9).

"Workers together with Him" (2 Corinthians 6:1).

"The Lord working with them" (Mark 16:20).

GOD'S FELLOW-WORKER

"I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me. Come, My Beloved, Let us go

forth into the field" (7:10-11). Following the description of the believer as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works," these words spoken by His hidden one are most appropriate. Her attitude is one of restful faith; she says, "I am my Beloved's, I am at His entire disposal, separated unto Him and unto the gospel (Romans 1:1). In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me; He has made me a polished shaft (Isaiah 49:2). His desire is toward me; His will is to use the vessel He has thus prepared. And His desire toward me moved in me toward Him. Come, my Beloved; I may not, I dare not, go without Thee. Come, let us go forth into the field, the great field of the world!" The soul hidden in His hand says nothing now about herself; she is wholly taken up with Him and His desire. This is the divine remedy for self-consciousness and shyness. A God-consciousness that excludes the remembrance of self bestows the highest culture and truest grace. The inward revelation of Christ had this effect so long as His presence was powerfully manifested to the consciousness; but abiding deliverance comes from such a knowledge of one life in common with the Well-Beloved that the soul is drawn out of itself, so to speak, to dwell in Him. We see this exemplified in the experience of the Shulamite. In early days, even though Christ was "dwelling in her heart by faith," she was still disposed to the "self" center which grasps to itself all things and sees them only in their relation to itself. She manifested this in her words, "My Beloved is mine!" "I am His" was a secondary thought (2:26). Later on, we watch her losing her "self" center as she rests upon His old of her and says, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine" (6:3). Now even the "mine" has vanished, for she is centered wholly upon Him. He fills her whole mental and spiritual vision. What she has, what she is, what concerns herself, is all out of the range of her consciousness. That He may have His way, that His heart's desire may be fulfilled; that His inheritance in the saints may be given Him; that she may be all He wants her to be – this fills her mind and thoughts. He will care for her and will fulfill her every need; and she only needs what He thinks she needs. She only desires what He desires, and what He will desire in her.

Oh happy, happy soul! Your sin shall no more go down, for your God is your glory and your exceeding joy. "As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee" (Isaiah 62:5). She is now God's fellow-worker in service.

Her Enlarged Vision

"Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field" (7-11). The world lies before her in the light of God. No longer can one little corner of the vineyard be more important than the rest. "My church, my mission, my cause has given place to the great field of the world. She has heard her WellBeloved say, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice (John 10:16), and she has entered into fellowship with His great heart of love. She knows His "must" in this is as imperative as the "must" that led Him to Calvary (John 3:14; Matthew 16:21). She knows too, that His Father said to Him, on the day that He sat down on His right hand as the conqueror from Calvary, "Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession" (Psalm 2:8). Intense yearnings possess her soul; she begins to "strive" in prayer for those whose faces she has never seen, longing that their "hearts may be comforted" as hers has been, and that they may "know the mystery of God, even Christ" (Colossians 2:1-2).

Her Pilgrim Spirit

"Let us lodge in the villages" (7:11). She is now so free in spirit and heart that she can move about quickly just as He pleases. A "lodging" will do, for her home is in Him. She has many times said, "Whither Thou goest, I will go; and where Thou lodgest, I will lodge" (Ruth 1:16). Now He must lead her forth and fulfill His promise: "Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours" (Deuteronomy 11:24). The lands must be claimed for Him; for they will yet become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Like Abraham, she is content to be a pilgrim and a stranger, to sojourn in tents in the "land of promise" which she will afterward receive as an inheritance when she will reign with Him. "The meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psalm 37:11).

Her Diligent Activity

"Let us get up early to the vineyards" (7:12).

There is no room for sloth in a life of obedience. There is ceaseless activity in the realm of the King of kings. "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," said the Lord Jesus when He was on earth in human form. If the angels are given charge over His hidden ones, to "keep them in all their ways" (Psalm 91:11), they have much to do. There is a "creaturely activity" that hinders God, and a "passivity" that is not of God, a passivity that is only another name for sloth. When the Lord is permitted to still the "fuss" and activity of the creature, and to bring the soul into the restful cooperation with Him, He is able then to work through His instrument "mightily" (Galatians 2:8) – the soul adding, on her part, all diligence. This includes even "getting up early," as the Master did, to see to the vineyards – but first of all, by intercession within the veil!

Her Joy Over Souls

"Let us see whether the vine hath budded, and the tender grape appeareth,

and the pomegranates be in flower" (7:12). Once she went to see if the vine was budding without asking at the mouth of the Lord, and found herself out of her hiding place. Now she says, "Let us see!" She has always had a keen passion for souls, but formerly her "own" activity used to draw her out of step with her Lord. Now she fears to move without Him, and if she will always ask His will, He will keep her in the way of His steps. She may "look on the fields….white already unto the harvest" (John 4:35) when she looks with Him; and in union with Him, she will see the grace of God and be glad. She will be able to discern the first tokens of fruit, and the blood-red flower of the pomegranate will be a special joy when seen in His own children – for it indicates the hidden beauty of the bridal souls who satisfy His heart.

Her Fellowship With Her Lord

"There will I give Thee my love" (7:12). It is blessed to see how this hidden one is growing in the knowledge of her Lord. There was so much of "me" and "my" in those early days (2:3-6). Then it was, "My Beloved is unto me" (1:14). Now she says, "There will I give Thee my love"; in effect, "Give the love Thou has implanted in me back to Thee, by pouring it out on those for whom Thou hast died." "Unto the least of these My brethren…unto Me" (Matthew 25:40), the Master said. In binding up the brokenhearted with His word of healing, in proclaiming His liberty to the captives, in comforting all that mourn with the comfort of God, her life is love; and love – His love – is satisfied! She has also learned to be "at home" in the sanctuary of His Presence everywhere. "There,"in the midst of ceaseless service, He is with her, and "there," in pouring out to thirsty hearts she gives Him drink.

Her Open Doors

"At our doors are all manner of precious fruits….which I have laid

up for Thee, O my Beloved" (7:13). "For Thee," again comes from her lips, "precious fruits…for Thee." She has eyes to see all manner of precious fruits in others now. Once she could only recognize one special kind of fruit as acceptable to Him, and expected to see it on every one of the Lord's "trees"! Now she knows better the individuality of souls, and can discern "all manner" of fruit produced by the new life in union with Him, for "the fruit of light are in all goodness and righteousness, and truth: (Ephesians 5:9). She discovers, also, that as she walks in the prepared path of service she does not have to run hither and thither for opportunities of gathering His precious fruits. Day by day, all is at her door. She will need the most vigilant faithfulness to gather what is brought to her hands, to redeem the time, and to buy up her opportunities.11

11 Literally, to buy up an article out of the market, in order to make the largest possible profit from it.

Chapter 21

"How much more shall the blood of Christ…cleanse your conscience

….to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14).

THE SOUL "OUT OF TOUCH"

"Oh that Thou wert as my brother…When I should find

Thee without…I would lead Thee" (8:1-2). Beloved of the Lord, what has happened to you? These words are such a contrast to her last ones! Some change has evidently taken place. We saw her in the joy of blessed service with the Well-Beloved; His desire was toward her, and her fellowship was so intimate with Him that she could freely say, "Let us go forth!" Now she speaks of Him as though He were "without," and as if she had to lead Him to her home! She must be out of step again. Possibly some subtle thought of self-confidence has caused her to miss the path, and she was unaware of its first approach. She did not know the danger of it. The Well-Beloved is teaching her how to abide in Him, and she must learn that notwithstanding all the way in which He has led her, she is not in a state of permanent blessing. His workmanship brought her simply to a place of utter dependence, and to an attitude toward Him in which He could All in all. She has learned the lesson that she must not act apart from Him. She probably missed step with Him, by thinking that she knew how to abide! It is difficult to be emptied of our own wisdom; it is more difficult to be kept emptied! It is not easy to be so thoroughly detached from all previous knowledge as to hang in helpless dependence upon our God, and to expect Him to be continually made unto us Wisdom. The very knowledge given by God in the first instance, if grasped and clung to as our own, may keep us from understanding His fuller revelations later on in the spiritual life. At every stage it is only possible to say, "I know in part, but then shall I know fully, even as also I have been known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The Danger of Self-Effort

"Oh, that Thou wert as my brother…I should….I would….yea, I would!" (8:1-2). The first intimation that the soul is out of touch comes from the silence of the Lord – silence in the heart and in the written Word, for the written Word is the expression of the Living Word and is His language of communion.

We have seen in the history of the hidden one that the Lord is sometimes silent to test our faith, so that we may learn to trust Him apart from His voice, or His manifested Presence. But the soul has then a deep inward rest and conviction that it is in the hand of God; it knows that He is not habitually silent, and will bring all who rely upon Him as they "walk in darkness, and have no light" (Isaiah 50:10) into fuller communion with Him as they follow on in the path of His will. The Shulamite is not at rest; she intuitively knows that His silence indicates that she is out of step, and this is a call to her to wait at His feet so that she may be shown the cause.12 Her words show us that she is in danger of getting into agony and "struggle" over her loss of "touch," and indicate that the sense of homelessness from being out of her hiding place is unbearable. For the moment she wishes she could only see her Beloved as a human being – a tangible person, like her brother – so that she could take hold of Him, and lead Him to a quiet place to obtain His instruction. But all in vain, poor soul! It cannot be in your way – no self-effort will do. To struggle will but increase the sense of separation, and bring worse matters in its train. Be still, and by faith shelter afresh under the blood sprinkling. Thus He will teach you His way. The soul gives a hint that she has been despised (8:1); possibly she had said too much about her fellowship with the Well-Beloved and she had been considered "presumptuous" or even extravagant in her devotion and obedience to Him. She has forgotten that although her inward life has been illuminated by the Sun of His glorious presence, she has never been promised anything but suffering, tribulation, and rejection in the world that rejected Him. The God-man made no secret of this to His disciples, but said, "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" (Luke 6:22).

Her desire to Be Taught

"I would…bring Thee into my mother's house that Thou mightest instruct me;

I would cause Thee to drink….of the juice of my pomegranate" (8:2). If for one moment she thought otherwise, she is now conscious that she is utterly ignorant in herself and that she knows nothing yet as she ought to know. This is the artistry of the "skillful Workman" – to illuminate a soul with His Light, and 12 It is important that we should know how to deal with God, and "prove the things that differ." Is it the silence of love which tests the soul to mature its faith; or the silence of grief over some step out of His will? Such must be the heart-searching question when the Lord ceases to speak. The soul in such a case should cast itself at once at the feet of the Well-Beloved and seek to know His mind. It may always "draw near…in full assurance of faith," through the sprinkled blood evermore speaking to God upon the Mercy Seat. It is always "accepted in the Beloved." Sheltering under the blood, the soul should definitely deal with God, renew its abandonment, and with the simplicity of a little child commit its way unto the Lord, trusting Him to reveal and remove the cause of His grief, or - if His silence is the silence of testing 0 to keep it safely in the path of His blessed will. Having thus rolled our "way upon the Lord," we may rest and wait patiently for Him.

yet to keep it conscious of its own ignorance – to be "Wisdom" to the redeemed one, yet to keep the earthen vessel from appropriating that wisdom as its own, so that it may every cry, "Instruct me." The Shulamite cries, "Teach me – then I would cause Thee to drink, to be refreshed through me, whom Thou hast always compared to a pomegranate" (see 4:3). He is still the center of her whole being; she has lost step, but not Him as her life. Her aim is still that He may be satisfied.

The Soul's Cry After Her Resting Place "His left hand should be under my head, and His right hand should embrace me" (8:3). However foolish and ignorant she may be, there is no question as to the integrity of her heart; her will is ever kept immovably set to obey. "I only desire to be taught," she says. "That He may have His way and be satisfied is all I want. Oh for the rest and the upholding of the Everlasting Arms!" Ah, she thought she knew how to keep step, but she sees she is as helpless as ever. She must needs be carried. Now she knows what is meant by being a "little one," and understands the Master's words that the greatest in His Kingdom is as a little child (Matthew 18:4). She is maturing in truth, for she is progressing from "the cross to the cradle"! Her growth in the stature of Christ will be manifested in the child-spirit which evermore lies down in the Father's bosom.

The Soul at Rest and the Well-Beloved's Care

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Why should ye stir up, or why should

ye awaken love, until it please?" (8:4). The soul out of touch no sooner cried out for her resting place than she found herself as a babe in the Everlasting Arms! As the mother hears the faintest cry of her little child, so the Well-Beloved responded, "Here I am," to His purchased one (Isaiah 58:9). While she struggled and said, "I would, I, I," He was obliged to wait to be gracious; but her first helpless cry after His heart, and His upholding power, brought her into rest. When the soul in union with the Lord is conscious of the least cloud, a quiet turning to the Father's heart and a restful dependence upon the blood of sprinkling which ever speaks upon the mercy seat within the veil is the only way into step again. "And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation!" (1 John 2:1-2). The hidden one at rest will be cared for by her Lord. He speaks again to the daughters of Jerusalem and bids them leave His redeemed one to His keeping.

At each stage of the divine life, the "daughters" seem to need His charge. The "sons of the prophets" came to Elisha at every point where he took a new step forward in following Elijah – until at last they stood "afar off" to watch the consequences of such a persistent walk. So these "daughters" seem to come to the soul in the Song of Songs. Possibly they had something to do with her recent experience and so called forth this renewed charge from the Lord. They may have seen her in fresh activity in the vineyard, beheld her as a Spiritequipped worker, and pressed upon her to go here and there – not knowing that she was still as empty and useless as she had ever been when out of His will. If she listened to their voices, she would soon go beyond her measure of grace. However "great the need" or "important the call," of what use is her going unless He sends her? The "daughters" who seek to "stir up" to service other God-possessed souls are a serious source of danger at every stage of experience. They are not disposed to keep "hands off" at any time! Therefore the Well-Beloved asks them why they should seek to stir up the soul that is in His hands. His love that now fills and constrains her will awaken and impel her forth in the path of His will whensoever He pleases, for He will work in her both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Chapter 22

"Leaning on Jesus' bosom one…whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23

LEANING ON THE BELOVED

"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?"

(SoS 8:5) A pause, and again the daughters of Jerusalem exclaim, "Who is this?" as they behold the hidden one emerging from her time of rest in the Well-Beloved's care. They see her now leaning upon her Beloved, for she has learned that she can only keep in step with Him as she leans upon Him every moment in utter dependence and helplessness. It is possible that in the activity of service, pressed on every hand by the claims of "open doors" or by the gathering in of "precious fruits," she had failed to keep sacred her hours of waiting on her Lord. In the full assurance of union with Him, and in the abundance of His life working through her, she may have thought that he would supply her need and renew her strength in the midst of busy service. This He never fails to do when the "claims" are real needs; but warped and unreasonable "claims" come that are not of Him: "souls" – who seek to draw nourishment from the earthen vessel instead of from God Himself; "questions" – from hearts that should learn to trust and not attempt to trace the dealings of God until He pleases to reveal His purposes; "calls" – from Christians who have sought guidance after making their own plans! All these things come to those who faithfully seek to be the "servants of all." The "hidden one" must learn that the pressure of the needs of others, fancied or real, must never intrude upon the sacred hours of waiting on the Lord. Active service especially demands these times alone with God. The Master needed them, for do we not read: "Great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed…But He withdrew Himself in the deserts and prayed" (Luke 5:15-16)? In the face of all the real needs, He withdrew! Nay, child of God, it is not a waste of time; it is economy, for our service is fruitless without the full power of His abundant life, which must be renewed at His feet day by day. As soon as there is a sense of "pressure," it is all important that we should get alone with God. The "claims" may make this seem impossible, but He can make the way clear if we know our need and are will to retire from the vineyards as soon as we hear His call – leaving His work to Him who is alone responsible, recognizing that He is in control. The Well-Beloved, in His watchful keeping of His loved one, saw that she did not understand her need. So He allured her into the wilderness of rest by hiding Himself fro a moment (8:1-3), simply to draw her attention from the vineyards to

seek instruction at His feet. We have seen how she regained her resting place, while her Beloved speaks for her to the busy daughters of Jerusalem, forbidding them to stir her up until He pleased.

"Leaning upon her Beloved!"

To bring the soul to entire reliance and dependence upon Him is "the end of the Lord" (James 5:11) – the purpose of His varied dealings, whether in the "valley" or on the "mountaintop." "Leaning upon her Beloved!" This is the outcome of the life of union – what life more simple or more blessed! In this privileged position the hidden one comes forth to renewed service and activity. "Leaning upon her Beloved" to be taught by Him.

The Well-Beloved's Instructions

Concerning the earthen vessel

"Under the apple tree I awakened thee" (8:5). While she leans upon her Beloved, He answers the cry of her heart for instruction in the mysteries of the Kingdom. He reminds her of her natural condition and of the days when she was first awakened and born into the family of God. She must never – because of His abounding grace toward her – make the mistake of thinking herself to be a heavenly vessel. The treasure of Christ is lodged in a body of fragile clay, that the excellency of the power may manifestly be of God, and not of her. Moreover, she will need to be kept full of the divine life, if her own peculiar personal characteristics are to be controlled and used by her Lord. It is not enough to know that the Beloved dwells within. She will need, every moment, as a vessel, to be kept environed by the Presence of God, "in Him [to] live, and move, and have [her] being" (Acts 17:28), if the shape of the vessel is not to hinder the manifestation of Him who graciously consents to make her a habitation of God by the Spirit.

Concerning the Jealousy of God

"Set Me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as the grave; the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods

drown it" (8:6-7). The first words are often quoted as spoken by the bridal soul; but following those of the Well-Beloved about her natural condition, they have far more significance

if taken as coming from Him. Seeing her deep, deep need of Him, He cries, "Set Me as a seal upon thine heart." The "love" that is "strong as death," and which led Him to the death of the cross, breaks forth in jealous yearning that this soul for whom He died should be wholly kept for Him in heart and hand. His jealousy over His redeemed one is "hard as the grave." He cannot overlook one spot or wrinkle in a member of His Bride; therefore, He will deal with all that is of earth in her with flashes of fire, so that she may be as pure as gold, and as transparent as glass, in the day when she will be one of those presented to Himself as a sharer of His throne. The Well-Beloved tells His hidden one that no flood of trail or sorrow can ever quench His love, just as no riches can buy it. The jealousy of God is as "a most vehement flame" over each blood-bought soul – therefore, constrained with the love of God, St. Paul said to the Corinthians: "I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God, for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2). Oh child of God, hidden in His heart, abide in this deep love of the eternal God. Listen to His words, "Continue ye in My love" (John 15:9), and welcome the flashes of fire proceeding from that love, the fire that seeks to purify you as fine gold. Dwell in the God who is consuming fire; thus shall you see the King in His beauty, and dwell on high!

Chapter 23

"Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness Toward God; and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him"

(1 John 3:21-22).

COMMUNION WITH THE

WELL-BELOVED

"We have a little sister…What shall we do for our sister?...We will build upon

her …..battlements of silver,….we will enclose her….with boards of cedar"

(8:8-9). Leaning upon her Beloved, what privileges belong to the hidden one! He whispers to her, "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7), and she replies, "We have a little sister…what shall we do for our sister?" She may speak to Him freely now about all who are upon her heart, assured that they are upon His heart too. He replies, "We will build upon her battlements," or "enclose her with boards," as if to say, "She shall be dealt with according to her need; leave her now to Me." It is sufficient to know that when "He beareth," "we have" the petitions we desire of Him. Did not Abraham's intercourse with God so hold back the judgment of Sodom that Lot was saved? Abraham himself did not need to go in eager haste to his deliverance; rather, as he "stood before the Lord" the angel messengers were sent. Thus may the children of God gain admittance to the sanctuary, and in fellowship with a living, all-powerful Lord, place such "battlements" around their loved ones as will guard and keep them unknown to themselves, until, in His fullness of time, they are brought to know the Lord. Thus will the Well-Beloved teach His hidden ones to use the privilege of their position and learn to move the hand that moves the world, as they stand, in fellowship with Him, in intercession "God-ward for the people."

The King's Business

"Solomon had a vineyard….He let out the vineyard unto keepers. My

vineyard, which is mine, is before me…. Thou, O Solomon, shalt have

the thousand, and those that keep the fruit….two hundred" (8:11-12). The soul, leaning upon her Beloved, finds Him a skillful teacher. He first had to make her know herself, and her position as an earthen vessel; then the jealous

love of God who owned her. Now He turns to the practical affairs of life, that she may learn to be a faithful steward in the smallest detail. The life of union with Him must be manifested in every word, look, and action. She must be permeated with the heavenly spirit, even in that which appears to be of the smallest moment. The Lord is faithful to all who truly watch for His teaching and leading every moment of the day. "I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go" (Psalm 32:8) may be true of the way in the least or in the greatest matter, and souls who are "leaning upon the Beloved" become intuitively sensitive as to what is "worthy of God," and are given increasingly to know the mind of the Lord in the practical actions of daily life. What has been called the "secular" part of life now becomes the "outward business" of the King. The purchased one is manifestly in the confidence of her Well-Beloved; His interests are hers. She knows that He has other vineyards entrusted to keepers to whom He has said, "Occupy till I come," but she turns to the vineyard entrusted to her, as it lies before her. She is conscious that He must teach her how to be skillful in business, so that He may have His rightful revenues. It was said of David, after his anointing by the Spirit, that he was "skillful in business" (1 Samuel 16:18); and Daniel, who had such great visions of God, was no "visionary" in practical life, as we are shown by the fact that his enemies could find no occasion of fault in him in the King's affairs committed to his care. King Solomon must have his rightful revenues, says His "fellow-worker," but her knowledge of her Lord, and her enlightened judgment as to what is "worthy of God," tells her that she must be generous, as well as just, to those who gather the fruits under her control. She knows that the King would exact no revenue at their cost, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. He must not be dishonored by their being underpaid, or else they, in their turn, will be unable to act worthily of Him. Moreover, there are eternal consequences attached to her stewardship: if she is to reign with her Lord, she must be taught how to "judge the smallest matters," for "the saints shall judge the world" (1 Corinthians 6:2). She must be trained to apply the laws of the heavenly Kingdom, as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, to the practical circumstances of her life.

The King as Counselor

"Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken for

Thy voice; cause me to hear it" (8:13). The hidden one has learned to walk very silently with her God. The talkative disposition of early days has passed away. She has no desire now to blaze abroad the secrets of His love. The life hidden in the heart of God is a very deep and a very silent one. When God speaks, He speaks with a purpose, and the soul is learning to partake of His divine silence. She cannot talk now for the sake of

talking, neither can she listen to, or pass on to her neighbors, the thousand petty trifles that so easily impress those whose minds are set upon earthly things. The Well-Beloved dwells in the garden of her soul. She tells Him that the companions are eagerly listening for His voice through her; will He please cause her to hear it, so that she may speak only when He speaks! She craves to be but a voice which passes away, leaving the Living Word in the hearts around. He has promised to be a Wonderful Counselor if she will permit the government of her whole being to remain upon His shoulders. He will cause her to know the way wherein she should walk as she goes forth every moment "leaning upon her Beloved."

The Heart Cry of the Bridal Soul

"Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a gazelle…

upon the mountains" (8:14). She longs for the day of His appearing to the world – for that glorious day when He shall be marveled at in all them that believe; therefore, in unison with the Eternal Spirit, she makes intercession according to the will of God and prays with deep desire: "Make haste, my Beloved," for she is "looking for, and earnestly desiring ["hastening,"] the coming of the day of God," and is, according to His promise, looking for "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:12-13). Clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, the redeemed ones are then presented to their Lord, with no spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:27). "Made ready" by Him in the fire, they are clear as crystal, transparent as glass. The body of humiliation has been made like unto the glorious body of the Lord; it is luminous with the light of the Lamb which shines through undimmed. Even now they are nothing but capacities through which God may manifest His glory. The glorious destiny of the Bride is to be a tabernacle of God, that He may dwell among men. The nations shall walk by the light given through the Bride-city. From the throne of God in the midst thereof will flow a pure river of life, and there shall be crops of fruit (Revelation 22:2) – ample provision for the healing of the nations – and there shall be no more anything accursed (Revelation 22:3). The Bride reigns with her Lord unto the ages of ages.

All, all in His new creation The glory of God shall see; And the lamp for that light eternal

The Bride of the Lamb shall be.

A golden lamp in the heavens,

That all may see and adore,

The Lamb who was slain and who liveth,

Who liveth for evermore.

"GOD [IS] ALL IN ALL"

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