BRIDEGROOM’S SECOND CALL
O my dove,
That art in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the stairs;
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy voice,
And thy countenance is comely.
Love unwilling to take a refusal. Hence a repetition of the bridegroom’s call. Strange backwardness on the part of a sinner to comply with the call of a Saviour. Backwardness on the part of a believer to follow. Jesus to the enjoyment of a higher life of holiness and blessedness. In the Bridegroom’s Second Call, observe—
I. The TITLE of the Called one. ‘My dove.’ A term of endearment. Love sees in its object only what is beautiful and agreeable. The called one a sinner, with much that is not dove-like. Yet love says: ‘My dove.’ Yet in regard to a believer, the title thee. The believer is—
(1) A ‘dove,’ because renewed with a dove-like nature akin to that of Him who renews him and dwells in him—the Holy Spirit, whose emblem is the dove; the dove-like becoming the predominant one in him, and going on increasing until it reaches perfection and is the only one, and that for ever. Believers viewed and addressed by Christ in His love, according to their new, rather than their old nature.
(2) Christ’s dove, as—(i.) Given Him by the Father; (ii.) Purchased by His own blood; (iii.) Wooed and won by Him as His Bride, and made a member of His body. The little word ‘my’ as precious to Christ in reference to believers as it is to believers in reference to Christ.
The Dove,
an emblem of believers, as it is—
1. Helpless. Unable to defend itself against birds of prey (Compare Psalms 18:17; Jeremiah 31:11).
2. Simple. With as little wisdom as strength to defend itself. ‘Ephraim is like a silly dove’ (Hosea 7:11). ‘O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth’ (Galatians 3:1). Hence Paul’s fear for the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:2).
3. Timid. Trembles at the sight of a hawk’s feather. ‘They shall tremble as a dove out of the land of Assyria’ (Hosea 11:11). Believers tremble at God’s word. Afraid to sin, though not afraid to suffer (Hebrews 11:25).
4. Sensitive. ‘They shall mourn love like doves in the valley.’ The dove’s note a mournful one. Believers sensitive to evils within and without them, about which others do not care. Concerned and troubled both for Christ’s cause and their neighbour’s souls. Sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Weep in secret places for the pride and destruction of others. Groan within themselves for the sins of their own nature and life. Their character and blessedness that they ‘mourn,’ and ‘sorrow after a godly sort’ (Matthew 5:4; 2 Corinthians 7:11).
5. Beautiful. Has ‘wings covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold’ (Psalms 68:13). Believers to be made like them. Adorned with the beauties of holiness. Comely with Christ’s comeliness put upon them.
6. Cleanly. Cleanly in its food, its feathers, and its nest. Believers called to be holy and without blame. Clean through the Word of Christ spoken to them. Purify themselves, as God is pure. Cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Cleansed by the blood, and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ (1 John 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
7. Harmless. The dove’s harmlessness proverbial. Believers made like Him who was ‘holy, harmless,’ &c. Their calling to be ‘blameless and harmless, as the sons of God;’ harmless in spirit, speech, and actions (Philippians 2:15).
8. Affectionate and faithful. Pairs only with one mate. Mourns over its loss. Believers’ love to Christ stronger than death. ‘Follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.’
9. The Bearer of Tidings. Doves employed for this purpose. A species of pigeon distinguished by this name. Noah’s dove. So believers the bearers of the glad tidings of the Gospel (Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 52:7; Psalms 68:11; Mark 16:15).
10. Often resorting to, and making their nest in the rocks. A species named from this circumstance. Hence what follows—
II. Their PLACE and CONDITION. ‘That art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs’ (or precipices). Possible allusion to the retired seclusion in which Shulamite was kept in her mother’s house; or to the sequestered situation of that house among the mountains. The description suggested by the title given: ‘My dove.’ Doves often found in the recesses of rocks. Indicates—
1. Timidity. The dove in the clefts of the rock from fear of her pursuers. Believers to pass the time of their sojourning here in fear. Work out their salvation with fear and trembling. ‘The wise man feareth and departeth from evil,’ while ‘the fool rageth and is confident’ (Proverbs 14:16). Sufficient cause for ‘fearing always,’ in a corrupt nature within us, a roaring lion and subtle serpent without us, and a world lying in wickedness around us.
2. Security. The dove safe in the clefts of the rock. Believers safe in the Rock of Ages. Their place of defence the munitions of rocks. Jehovah Himself their refuge. Sheltered in Jesus, the enemy may harrass, but not hurt them. Sin may rage, but not reign in them. Men and devils may persecute and persuade, but not prevail against them. Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation (1 Peter 1:5).
3. Isolation and loneliness. Believers in the world, though not of it. Strangers and pilgrims. ‘The world knoweth us not, even as it knew Him not.’ Believers at present in this world as the Bride when the Bridegroom is taken away from her. Special times in their experience when they are ‘as a sparrow alone upon the house-top’ (Psalms 102:7; Psalms 38:11). Hence the promise: ‘I will not leave you comfortless (margin, ‘orphans’); I will come to you’ (John 14:18).
III. The CALL itself, ‘Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice.’ Christ’s desire in regard to His Church in the world—
(1) To enjoy their fellowship (Revelation 3:20);
(2) To see them trustful, cheerful, and happy in Himself (Philippians 3:1);
(3) To witness in them the exercise of faith and love (Hebrews 12:2);
(4) To enjoy their beauty—the reflection of His own—His own comliness which He has put upon them (Psalms 45:11). The believer’s countenance, lighted up with faith and love, the fairest sight in heaven and earth to Christ, next to His Father. The weakest believer invited to a free and familiar intercourse with the Saviour. The believer’s happiness, as well as the Saviour’s joy, to turn his countenance fully and constantly towards Him. Nothing, not even sin, to be allowed to turn it away from Him when He lovingly invites him to turn it to Him.
(5) To hear their voice (i.) In speaking to Him as well as of Him; (ii.) In cheerful song; songs given the believer even in the night—in painful and perilous, as well as pleasant and peaceful, times (Job 35:10; Psalms 42:8); (iii.) In thanksgiving and praise. To give thanks in everything, and to praise at all times, the will of God concerning us; (iv.) In confessing sin, and Jesus as a gracious and all-sufficient Saviour from it; (v.) In prayer and supplication—praying always and not fainting; in everything making their requests known unto God; coming boldly to the throne of grace through Him who is their elder brother and High Priest; casting their care upon Him who careth for them, and pouring out their hearts before Him. No situation or circumstances in which the soul should yield to the temptation of restraining prayer.
IV. The REASON of the Call. ‘For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.’ The voice of a believer, though heard in groans and lamentations, sweeter to Jesus than the hallelujahs of angels. The voice of the child for whom He gave His life, and of the Bride whom He redeemed with His own blood. Sweeter still when heard in songs of faith and love, or in happy communion with Himself. The believer’s countenance comely to Christ, though soiled with tears and dejected with sorrow. The Saviour’s refreshment in Simon’s house, not the viands on the table, but the woman at His feet with her countenance wet with the tears of penitence and love. The believing prayers and loving praises of a pardoned sinner sweeter to Christ than the songs of seraphim. The first cry of an awakened soul turns away his ear from the symphonies of heaven. His joy fulfilled, not in the angels that never fell, but in fallen and restored men. The joyous thanksgivings of redeemed sinners make the Son of God a double heaven. His joy of joys in the dead made alive again, in the lost one found. ‘He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing,’—like the mother who sings for joy over her infant that lies smiling in her lap (Zephaniah 3:17). ‘Hephzibah,’ the name He gives to His saved people: ‘My delight is in her’ (Isaiah 62:4).