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.
The church in this verse is looking to her beloved with great confidence and joy, that he will be to her all she needs, for the support of her faith in him, and dependence upon him; until the gospel-day shall fully break in upon the church at large, and Jesus will appear in the open display of himself both to Jew and Gentile. This was the longing expectation of the Old Testament Saints, when the law of ceremonies, and types, and shadows of good things to come should be done away and lost in the substance. Hence, we read in the opening of the Evangelists of those who departed not night and day from the temple, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Luke 2:37. And what is the cry of the soul now Christ is come, and all the Jewish ordinances as the shades of night are done away, but for Jesus to be like the roe or the hart for swiftness, in flying to his people's need in seasons of darkness and temptation, upon the mountains of Bether? And is not the holy expectation of the soul going out also, for the last coming of Jesus, when he will finally appear to gather his people to himself in glory? Surely the cry of each believing heart is, Come, Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.
REFLECTIONS
BLESSED Lord Jesus, while reading this chapter of thy love, do thou, I beseech thee, gracious Lord, lead out my heart, and the heart of every Reader of it on whom thy grace hath shined, to behold thy loveliness in all the several parts of it, which so beautifully holds thee forth to thy church. Methinks I hear my beloved say as to the church of old I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the vallies. To which my soul replies, Yes! thou dear Lord! thou art indeed in thy bloody vesture, and thy spotless humanity, red as the rose, and whiter than the lily. And oh! how infinitely precious in both, beholding thee as I do through these similitudes in thy blood and righteousness, as the sure tokens of thy great redemption. And if thy church, Lord, is as the lily among thorns, is it not from thee that she derives all her beauty while living in the midst of a sinful world, the children of whom by nature in their best performances, are but as a briar, and the most upright as thorn hedge. But thou, Lord, art the chiefest among ten thousand sons, as the apple-tree transcends the trees of the forest. And oh! for grace, dear Lord, like the dumb, to sit down under thy shadow with increasing rapture and delight, and to eat freely and fully of all the precious fruits of thy great salvation. Do thou, blessed Spirit, by thy sweet influences both provide the food and give the appetite, and cause me to enjoy all the good things in the everlasting covenant of God my Father, purchased by the blood of Jesus, and brought home to my soul by thy divine power. And, as for thy banqueting house, my rich bountiful Lord, I know that thou wilt bring me there, and spread thy banner of love over me there. I do know it, Lord, that thou wilt do this for me, and a thousand other blessed things of thy love; for never should I have known thee or thy house, much less delighted in it, or desired to have been brought into it, unless thou hadst first shown it to me, and opened for me a new and living way in thy blood. Reader! I break off for a moment from addressing my Lord, to ask you whether such views, and such desires of Christ are in your heart also?
But, Lord, I turn to thee again, and in the language of the church, would beg of thee to stay me with flaggons, and comfort me with apples, even the enjoyment of all thy rich covenant-promises, manifestations, and the unceasing communion of thyself to my soul; for without thee I am sick and sorrowful. And, Lord, the more thou givest, the more I need; the more of thee I know, the more I desire to know; for in thee alone I find comfort. Embrace my soul, O Lord, and let all my stay and support be in thee!
Ye daughters of Jerusalem! I mean all ye that love my Lord, (for one church is my beloved's and his Jerusalem, which is above, is the mother of us all); I charge you as I charge myself, let nothing be said or done to wound or disturb our Lord. Let us seek together his grace, his Spirit, his manifestations; and by everything that is interesting, as the roes or hinds of the field, let us be very cautious of grieving his Holy Spirit. Hark! do you not hear Jesus speak? Yes! it is his well-known voice; and he cometh to us notwithstanding all our sins, like mountains and hills, which might obstruct, for he is, and he will be Jesus. He looketh in upon us through the windows of ordinances, and, ere long, when this wall of our mortality is taken down, we shall see him as he is, and dwell with him forever!
But I leave the church to listen to my Lord, inviting me to come forth to him in this spring-season of grace. Yea, Lord, I will rise, for the voice of the Holy Ghost, like the voice of the turtle after the winter, of life, is heard in mine heart. Yea, I would follow thee whithersoever thou goest; and, as like the dove, thou hast sheltered me, and hidden me in the clefts of thy pierced side, and desirest to hear my voice and behold my countenance, thou shalt hear, Lord, my voice betimes in the morning; early will I direct my prayer unto thee, and I will look up: and do thou, Lord, take away the foxes of the desert; yea, even both the greater and the lesser hindrances to my soul, which, in the tender buildings of grace by thy bringing forth in me, my sins and corruptions joined with the temptations of sin, too often nip, and would destroy. Haste, Lord, to me, and to my rescue, for I am thine, and thou art mine. Make all intervening shadows flee away, and be thou to my poor soul as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds.