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.
These are the words of the church, and very expressive they are, of her affection to her Lord. It should seem, as if conscious of her own undeservings, when hearing herself so spoken of and praised by Jesus, that she interrupts him to tell of his excellency and loveliness, as the sole cause of every grace which induced loveliness in her. Probably the apple tree in those warm countries was vastly superior to these in our colder climates; and this, indeed, historians tell us it was: for in loftiness, fruitfulness, and beauty, this tree surpassed all others. Now Jesus is all this and infinitely more, in the eyes of his people. Jesus, in our nature, is far above all angels, and principalities, and powers; probably these are the sons the church speaks of, and we know, that when Jesus as God-man Mediator is brought into our world under this exalted character, as the first begotten, Jehovah said, Let all the angels of God worship him. And though in his human nature he is said to have been made a little lower than the angels: yet in that nature, united to the Godhead, he is crowned with glory and honour. And how preferable, then, must Jesus be in the eye of the church, compared to that of the highest angels, or the best of men? None of them could redeem the church. None of them make agreement with God for her. I stay not to enter into a larger view of the beauty of the comparison between the graces of Christ, and the qualities of the apple-tree. It is sufficient to our purpose to observe, that for beauty, usefulness, grace in its appearance, and the fruitfulness of the apple-tree beyond all the trees of the wood, Jesus in his person; offices, and character, may be supposed to be by this similitude strikingly represented. Jesus is indeed himself the Tree of life in the midst of the garden; and so lovely, and so prolific in all blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, that he is unceasingly blessed. He beareth twelve manner of fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2. But the church doth not stop with commending Christ's Person; she goeth on in the same verse to tell of her enjoyment of him. Reader, mark with me, that in those two grand points the whole of a believer's joy in the present life, yea, and in a future, is made up. To know Christ, and to enjoy him; to accept him as the Father's gift, and to make use of him according to the Father's will. And the church in this verse tells us how she did it. I sat down (says she) under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. This opens a beautiful view of Christ, and of the believer also; when, under the blessed influences of grace, a full use and enjoyment of Christ is made by him. The Lord Jesus is not only a refuge to protect, but the whole of sustenance and food. Like a rich, luxuriant, and prolific tree, which affords not only shelter to the traveller from the heat, but fruit to live upon; so Christ is made of God to his people, both life, and light, and strength, and supply; Wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. The prophet gives a blessed account of the Lord in similar representations; Isaiah 25:4-5. and so again, Isaiah 32:2. And when the souls of his people have found Christ, and known Christ under these characters, then they can, and do set to their seal, that God is true; for they then dwell under his shadow, and revive as the corn, and grow as the vine. Hosea 14:7. And when then is it that the church, or any individual of the church, find Christ all these, and may be said to sit down under him, and live upon him? No doubt, when from a sense of a want of Christ, the soul betakes herself to Him; and having discovered him to be a full, present, suitable, and all-sufficient Saviour, she sits down as one determined to rise up no more. There is such a fulness, such a blessedness, and such an immediate grace and kindness in him to bestow of his mercy, that the poor soul finds a complacency and delight, and will neither go further in quest of any other Saviour, or accept of any other. That precious child of God that hath so seen Christ as fully to trust in him, and delight in him, hath adopted, and entered into the enjoyment of that sweet scripture, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart fail, but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:25-26.