My beloved put in his hand by the hole [of the door], and my bowels were moved for him.
Ver. 4. My beloved put in his hand by the hole.] Or, He let fall his hand from the hole, a where he was lifting at the latch, or seeking to put by the bar; he took it so unkindly to be so ill answered, that he departed in displeasure, and would be no further troublesome. "Sleep on now," quoth he, as Mar 14:41 "and take your rest." He that will hear, let him hear, and he that hath a mind to forbear, let him forbear. Eze 3:27 but at his own peril; the best that can come of it is repentance, that fair and happy daughter of an ugly and odious mother. b Delicata res est Spiritus Dei, saith one, The Spirit of God is a delicate thing; and he that grieves that holy thing whereby he is sealed, by giving way to a spirit of sloth and slumber, may lose his joy of faith, and go mourning to his grave. And although with much ado he may get assurance of pardon, yet his conscience will be still trembling, as David's, Psa 51:1-19 till God at length speak further peace. Even as the water of the sea after a storm is not presently still, but moves and trembles a good while after the storm is over. Take heed, therefore: Cavebis autem si pavebis Moreover, if you are terrified, you will beware. Rom 11:21 But to take the words as they are here translated, "My beloved put in his hand by the hole"; that is, he touched mine earthly heart by his Holy Spirit; and notwithstanding my discourteous dealing with him, left a sweet remembrance of himself behind him. As he would not away, but continued still knocking till he had an answer, so, though the answer pleased him not, yet he called not for his lovetokens back again, he cast her not off, as Ahasuerus did Vashti - no, "he hates putting away"; Mal 2:16 but as the sun with his bright beams follows the passenger that hath turned his back upon it, so deals Christ by his backsliding people. Jer 3:22 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, Psa 23:6 saith David; follow me, though I forsake mine own mercies, saith Jonah. Jon 2:8 And as the same sunbeams do convey the heat and influence thereof to the earth, thereby calling out the herbs and flowers, and healing those deformities that winter had brought upon it, so doth Christ, that sun of righteousness, arise (to his servants that are benighted with sin and sorrow) "with healing in his wings"; that is, with the gracious influence of his Holy Spirit, conveying the virtues of his blood to their consciences, and causing them, as by a new spring of holy desires and endeavours, to reflourish. Php 4:10
And my bowels were moved for him.] They rumbled, tumultuated, and made a humming noise, as the Hebrew hath it. She means that she had no rest in her spirit, her heart (that chiefest of the bowels, or inwards) did even quake and ache within her; her thoughts afflicted her, she was greatly disquieted, and all "for him," for the unkindness she had offered him, or concerning him, or over him, as those penitentiaries in Zechariah, that "looked upon him whom they had pierced, and" (by an instinct of the spirit of grace poured plentifully upon them) "mourned for him," or over him, till their hearts became a very Hadadrimmon, and fell asunder in their bosoms like drops of water, and all for the indignities and injuries they had done to Christ. This is a sorrow according to God; c or, as God would have it, 1Co 7:9 this is a repentance never to be repented of. Son 5:10 This is that rainbow which, if God see shining in our hearts, he will remember his holy covenant. The Church here, for instance. That she sorrowed after a godly sort appears by those seven signs set down in 2 Corinthians 7:11, and here in this chapter exemplified and evidenced. "I sleep"; "there is indignation." But "my heart waketh"; there is "apology," or clearing herself. "I arose to open"; there is "study," or "carelessness," and diligence. "My soul failed when he spake"; there is her "zeal." "I called on him, I sought him"; there is her "vehement desire." "The watchmen found me; they smote me, they unveiled me"; there is her "self-revenge," while she shrank not from any danger, but bearing patiently the Lord's indignation, because she had sinned against him; she followed him through thick and thin, in the night, among the watch, &c., followed him hot afoot, and would not rest till she had recovered him. Lo, this is the guise of a godly heart; it runs into sin sometimes, but riseth again soon after by repentance; it is at as much unrest, till reconciled to God, as he that hath broke a bone till it be well set again. Whenas a profane Esau can sell his birthright (and with it his title to heaven), and when he hath so done, he can "eat, and drink, and rise up, and go his way," d without any the least remorse or regret. Gen 25:34 Wicked men grow worse and worse, saith the apostle, and take long strides towards hell, as if they feared it would be full ere they come there. Some seek to out sin one another, like unhappy boys, that strive who shall go furthest in the dirt. Noluit solita peccare, He does not wish to make sin a habit, saith Seneca; Et pudet non esse impudentes, And it is not permitted to be shameless, saith Augustine. Sin hath woaded e an impudence in their faces; "their spot is not the spot of God's children." Deu 32:5
a Dimissit manus a foramine.
b εχθρου πατρος φιλτατον τεκνον. - De Pompeio Romano ap. Plutarch.
c H κατα θεον λυπη .
d Hac congerie impenitentia Esaui describitur. - Piscat.
e To dye, colour, or stain with woad, sometimes (in dyeing) as a ground for another colour.