While the king [sitteth] at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
Ver. 12. While the king sitteth at his table, &c.] Heb., At his round table, or ring sitting. In accubitu circulari: in orbem enim antiquitus ad mensam sedebant. "Send and fetch him, for we will not sit round till he come hither." 1Sa 16:11 The manner of the Turks to this day is to sit around at meat on the bare ground, with their legs gathered under them. a By the king is here meant "Messiah the prince," Dan 9:25 "Christ the Lord." Act 2:36 Et omnes sancti in circuitu eius, All his saints sit round about him; Psa 76:11 as the twelve tribes were round about the tabernacle; Num 2:2 as the twenty-four elders are round about the throne Rev 4:4 - they are "a people near unto him"; Psa 148:14 they are those "Blessed that eat and drink with him in his kingdom," Luk 14:15 first of grace, and then of glory. And while they thus sit with their King - a sign of sweetest friendsblp and fellowship - it was held a great honour and happiness to "stand before Solomon" 1Ki 10:8 in his circled session.
My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.] Saith the Church; that is, my faith is actuated, and all mine other graces exercised and increased, at the Lord's table, that heavenly love feast: Ubi cruci haeremus, sanguinem sugimus, et inter ipsa redemptoris nostri vulnera figimus linguam, b whereat we climb the cross, as it were, suck Christ's blood, "suck honey out of the rock," Deu 32:13 feed heartily and hungerly upon his flesh, as eagles do upon the slain. Mat 24:28 This Luther calls crapulam sanctam, a gracious gormandise; c whiles we lean upon his bosom and "feed without fear"; sending forth our sweet odours, our pillars of incense, by lifting up many a humble, joyful, and thankful heart to him, living by his laws, and being a savour of life to others. But what shall we think of those that stink above ground, poison the very air they breathe upon, defile the visible heavens, which must therefore be purged by the fire of the last day; and by their rotten communication and unclean conversation spread their infections, and send the plague to their neighbours, as those Ashdodites, Gittites, and Ekronites did. 1Sa 5:1-12
a Turkish History.
b Cyprian.
c Indulgence or connoisseurship in ‘good eating'