Because of the savour of Thy good ointments, Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love Thee.
The preciousness of Christ
In Christ are contained all those attractive beauties--those excellencies, which are adapted to win souls to Himself, and to God in Him. The rose and the lily, every flower of the garden, and every tree of the forest, are brought together at once, to illustrate to us the rich and varied excellence of Him who is “altogether lovely.” The rays of the sun are sometimes collected together by a burning-glass, and made to rest on a certain point, and there to burn with great fervour. Oh! the rays of the Sun of Righteousness seem to be gathered together here.
I. The Anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Ghost,--“Because of the savour of Thy good ointment.” Now, this anointing of Christ implies two things, His call and qualification,--His call to, and qualification for, all the offices entrusted to Him by His Father. Christ, being set forth to us, as anointed by the Holy Ghost to all His offices, invites and claims all our confidence that we should come to God, through Him, and repose unlimited trust in Him as our Prophet, Priest, and King.
II. Because of this anointing, “His name is as ointment poured forth” because of His covenant offices, His name is sweet and fragrant to the perception of all those who believe in His name. The name of the Lord implies everything whereby God is made known to us, even all the attributes of God. Before Christ became incarnate, the ointment, as it were, was shut up in a box, it was not poured forth; the only begotten Son was in the bosom of the Father, so that there was not that full development of the gracious purposes of God to sinners which afterwards took place in His incarnation. Even after His incarnation, and during the days of His flesh in this world, the fragrance of His name was little perceived, the ointment was not fully discovered, some little perfume rejoiced the hearts of the few disciples who had grace to wait upon Him. It was when Christ was lifted up on the cross, when the vial which held the precious ointment was broken, that the dying thief was quickened to newness of life by the fragrance of it, and acknowledged his anointed King in his expiring agonies. But there was a still further manifestation after the resurrection, and the outpouring of the Spirit. That was the day indeed when the name of Jesus was as ointment poured forth. The apostles are now filled with its sweetness, and ravished with its fragrance, and now, their own souls being possessed with the unspeakable preciousness of the Lord Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, they show forth that knowledge to others, they proclaim the name of Jesus.
III. “therefore do the virgins love thee.” Virgin souls are attracted to Christ by the fragrance of Christ’s sweet name, so that they love Christ. Now what is signified by the expression, virgins? You have the same word in Psalms 45:14, where the Church as a bride is brought to the bridegroom. Individual believers are called by that name of virgins which indicates purity, holiness, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And how shall their hearts be purified? You have it in Acts 15:1-41. that God purifies their hearts by faith; they believed in the Son of God, and their hearts were purified; their hearts, which before were like “a sepulchre full of dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness,” are cleansed. Now, where the heart is purified by faith in Christ, that heart will embrace Christ and love Him. (H. Verschoyle, M. A.)
As ointment poured forth
1. First, it may be taken to intimate the greater discoveries of the riches of His grace which have been made to us under the Gospel. Adam had a savour of the ointment in the promise made to him of “the seed of the woman”; Abraham had, as it were, drops of the precious unguent granted to him when, rejoicing in the day of Christ, he saw it and was glad. But now, in these Gospel times, the box containing the ointment is broken. As bees to a garden of spices, all nations flow to this Divine compound of myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
2. Again, the expression seems to intimate that a right apprehension of Christ in His work, character, and offices, will conduce to religious cheerfulness and joy. The use of ointments in the East, on account of their cooling and refreshing properties, often furnishes the sacred writers with an expressive image for all that is bright, and beautiful, and happy. To know Christ, then--what He is, what He says, what He has done for us, what He is doing now; to know Him as our Shepherd to guide, our Staff to uphold, our Rock to flee to, “from storms a Shelter, and from heat a Shade”;--to know Christ in all these beneficent and happy relations, should make the heart glad, and the hands strong, and the tread firm.
3. Another reflection arising out of this passage is the obligation which lies upon us to make Christ known to others. “The savour of Thy name is as ointment; “but then not ointment as it is pent up, hoarded, not suffered to escape from its case of alabaster, but ointment as it is “poured forth,” diffused far and wide, reviving all who come near to it with the odour of its perfumes, and having life and healing on its wings. (D. Moore, M. A.)