Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
The former part of this verse also hath been noticed; Song of Solomon 3:6. But there is an addition here, of a most interesting nature, which saith, that while the Church is coming up out of the wilderness, she is leaning upon her beloved; meaning, that believing souls lay their whole stress of salvation upon Jesus. They have not an atom of their own, but hang upon him, cleave to him, rest upon him. And this is in perfect agreement to the whole doctrine of faith. See those scriptures; Isaiah 22:24; Proverbs 3:5; Psalms 71:15-16; Philippians 3:8-9. It should seem that Christ is the speaker of that after part of this verse, I raised thee up under the apple tree, and intimating the power of his blessed Spirit, in the conversion and new birth of the souls of his redeemed. But the words may be read as the words of the Church. For when by faith Jesus is raised up to a believer's view, and in the Church the soul of the redeemed beholds Christ in his incarnation, sufferings, and death: there is no impropriety of speech, as the language of faith, thus to speak of the Redeemer. John 3:14-15.