Here we have a dialogue of love between the Lord Jesus and his people.
Song of Solomon 2:1. I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Amongst all flowers, there is none that can be compared with him.
«White is his soul, from blemish free,
Red with the blood he shed for me.»
Song of Solomon 2:2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
The child of God cannot long be mistaken for a worldling. The lily rises up above its thorny companions, but everybody knows that it is not a thorn; and chiefly do the quick eyes of the Lord Jesus discern his people wherever they may be found. You, dear friend, may perhaps come of a graceless family, or you may live in a house where God is all but unknown; yet Christ always knows his pure lilies, even if they grow among the cruel piercing thorns.
Song of Solomon 2:3. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
You who love the Lord Jesus know what this verse means. He is a great variety of delights to you; food for your soul, a shadow for your head in the day of the sun's burning heat. When you are near to him, the sun does not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. There is no shadow like Christ's shadow, and no fruit like his fruit.
Song of Solomon 2:4. He brought me to the banqueting house,
That, I trust, he will again do, as he has often done before, both while we are hearing his Word and when we approach his table: «He brought me to the banqueting house,»
Song of Solomon 2:4. And his banner over me was love.
Not the fiery ensign of war, but the peaceful banner of love. You have had enough of the world, beloved, during the past six days; you will again have enough of it in the six days yet to come; but just now, let love's royal banner wave over you, and give up your thoughts entirely to him who has loved you with an everlasting love, and sealed his love to you by the blood that streamed from his pierced heart.
Song of Solomon 2:5. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
The love of Christ shed abroad in our heart sometimes quite overpowers us. It is very possible to be so delighted, so full of joy with a sense of the love of Jesus, that one feels unable to bear any more of it. Oh, for more of this blessed sickness! «It is a strange thing,» says one, «this love of Christ,»
«For, oh! when whole, it makes me sick,
When sick, it makes me whole.»
Song of Solomon 2:6-7. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, Those lovely, but timid creatures that are so easily scared away,
Song of Solomon 2:7. That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
O ye carking cares, keep away from us! Ye distractions that are so apt to arise in our crowded assembly, ye aches and pains that come in and make the body drag down the spirit, keep away from us for a while.
Song of Solomon 2:8. The voice of my beloved!
The spouse knows it at once, her ear is so trained that she recognizes it as soon as she hears it. Jesus said that his sheep follow him, for they know his voice, and he added, «A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.»
Song of Solomon 2:8. Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
«I thought my sins would keep him back, for they seemed like great mountains, how could he come to me? But, ‘behold,' he makes nothing of those barriers: ‘he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.'»
Song of Solomon 2:9. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
When we observe the ordinances aright, they are like latticed windows; we cannot see our Lord through them as clearly as we would, but still, we do see him, and we are thankful for these windows until we get up yonder, where we shall see him face to face.
Song of Solomon 2:10-13. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. No matter what weather it is outside, it may be spring-time within. If your hearts have been frost-bound and barren, may they now begin to thaw at the approach of Jesus! Many of us have asked for his company, and believe that he will be here; and when he comes, he will make our souls rejoice. They shall be as watered gardens when the spring returns again.
Song of Solomon 2:14. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Christ calls you out, you hidden ones, you who are half ashamed to be seen he bids you come to him. Come away from your doubting and your fearing, your halting and your hesitating; it is Jesus who calls you, therefore come to him at once.
Song of Solomon 2:15. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Drive away every sin that would keep Christ away. Ask for his grace to subdue every wandering thought, that he may be with you in undisturbed communion.
Song of Solomon 2:16-17. My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
Song of Solomon 3:1-5. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broadways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.