Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest [thy flock] to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
Ver. 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth.] The sins of God's elect turn to their good - Venenum aliquando pro remedio fuit, saith Seneca, a poison is by art turned into a medicine - make them cry more upon Christ, love him more with all their soul, desire more earnestly to be joined unto him, use all holy means of attaining thereunto; and that with such affection, that when others are at their rest or repast, the Christian can neither eat nor rest, unless he be with Christ.
Where thou feedest.] This Book of Canticles is a kind of pastoral, a song of a beloved concerning a beloved. The Church therefore gives, and Christ takes oft herein upon himself, the term and office of a loving and skilful Shepherd, that feeds his flock daily and daintily, feedeth them among the lilies and beds of spices, makes them to "lie down in green pastures, and leads them beside the still waters" Psa 23:2 - his Word and sacraments; makes them also to lie down at noon, i.e., as the chief pastor of his sheep, he wholly ordereth them in all their spiritual labours, toils, and afflictions, giving them safe repose in the hottest seasons. Isa 49:10 See Eze 34:13 Joh 10:1-2 1Pe 5:2 Jeremiah 30:10; Jeremiah 30:13 .
For why should I be as one that turneth aside,] q.d., This would be no less to thy dishonour than my disadvantage, if I miscarry, thou wilt be no small loser by it. To urge God with the respect of his own glory lying now at stake, is a most effectual way of speeding in prayer. "If thou destroy this people, what will the Egyptians say?" Exo 32:12 how will the very banks of blasphemy be broken down, and they speak evil of thee with open mouth? If the Canaanites beat us, "what shall become of thy great name,." Jos 7:9 Interpone, quaeso, tuas preces, apud Deum pro me, et ora Christum cuius est causa haec, ut mihi adsit: quam si obtinuerit, mihi obtenta erit: sin veto causa exciderit, nec ego eam obtinere potero: atque ita ipse solus ignominiam reportabit. b Please pray for me, saith Luther to a friend of his that feared how it would fare with him when he was to appear at Augsburg before the cardinal; pray for me to Jesus Christ, whose the cause is, that he would stand by me: for if he carry the day, I shall do well enough; as, if I miscarry, he alone will undergo the blame and shame of it.
By the flock of thy companions.] Why should I have fellowship with thy pretended fellows, and so incur the suspicion of dishonesty. Christians must "abstain from all appearance of evil," 1Th 5:23 shun and be shy of the very shows and shadows of sin, Quicquid fuerit male coloratum, as Bernard hath it, whatsoever looks but ill favouredly; "providing for things honest, not only in the sight of the Lord, but in the sight of men; and avoiding this, that no man should blame us," 2Co 8:20-21 avoiding it, στελλομενοι, as shipmen shuns a rock or shelf, with utmost care and circumspection. Joseph would not breathe in the same air with his mistress, nor John the evangelist with the heretic Cerinthus, but "sprang out of the bath" c as soon as he came into it. St Paul would not give place by subjection to those false brethren, "no, not for an hour," Gal 2:5 lest the truth thereby should suffer detriment. Constantine would not read the Arians' papers, but tear them before their eyes. And Placilla the empress besought her husband, Theodosius senior, not once to confer with Eunomius, lest being perverted by his speeches he might fall into heresy. d Memorable is the story of the children of Samosata, that would not touch their ball, but burnt it, because it had touched the toe of a heretical bishop, as they were tossing it and playing with it.
a De Benef., lib. ii. cap. 18.
b Scultet. Annal.
c εξηλατο του βαλανειου .
d Sozom., lib. vii. cap. 7.