As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
But whatever obscurity is found in the former verse to whom the words belong, there can be none here. Evidently Jesus is here speaking of his church, and by a comparison with all others to point out her superiority; and in his grace, and love, he hath done it in a most gracious and blessed manner. And observe how the Lord expresseth himself: He calleth his church what he calleth himself, a lily: as if to express the oneness between them: and not only the oneness and union, but interest; for it is this which gives all the beauty and loveliness to the church, her conformity and likeness to Jesus: and by this she is distinguished among all others; for as the loveliness of the lily is made to appear more striking, when beheld in the midst of thorns; so the church of Christ and every individual believer, is found most graceful in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom they shine as lights in the world. Pause, Reader, before this verse be dismissed, and remark with me, the love and tenderness of Jesus for his church. Though she dwelleth among briars and thorns, yet is she in his eye the lily still. She hears his name - she is owned as his love, and Jesus regards her with an eye of delight, and will never leave her, until he comes to remove her from the thorns and briars of this world's wilderness to the garner of his paradise which is above.