I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please.
Ver. 7. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.] A vehement obtestation, or rather an adjuration, I charge you, and that by an oath, taken from the manner of country speech. For in this whole chapter the allegory is so set, as if the feast or meeting were made and represented in a country house or village. These daughters of Jerusalem, therefore, the particular congregations, and all faithful men and women, as Luk 23:28 are straitly charged, and as it were in conscience bound by the Church, the "Mother of us all," Gal 4:26 not to disease or offend, much or little, her well beloved spouse that "resteth in her love," Zep 3:17 and "taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his servants," Psa 35:27 "until he please" - that is, not at all: for he is not a God that taketh pleasure in wickedness, Psa 5:4 his holy Spirit is grieved by it. Eph 4:30 Or, "until he please"; that is, till he waken of his own accord. Be not over hasty with him for help, but hold out faith and patience; let him take his own time, "for he is a God of judgment, and waiteth to be gracious." Isa 30:18 If through impatience and unbelief you set him a day, or send for him by a post, he will first chide you before he chide the waves that afflict you, as he dealt by his disciples that wakened him ere he was willing. Mar 4:37-40 Those that are suddenly roused out of a deep and sweet sleep are apt to be angry with those that have done it. Great heed must be taken by ourselves, and God's charge laid upon others, that nothing be "spoken or done amiss against the God of heaven." Dan 3:29 "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god." Psa 16:4 "The Lord shall trouble thee, thou troubler of Israel." Jos 7:25 "Do ye provoke the Lord to wrath? are ye stronger than he?" 1Co 10:22 Will ye needs try a fall with him? Psa 18:26 "Hath ever any yet waxed fierce against God and prospered?" Job 9:4 Surely, as Ulysses's companions told him, when he would needs provoke Polydamas, so may we say much more to those that incense the Lord to displeasure,
“ Sχετλιε τιπτ εθελεις ερεθιζεμεν αγριον ανδρα .”
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb 10:31 Had men the feet of roes and hinds of the field, they could not outrun his wrath; witness Jonah. Or if they could, yet the roes and hinds, those loving creatures, Pro 5:19 would be swift witnesses against them for their baseness and disloyalty, since they do such things as those poor creatures would not. See Deu 30:19 Isaiah 1:2. Be thou instructed therefore, O Jerusalem, lest Christ's soul be disjointed from thee, lest, as well as he loves thee now, "he make thee desolate, a land not inhabited." Jer 6:8 Let him be that love of thine, as she here emphatically calls him, that taketh up thy whole heart, soul, and strength, with a love, not only of desire, but of complacency, with a God-like love. True it is that we cannot, neither are we bound to love God, in quantum est diligibilis, so much as he is loveable, for so God only can love himself; but we must love nihil supra, aeque, or ntra, nothing more, or so well, or against God. Other persons we may love with his allowance, but it must be in him, and for him, as our friends in the Lord, our foes for the Lord. Other things we may also love, but no otherwise than as they convey love to us from Christ, and may be means of drawing up our affections unto Christ. This true love will keep us from doing anything wilfully that may disease or displease him; it will also constrain the daughters of Jerusalem to "abide with the roes and with the hinds of the field," so some read this text, as Rachel did by her father's herds, to glorify Christ in some honest and lawful vocation, and not to vex him by idleness and unprofitableness, since, as punishment hath an impulsive, so love hath a compulsive faculty. 2Co 5:14