Those who are truly of the Bride,
will evince the sincerity of their love to Christ by continual and solicitous enquiries after Him and will not be satisfied until Christ Himself is apprehended by faith.
Song of Solomon 3
1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
5 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.
6 ¶ Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
Song of Solomon 3:1-5 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 3:6-11 – J. Vernon McGee
Under the figure of Solomon, his bed and his guards about it the Church here admires Christ, the true Bridegroom. Solomon is used as an illustrious type of Christ because of his wisdom and wealth and the fact that he built the temple.
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1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my ________ loveth: I ____________ him, but I __________ him not.
2 I will ________ now, and go __________ the ________ in the ______________, and in the broad ________ I will ________ him whom my soul ____________: I sought him, but I found him not.
Song of Solomon 3:1—I sought Him, but I found Him not.
God lets us seek, hiding Himself to draw us after Him. How much our race owes to his hidings! He has hidden pearls in the ocean, jewels in the rocks, coal in the earth, fish in the deep. By all these methods He has drawn men forth from lethargy and inaction, to strenuous and vigorous lives; so that the gains of their toil have consisted not only in the treasures they have obtained, but in the developed faculties which have come to them in the course of their search.
Is it not so in the spiritual life? Our Lord withdraws Himself, not in anger or disappointment, but that we may be sensible of not having attained, of not being already perfect, and that we may follow on to know the Lord, and to apprehend something more of that for which we were apprehended. Do not be disappointed, O Christian soul, if some time you should cease to feel the familiar delight in certain hymns, services, books, or teachers. Thy Master has withdrawn Himself from these; but thou wilt find Him further on. Never rest till you have discovered Him in some deeper revelation. The watchmen that go about the city, and who are probably messengers of Divine truths, may not help you in your quest; but the Holy Spirit waits to lead you into all truth. Open your heart to Him. It is but a little time, and as you pass from all human teachers you will find Him whom you love, or perhaps be found of Him. Then hold Him, or better, be held by Him. It is a sweet motto, “Teneo et tensor”—“I hold, and am held.”
“And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright.” —Our Daily Homily