Until the day break, &c.— Until the day breathe, or, till the day blow fresh, for this is the literal meaning of the original. This is a local beauty; for in those hot countries the dawn of the day is attended with a fine refreshing breeze, which is exceedingly grateful. See Vatablus, and the New Translation. As in this verse, so in that preceding, the bride considers the bridegroom under the metaphor of a roe or young hart. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that the rock which parted David from Saul was one of those mountains which Solomon here calls בתר הרי harei bather, the mountains of Bether, interpreted in the margin of our English Bibles the mountains of division: others have thought that Bather was a strong town in the country of Bithron, not far from Trachonitis; probably the same which Adrian besieged in the 17th year of his reign, and is named Badr by Abu-Giafar in his history of the Saracens. See Capellus and Le Clerc.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,
1. The heavenly bridegroom describing his own excellence, and the beauty of his bride: I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys; all perfections center in him; his person adorned with that fulness of the spirit, which God without measure gave unto him; his humanity white as the lily, without spot of sin; blushing as the rose, when on the bloody tree he made the atonement; in the purity of his life, and in the sacrifice of his death, diffusing a fragrance well-pleasing, yea, most acceptable to God; and from which we derive all the sweetness of the great and precious promises which grow in the garden of God. As the lily among thorns, so it my love among the daughters; she resembles him, therefore is beloved by him; he sees in her his own image, and delights therein. Among the thorns of evil men, and a world lying in wickedness, does this lily grow, and as infinitely preferable to them as that sweet flower in look and smell exceeds the briars of the field.
2. The spouse returns the commendations on her Beloved, and professes her joy in him, her dependance upon him, her solicitude to please him.
(1.) She prefers him before all others. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons; none of the sons of men on earth, none of the sons of the mighty in heaven, are to be compared with the Lord; when he stands forth in his transcendent beauty, they hide their diminished heads.
(2.) She declares the delight that she had in his presence and company. I sat down under his shadow with great delight; Christ is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; the sinful soul, scorched with the fire of wrath, flies thither, and finds a happy resting-place: under his shadow are pardon, peace, and joy, protection from danger, and possession of every desire of the soul. Blessed and happy are they who there take up their abode. And his fruit was sweet to my taste: they who by faith feed on Christ, will find the promises of his word, the gifts of his grace, and the manifestations of his love most delightful, sweeter than honey and the honey-comb. He brought me to the banqueting-house; led me thither by the hand of his grace, where the richest provision of every blessing that a miserable sinner can need, was provided; and his banner over me was love; love boundless and infinite contrived and executed the plan of man's salvation: love reared the banner of the Gospel, inviting lost souls to Jesus, the captain of their salvation; love sweetly, powerfully, engages them to list under his colours; love constrains, emboldens, enables them to fight under his standard, and be more than conquerors. Lord, over me display this banner of thy love!
(3.) She professes the fervency of her love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love; overcome with the sense of the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ; and, like the spirit of Jacob, fainting with joy at the glad tidings; or sick with the vehement desires, which nothing but a sense of Christ's presence and love could satisfy; and therefore desiring a manifestation of his favour, to revive the drooping soul, as wine restores the fainting spirits.
(4.) She acknowledges the ready answer vouchsafed, to her request. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me; though for a while dejected, and destitute of spiritual delight, the praying soul shall certainly experience divine supports.
(5.) She expresses her solicitude to preserve her communion with the Lord. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, all the members of the church of Christ, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, by every thing that is dear and desirable, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please, by any quarrels and unchristian disputes among yourselves, or by your sins provoking him to depart. We should be watchful against every thing that would cause him to arise and leave us. The way to keep our peace and comfort abiding is, to be careful and jealous over our own hearts.
2nd, It should seem as if, notwithstanding the charge given, the Lord had been disturbed, and had withdrawn; but now returning in mercy the church with rapture hears his voice, and welcomes his approach.
1. She triumphs in her Beloved. The voice of my beloved! how pleasing, how delightful, the well-known voice; the sound of which makes the heart leap for joy: behold, with wonder, his amazing grace, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills: thus the Old Testament church beheld him descending from the everlasting hills to be incarnate; thus the church of Christ and every true believer, now behold him hasting to their relief, when mountains of inbred sin seem to separate them from him; and thus all his devout followers are looking for him, when the second time he shall bow the heavens and come down, his voice awake the dead, and his saints be finally triumphant in glory. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart; so amiable in himself, so swift to fly to the relief of his believing people: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice; so they beheld him before his incarnation, behind the wall of ceremonies, at the windows of his promises, and through the lattice of sacrifices, types, and figures: and we still see him through the glass of faith, but darkly when compared with what we hope for: the vail of flesh is between us; we get now and then a glimpse of him at the windows of his grace and promises, and through the lattice of his ordinances maintain some near communion with him; but we expect to see him shortly face to face, and to know no more those separations which the body of flesh now occasions. Hasten, Lord, that happy day.
2. She relates the gracious invitation which her beloved had given her. My beloved spake and said unto me, with infinite condescension and tenderness, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; appellations expressive of the endearing affection of Jesus, whose love indeed passeth knowledge; and the call, Rise up, intimates the slumbering frame into which she had fallen, and the need that she had to be awakened. The argument which he uses to prevail with her, is the beauty of the returning spring, when, winter's lowering clouds blown over, the vernal sun decks in its gayest livery the earth with flowers, and every grove resounds with feathered songsters; the turtle cooes, the fig-tree buds, the grape shoots forth her tendrils, and all around breathes fragrance. This description may be applied,
(1.) To the state of the sinner's soul, when Christ in the word of his gospel comes to awaken him from the sleep of spiritual death: frozen, dark, barren, and unprofitable is the natural heart, incapable of producing blossoms or fruits of holiness, till Christ the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings: by his mighty agency a glorious and universal change ensues; the soul is softened to sensibility; impregnated by his bright beams of love, it teems with life, the flowers of heavenly dispositions appear, the heart sings for joy in the good ways of God, and the fruits of grace bud forth to the glory of God.
(2.) To the state of believers under temptations, when storms of inward corruption, or despondent thoughts, beat against their souls: but when the Lord comes to their relief, they bud and blossom as the rose, the tears are wiped from their eyes, the voice of joy is heard, they sing as the birds, and bring forth fruit abundantly. Hear then this hour, thou tossed with tempest, and not comforted, hear this sweet voice of Jesus reiterating the call, Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
3rdly, We have,
1. The same gracious invitation continued: O my dove; to which creature the believer's soul may be compared; often timorous, through conscious weakness; beautiful in the feathers of silver, the graces of the Spirit; meek and inoffensive; chaste and faithful to Jesus as the turtle to her mate: In the clefts of the rock; fled to the shelter of a Saviour's side, opened by the spear, a small but sure retreat: In the secret places of the stairs; hid in Christ, and maintaining an intercourse with him which the world knoweth not of: or these expressions may intimate her guilty fears which led her to hide her head, and seek, like Adam in the garden, a covert from her conscious shame; from which retirement, therefore, Christ would draw her forth: Let me see thy countenance, be not afraid or ashamed to come with open face into the assembly of the saints, where Jesus manifests his presence; let me hear thy voice in prayer and praise; for sweet is thy voice; inharmonious as to us it may appear, and unworthy as we think ourselves to open our polluted lips before him, he graciously condescends well-pleased to accept our lispings; and thy countenance is comely; loathsome as we seem in our own eyes, and covering our faces with confusion in the dust, he wipes away the defilement, and, transforming us into his own image, delights in the beauties which he bestows.
2. A charge is given to seize and remove what was hurtful to the vineyard. Take us the foxes; by foxes are meant false teachers, who with many fair speeches deceive the hearts of the unwary, and introduce errors, heresies, and schisms into the church; even the little foxes, which must be crushed in their nest; that spoil the vines; corrupting the faith, debauching the morals, and debating the discipline of the church: for our vines have tender grapes; young converts, whose tender years, or weak attainments, need an especial guard against the wiles of deceivers. Notes; Every corruption in the heart is a little fox, which would rob us of our comfort, and threatens to root up the vine of grace; we must watch over them therefore, and check the motions of evil in the birth.
3. The church exults in her interest in her Lord. My beloved is mine; mine as the gift of God; the faithful bride-groom united in bonds of divine love; mine in possession and enjoyment, all his things are mine; his merit and grace are mine, the property of the faithful soul, and I am his, the creature of his hand, the purchase of his blood; renewed by his Spirit, by choice devoted to him, subservient to his will, zealous for his interest, and living in love and duty for him alone: he feedeth among the lilies, manifesting himself in the midst of his people, beautiful as the lilies; or, as a shepherd crowned with wreaths of this sweet flower; he watches over the flock of his pasture, and feeds them with his divine consolations.
4. She expresses her expectation of his speedy coming: Until the day break and the shadows flee away; or, connected with the following clause, the words are a prayer for Christ's appearing, either incarnate to his Old Testament saints, or in the manifestation of his love to praying souls labouring under darkness and desertion, or in his glory at the great day of final consummation, when all the shadows of remaining ignorance, infirmity, affliction, will be for ever fled away, and one eternal day of light, joy, and blessedness unutterable, succeed: turn, my beloved, unto me, be thou like a roe, or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether, or of separation; swift as the bounding roe, fly to relieve me from the pains of absence, and let no mountains separate my soul from thee; come with the comforts of thy love below, or take me to the enjoyment of thy blessed Self above! Amen.