Being two Sermons preached in Glendale, Skye, on Sabbath, 14th September 1941.
“Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.” — Song 8:13.
The opening verse of this book gives some idea of the excellent matter contained in it. It is called “The Song of songs,” or, according to the Hebrew idiom, “the chief or most excellent of songs.” We are told in I. Kings 4:32, that Solomon wrote a thousand and five songs, but of these we have the most excellent in this book. Many have made it the subject of much criticism and maintained that it should not have a place in the canon of Scripture, but to the true child of God there is here as sweet a pasture to feed his soul as is to be found in the whole Bible, for we have here a wonderful manifestation of that heavenly intimacy which exists between Christ and His bride, the Church. Who but a sin-blinded creature can fail to see here the condescending humility and wonderful love of the Lord of Glory to a slothful and erring believer, and the graciousness with which He responds to the faintest desire after Him. Here we have a variety of experience which makes the book suitable alike to the most advanced Christian and the youngest babe in the Church of God. In the words before us I would seek to draw your attention, as enabled, to the following things:—
- The One speaking in our text.
- The gardens referred to.
- The One addressed.
IV. The Companions.
V. What is asserted of them.
VI. The request made.
I. The One speaking in our text.
We have already pointed out that the principal persons brought before us here are Christ and the Church that has been redeemed by His blood, but it is not evident in our translation whether it is Christ or the Church who is speaking in this verse. However, the Hebrew makes it very clear that it is the Church that is here addressed for it is the feminine gender that is used with respect to the one addressed. Thus we have every right to assume that it is Christ Who is here speaking. In looking over the Book of Songs we find that there are names given Him which, in a beautiful way, bring into prominence His character.
(1) He is brought before us as the King to show that He is above all other kings.
The kings of this world are surrounded with great pomp, and possess much which may be taken as symbols of their power and their glory, but when all is said and done they are, as Samuel Rutherford expresses it, “kings of clay,” and their power and glory, being of this world, will pass away, for “like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them.” Psalm 49:14. Not so with this King for “The Lord reigneth: he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself.” He is represented as sitting as King upon the floods, revealing that all the floods of war, famine and pestilence, which are sources of terror to men are under His control, and that as occasion requires it, He will make these His instruments for carrying out His purposes. As He rules as King among the inhabitants of the earth so He rules among the armies of Heaven, and they all manifest His glory and do His bidding. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.” Psalm 68:17.
(2) There is none like this Person.
If we consider Him as He is in Himself none can be compared to Him. “For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” None can dispute His authority or claim to be His equal for He is supreme. He alone can say, “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” Prov. 8:23. As the high and holy One whose throne is in the heavens and whose footstool is the earth, He manifests His incomparableness in condescending to look “even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Isaiah 66:2. It may be said that such is the nature of that look that the Church of God could say as the result of a wonderful experience, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15. Poor sinners, take note of the wonderful character of this glorious Person and lay to heart that He is willing to receive such as you are and enrich you for eternity.
As there is none like this Person, as He is in Himself, there is none like Him in the estimation of His people. He has manifested Himself in the day of justification in such a way that all others go out of sight. They got a view of His suableness and sufficiency to meet with their lost and ruined condition which made them perfectly satisfied with Him, and thus were constrained to say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” Psalm 73:25. To them there is none like Him in His love, for His love constrained Him to suffer for them the cursed death of the Cross. As a fruit of that love they were enabled in some small measure to love Him and to speak well of Him. “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.” Song 5:10. In His long-suffering there is none like Him in their estimation, for they are conscious of sinning continually. If they did against their fellow-creatures the smallest fraction of what they do daily against Christ, they would get little or no mercy, but against Him they sin continually — sins of omission and sins of commission, and these sins greatly aggravated by being sins against light, yet such are His gracious dealings with them that they have to say, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”
(3) In Him is revealed wonderful condescension.
We have already touched on this matter but it is a theme upon which the Lord’s people love to dwell. He condescended to come to this world and to live in it in humble circumstances, for, He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:7,8. In this condition He carried the burdens of His people. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” He condescended to fare as His people fared in this world, drinking deeper of the cup of affliction than it was possible for any of them to do. He sympathised with them in their sorrows, relieved their distress, healed them in their bodies and in their souls, and was a “teacher unto babes,” coming down to the meanest capacities, and carrying conviction with His doctrine so that His very enemies had to confess, “Never man spake like this man.” John 7:46.
He condescended, not only to fare as they fared in this world, but in His humiliation and sufferings He went beyond them, for there was no sorrow like His sorrow. When we read of Him that He “poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors,” Isaiah 53:12, we see Him taking the very place which lawfully belonged to His people, and taking upon Him that which God would be just in laying on them throughout eternity, and in enduring these sufferings He had none to show Him sympathy, so that He could say, “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Psalm 22:6. Over and above that, we find Him going through the deepest part of His sufferings when He endured the forsaking of the Father’s face, and on the accursed tree cried, “My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” Matt. 27:46. O fellow sinners! here we have a view of the condescension of the Lord of Glory which goes beyond our comprehension, and which ought to humble us in the dust throughout the whole of our pilgrimage in this world, and in the dust to sing of the mercy of God in looking on us in our low estate, and opening up to us, through His sufferings and death, the way to heaven.
The One speaking in our text is the desire of His people.
In Haggai 2:7, He is spoken of as “the Desire of all nations,” and although the nations of the earth, in our day, do not desire Him, yea, rather, they crucify Him to themselves afresh, “and put him to an open shame,” Heb. 6:6, yet there is a day coming when all nations shall desire Him. Yet, whatever may be true of the vast majority in our generation, there are a few who desire after Him, and who can say with the Psalmist, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Psalm 84:2. This is true of the believer whether under the Old or the New Testament. In the chapter before us we find the Church saying, “O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.” (Verse 1). Here we may see the desire of the Old Testament saints for the time when the Son of God would become incarnate, for the fact that He had not yet actually assumed bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh would cause them to feel at a distance from Him, and although they were enabled with Abraham to see the day of Christ and to rejoice, yet it was lawful and right for them to desire to see Him incarnate, for their privileges were less than the privileges of His people under the New Testament. Even Christ Himself takes notice of this when He says to His disciples, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Luke 10:23,24. These words in verse 1 may be taken not only as the desire of the Old Testament saints, but as an expression of the desire of believers in every age, and under certain circumstances. The true believer is not a stranger to what we have in Chapter 5:6. “My beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone.” He feels at a distance from Christ, and a coldness has crept in, so that he has not the same liberty in approaching Christ. Christ, being the unchangeable One, is still the Elder Brother, but the believer does not find himself to be on the same intimate terms with Him, for He has either hid Himself altogether, or behaved as Joseph did to his brethren before he made himself known to them in Egypt. This causes them to seek after a closer intimacy and say, “Oh that thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother.” Let all restraints be taken away, and let me receive tokens that Thou art my Elder Brother, and let me have that intimacy with Thee which brothers and sisters are permitted to have. He must indeed be a wonderful Person who is thus desired after by the renewed soul, and is fitly described, as He describes Himself, as “the Rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” Such a One is He who speaks in our text.
II. I now come in the second place to notice a few things concerning the gardens referred to.
A garden, literally, is that upon which much labour is bestowed, in separating it from the ground round about it, and preparing it to bring forth fruit. Thus the Church is referred to as “a garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse.” Song 4:12. In our text, however, it is the plural that is used and may rather be applied to the means of grace, or to particular congregations. The true believer is found in the means of grace, both public and private, and these are some of the gardens in which he may be said to dwell, and it can truly be said that those who are most often in the private or secret means, are those who derive most benefit from the public means, and thus have the experience of the Church, “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.” Song 3:4. It is individuals who have experiences similar to these that made particular congregations what they were, and in our day the presence or the absence of such individuals, affects for better or for worse, a gospel ministry. As particular churches have grown out of congregations grouped together, I prefer to deal with the gardens here as referring to congregations rather than to churches, or denominations.
(1) Gardens are set apart for particular purposes, and Christ requires that every congregation of His Church on earth be set apart for a particular purpose.
Part of that purpose is that the whole counsel of God be declared in it, and this is the duty of His sent ambassadors. “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me.” Ezek. 33:7. This gives us a wide and rich field as to what is the word at the mouth of the Lord for it is to be found on every page of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, “for all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” II. Tim. 3:16. In this declaration of the whole counsel of God, Christ’s ambassadors, who are labouring in His gardens, must labour to set before sinners their lost and ruined condition and their need of a Saviour, the high claims of God’s law and the utter impossibility of obtaining righteousness by an attempted obedience to its claims on the part of the creature, the suitableness and sufficiency of Christ as a Saviour, the need of the power of the Holy Spirit to apply Christ’s salvation, the last Judgment, and Heaven and Hell. The purpose of Christ in setting His gardens in this world is that these things should be declared with a single eye to the glory of God and the good of never-dying souls.
Another part of God’s purpose in setting up His gardens in this world is that they should be the birth-places of souls. God takes notice and records in heaven the very places where His people are born again in this world. “The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.” Psalm 87:6. For all the labour which He bestowed on these gardens in setting them apart, and appointing labourers for them, He is looking for fruit, and alas! how often has He to say, “Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” Isaiah 5:4. My dear fellow-sinner, that you have your lot cast among these gardens is a great privilege, but remember that such a privilege is the measure of your responsibility. You have received much at the hand of God, for in these gardens you have heard much of the gospel. Its sweet promises were set before you with the awful threatenings of God’s Word against all who despise the gospel. God’s loving exhortations to flee from the wrath to come, His oft-repeated assurances that He has no delight in your death, and His long-suffering toward you in the face of many provocations, are things which are denied to a great many of the race to which you belong, but God has sent them to you as means which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are able to give you to experience the new birth, and make you a new creature in Christ Jesus. Plead with God on your knees in secret that, for the sake of Christ, He would bless these means to your soul.
A third part of God’s purpose in setting His gardens in the world is, to prepare the saints for heaven. When they are born again the work of sanctification begins, and the believer begins to experience many a thing which he is not able to understand, and things which will cause him to come to wrong conclusions and write bitter things against himself. A thorn in the flesh, a crook in the lot, a collection of circumstances which cause one to conclude that all things are against him, are often the experiences of the believer. Together with this there is a continual fight with Satan, unbelief and the flesh in oneself, and a feeling that they are prevailing against him. He prays, he struggles, he attends the means, and God seems to be silent, and appears as if He took no interest in His creature. This will give rise to many a perplexing thought. It is under such circumstances that a regenerated soul will realise the value of the public means of grace and a gospel ministry. Asaph had some trying experiences in this connection when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, and was troubled with unbecoming thoughts which were painful to him, but found the public means of grace helpful, for he had to say, “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” Psalm 73:16,17. Under a living ministry a child of God, at his wits end with troubles and temptations, will find his case unfolded as if the preacher had been told everything about him, directions and consolations will be given which is as a word in season to a weary soul and will afford matter for praise in secret.
(2) On these gardens which Christ has set up in the world, much labour has been bestowed so that He can say, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it.” Isaiah 5:4.
As it was true concerning His vineyard in Israel that He fenced it, so He did to the Church. He gave Israel laws and ordinances which they were to observe, and it is true in our day that the visible church and all the congregations of it have the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as their only rule, and the ambassadors of Christ are charged to teach all nations “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matt. 28:20. Those who are labouring in these gardens have in the Word of God a clear boundary set before them, beyond which they dare not go, for if they bring anything outside the Word of God into these gardens, they have to reckon with God’s searching enquiry, “Who hath required this at your hand.” Isaiah 1:12. Thus God has been at much pains to show us what we are to believe concerning Him, and the duties which He requires of us.
He has also laboured to remove out of these gardens everything that would hurt. A large part of the history of the Church of Christ is taken up with contendings against error and corruption. In our own land this is very clearly seen. At the time of the Reformation God cleared out the heresies of the Church of Rome, and set up the means of grace as purely as ever they were set up in the world since the days of the apostles. Truly here was great labour bestowed upon the gardens when one views how things were prior to the Reformation, so that one can see the contrast after the Reformation was established. Under the Papacy darkness covered the land and gross darkness the people. Image worship, prayers to saints, indulgences, and immorality among the clergy and laity were the order of the day; the priesthood and the Mass denied to Christ His rightful place as the great High Priest of His people and the sufficiency of His atoning work as the only ground for a poor sinner to build on for eternity. With the establishment of the Reformation these hurtful things had been cleared away, and the means of grace opened, where poor sinners were privileged to hear of a crucified, risen, and exalted Redeemer, Who procured a salvation which is God-glorifying, Christ exalting and man abasing.
Further, God is bestowing labour upon these gardens by watering them. On the day of Pentecost God watered His gardens so that the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4. Thus men of different languages heard in their own tongue “the wonderful works of God.” Time and again when the Church of God needed it most, He has been pleased to water it, and to raise up men who were used by Him as humble instruments for that purpose. Instances of this are to be found in the revivals of Kirk of Shotts, Cambuslang and Kilsyth, and, though not so well known, the revivals at Fairy Bridge, in the Island of Skye, under Rev. Roderick MacLeod of Snizort. These were days of the right hand of the Most High, when the Lord’s people could say, “Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary.” Psalm 68:9. In our day when, spiritually, our heavens are as brass, and our earth as iron, we have great need of the prayer of one of old, “O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” Hab. 3:2.
(3) A garden is a place of much fruit.
We have referred already to the means of grace in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. On that never-to-be-forgotten day it brought forth much fruit, for we read that “there were added unto them about three thousand souls,” and it continued to bring forth fruit, “for the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” It is not merely in numbers of converts, however, that the gardens bring forth fruit. Literally, much of the fruit depends on the way the garden is kept, and so it is spiritually. A careless keeping of a garden will stunt the growth of everything in it, and where, along with the means of grace, unscriptural views and practices are harboured they have a correspondingly injurious effect on spiritual growth. The heart-rending cry of “My leanness, my leanness,” so often rising from the soul of the child of God, though often the fruit of his own slothfulness, is sometimes brought about through lack of suitable nourishment. A living soul is a soul that needs something to meet with the life that is there, and the overseer of a garden needs experience to help that soul, and to guide it to what is suitable for it. Alas! that so many who profess to be keepers of the gardens have nothing to give for bread but a stone, and for an egg but a scorpion, and even the best of fare is often spoiled through the inexperience of the keepers, who, nevertheless may have grace in their own souls. Thus there is great need to be looking continually to the Lord.
(4) These gardens stand continually in need of God’s favour.
There can be no growth without the sun, and to all who truly delight in the gardens established by Christ, there is the promise, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing under his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” Malachi 4:2. The Sun of righteousness brings warmth so that they are drawn upwards in their affections, have boldness in approaching God, revealed in Christ, and have liberty at a Throne of Grace to pour out their souls before Him. Thus they are brought more and more to value fellowship and communion with Him, and it becomes increasingly sweet to their souls to meditate on His Word and His glorious attributes.
As the sun is essential to the gardens, the former and latter rains are required. The Bible is divided into the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and there is not a word of either that the child of God can afford to throw away. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” II. Tim. 3:16,17. These scriptures were given at different periods embracing hundreds of years, and under two different dispensations, so that, from that point of view, they may be spoken of as the former and latter rain, but both are absolutely essential as a rule of faith and practice, and as essential to the perfecting of the Christian in knowledge, faith and holiness.
III. In the third place I have to notice something concerning the one who is here addressed, and she is referred to as “Thou that dwellest in the gardens.”
From the words of our text one would get the impression that this person was of a very retiring nature, shunning to stand as a public witness for Christ, and, we might add, afraid that she had no right to be a public witness. Yet Christ here speaks of her as “thou that dwellest in the gardens,” and in this way indicates clearly that His eye was upon her, and that she was known to Him. There are several things to be noticed from the title which He gives her.
(1) The gardens were the places of her choice.
Many counter attractions were set up in the world, and there was in herself that which was endeavouring to draw her to these. In this she had something of what the Apostle Paul had when he was saying, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Rom. 7:23. She has, however, seen that sin is a “captivity” — a bondage which the Holy Spirit has taught her to fear and hate, and with Peter she has concluded that “the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” I. Peter 4:3. Her choice now is the means of grace, and there her dwelling is. It is a fixed choice. Whatever may become of her for eternity she is resolved, in the strength of One higher than herself, that nothing will alter her choice; yea, let there come afflictions and persecutions, and loss in whatever shape or form, she has, with Moses, chosen “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” Heb. 11:25.
(2) Her delight is there.
She is of one mind with the Psalmist that “a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.” She cannot claim to have the assurance of faith, though she would give everything she ever saw to have it, but the Word of God is read and expounded there, and sometimes she had moments when her experience could best be expressed in the language of the disciples who went to Emmaus, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures. Luke 24:32. They may not know that it is Christ who is giving them such a delightful experience, but they are sure the pleasures of this world never gave them anything like it, and they do not in this world expect the same experience except in the means which Christ instituted. Thus they avail themselves of every opportunity to come to these gardens.
(3) The gracious soul is at home there.
He is not a mere visitor, coming to satisfy his curiosity; he dwells there. While it is true that Christ’s hidden ones are strangers and pilgrims on earth, yet God has appointed places for such where they may rest and be refreshed. In response to the inquiry as to where He is feeding His flock and making them to rest, He directs the enquirer to these resting places of His own appointment. “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherd’s tents.” Song 1:8. Of those who dwell in those gardens it is true that they love them more than any other place in the world, for here they are cared for, and in the use of them the Lord is pleased to smile upon them at times and encourage them to draw near unto Him. Thus in a world of wickedness these gardens are green spots like an oasis in the desert, where the soul of him who is ready to perish finds sweet entertainment.
(4) Those who dwell in the gardens are partakers of its benefits.
Such are living souls who must be fed, and Christ will give each their portion in due time. “For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Psalm 107:9. Many who dwell in these gardens are Christ’s hidden ones who, as far as public profession is concerned, have never ventured into the open. They are not making the progress which one had a right to expect and “are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” Heb. 5:12. Christ, however, does not upbraid them for how little progress they have made, but, by His Spirit, directs them to that which is suitable for them. “As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.” I. Peter 2:2. On account of troubles within and without they are weary and ready to faint, but Christ has enough to supply their needs, and counsels them to buy of Him “wine and milk without money, and without price.”
Those who dwell in the gardens are found where Christ Himself delights to walk. The Spouse could say, “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.” Song 6:2. Oh! how good it is for those who dwell where Christ is passing by. They are sure some day to get a glimpse of His gracious countenance and to hear His voice, saying to them as He said to one of old, “Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” Luke 19:5. That voice Zaccheus never forgot and we may be sure he could enter into the language of the Psalmist, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalm 119:103.
(5) Here we have a clear indication as to where the heart of this person is.
It does not matter how far one may travel afield, the thoughts of his heart often turn towards his home. That home may be very humble in comparison to the places where he may be entertained on his journey, but even ere his business is done in these places his heart is turning towards his home. The true child of God may be placed in circumstances where he cannot get to the public means, and where even the use of private means is very much restricted, so much so that his private devotions are confined to the secret groanings of the heart, and these secret groanings intensified by the oaths and curses of his fellow-creatures around him. Oh! how his heart yearns for the opportunities of other days. “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Psalm 84:2. Thus it is proved that those who dwell in the gardens have their treasure there also. They may often deny that they have Christ, and may conclude a hundred times a day that they are hypocrites, yet their walk and conversation, and their delight in those places where Christ reveals Himself puts it beyond the shadow of a doubt that they belong to Him. The very fact that He desires to hear their voice proves His interest in them.