Notes
Song of Solomon 2:1: I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. ‘I am,’ &c. Opinions divided as to who is the speaker. The Bridegroom. ORIGEN, THEODORET, and the great majority of Latin and Greek Fathers. The Bride. TARGUM, PHILO, PSELLUS, GREGORY OF NYSSA, and the great body of modern commentators. Either the Church, expressing the excellence of her grace and beauty received from Christ; or rather, Christ Himself, setting forth his own excellence. GILL. The Bridegroom, acknowledging the praises given to him by the Bride. PATRICK. More probably the Church, showing her graces received from Christ. AINSWORTH. Spoken by either; but rather by Christ, commending Himself to the notice, love, and acceptance of His people, like Isaiah 65:1. HAWKER. By the Bridegroom; the comparison made out of condescension. DURHAM, M. STUART. By Bride; no instance in the Song of either Bride or Bridegroom praising themselves. WEISS. Spoken by Bride with a becoming modesty. PERCY. In self-depreciation. BUSH. Representing her beauty as nothing extraordinary. NOYES. Speaks of herself as an object mean and contemptible amidst the beauties of the surrounding scene. FRY. Asserting she had no claim to such beauty as was ascribed to her. BOOTHROYD. Considering herself almost too mean for the Bridegroom. BARTH (Bible Manual). Speaking as well with self-respect as humility. DELITZSCH. AS lowly, yet lovely. FAUSSET.
‘The rose of Sharon’ (חְבַצֶּלֶת הַשָׁרוֹן Khabhattseleth hashsharon). חֲבַצֶּלֶת here rendered ‘rose,’ according to ancient interpreters, either the lily, as the SEPTUAGINT, VULGATE, and TARGUM of Isaiah 35:1; or the narcissus, as the TARGUM here; or the rose, as the VENETIAN GREEK, KIMCHI, and ABEN EZRA. According to most modern Hebraists, the rose to be rejected, as the flower must be one with a bulbous root, from בֵּצל (betsel), a bulb. According to BOCHART, HAHN, and DE WETTE, the narcissus. EWALD and GSSENIUS: the Meadow Saffron (Colchicum Autumnale), a meadow and autumnal flower like the crocus, with a bulbous root. So MICHAELIS, NOYES, WORDSWORTH, &C. EWALD derives the name from בֵצֶל and חָמֵץ ‘sour.’ Means, radically, a plant with a pungent bulb,—inapplicable to the rose. FAUSSET. HITZIG, however, connects the word with חָמֵץ ‘red.’ PARKHURST, followed by WILLIAMS, derives the word from חבה, to hide, and צל a, shadow; as if a rosebud, or rose shaded with the calyx. The SEPTUAGINT, VULGATE, and THEODOTION have here simply, ‘a flower.’ AQUILA: a ‘flower-cup.’ The SYRIAC: ‘a lily,’ as in second clause. WICKLIFF and DOUAI VERSION: a ‘flower.’ GENEVA BIBLE: a ‘rose.’ BISHOP’S BIBLE: a ‘lily.’ So MUNSTER, MERCER, COCCEIUS, RASHI. A flower,—left indefinite. CASTALIO. Flower or rose. J. H. MICHAELIS. The flower, par excellence,—the flower of the whole earth. WITHINGTON. The flower; only, however, in a generic sense. GREEN. A wild-flower. GINSBURG. WITHINGTON. The tulip. MAGNUS, VAIHINGER. The daisy. THRUPP. הַשָּׁרוֹן properly, the Plain; from יָשַׁר to be straight. GESENIUS. Or from שׁוּו, to look forth or around. BOCHART, EWALD. The word used as a proper name, and applied to the plain between Cæsarea and Joppa, fertile and abounding in lilies, roses, and narcissuses. GES., SANCTIUS. That between Mount Tabor and the Lake of Galilee. EWALD. Bride refers to her native place. GOOD. Sharon, the name of a district, then of a city in it (1 Chronicles 5:16; Acts 9:35). MERCER, PISCATOR. שָׁרון, a plain; any considerable portion of level ground, whether fertile or otherwise: more than one in the land of Israel: the great Sharon, that beyond Jordan, in the land of Gilead and Bashan (1 Chronicles 5:16): here, that between Tabor and the lake of Tiberias, rich in pastures, but not therefore suitable for roses and lilies. WEISS. SEPTUAGINT: a flower of the plain. VULGATE and WICELIFF: a flower of the field. BISHOP’S BIBLE: the lily of the field. DIODATI and MARTIN: The rose of Sharon. SANCTIUS: A flower of the field; fenced around with no hedges; set forth to the eyes and for the use of all. FROMONDI: I am a flower of the open field, where you will rather find me than on the green bed. HARMER, PERCY, &C.: A mere rose of the field, where thousands and thousands grow of equal value: the thought suggested by the assemblage of beauty collected at the royal nuptials. WILLIAMS. The spouse compares herself with the more humble natives of the fields and valleys. WITHINGTON. Is disposed to humility by reflecting on her present good fortune as the King’s Bride. ZÖCKLER. A flower of the field; alluding to Christ’s humiliation and incarnation. THEODORET. A humble scarlet flower; Christ lowly and red in His own blood. HONORIUS. Christ the flower of the heavenly plain, who far excels all cherubim and seraphim, and gives them all their beauty and excellence. FOLIOT. The flower of this whole world, of which Christ was the glory, inviting all to enjoy His sweetness. ORIGEN, AMBROSE, BEDE, DEL RIO. The Church of Israel with the Shekinah in her midst. TARGUM. The Church lowly, and delightful for odour and beauty (Hosea 14:7). AINSWORTH. Gratefully acknowledges the beauty given her by her Lord. DAVIDSON. The humility and faith expressed in Isaiah 45:24; Psalms 34:2. WEISS. Self-humiliation, the effect of a real manifestation of God to the soul. FRY.
‘The lily of the valleys.’ (שׁוֹשַׁנַּת הָעֲמָקִים shoshannath ha-’amaqim), שׁוֹשַׁנָּה shoshannah (from שׁוּשׂ shush, an unused root, ‘to be white or splendid’), a noun of unity, from שׁוֹשָׁן shoshan, a lily; a flower growing wild in the fields of Palestine and adjacent countries; of various colours, but especially white and light blue; also apparently red (chap. Song of Solomon 5:13). GESENIUS. Pliny speaks of red and purple lilies. Modern Jews, followed by LUTHER, MUNSTER, and CASTALIO, make שׁוֹשָׁן a rose, instead of a lily. KIMCHI, a violet. Signifies a lily in Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Persic; a six-petalled flower, from שֵשׁ (shesh), six: hence, not the rose, which has only five petals: only it is the red lily, familiar in the East. DELITZSCH. Not our Lily of the Valley (lilium convallium); but the noblest flower that adorns our gardens, and which in Palestine grows wild in the fields. WILLIAMS. One of the plants in which the number six predominates in the distribution of their parts, as the Crocus, Asphodel, Daffodil, Lily, &c. KITTO. Takes its name from its six leaves or petals, and from its vivid silver whiteness: a perfect specimen has seven flowers on the spike—one at the head and six on the sides of the stem. Threefold Mystery. MERCER and AINSWORTH think it may be the woodbine, which grows and flourishes in hedges, and is sometimes called the ‘lily among thorns.’ A common flower that throws itself out on every spot of ground. HARMER. ‘The Huleh lily is very large, and the three inner petals meet above and form a gorgeous canopy, such as art has never approached: this incomparable flower delights most in the valleys, but is found also on the mountains. THOMSON’S Land and the Book. הָעֲמָקִים from עֵמֶק (’emeq), a valley. The name not applied to ravines, but to the long broad sweeps sometimes found between parallel ranges of hills. STANLEY. Low places also fruitful places (1 Chronicles 27:29). AINSWORTH. Lily of the ‘valleys’ more beautiful than those of the mountains, because always watered and less exposed to the heat. RASHI. Indicates a district not far from Sharon, as mentioned with it (1 Chronicles 27:29). M. STUART. The expression denotes an isolated and wild lily in the valleys. WFISS. The point of comparison in both cases is both the diminutive size of these plants, compared with cedars, cypresses, &c., and also their beauty and elegance; the Bride, though referring to her lowliness and rural simplicity, yet saying nothing derogatory to herself. ZÖCKLER.
Further Intercourse between the Betrothed.
Chapter 2. Song of Solomon 2:1-3
SHULAMITE’S SELF-DEPRECIATION
I am the rose of Sharon,
And the lily of the valleys.
The King and Shulamite still seated on their grassy couch. She, happy in his fellowship and love, and remembering her humble origin, appears to feel herself all unworthy of such a position, and with her eye on the wild flowers around her, to sigh out: ‘I am but a wild flower of the plain, a humble lily in the valleys.’ This view of the words probably more correct than that to which we have long with pleasure been accustomed, and which is rather the one suggested by our English version, viz., that which ascribes these words to the King instead of the Bride. Scarcely likely that here, and here alone, the speaker commends himself. Self-commendation, however just and becoming in the true Bridegroom, not the language of love, nor in consonance with the context and the rest of the poem. The rose probably not the flower here intended; but one of the bulbous kind; perhaps the meadow-saffron, crocus, or narcissus. The flower both common and abundant, and with little or nothing striking in it. Natural, in the circumstances of the case, for Shulamite thus to depreciate herself in the presence of the King, of whose love she sees herself so unworthy. Commentators and versions divided on the passage; the older ones applying these words rather to the King, the moderns more generally to the Bride. The spiritual instruction precious in either case.
1. The believer’s feelings, in the enjoyment of the Saviour’s manifested presence and love, naturally those of deep humiliation and self-depreciation. Such the feelings of Mephibosheth at the King’s table, and of Peter on the revealed divinity of his Master in the fishing-boat. On the perception of Christ’s glory, and the sense of His love to ourselves, our thoughts naturally thrown on our own unworthiness. ‘I am not worthy of the least of (Heb., I am less than) all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands’ (Genesis 32:10). So David: ‘What am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?’ (2 Samuel 7:18) and Elizabeth: ‘Whence is this unto me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?’ (Luke 1:42) Lowly views of one’s self, and lofty views of Christ, the legitimate fruit of Divine communion. The lasting wonder of heaven and earth, that the King of Kings, possessed of infinite dignity and matchless excellence, should ally Himself in bridal union with a poor vile sinner.
“How should it be, Thou heavenly King,
That Thou shouldst us to glory bring?
Make slaves the partners of Thy throne,
Deck’d with a never fading crown.”
“Hence our hearts melt; our eyes o’erflow;
Our words are lost; nor will we know,
Nor will we think of aught beside—
My Lord, my love, is crucified.”
2. The description in the text true of the believer.—
(1) Nothing more in him than in the millions of his race. A fallen child of Adam, shapen in iniquity, and a child of wrath even as others (Ephesians 2:2-3).
(2) Exposed to danger and destruction; like the flower of the field, ready to be trodden on, and crushed by every foot. Often accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Like his Master in the eyes of the world—‘a root out of a dry ground; despised and rejected of men.’
(3) Often chosen from among the poor and illiterate. ‘Ye see your calling, brethren; how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.’ ‘Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?’ ‘He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people’ (Psalms 113:7-8; 1 Corinthians 1:26; James 2:5).
THE KING’S COMMENDATION OF SHULAMITE
As the lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.
To Shulamite’s self-depreciating remark—‘I am but a lily in the valleys,’—the King immediately replies: ‘But as a lily among thorns, so is my love among and in comparison with all other women.’ The more a believer sees and acknowledges his own unworthiness, the more lovely he appears in the eyes of the Saviour, and the more does the Saviour assure him of His esteem and love. The language of the text true as addressed by Christ to His people. His eyes, which are ‘as a flame of fire,’ view both believers and unbelievers in their real character. His testimony that of ‘the Faithful and True Witness.’ His Church collectively and His people individually, while in this world and in comparison with others, a
Lily among Thorns.
In this Divine assertion, notice—
I. The LILY. Uncertain what species of lily is meant. According to some, the Scarlet Martagon, which grows in profusion in the Levant. Possibly the White Amaryllis intended. A species mentioned by Salt, in his Voyage to Abyssinia, whose white petals are marked with a single streak of bright purple down the middle. Believers compared to lilies, from—
1. Their beauty. Jesus speaks of the lilies of the field as adorned with a beauty to which that of Solomon, in all his glory, could not be compared. The Scarlet Martagon an exceedingly gorgeous flower. The wild flowers of Palestine in general very beautiful. Believers possessed of a moral and spiritual beauty—the beauty of holiness. Made partakers of the Divine nature, which is love. Renewed after the image of God and conformed to the likeness of Christ, who is ‘fairer than the children of men,’ and the embodiment of all beauty. Believers, as members of Christ, adorned with the graces of His Spirit—‘love, joy, peace, long-suffering, &c.’ Enabled by grace to cultivate, and increasingly to exhibit, ‘whatsoever things are pure, just, lovely, and of good report’ (Philippians 4:8; Galatians 5:22).
2. Their purity. The White Amaryllis, or our common white lily, an emblem of purity. Believers made, by Divine grace, pure both in heart and life. Enabled by the hope of seeing Christ as He is, to purify themselves even as He is pure. Have purified their hearts through obeying the truth. Are sanctified through the truth. Sanctified in Christ Jesus. Made clean through the Word He has spoken to them. As ‘pure in heart,’ are admitted at death to the beatific vision of God.
3. Their humility. The White Amaryllis rises only two or three inches from the ground. The common white lily, with its drooping head, an emblem of humility and modesty. Believers called to be ‘clothed with humility,’ and to learn of Him who was ‘meek and lowly in heart.’ Made by Divine grace to be ‘meek’ and ‘poor in spirit.’ Represented by the Publican in the temple. Enabled to grow in humility as in other graces. Exemplified in Paul. His first acknowledgment: ‘not worthy’ to be called an apostle;’ later on: ‘less than the least of all saints;’ last of all: ‘the chief of sinners.’ The heavier the ear of corn, the more it bends. A proud Christian a paradox. Faith essentially humble, as being simply emptiness receiving out of another’s fulness, and weakness leaning on a Saviour’s strength.
4. Their fragrance. According to Salt, the flower of the White Amaryllis is sweet scented, its smell ‘resembling that of the Lily of the Valley, but much more powerful. Believers, according as they walk with Christ and possess His spirit, enabled to exercise a beneficial influence on others, and to diffuse a moral fragrance which makes their very presence a blessing. God’s promise even to penitent backsliders: ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel;’ and as the consequence of it—‘he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon: his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon’ (Hosea 14:5-6). The believer’s privilege so to carry Christ with him as to be a perfume and a benefaction wherever he goes.
II. The THORNS. The ungodly so called (2 Samuel 23:6). Compared to a thorn hedge (Micah 7:4). Thorns as being—
1. Unsightly. Little beauty in a thorn. As little in the unregenerate in the sight of God and angels. Men in their fallen state and still unrenewed by Divine grace, ‘corrupt, filthy, and abominable;’ ‘hateful and hating one another;’ under the power of a carnal mind, which is ‘enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ No truly good thing in them, or in the fallen nature which governs them. No longer bearing the moral image of God, but of His great adversary. ‘Alienated from the life of God’ who is love, and ‘dead in trespasses and in sins.’ Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart only evil continually (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21; Psalms 14:1-3; Romans 3:10, &c.; Song of Solomon 8:7-8; Titus 3:3; Ephesians 4:18; Ephesians 2:1):
2. Hurtful. Thorns pierce the hand that takes hold of them, and tear those that come in contact with them. So the ungodly (2 Samuel 23:6). The unregenerate hurtful to their neighbours. Their influence, both conscious and unconscious, for evil rather than good. Their example injurious, as turning others away from God rather than turning them to Him. The Divine testimony: ‘One sinner destroyeth much good.’ Paul, in his unconverted state, ‘a persecutor, and injurious.’ The poison of asps under the lips of the ungodly. Their feet swift to shed blood. The impenitent and unbelieving often grieving thorns in the sides of believers, and even of their nearest relatives and best friends. Their words often such as to leave a stain on the mind and a wound in the heart of others.
3. Unprofitable. Thorns and thistles part of the curse of barrenness inflicted on the earth for man’s sin. ‘Do men gather grapes of thorns?’ Thorns only useful in making a hedge for the protection of what may do good to others. The Divine testimony regarding men in their natural state: ‘They are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good; no, not one’ (Romans 3:12). The unregenerate unable to benefit men as immortal souls. Aim neither at bringing glory to God nor salvation to men. Are only employed by God for subordinate purposes, and as His unintentional instruments for the protection of His people and the interests of His kingdom. The final sentence pronounced on the ungodly: ‘Take ye the unprofitable servant,’ &c.
4. Destined to destruction. Thorns, especially in the East, cut up to be burned, or set on fire as they grow (2 Samuel 23:6; Isaiah 9:18; Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 27:4; Hebrews 6:8). The end of the ungodly (Matthew 25:41).
III. The SITUATION OF THE LILY. ‘Among thorns.’ Beautiful wild flowers in Palestine often seen growing in the midst of a thorn bush or a thorn hedge. Believers, while in this world, necessarily among unbelievers. In an ungodly world, though not of it. Saints in Cæsar’s household. The tares still suffered to grow among the wheat. The chaff and the wheat together till death separate them. Heaven or the new earth the only place where the thorns are not. The situation of believers among the ungodly over-ruled for their own improvement, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of Him whose grace makes them to differ, and whose power preserves them safe to His heavenly kingdom. The calling of believers, while in this world, to magnify the grace of God towards them, and to shew the excellency of His grace in them. Their aim to be among the unregenerate as the pure, modest, and harmless lily among thorns. Their loveliness, like that of the lily, to be all the more manifest and striking from their situation. Believers not to be surprised if called to suffer tribulation and persecution from the world. ‘A lily among thorns’ likely enough to be torn by them. Their comfort that it is only here, and for a short time, that their situation is that of a ‘lily among thorns.’
IV. The SUPERIORITY OF THE LILY TO THE THORN. The language expressive of comparison as well as situation. The lily superior to the thorns among which it grows. So believers in relation to the world (1 John 5:19). ‘The righteous more excellent than his neighbour.’ Believers superior to others—
1. In Character. Believers renewed in the spirit of their mind after the image of God. Have Christ dwelling in them as their inward life, so that they become like Him who was ‘holy, harmless, and undefiled.’ Created anew in Christ unto good works; and engrafted into Him, so as to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, &c.
2. In Usefulness to others. Believers, from the new Divine nature implanted in them, able to benefit others for eternity as well as for time. Enabled by the Spirit of Christ in them to act upon the words of Christ: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ‘Freely ye have received, freely give.’ Are qualified for being made, like Christ, a blessing to the world, by their example, their prayers, and their personal efforts. The salt of the earth, and the lights of the world. Unbelievers rather a hindrance than a furtherance to the real interests of others.
3. In their Final Destiny. Believers at death are transplanted in their spirits, and at the Lord’s appearing also in their bodies, to a happier clime, to bloom as immortal lilies in the Paradise of God. Destruction and eternal death the end of the impenitent and unbelieving (Romans 6:21; Romans 6:23; Philippians 3:19). As thorns, destined to everlasting burnings (Isaiah 33:12; Isaiah 33:14; Revelation 21:8).
Application. The world divided into two parts, lilies and thorns—regenerate and unregenerate, believers and unbelievers. To which do I belong? Am I lily or a thorn? All are thorns by nature. Lilies only made such by regenerating grace. Have I undergone this change? Out of a thorn has almighty grace made me a lily? If not, am I willing that it should be so now? Thorns spared for this purpose. The grace that has transformed others able to transform you also. That grace offered. Jesus, working in the Gospel by His Spirit, still transforms lilies into thorns, and is ready even now to transform you. He says: ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved;’ ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; ‘He that believeth on me though he were dead, yet shall he live.’ ‘Wilt thou be made whole?’
SHULAMITE’S COMMENDATION OF HER BELOVED
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.
Shulamite compares her beloved to an apple or citron tree growing among, or compared with, the common trees of the wood. The comparison natural. The lovers surrounded with trees as well as flowers. Observe—The more Christ shews His love to His people, the more they are drawn to commend Him as their Beloved. If Christ can commend the imperfect, and in Himself worthless, believer; how much more should the believer commend Him who is perfection and loveliness itself! Christ compared to
The Apple-Tree.
The word applicable to any tree of the class to which the apple-tree belongs. The Hebrew term expressive of the fragrance of the fruit. Probably the citron intended. The orange still common in Palestine, especially on the sea-coast. Perhaps more so than formerly. The citron-tree distinguished for its fruit, its foliage, and its shade. Hence its superiority to the common trees of the wood. Other trees might perhaps equal it in shade, but without the fruit or its beautiful appearance. All excellence and beauty comprehended in Christ. Compared with Him, mankind in general, and even believers themselves, only as the common trees of the wood, compared with the beautiful and shady citron or orange-tree with its golden, fragrant, and delicious fruit. The world itself little worth to him who knows Christ. ‘What things were gain to me these I counted loss for Christ; yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord’ (Philippians 3:7-8). Observe—
I. The COMPARISON made. ‘As the apple-tree,’ &c. The comparison of the Beloved to the apple or citron-tree made—
1. From its appearance. The citron-tree, larger, nobler, and more beautiful in appearance than the trees of the wood; for example, the dwarf oak, so common in Palestine. The citron or orange-tree, with its dark green glossy foliage, its white blossoms, and its golden fruit, a picture of beauty. So Christ; ‘the chief among ten thousand,’ ‘fairer than the children of men.’ Has in all things the pre-eminence over both angels and men. The first-born among many brethren. They priests; He the High Priest. They kings; He the King of kings. They pearls; He the One pearl of great price. The highest, greatest, and best among men but as the low stunted shrub, or common wild-tree, in presence of the noble and beautiful citron.
2. From its shade. The foliage of the citron or orange-tree not only beautiful, but thick, and affording an agreeable shade. So Christ affords shelter and shade—
(1) To awakened sinners, from the scorching sentence of God’s righteous and broken law. The sinner, while out of Christ, pursued by the fiery law with its terrible curse: ‘The soul that sinneth it shall die;’ ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.’ In Christ alone, as enduring the curse for him, can he find shelter. But there he can and does. ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us.’ ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins’ (Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 3:10). ‘There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
(2) To tried and tempted believers. Tribulation the appointed lot of believers in this world. Persecution unavoidable to those ‘who will live godly in Christ Jesus.’ For a season, at times in heaviness through manifold temptations. Sometimes tried with fiery trials. Christ then their shade and shelter. ‘In me ye shall have peace.’ ‘When thou walkest in the fire, I will be with thee. Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.’ His presence with them as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. His grace promised to be sufficient for their both doing and suffering all His will. Hence enabled to rejoice even in tribulation and made more than conquerors through Him that loved them. Christ crucified, the shadow between sinners and the heat of God’s wrath; Christ crowned, the shadow between believers and the wrath of men and devils. The shadow of Christ, the true apple-tree, gives life as well as peace and comfort to those who sit under it. Every other shadow only that of the deadly upas. A religion of the flesh to be avoided, which is only a sitting under the shadow of the ‘letter which killeth.’ Divine wisdom, to sit only under the shadow of Him who is the Truth and the Life.
3. From its Fruit. The fruit of the apple, citron, or orange tree, fragrant, delicious, and refreshing. Such the fruit of Christ. That fruit—
(1) The redemption accomplished on the cross, with all the varied blessings of the everlasting covenant for time and eternity, flowing out of it.
(2) The doctrines of grace in which that redemption is unfolded, and which are revealed in the Scriptures.
(3) The promises of the Word, ‘exceeding great and precious,’ adapted to every case and condition, and all ‘Yea and Amen to them that believe.’
(4) The ordinances of the Gospel; as prayer, the preaching of the Word, and pre-eminently the Lord’s Supper. The fruit Christ’s, as—
(1) Procured through Him in His obedience unto death.
(2) Found in Him.
(3) Communicated by Him. On this apple-tree hangs fruit for immortal souls and dying sinners, and that in richest abundance. Fruit sweeter than that of Eden, with neither sin nor danger in the eating of it. Instead of a prohibition and threatened death, here is a free invitation and promised life. Instead of a flaming sword turning every way to guard its access, a silver trumpet sounds, proclaiming liberty of approach to all comers: Come, buy and eat, without money and without price; eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. The fruit offered by the god of this world, however fair and inviting in appearance, found at last to be only wormwood: ‘the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrha.’
II. The EXPERIENCE related. ‘I sat,’ &c. The very remembrance of an enjoyed Saviour sweet.
‘What peaceful hours I then enjoy’d!
How sweet their memory still!’
The text expressive of repose and enjoyment. A beautiful illustration of faith in exercise. Exhibits—
(1) Sense of exposure and weariness.
(2) Discovery in Christ of what meets our case.
(3) Trust in and appreciation of Him for the wants of our soul.
(4) Feeling of security, peace, and satisfaction.
(5) Continuance in such a state. Observe—
(1) Whatever Christ is, He is to be to us personally and experimentally. In whatever aspect He is exhibited in the world, in that He is to be appropriated, embraced, and made use of. Entire confidence to be placed, and full complacency taken, in Him and in His finished work. As the apple tree, we are to sit down under His cooling shade, and partake of His refreshing fruit. Not enough to be near the shade, or to gaze upon the fruit. Without appropriation and personal use, men die even in sight of the Apple-tree. The awakened sinner to believe the testimony concerning Christ as a Saviour, and cordially to appropriate it for his own present and eternal benefit.
(2) The preciousness of Divine grace that has not only made such provision for our souls’ necessities, but inclines and enables us to make use of it. ‘By grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8).
‘Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room?
While thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come.
‘’Twas the same love which spread the feast,
That sweetly drew me in;
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin.’
(3) Coming under the shadow of Christ for defence from the law’s curse, we are invited to to sit down and partake of His fruit. The fruit of the apple-tree for those who come under its shadow. Joy and comfort in Christ the immediate result of faith in His blood. So the awakened jailor rejoiced, believing in the Saviour preached to him by Paul and Silas. The believing Eunuch ‘went on his way rejoicing’ (Acts 8:39; Acts 16:34).
(4) Christ’s fruit sweet to the taste of those who come under His shadow. ‘To you that believe He is precious.’ A spiritual taste and a carnal one. As a man is, so is his taste. Truth in the proverb—each man to his taste. The taste of the carnal and unrenewed only carnal, and for the things that are seen and temporal—the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. The taste of a man different from that of the swine at the swine-trough. A refined and cultivated taste the result of civilization, training, and education. The taste of a believer the result of regeneration and the impartation of a new spiritual and divine nature. Hence his taste for what is spiritual, divine, and heavenly, instead of what is only carnal and earthly. Unspeakable mercy to be blessed with a renewed nature and a spiritual taste. A man’s misery to be left under the dominion of an earthly, carnal, and depraved taste. To such a taste Christ and heaven itself entirely without attraction. The place of torment the only future abode for a carnal taste. The object of the Holy Spirit’s work to change a man’s taste. Hence the first step in his conversion—conviction of his sin and misery, and the worthlessness of the world to a dying sinner and an immortal soul (John 4:13-14; Luke 15:14-19). To a renewed soul and a spiritual taste, Christ and His salvation infinitely sweeter than the choicest pleasures of a perishing world.
Application. Has this been my experience? Is it so now? Have I seen my exposure, as a sinner, to Divine wrath, and fled to Christ for shelter? Have I appropriated Him as just the shelter I need; and am I now using and enjoying Him as such? Have I found delight in Him and in His salvation? Has His work of redemption and the word of His grace been sweet to my taste? Is it so now? All have their different tastes: what is mine? Is it spiritual or carnal? Christ or the world? Lord, give me a spiritual taste. Make Christ precious to me as a sinner, as He is to all that believe. Give me, as a believing sinner, to sit down under His shadow with great delight, and to find His fruit sweet to my taste.