Part 2, Chapter 4: General Consequences of the Holy Spirit's Work — Consolation, Peace, Joy, Hope

Of communion with Christ in a conjugal relation in respect of consequential affections. His delight in his saints is first considered — Isaiah 62:5, Song of Solomon 3:11, Proverbs 8:21. As an instance of Christ's delight in believers: he reveals his whole heart to them, John 15:14-15; himself, 1 John 4:21; and his kingdom. He enables them to communicate their mind to him by giving them assistance, a way, and boldness in prayer — Romans 8:26-27. The saints' delight in Christ follows, as shown in Song of Solomon 2:7, chapter 8:6, and chapter 3:1-5. Their delight in his servants and ordinances of worship for his sake is also addressed.

The communion begun between Christ and the soul is next carried on by suitable consequential affections — affections suited to such a relation. Christ having given himself to the soul, loves the soul; and the soul having given itself to Christ, loves him also. Christ loves his own; he loves them to the end, John 13:1. The saints love Christ; they love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, Ephesians 6:24.

Now the love of Christ with which he follows his saints consists in these four things:

1. Delight. 2. Valuation. 3. Pity or compassion. 4. Bounty.

The love also of the saints toward Christ may be referred to these four heads:

1. Delight. 2. Valuation. 3. Chastity. 4. Duty.

Two of these are of the same kind, and two distinct, as is required in this relation, wherein all things do not stand on equal terms.

The first thing on the part of Christ is delight. Delight is the flowing of love and joy — the rest and contentment of the mind in a suitable and desirable good enjoyed. Christ delights exceedingly in his saints. As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you, Isaiah 62:5. Hence he calls the day of his espousals the day of the gladness of his heart, Song of Songs 3:11. The delight of the bridegroom in the day of his espousals is the height of what an expression of delight can be carried to. This is in Christ answerable to the relation he takes us into. His heart is glad in us, without sorrow. Every day while we live is his wedding day. Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord your God in your midst is mighty; he will save; he will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over you with singing — a full description of delight in all its parts. The thoughts of communion with the saints were the joy of his heart from eternity. On the compact and agreement between his Father and him, that he should divide a portion with the strong and save a remnant for his inheritance, his soul rejoiced in the thoughts of that pleasure and delight which he would take in them when he should actually take them into communion with himself. Proverbs 8:31: I rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. This makes him take them so close to himself in every relation. As he is God, they are his temple. As he is a king, they are his subjects. As he is a head, they are his body. As he is firstborn, he makes them his brothers. He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

I shall choose out one particular from among many as an instance for the proof of this: Christ reveals his secrets and his mind to his saints, and enables them to reveal the secrets of their hearts to him. This is an evident demonstration of great delight. It was Samson's carnal delight in Delilah that prevailed with him to reveal those things of greatest concern to him. He will not hide his mind from her, though it cost him his life. It is only to a closest friend that we will unbosom ourselves. There is possibly no greater evidence of delight in close communion than this: that one will reveal his heart to him whom he takes into society.

He communicates his mind to his saints and to them only — his mind, the counsel of his love, the thoughts of his heart, the purposes of his bosom for our eternal good. His mind: the ways of his grace, the workings of his Spirit, the rule of his scepter, and the obedience of his gospel. All spiritual revelation is by Christ. He is the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world, John 1:9. From him it is that the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he shows them his covenant, Psalm 25:14. John 15:14-15: You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. From now on I do not call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord does, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. He makes known all his mind to them — every thing that his Father has committed to him as mediator to be revealed. He sends his Spirit to make known his mind to his saints and to lead them into all truth. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11: he has revealed these things to us by his Spirit, for we have received him that we might know the things freely given to us of God. And so the apostle concludes, we have known the mind of Christ, verse 16, for he uses us as friends and declares it to us. There is nothing in the heart of Christ in which these his friends are concerned that he does not reveal to them. All his love, his goodwill, the secrets of his covenant, the paths of obedience, the mystery of faith is told them.

All this is spoken in opposition to unbelievers, with whom he has no communion. These know nothing of the mind of Christ as they ought. The natural man does not receive the things that are of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14. There is a wide difference between understanding the doctrine of the scripture as in the letter and a true knowing of the mind of Christ. This we have by special anointing from Christ, 1 John 2:20.

The things which in this communion Christ reveals to those he delights in may be referred to two heads:

1. Himself. 2. His kingdom.

First, himself, John 14:21: he who loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. He shall know me as I am, and such I will be to him — a Savior, a Redeemer, the chief among ten thousand. He shall be acquainted with the true worth and value of the pearl of great price. Let others look upon him as having no beauty to be desired — he will manifest himself and his excellencies to those in whom he is delighted, so that they shall see him altogether lovely. He will veil himself to all the world, but the saints with open face shall behold his beauty and his glory, and so be transformed into the same image of glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Second, his kingdom: they shall be acquainted with the government of his Spirit in their hearts, as also with his rule and the administration of authority in his Word and among his churches.

Thus, in the first place, does he manifest his delight in his saints — he communicates his secrets to them. He gives them to know his person, his excellencies, his grace, his love, his kingdom, his will, the riches of his goodness, and the depths of his mercy more and more, when the world shall neither see nor know any such thing.

Second, he enables his saints to communicate their mind and reveal their souls to him, so that they may walk together as intimate friends. Christ knows the minds of all. He knows what is in man and needs not that any man testify of him, John 2:25. He searches the hearts and tries the desires of all, Revelation 2:23. But all know not how to communicate their mind to Christ. It will not benefit a man that Christ knows his mind, for so he does of everyone whether they will it or not. But that a man can make his heart known to Christ — this is consolation. Hence the prayers of the saints are incense and odors; those of others are an abomination to the Lord. Three things are required to enable a man to communicate his heart to the Lord Jesus.

First, assistance for the work, for of ourselves we cannot do it. This the saints have by the Spirit of Jesus, Romans 8:26-27: the Spirit helps our infirmities, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. All endeavors for communion with God, without the supplies of the Spirit of supplications and his effectual working in the heart, are of no value. And this opening of our hearts to the Lord Jesus is that in which he is exceedingly delighted. Hence is his affectionate call to us: Song of Songs 2:14, O my dove that is in the clefts of the rock, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for sweet is your voice and your face is lovely. When the soul on any account is driven to hide itself in any neglected condition, he calls for this communication of itself by prayer to him, for which he gives the assistance of the Spirit.

Second, a way whereby to approach to God with our desires. This also we have provided for us by him. John 14:5-6: Thomas says to Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus says to him, I am the way; no man comes to the Father except by me. That way which we had of going to God at our creation is quite shut up by sin. The sword of the law, which has fire put into it by sin, turns every way to stop all passages to communion with God. Jesus Christ has consecrated a new and living way for the saints through the veil, that is to say his flesh, Hebrews 10:20. Christ only is the way to the throne of grace; none comes to God except by him. By him we have access in one Spirit to the Father, Ephesians 2:18. These two things then the saints have for the opening of their hearts at the throne of grace: assistance and a way — the assistance of the Spirit, without which they are nothing, and the way of Christ's mediation, without which God is not to be approached.

Third, boldness to go to God. The voice of sinners in themselves, if once acquainted with the terror of the Lord, is: Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Isaiah 33:14. Shame and trembling before God are the proper results of sin. But we now have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil — that is to say, his flesh. Having a high priest over the house of God, we may draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, Hebrews 10:19-22. Such is the glory and terror of the Lord, such the infinite perfection of his holiness, that a clear sight of it will make the soul conclude that of itself it cannot serve him. It is in Christ alone and on the account of his oblation and intercession that we have any boldness to approach him. These three advantages the saints have for communicating their minds to the Lord Christ, which he has provided for them because he delights in them.

To briefly illustrate, let us see the difference between a spiritual revealing of our minds to Christ in this acceptable manner, and the praying upon conviction that others practice. This shall be from the first — the assistance we have by the Spirit.

First, the Spirit of Christ reveals to us our own wants, that we may reveal them to him. We do not know what to pray for as we ought, Romans 8:26. No teachings less than those of the Spirit of God are able to make our souls acquainted with their own wants, their burdens, their temptations. For a soul to know its wants and infirmities is a heavenly discovery. He who has this assistance has his prayer more than half made before he begins to pray. He finds not by a perplexing conviction but by a holy sense and weariness of sin where he is dead, where dull and cold, wherein unbelieving, wherein tempted above all his strength, where the light of God's face is wanting. Without this sense given by the Holy Spirit, there is neither desire nor prayer.

Second, the expressions and words of such persons come exceedingly short of the laboring of their hearts. Therefore in their supplications the Spirit makes intercession with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered. He who has this assistance can find no clothing large enough to set forth the desires of his heart. In the close of his best and most fervent supplications, such a person finds a double dissatisfaction. First, that they are not a righteousness to be rested on — if God should mark what is in them amiss, they could not abide the trial. Second, that his heart in them is not poured out in any proportion to the holy desires and laboring that were conceived within it. The more they speak, the more they find they have left unspoken.

Third, the intercession of the saints thus assisted is according to the mind of God — that is, they are guided by the Spirit to make requests for those things which it is God's will they should desire. There are many ways to know when we make supplications according to the will of God. One way is: when we do it according to the promise. When our prayers are regulated by the promise, we make them according to the will of God. David in Psalm 119:49 says: Remember the word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. He prays and regulates his desire by the word of promise in which he had trusted. Yet men may ask what is in the promise and yet not have their prayers regulated by the promise. They may pray for what is in the promise but not as it is in the promise. James says some ask and do not receive because they ask wrongly, to spend it on their passions, James 4:3. Though the things God would have us ask are requested, if not according as he would have us do it, we ask wrongly.

Two things are required, that we may pray for the things in the promise, as they are in the promise.

1. That we look upon them as promised, and promised in Christ; that is, that all the reason we have, from which we hope for attaining the things we ask for, is from the mediation and purchase of Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. This it is, to ask the Father in Christ's name; God as a Father, the fountain, and Christ as the procurer of them.

2. That we ask for them for the end of the promise: not to spend on our lust, when we ask pardon for sin, with secret reserves in our hearts to continue in sin, we ask the choicest mercy of the covenant, to spend it on our lusts. The end of the promise the apostle tells us (2 Corinthians 7:1). Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. When we ask what is in the promise, as it is in the promise, to this end of the promise, our supplications are according to the will of God. And this is the first conjugal affection that Christ exercises towards believers; he delights in them: which that he does is evident, as upon other considerations innumerable, so from the instance, given.

In return hereunto, for the carrying on of the communion between them, the saints delight in Christ: he is their joy, their crown, their rejoicing, their life, food, health, strength, desire, righteousness, salvation, blessedness: without him they have nothing, in him they find all things (Galatians 6:14). God forbid that I should rejoice, save in the cross of Christ. He has from the foundation of the world, been the hopes, expectation, desire, and delight of all believers. The promise of him was all, (and it was enough) that God gave Adam in his inexpressible distress, to relieve and comfort him (Genesis 3:15). Eve perhaps supposed that the promised seed had been born in her firstborn, when she said, I have gotten a man from the Lord, so most properly denoting the fourth case; and this was the matter of her joy (Genesis 4:1). Lamech having Noah given to him as a type of Christ, and salvation by him, cries out, this same shall comfort us concerning our work, and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed (Genesis 5:29). He rejoices in him who was to take away the curse, by being made a curse for us. When Abraham was in the height of his glory, returning from the conquest of the kings of the east, that came against the confederate kings of the vale of Sodom, God appears to him with a glorious promise (Genesis 15:1). Fear not Abraham, I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward. What now could his soul more desire? Alas he cries (as Reuben afterwards upon the loss of Joseph) the child is not, and where shall I go? Verse 2. Lord God what will you give me, seeing I go childless? You have promised, that in my seed shall all the earth be blessed, if I have not that seed, ah what will all other things do me good? Thence it is said that he rejoiced to see the day of Christ; he saw it and was glad (John 8:56). The thoughts of the coming of Christ, which he looked on at the distance of 2000 years, was the joy and delight of his heart. Jacob blessing his sons, lifted up his spirit when he comes to Judah, in whom he considered the Shiloh to come (Genesis 49:8-9) and a little after, wearied with the foresight and consideration of the distresses of his posterity, this he diverts to for his relief, as that great delight of his soul, I have waited for your salvation O God: for him who was to be the salvation of his people. But it would be endless to instance in particulars: old Simeon sums up the whole: Christ, is God's salvation, and Israel's glory (Luke 2:30-31) and whatever was called the glory of old, it was either himself, or a type of him. The glory of man is their delight. Hence (Haggai 2:7) he is called the desire of all nations: him whom their soul loves and delights in, desire, and long after. So is the saints' delight in him made a description of him by way of eminence (Malachi 3:1). The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in. He whom you seek, whom you delight in, is the description of Christ: he is their delight and desirable one, the person of their desire. To fix on something in particular.

In that pattern of communion with Jesus Christ, which we have in the Canticles, this is abundantly insisted on. The spouse tells us, that she sits down under his shadow with great delight (chapter 2:3). And this delight to be vigorous and active, she manifests several ways, wherein we should labor to find our hearts in like manner towards him.

1. By her exceeding great care to keep his company and society, when once she had obtained it (Song of Songs 2:7). I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my beloved until he please. Having obtained sweet communion with Christ, described in the verses foregoing, of which before, here she expresses her delight in it, and desire of the continuance of it: and therefore following on the allusion formerly insisted on, she speaks as one would do to her companion, that had rest with one she loved: I charge you by all that is dear to you, by the things you most delight in, which among the creatures are most lovely, all the pleasant and desirable things that you can think of, that you disturb him not. The sum of her aim and desire is, that nothing may fall out, nothing of sin or provocation happen that may occasion Christ to depart from her, or to remove, from that dispensation wherein he seemed to take that rest in her. O stir him not up until he please, that is, never, love itself: in the abstract to express an earnest affection, for so that word is often used. When once the soul of a believer has obtained sweet and real communion with Christ, it looks about him, watches all temptations, all ways whereby sin might approach, to disturb him in his enjoyment of his dear Lord and Savior, his rest and desire. How does it charge itself, not to omit anything, not to do anything, that may interrupt the communion obtained. And because the common entrance of temptations, which tend to the disturbance of that rest and complacency which Christ takes in the soul, is from delightful diversions from actual communion with him, therefore is desire strong and active, that the companions of such a soul, those with whom it does converse, would not by their proposals or allurements, divert it into any such frame, as Christ cannot delight, nor rest in. A believer that has gotten Christ in his arms, is like one that has found great spoils, or a pearl of price. He looks about him every way, and fears everything, that may deprive him of it. Riches make men watchful; and the actual sensible possession of him, in whom are all the riches and treasure of God, will make men look about them for the keeping of him. The line of choicest communion, is a line of the greatest spiritual solicitude. Carelessness, in the enjoyment of Christ pretended, is a manifest evidence of a false heart.

2. The spouse manifests her delight in him, by her utmost impatience of his absence, with desires still of nearer communion with him (Song of Songs 8:6). Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame. The allusion is doubtless from the high priest of the Jews, in his spiritual representation of the church before God. He had a breastplate which he is said to wear on his heart (Exodus 28:29), wherein the names of the children of Israel were engraved after the manner of seals or signets, and he bore them for a memorial before the Lord. He had the like also upon his shoulder, or on his arms (verses 11, 12), both representing the priesthood of Christ, who bears the names of all his, before his Father, in the holiest of holies (Hebrews 9:24). Now the seal on the heart, is near, inward, tender, love, and care, which gives an impression and image on the heart of the thing so loved. Set me, says the spouse, as a seal upon your heart; let me be constantly fixed in your most tender and affectionate love; let me always have a place in your heart, let me have an engraving, a mighty impression of love upon your heart, that shall never be obliterated. The soul is never satisfied with thoughts of Christ's love to it. Oh that it were more, that it were more, that I were as a seal on his heart, is its language. The soul knows indeed on serious thoughts, that the love of Christ is inconceivable, and cannot be increased, but it would fain work up itself to an apprehension of it; and therefore she adds here, set me as a seal upon your arm; the heart is the fountain, but close and hidden; the arm is manifestation and power. Let, says the spouse, your love be manifested to me in your tender and powerful persuasion of me. Two things are evident in this request: the continual mindfulness of Christ of the soul, as having its condition still in his eye, engraved on his arm (Isaiah 49:15-16), with the exalting of his power for the preservation of it, suitable to the love of his heart unto it, and the manifestation of the hidden love and care of the heart of Christ, unto the soul, being made visible on his arm, or evident by the fruits of it. This is that which she would be assured of; and without a sense whereof, there is no rest to be obtained.

The reason she gives of this earnestness in her supplications, is that which principally evinces her delight in him. Love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave, or hard as hell. This is the intent of what is so loftily set out by so many metaphors in this and the following verse. I am not able to bear the workings of my love to you; unless I may always have society and fellowship with you; there is no satisfying of my love without it. It is as the grave that still says give, give. Death is not satisfied without its prey: if it have not all, it has nothing: let what will happen, if death has not its whole desire it has nothing at all. Nor can it be withstood in its appointed season. No ransom will be taken. So is my love, if I have you not wholly, I have nothing, nor can all the world bribe it to a diversion: it will be no more turned aside than death in its time. Also I am not able to bear my jealous thoughts; I fear you do not love me, that you have forsaken me, because I know I deserve not to be beloved. These thoughts are hard as hell. They give no rest to my soul. If I find not myself on your heart and arm, I am as one that lies down in a bed of coals. This also argues a holy greediness of delight.

Third, she further manifests this by her trouble and perplexity in his loss and withdrawings. We easily bear the absence of that whose presence is not delightful. Song of Songs 3:1-3: By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him but found him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him but found him not. The watchmen who go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have you seen him whom my soul loves? It is night now with the soul — a time of darkness and trouble. Whenever Christ is absent it is night with a believer. He is the sun; if he goes down upon them, if his beams are eclipsed, it is all darkness with them. The absence of Christ will make it night and dark in the midst of all other glowing consolations. But is the Spouse content with this dispensation? She is on her bed, a place of ease and rest. Yet a believer finds no rest in the absence of Christ, though he has nothing else to disquiet him. The seeking of Christ by night on the bed has two parts: searching one's own soul for the cause of his absence, and searching the promises for his presence.

First, the soul finding not Christ present in his wonted manner — warming, cherishing, reviving it with love, nigh to it, supping with it, always filling its thoughts with himself, dropping myrrh and sweet tastes of love into it — but finding on the contrary that other thoughts crowd in and perplex the heart, and Christ is not nigh when inquired after, presently inquires into the cause of all this. It calls itself to account: what have I done, how have I behaved myself, that it is not with me as at other times — that Christ has withdrawn himself and is not nigh in the wonted manner? Here it accomplishes a diligent search. It considers the love, tenderness, and kindness of the Lord Jesus and what delight he takes in abiding with his saints, so that his departure is not without cause and provocation. How, says the soul, have I demeaned myself that I have lost my beloved? Where have I been wandering after other lovers? When the miscarriage is found out, it abounds in indignation against itself.

Second, having driven this to some issue, the soul applies itself to the promises of the covenant in which Christ is most graciously exhibited. It ponders one promise then another to find a taste of him. But if — as it often falls out — the soul finds nothing but the bare letter in the promise, if it comes to it as to the grave of Christ of which it may be said, he is risen, he is not here, this amazes the soul and it knows not what to do. As a man who has a jewel of great price, laying it aside, goes in a time of great need to seek for his jewel and finds it not where he expected, and is filled with amazement — so is it with this pearl of the gospel. After a man has sold all that he has for it and enjoyed it for a season, to have it missing at a time of need must needs perplex him. So was it with the Spouse: I sought him but found him not.

But what does she do now? Does she give up and search no more? No, but she says in verse 2: I will arise. I will not so give over. I must have Christ or die. I will now arise and go about this business.

First, she resolves to put herself upon another course — a more vigorous inquiry. She will arise and make use of other means besides those of private prayer, meditation, and searching the promises. This carries resolution and a zealous, violent casting off that frame in which she had lost her love. I will arise — I will not rest in this frame. I am undone if I do. Secondly, diligence: I will now take another course; I will leave no way unattempted, no means untried whereby I may possibly recover communion with my beloved.

This is the condition of a soul that finds not the wonted presence of Christ in its private and more retired inquiries. Dull in prayer, wandering in meditations, rare in thoughts of him! I will not bear this frame. Whatever way God has appointed I will in his strength vigorously pursue until this frame is altered and I find my beloved.

Second, the way she puts herself upon is to go about the city. The city intended is the city of God — the church. Passing through the broad and narrow streets is the diligent inquiry the Spouse makes in all the paths and ordinances given to it. When the soul finds Christ not in any private endeavors, it makes vigorous application to the ordinances of public worship. In prayer, in preaching, in administration of the seals, it looks after Christ. The great inquiry believers make in every ordinance is after Christ. So much as they find of him, so much sweetness and refreshment have they and no more. Especially when under any desertion they rise up to this inquiry. They listen to every word, to every prayer, to find if any thing of Christ, any light from him, any life, any love appears to them. Oh that Christ would at length meet me in this or that sermon and recover my poor heart to some sight of his love, to some taste of kindness. The solicitousness of a believer in his inquiry after Christ, when he finds not his presence for grace or consolation as in former days, is inexpressible. Much of the frame of such a heart is couched in the redoubling of the expression 'I sought him, I sought him' — setting out an inconceivable passion and suitably industrious desire. Thus being disappointed at home, the Spouse proceeds.

But see the outcome of this also: she sought him but found him not. It does sometimes so fall out; all will not do, they shall seek him and not find him. Let those who enjoy any thing of the presence of Christ take heed what they do. If they provoke him to depart, if they lose him, it may cost them many a bitter inquiry before they find him again. When a soul prays and meditates, searches the promises in private, attends all ordinances in public with earnestness and diligence, and all to get one glimpse of the face of Jesus Christ — and all in vain — it is a sad condition.

What follows in this estate? Verse 3: the watchmen found her. That these watchmen of the city of God are the watchmen and officers of the church is agreed. It is a matter of sad consideration that the Holy Spirit does sometimes in this book take notice of the watchmen on no good account — plainly in chapter 5:7, they turn persecutors. It was Luther's saying that religion is never more in danger than among the most reverend. Here however they are of a gentle temper and, seeing the poor disconsolate soul, they seem to take notice of her condition.

It is the duty of faithful watchmen to take notice of poor, troubled, deserted souls — not to keep at a distance but to be willing to assist. A truly pressed soul on account of Christ's absence cannot cover its love but must be inquiring after him. Saw you him whom my soul loves? This is my condition. I have had sweet enjoyment of my blessed Jesus; he has now withdrawn from me. Can you help me? Can you guide me to my consolation? All these laboring in his absence sufficiently discover the soul's delight in the presence of Christ. Verse 4-5: It was but a little while that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house.

First, she tells you how she came to him: she found him. By what means is not expressed. It often so falls out in our communion with Christ: when private and public means fail, and the soul has nothing left but waiting silently and walking humbly, Christ appears, so that his so doing may be evidently of grace. Let us not at any time give up in this condition. When all ways are past, when neither bed nor watchmen can assist, let us wait a little, and we shall see the salvation of God. Christ often manifests himself immediately and outside of ordinances to those who wait for him in them. Let us wait as he has appointed; let him appear as he pleases. How she deals with him when found is next declared: she held him and would not let him go. Having at length come once more to an enjoyment of sweet communion with Christ, the soul lays fast hold on him by faith, refuses to part with him in vehemency of love, tries to keep him in ordinances, in the house of its mother the church of God, and so uses all means for confirming the mutual love between Christ and her. Should I pursue all the instances and testimonies given in that one book of the Song of Solomon, I must enter upon an exposition of the greatest part of it, which is not my present business. Let the hearts of the saints that are acquainted with these things make the close. What is it they long for? What is it that satisfies them to the utmost and gives sweet contentment to their spirits in every condition? What is it whose loss they fear, whose absence they cannot bear? Is it not this their beloved, and he alone?

The saints further manifest their delight in Christ by their delight in everything that peculiarly belongs to Christ as his in this world. This is an evidence of delight: when for the sake of him we delight in, we also delight in everything that belongs to him. Christ's great interest in this world lies in his people and his ordinances — his household and their provision. In both these do the saints exceedingly delight for his sake. Take an instance in one man: David in Psalm 16:3: As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. Christ says of his church that she is Hephzibah, Isaiah 62:4 — my delight is in her. Here David says of the same: my delight is in them. As Christ delights in his saints, so do they in one another on his account. Here says David is all my delight. Whatever contentment he took in any other persons, it was nothing in comparison of the delight he took in them.

For the ordinances, consider the same person: Psalms 42, 84, and 48 are such plentiful testimonies throughout that no further discourse is needed on this particular.

This is the first mutual consequential act of conjugal affections in this communion between Christ and believers. He delights in them and they delight in him. He delights in their prosperity and has pleasure in it. They delight in his honor and glory and in his presence with them. For his sake they delight in his servants, though by the world contemned, as the most excellent in the world. And they delight in his ordinances as the wisdom of God, which are foolishness to the world.

Communion with Christ in a conjugal relationship, regarding the consequential affections. His delight in His saints is considered first — Isaiah 62:5; Song of Solomon 3:11; Proverbs 8:31. As one instance of Christ's delight in believers: He reveals His whole heart to them (John 15:14-15), Himself (1 John 4:21), and His kingdom. He enables them to communicate their hearts to Him by giving them help, a way, and boldness in prayer — Romans 8:26-27. The saints' delight in Christ follows, as shown in Song of Solomon 2:7, 8:6, and 3:1-5. Their delight in His servants and ordinances of worship for His sake is also addressed.

The communion begun between Christ and the soul is then carried on through fitting consequential affections — affections suited to such a relationship. Christ, having given Himself to the soul, loves the soul; and the soul, having given itself to Christ, loves Him in return. Christ loves His own; He loves them to the end (John 13:1). The saints love Christ; they love the Lord Jesus Christ with sincere love (Ephesians 6:24).

The love with which Christ follows His saints consists in four things:

1. Delight. 2. Valuation. 3. Pity, or compassion. 4. Generosity.

The love of the saints toward Christ may likewise be grouped under four headings:

1. Delight. 2. Valuation. 3. Faithfulness. 4. Duty.

Two of these are the same on both sides, and two are distinct — as fits this relationship, in which the two parties do not stand on equal terms.

The first thing on Christ's part is delight. Delight is the overflow of love and joy — the rest and contentment of the mind in a good that is fitting and desired and now enjoyed. Christ takes great delight in His saints. 'As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you' (Isaiah 62:5). He calls the day of His betrothal the day of the gladness of His heart (Song of Solomon 3:11). The bridegroom's delight on the day of his betrothal is the highest expression of delight that can be put into words. This is what Christ's delight in us corresponds to, in keeping with the relationship He draws us into. His heart is glad in us, without sorrow. Every day of our lives is His wedding day. Zephaniah 3:17: 'The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who saves; He will rejoice over you with joy; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing' — a full description of delight in all its aspects. The thought of communion with the saints was the joy of His heart from eternity. On the basis of the agreement between Him and His Father — that He should divide a portion with the strong and save a remnant as His inheritance — His soul rejoiced in anticipation of the pleasure and delight He would take in them when He actually brought them into communion with Himself. Proverbs 8:31: 'I was rejoicing in His inhabited world, delighting in the sons of men.' This is why He draws them so close to Himself in every relationship. As He is God, they are His temple. As He is a king, they are His subjects. As He is a head, they are His body. As He is the firstborn, He makes them His brothers. He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

From among many, I will select one example to show this: Christ reveals His secrets and His mind to His saints, and enables them to reveal the secrets of their hearts to Him. This is a clear demonstration of deep delight. It was Samson's misplaced affection for Delilah that led him to reveal his most important secret to her. He would not keep his heart hidden from her, even though it cost him his life. We open ourselves only to our closest friends. There is perhaps no greater evidence of delight in close fellowship than this: that one willingly reveals his heart to the one he has taken into intimacy.

He communicates His mind to His saints — and to them alone — His mind, the counsel of His love, the thoughts of His heart, the purposes of His heart for our eternal good. His mind encompasses the ways of His grace, the workings of His Spirit, the rule of His authority, and the obedience of His Gospel. All spiritual revelation comes through Christ. He is the true light who enlightens everyone who comes into the world (John 1:9). Through Him, the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He shows them His covenant (Psalm 25:14). John 15:14-15: 'You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.' He makes known His entire mind to them — everything the Father entrusted to Him as Mediator to be revealed. He sends His Spirit to make His mind known to His saints and to lead them into all truth. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11: He has revealed these things to us by His Spirit, for we have received Him so that we might know the things freely given to us by God. The apostle therefore concludes: 'We have the mind of Christ' (verse 16), because He treats us as friends and tells us what is in His heart. There is nothing in the heart of Christ that concerns His friends that He does not reveal to them. All His love, His goodwill, the secrets of His covenant, the paths of obedience, the mystery of faith — all of it is told to them.

All of this stands in contrast to unbelievers, with whom He shares no such communion. They know nothing of the mind of Christ as they ought. The natural person does not receive the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). There is a vast difference between understanding the teaching of Scripture at the level of the written words and truly knowing the mind of Christ. The latter comes only through a special anointing from Christ (1 John 2:20).

The things that Christ reveals to those He delights in, through this communion, can be gathered under two headings:

1. Himself. 2. His kingdom.

First, Himself: 'He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him' (John 14:21). He will know Me as I am, and such I will be to him — a Savior, a Redeemer, the chiefest among ten thousand. He will be acquainted with the true worth and value of the pearl of great price. Let others look on Him as having no beauty worth desiring — He will reveal Himself and His excellencies to those in whom He delights, so that they will see Him as altogether lovely. He will veil Himself from all the world, but the saints with unveiled face will behold His beauty and His glory, and be transformed into that same image of glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Second, His kingdom: they will come to know the government of His Spirit in their hearts, and also His rule and the administration of His authority in His Word and among His churches.

This, then, is the first way He shows His delight in His saints — He shares His secrets with them. He gives them to know His person, His excellencies, His grace, His love, His kingdom, His will, the riches of His goodness, and the depths of His mercy — more and more — while the world neither sees nor knows any such thing.

Second, He enables His saints to communicate their minds and open their souls to Him, so that they may walk together as close friends. Christ knows the minds of all people. He knows what is in man and needs no one to testify about anyone (John 2:25). He searches hearts and examines desires (Revelation 2:23). But not everyone knows how to communicate their heart to Christ. The fact that Christ knows a person's mind is not itself a comfort — He knows the minds of everyone, whether they want Him to or not. But the ability to make one's own heart known to Christ — that is a comfort. This is why the prayers of the saints are incense and fragrance before God, while the prayers of others are an abomination to the Lord. Three things are required to enable a person to communicate their heart to the Lord Jesus.

First, help in the work — for we cannot do it on our own. The saints have this through the Spirit of Jesus (Romans 8:26-27): 'The Spirit helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.' All efforts to commune with God, without the provision of the Spirit of prayer and His active working in the heart, are worthless. And this opening of our hearts to the Lord Jesus is something in which He takes great delight. Hence His tender call to us in Song of Solomon 2:14: 'O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, let me see your form, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your form is lovely.' When the soul, for whatever reason, has withdrawn and hidden itself, He calls for this communication through prayer — and for that purpose He gives the help of the Spirit.

Second, a way to approach God with our desires. This too has been provided for us by Him. John 14:5-6: Thomas said to Jesus, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way; no one comes to the Father except through Me.' The path we had to God at our creation is completely blocked by sin. The sword of the law, set on fire by sin, turns in every direction to stop every approach to communion with God. Jesus Christ has opened a new and living way for the saints through the veil — that is, through His flesh (Hebrews 10:20). Christ alone is the way to the throne of grace; no one comes to God except through Him. Through Him we have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). So the saints have two things for opening their hearts at the throne of grace: help and a way — the help of the Spirit, without which they are nothing, and the way of Christ's mediation, without which God cannot be approached.

Third, boldness to come to God. The instinctive cry of sinners, once they feel the terror of the Lord, is: 'Who among us can live with the consuming fire?' (Isaiah 33:14). Shame and trembling before God are the natural outcomes of sin. But we now have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way He opened for us through the veil — that is, through His flesh. Having a high priest over the house of God, we may draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:19-22). The glory and majesty of the Lord are such, and the infinite perfection of His holiness so great, that a clear sight of it will make the soul conclude that it cannot approach Him on its own. It is in Christ alone, and on the basis of His sacrifice and intercession, that we have any boldness to come to Him. These three provisions the saints have for communicating their hearts to the Lord Christ — all of which He has made available because He delights in them.

To make this briefly concrete, let us compare the spiritual opening of our hearts to Christ in this acceptable manner with the kind of prayer motivated only by conviction. The difference will be clearest starting from the first point — the help we have from the Spirit.

First, the Spirit of Christ reveals to us our own needs, so that we may bring them to Him. We do not know what to pray for as we ought (Romans 8:26). Nothing less than the teaching of the Spirit of God can make our souls truly aware of their own needs, burdens, and temptations. For a soul to know its own weaknesses and failures is a gift from heaven. The person who has this help has his prayer more than half formed before he begins to pray. He discovers — not through a distressing conviction but through a holy sense of and weariness with sin — where he is spiritually dead, where he is dull and cold, where he is unbelieving, where he is tempted beyond his strength, and where the light of God's face is absent. Without this awareness given by the Holy Spirit, there is neither true desire nor true prayer.

Second, the words and expressions of such people fall far short of the laboring of their hearts. Therefore in their supplications the Spirit intercedes with sighs and groans that cannot be expressed in words. The person with this Spirit's help finds no words large enough to give voice to the desires of his heart. At the close of his best and most fervent prayers, such a person feels a double dissatisfaction. First, that his prayers are not a righteousness he can rest on — if God were to mark what is wrong in them, they could not stand the test. Second, that his heart has not been poured out in anything approaching the depth of the holy desires and longings conceived within it. The more he speaks, the more he finds he has left unspoken.

Third, the intercession of the saints, when assisted in this way, is according to the mind of God — that is, the Spirit guides them to ask for the very things God wants them to desire. There are several ways to know when we are praying according to the will of God. One way is: when we pray according to the promise. When our prayers are shaped by the promise, we are praying according to God's will. David in Psalm 119:49 says: 'Remember the word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope.' He prays and directs his desire by the word of promise in which he had placed his trust. Yet a person may ask for what is in the promise and still not be praying according to the promise. They may pray for what the promise contains but not in the manner the promise intends. James says that some ask and do not receive because they ask wrongly — to spend on their own desires (James 4:3). Even when the right things are requested, if they are not sought in the right manner, we are asking wrongly.

Two things are required so that we may pray for the things in the promise as they are in the promise.

1. That we look on them as promised — and as promised in Christ; meaning, that all the ground we have for hoping to receive what we ask rests entirely on the mediation and purchase of Christ, in whom all the promises are Yes and Amen. This is what it means to ask the Father in Christ's name: God as the Father and source, and Christ as the One who obtained these blessings for us.

2. That we ask for them for the end the promise intends: not to spend on our own desires. When we ask for forgiveness of sin while secretly reserving the intention to continue in sin, we are asking for the most precious mercy of the covenant and planning to waste it on our own lusts. The apostle tells us what the end of the promise is (2 Corinthians 7:1): 'Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' When we ask for what is in the promise, in the manner the promise intends, and for the purpose the promise is given, our prayers are according to the will of God. And this is the first expression of Christ's conjugal love toward believers: He delights in them — and that He does is clear, as much from the example given as from countless other considerations.

In response to this, and to carry the communion forward, the saints take delight in Christ. He is their joy, their crown, their glory, their life, their food, their health, their strength, their desire, their righteousness, their salvation, their blessedness. Without Him they have nothing; in Him they find all things. 'God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of Christ' (Galatians 6:14). From the beginning of the world He has been the hope, expectation, desire, and delight of all believers. The promise of Him was all God gave to Adam in his unspeakable distress to relieve and comfort him — and it was enough (Genesis 3:15). Eve perhaps thought that the promised seed had been born in her firstborn when she said, 'I have acquired a man with the help of the Lord' — and this was the source of her joy (Genesis 4:1). When Lamech was given Noah as a figure of Christ and of the salvation to come through Him, he cried out: 'This one will comfort us in our work and in the painful toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed' (Genesis 5:29). He rejoiced in the one who was to take away the curse by becoming a curse for us. When Abraham was at the height of his glory, returning from his victory over the kings who had attacked the kings of the valley of Sodom, God appeared to him with a glorious promise (Genesis 15:1): 'Do not fear, Abram; I am a shield to you; your very great reward.' What more could his soul desire? Yet he cried out — as Reuben later did over the loss of Joseph, 'the child is not' — 'O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless?' (verse 2). As if to say: You have promised that in my seed all the earth would be blessed — if I do not have that seed, what good will anything else do me? And so it is said that he rejoiced to see the day of Christ; he saw it and was glad (John 8:56). The thought of Christ's coming — which he viewed from a distance of two thousand years — was the joy and delight of his heart. When Jacob was blessing his sons, his spirit lifted when he came to Judah, through whom he saw the Shiloh to come (Genesis 49:8-10); and a little later, weary from contemplating the future hardships of his descendants, he turned to this for his comfort — the great delight of his soul: 'I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord' — for the One who was to be the salvation of His people. But it would be endless to go through all the examples. Old Simeon sums it all up: Christ is God's salvation and Israel's glory (Luke 2:30-32) — and whatever was called glory in the old covenant was either Christ Himself or a type of Him. The glory of humanity is what people delight in. Hence He is called the desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7) — the One their souls love and delight in, long for and desire. So the saints' delight in Him is used to describe Him in terms of preeminence (Malachi 3:1): 'The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight.' The One you seek, the One you delight in — that is a description of Christ: He is their delight and their desire, the One for whom they long. Let us fix on something in particular.

In the pattern of communion with Jesus Christ set out in the Song of Solomon, this delight is richly elaborated. The bride tells us that she sits down under his shadow with great delight (Song of Solomon 2:3). She shows that this delight is vigorous and active in several ways — ways in which we should labor to find our own hearts similarly inclined toward Him.

1. Through her intense care to hold onto His company and presence once she has found it (Song of Solomon 2:7): 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you do not arouse or awaken my beloved until she pleases.' Having obtained sweet communion with Christ — described in the preceding verses, which have been discussed earlier — she expresses here her delight in it and her desire for its continuation. Following through on the earlier imagery, she speaks as one would to a companion who is resting with someone they love: 'I charge you by all that is most dear to you, by everything most lovely and desirable you can think of — do not disturb him.' The heart of her desire is that nothing might happen — no sin, no provocation — that would cause Christ to withdraw from that state of rest and delight He seemed to take in her. 'Do not stir him up until he pleases' — that is, never; love itself is what she means, using an abstraction to express the depth of longing. When a believer's soul has obtained genuine sweet communion with Christ, that soul looks around watchfully, alert to every temptation and every way sin might intrude to disturb the enjoyment of its dear Lord and Savior, its rest and desire. How earnestly it charges itself not to omit anything, and not to do anything, that might interrupt the communion it has found. And because the usual way temptations come in — threatening to disturb the rest and delight Christ takes in the soul — is through appealing diversions from actual communion with Him, she desires earnestly that those she is with, those she keeps company with, would not through their proposals or allurements draw her soul into any frame in which Christ cannot delight or rest. A believer who has found Christ and holds Him close is like someone who has found great treasure or a pearl of great price. He looks around in every direction, afraid of anything that might take it from him. Riches make people watchful — and the real, felt possession of the One in whom all the riches and treasures of God are stored will make people vigilant in holding onto Him. The highest line of communion is a line of the greatest spiritual watchfulness. Carelessness toward the communion with Christ one claims to enjoy is a plain sign of a false heart.

2. The bride shows her delight in Him through her deep restlessness in His absence and her longing for closer communion (Song of Solomon 8:6): 'Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.' The image is drawn from the high priest of Israel, who in his representative work before God wore a breastplate over his heart, in which the names of the children of Israel were engraved like seals or signet rings, and he carried them as a memorial before the Lord (Exodus 28:29). He likewise bore their names on his shoulders or arms (verses 11-12) — both images representing the priesthood of Christ, who bears the names of all His people before His Father in the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9:24). Now the seal on the heart speaks of intimate, inward, tender love and care — an impression and image left on the heart by the thing so loved. 'Put me as a seal on your heart,' says the bride — let me be constantly fixed in your most tender and affectionate love; let me always have a place in your heart; let there be a deep, indelible impression of love on your heart that will never be erased. The soul is never satisfied with thinking about Christ's love for it. 'Oh that it were more, that it were more — that I might be as a seal on His heart' is its language. The soul knows, on reflection, that Christ's love is beyond measure and cannot be increased; but it longs to press itself up toward some apprehension of it. And so she adds: 'put me as a seal on your arm' — the heart is the source, but it is hidden away; the arm is the place of action and display. 'Let your love be made visible to me,' she says, 'in your tender and powerful care of me.' Two things are clear in this request: that Christ is continually mindful of the soul, always keeping her condition before His eyes, her name engraved on His arm (Isaiah 49:15-16), and that He exerts His power for her protection in keeping with the love of His heart; and also that the hidden love and care of His heart is made visible to the soul through His arm — through the fruits it produces. This is what she longs to be assured of — and without some sense of it, there is no rest to be found.

The reason she gives for this passionate longing is what most clearly reveals her delight in Him. 'Love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe as Sheol' — or as relentless as the grave. This is the intent of the powerful imagery in this verse and the one following. I cannot contain the workings of my love for you; unless I can always have your company and fellowship, nothing satisfies my love. It is like the grave that always says, 'Give, give.' Death is not satisfied until it has its prey — if it does not get everything, it gets nothing; no matter what else happens, if death is denied its full desire, it has nothing at all. And it cannot be turned aside when its appointed time comes. No ransom will be accepted. So is my love: if I do not have you completely, I have nothing, and nothing in all the world can divert it — it cannot be turned away any more than death in its appointed hour. And I cannot bear my jealous fears; I am afraid you do not love me, that you have left me, because I know I do not deserve to be loved. These thoughts are as relentless as the grave. They give my soul no rest. If I do not find myself on your heart and arm, I am like one lying down on burning coals. This too shows a holy, consuming hunger for delight.

Third, she further shows this delight through her distress and distraction when He withdraws. We easily bear the absence of those whose presence gives us no delight. Song of Solomon 3:1-3: 'On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him. I must arise now and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I must seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him but did not find him. The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, and I said, "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"' It is night now with the soul — a time of darkness and trouble. Whenever Christ is absent, it is night for a believer. He is the sun; when He sets, when His light is hidden, everything becomes dark. The absence of Christ will bring night and darkness into the middle of all other comforts. But is the bride content with this condition? She is in bed — a place of ease and rest. Yet a believer finds no rest in Christ's absence, even when nothing else is troubling them. Seeking Christ on the bed at night involves two things: searching one's own soul for the cause of His absence, and searching the promises for His presence.

First, the soul finds that Christ is not present in the way it was used to — warming, cherishing, reviving it with love, staying close, dining with it, filling its thoughts with Himself, dropping the sweetness of love into it. Instead, it finds other thoughts crowding in and troubling the heart, and when it looks for Christ He is not near in the familiar way. The soul immediately begins to ask why. It calls itself to account: what have I done, how have I been conducting myself, that things are not as they were — that Christ has withdrawn and is not drawing near as He used to? Here begins a careful, honest self-examination. The soul considers the love, tenderness, and kindness of the Lord Jesus and how much He delights in staying with His saints — so His leaving is never without cause or provocation. 'How have I behaved,' asks the soul, 'that I have lost my beloved? Where have I been wandering after other loves?' When the fault is found, the soul overflows with grief and anger toward itself.

Second, having worked through some of this, the soul turns to the promises of the covenant in which Christ is graciously offered. It considers one promise, then another, searching for some taste of Him. But if — as often happens — the soul finds only bare words in the promise, if it comes to the promise as to the empty tomb of Christ and hears only, 'He has risen, He is not here' — this leaves the soul bewildered, not knowing what to do. It is like a man who owns a precious jewel, sets it aside, and then in a time of great need goes to find it — only to discover it is gone. He is filled with dismay. So it is with this pearl of the Gospel: after a man has given up everything to possess it and enjoyed it for a season, to find it missing when he most needs it must naturally leave him shaken. So it was with the bride: 'I sought him but did not find him.'

But what does she do now? Does she give up and stop searching? No — she says in verse 2: 'I will arise.' I will not give in so easily. I must have Christ or die. I will get up and pursue this with everything I have.

First, she resolves to take a fresh approach — a more active and vigorous pursuit. She will arise and make use of other means beyond private prayer, meditation, and searching the promises. This expresses resolution and a passionate, determined shaking off of the spiritual state in which she has lost her Beloved. 'I will arise' — I will not remain in this condition. I am ruined if I do. And diligence: I will take another course; I will leave no way unattempted and no means untried that might restore communion with my beloved.

This is the condition of a soul that cannot find the familiar presence of Christ in its private, quieter pursuits. Dull in prayer, wandering in meditation, rarely thinking of Him! I will not accept this condition. Whatever way God has appointed, I will pursue it vigorously in His strength until this condition is changed and I find my Beloved.

Second, the path she takes is to go through the city. The city intended is the city of God — the church. Going through the broad and narrow streets represents the bride's diligent searching through all the paths and ordinances God has given. When the soul finds Christ absent from its private efforts, it makes vigorous use of the public ordinances of worship. In prayer, in preaching, in the administration of the sacraments, it looks for Christ. The great question believers bring to every ordinance is: where is Christ in this? As much of Him as they find, so much sweetness and refreshment they receive — no more and no less. Especially when they are in a state of withdrawal, they press into the ordinances with this urgency. They listen to every word and every prayer, watching for any light from Him, any life, any love that might appear to them. 'Oh that Christ would meet me in this sermon, and restore my poor heart to some sight of His love, some taste of His kindness.' The earnestness of a believer searching for Christ when he no longer senses the presence for grace or consolation that he knew before is beyond description. Much of that soul's condition is captured in the repeated phrase 'I sought him, I sought him' — expressing a longing too intense to put fully into words. Having found nothing at home, the bride presses further.

But notice the outcome even of this: she sought him but did not find him. It sometimes turns out this way — all their efforts avail nothing; they seek and do not find. Let those who enjoy any degree of Christ's presence take care how they live. If they provoke Him to withdraw, if they lose Him, it may cost them many a bitter search before they find Him again. When a soul prays, meditates, searches the promises in private, attends every ordinance in public with earnestness and diligence — all to catch one glimpse of the face of Jesus Christ — and finds nothing — that is a grievous condition.

What comes next in this state? Verse 3: the watchmen found her. It is agreed that the watchmen of the city of God represent the ministers and officers of the church. It is a sobering observation that the Holy Spirit, in this book, sometimes describes the watchmen on troubling terms — plainly in chapter 5:7, they become persecutors. It was Luther's saying that religion is never more at risk than in the hands of the most reverend. Here, however, they are kind-hearted and, seeing the poor distressed soul, take notice of her condition.

It is the duty of faithful ministers to take notice of poor, troubled, spiritually desolate souls — not to hold back but to be ready to help. A soul genuinely pressed by the absence of Christ cannot conceal its love but must be asking after Him. 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?' This is my condition. I have had sweet enjoyment of my blessed Jesus; now He has withdrawn from me. Can you help me? Can you guide me to my comfort? All this laboring in His absence reveals clearly the soul's delight in His presence. Verses 4-5: 'Scarcely had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother's house.'

First, she tells us how she came to Him: she found Him. How this happened is not explained. It often works out this way in our communion with Christ: when private and public means both fail, and all the soul has left is silent waiting and humble walking, Christ appears — so that His appearing is clearly an act of grace alone. Let us never give up in this condition. When all other ways have run out, when neither bed nor ministers can help, let us wait a little longer — and we will see the salvation of God. Christ often reveals Himself directly, apart from the ordinances, to those who faithfully wait for Him within the ordinances. Let us wait as He has appointed, and let Him appear when He pleases. What she does when she finds Him is described next: she held on to Him and would not let Him go. Having come once more to an experience of sweet communion with Christ, the soul grips Him tightly by faith, refuses to let Him go in the intensity of love, strives to keep Him through the ordinances and in the house of her mother the church of God — and uses every means to confirm the love between Christ and herself. If I were to trace all the examples and testimonies in the Song of Solomon, I would need to work through most of that book, which is not my present purpose. Let the hearts of the saints who know these things draw the conclusion. What is it they long for? What is it that satisfies them most fully and gives sweet contentment to their spirits in every condition? What is it whose loss they dread and whose absence they cannot endure? Is it not this, their Beloved — and He alone?

The saints also show their delight in Christ by their delight in everything that belongs to Him in this world. This is a sign of true delight: for the sake of the one we love, we delight in everything that belongs to him. Christ's great interest in this world lies in His people and His ordinances — His household and their provision. In both of these the saints take great delight for His sake. Take one example: David in Psalm 16:3: 'As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.' Christ says of His church that she is Hephzibah — 'my delight is in her' (Isaiah 62:4). Here David says of those same people: 'my delight is in them.' Just as Christ delights in His saints, so they delight in one another for His sake. 'Here,' says David, 'is all my delight.' Whatever enjoyment he found in others was nothing compared to the delight he took in them.

As for the ordinances, consider the same person: Psalms 42, 84, and 48 provide such rich and full testimony throughout that no further comment is needed on this point.

This is the first mutual expression of conjugal love in this communion between Christ and believers. He delights in them and they delight in Him. He delights in their flourishing and takes pleasure in it. They delight in His honor and glory and in His presence with them. For His sake they delight in His servants — those whom the world despises — as the most excellent in the world. And they delight in His ordinances as the wisdom of God, which the world regards as foolishness.