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Song of
Solomon Chapter Seven
Song of Solomon 7
Chapter Contents
The graces of the church. (1-9) The delight of the church
in Christ. (10-13)
Commentary on Song of Solomon 7:1-9
(Read Song of Solomon 7:1-9)
The similitudes here are different from what they were
before, and in the original refer to glorious and splendid clothing. Such
honour have all his saints; and having put on Christ, they are distinguished by
their beautiful and glorious apparel. They adorn the doctrine of God their
Saviour in all things. Consistent believers honour Christ, recommend the
gospel, and convince and awaken sinners. The church resembles the stately and
spreading palm; while her love for Christ, and the obedience resulting
therefrom, are precious fruit of the true Vine. The King is held in the
galleries. Christ takes delight in the assemblies and ordinances of his people;
and admires the fruit of his grace in them. When applied to the church and to
each faithful Christian, all this denotes that beauty of holiness, in which
they shall be presented to their heavenly Bridegroom.
Commentary on Song of Solomon 7:10-13
(Read Song of Solomon 7:10-13)
The church, the believing soul, triumphs in its relation
to Christ, and interest in him. She humbly desires communion with him. Let us
walk together, that I may receive counsel, instruction, and comfort from thee;
and may make known my wants and my grievances to thee, with freedom, and
without interruption. Communion with Christ is what all that are made holy
earnestly breathe after. And those who would converse with Christ, must go
forth from the world. Wherever we are, we may keep up communion with God. Nor
should we go where we cannot in faith ask him to go with us. Those who would go
abroad with Christ, must begin early in the morning of their days; must begin
every day with him, seek him early, seek him diligently. A gracious soul can
reconcile itself to the poorest places, if it may have communion with God in
them; but the most delightful fields will not satisfy, unless the Beloved is
there. Let us not think to be satisfied with any earthly object. Our own souls
are our vineyards; they should be planted with useful trees. We should often
search whether we are fruitful in righteousness. Christ's presence will make
the vine flourish, and the tender grapes appear, as the returning sun revives
the gardens. If we can appeal to him, Thou knowest all things, thou knowest
that I love thee; if his Spirit witness with our spirit, that our souls
prosper, it is enough. And we must beg of him to search and try us, to discover
us to ourselves. The fruits and exercises of graces are pleasant to the Lord
Jesus. These must be laid up, and always ready; that by our bringing forth much
fruit, he may be glorified. It is all from him, therefore it is fit it should
be all for him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon》
Song of Solomon 7
Verse 1
[1] How
beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy
thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
Shoes —
Were anciently evidences of a free and comfortable state, whereas slaves and
mourners used to go bare-foot.
Verse 4
[4] Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh
toward Damascus.
Like fishpools —
Full, and clear, and quiet, and pleasant.
Heshbon — A
pleasant and well watered city, beyond Jordan.
The tower —
Which was in all probability built by Solomon in the mountain of Lebanon, the
northern border of the land of Israel towards Damascus; and therefore a very
fit place for a watch-tower.
Which looketh —
There was another tower or building in or near Jerusalem, which was called the
house of the forest of Lebanon, 1 Kings 7:2.
Verse 5
[5]
Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple;
the king is held in the galleries.
Carmel —
Eminent and pleasant to the eye, and fruitful as mount Carmel was. Which may
denote that her mind was replenished with knowledge, and other excellent gifts
of the Holy Ghost.
Purple —
Which colour was anciently much esteemed.
Is held — In
which he walks, and having once espied thee, is unable to take off his eyes
from thee.
Verse 6
[6] How
fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
Delights —
For those various lovely features which, are in thee.
Verse 7
[7] This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
grapes.
Palm-tree —
Tall and strait, or upright. And he seems to mention the palm-tree, rather than
any other, because it is constantly green and flourishing, and grows upward in
spite of all pressures.
Verse 8
[8] I
said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof:
now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy
nose like apples;
I said —
Within myself, I resolved.
I will —
Climb up, that so I may take hold of the boughs, which do not grow out of the
sides, as in other trees, but only at the top of it.
Take hold —
Partly to prune and dress them, and partly to gather the fruit.
The smell — Of
thy breath; which is often called the breath of a man's nostrils.
Verse 9
[9] And
the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down
sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
Thy mouth —
Thy speech, the palate being one of the principal instruments of speech.
Wine —
Grateful and refreshing for thee my beloved, who reapest the comfort and
benefit of that pleasure which I take in thee.
Causing —
The most dull, and stupid, and sleepy persons to speak.
Verse 10
[10] I am
my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
I am —
This and the following verses contain the words of the bride, in answer to the
bridegroom's endearing expressions delivered in the foregoing verses.
Verse 11
[11]
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
Go forth —
That being retired from the crowd, we may more freely and sweetly converse
together.
Verse 12
[12] Let
us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the
tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my
loves.
Early —
The church having lost her beloved by her former laziness, now doubles her
diligence.
Vineyards — To
particular congregations.
Let us see —
Let us inquire into the success of our labours, what souls are brought in and
built up, and how they prosper and grow in grace.
There —
There I will discover the fervency of my affections to thee, and maintain
communion with thee in thy holy ordinances.
Verse 13
[13] The
mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new
and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Mandrakes —
This Hebrew word is used Genesis 30:14; 15, and the signification of it is very much
doubted and disputed by interpreters. The word here signifies sweet and
pleasant flowers, and therefore if it be understood of mandrakes, they were of
another sort than ours, as flowers of the same kind in several climates have
very different natures and qualities.
At our gates —
Brought thither by divers persons to congratulate our nuptials.
All fruits —
Fruits of this year and of the former. Which seems to be meant of the various
fruits and operations of the Spirit, and degrees of grace in several believers.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Song of Solomon》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-13
Verse 1
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O Prince’s daughter!
Beautiful with sandals
The Great Redeemer, the Heavenly Bridegroom, is now represented
under the leading emblem of the Book, as surveying the beauties and excellences
of His betrothed bride.
The whole chapter is an apostrophe to her. She is in herself full of conscious
unworthiness. But He sees her clothed in the bridal attire of His own
righteousness, and instead of upbraiding her for avowed imperfections, He
begins with the words, “How beautiful are thy sandalled feet, O Prince’s daughter!”
I. The Church’s or
the Believer’s name--“Daughter” and “Prince’s daughter.”
1. She is called “daughter.” This points to the tender relation
subsisting between Christ and His people. When Jehovah in the Old Testament
speaks most endearingly of His ancient Church, He calls it “The Daughter of
Zion.” He employs, indeed, manifold figures, all indicative of strong and
ardent attachment. “As one whom his mother comforteth.” “Can a woman forget her
sucking child?” “Like as a father pitieth his children.” “I will be a Father
unto you.”
2. But again, she is a “Prince’s daughter.” He reminds her of her
pedigree. It is no ordinary birth. She is one of the adopted children of the
“King of kings.” Their glory is His glory.
II. The subject of
commendation: “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes.
1. The shoe, or sandal, in ancient times, and in Oriental countries,
was the badge of freedom and honour. The crouching slave never wore a sandal.
The unsandalled feet was the badge and mark of subjection, if not of
degradation. When the Lord, therefore, in the text speaks of His betrothed
bride’s feet being “beautiful with shoes,” what is this but to proclaim that
she--type of every believer--is translated from the bondage of corruption into
“the glorious liberty of the children of God”?
2. Shoes or sandals were emblems of joy: while the want of these was
equally recognized and regarded as a symbol of grief and sorrow. And is not the
Christian called to be joyful? Yes, God’s children are indeed, really, and in
truth, alone of all, in this sin-stricken world, entitled to the epithet of
“happy.”
3. The sandals on the feet speak of activity and duty, and
preparedness for Christ’s service. They point to the nature of the journey the
believer is pursuing. Though a pleasant road, and a safe road, and a road with
a glorious termination, it is at times rough; a path of temptation and trial.
Unshod feet would be cut and lacerated
with the stones and thorns and briars which beset it. The figure, moreover,
suggests, that there can be no loitering or lingering on the way. (J. R.
Macduff, D. D.)
Verse 5
The King is held in the galleries.
The King is held in the galleries
Christ, the blessed King of Zion, condescends sometimes to be held
and detained by His people in the galleries of Gospel-ordinances.
I. I will give
some account of this royal King.
1. That he is a King appears from these particulars.
2. As He is a King, so He is the King by way of eminency and
excellency.
II. The galleries
wherein this royal King trysts and keeps company with His people.
1. I will only mention these few galleries.
2. Why are these ordinances compared to galleries?
III. The holding of
the King in the galleries.
1. What does it suppose and imply on the believer’s part?
(i.) By the lively exercise of faith. Hence faith is called an
apprehending of Christ, and a cleaving to Him.
(ii.) The soul binds or holds Christ in the galleries by sincere
and ardent love.
(iii.) The soul cleaves to Christ by fervent and ardent prayer.
2. What does it imply on Christ’s part?
(i.) He is bound by the cord of His own faithfulness, which He has
laid in pawn in the promise.
(ii.) He is bound in the galleries by the cord of His own love.
(iii.) He is bound to them by the bond of marriage.
IV. The application
of the doctrine.
1. The first use is of information. Is it so that Zion’s King is
sometimes held in the galleries of Gospel-ordinances? Then,
2. By way of trial and examination. You have been in the galleries of
the King of Zion; but that is not enough: and therefore let me ask, Have you
been in the galleries with the King? and have you been holding the King in the
galleries?
3. Use third may be in a short word directed to two or three sorts of
persons.
Verses 11-13
Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in
the villages.
Good works is good company
The daughters of Jerusalem had been praising the Church as the
fairest among women. They spoke of her with admiring appreciation, extolling
her from head to foot. She wisely perceived that it was not easy to bear praise;
and therefore she turned aside from the virgins to her Lord, making her boast
not of her own comeliness, but of her being affianced to her Beloved: “I am my
Beloved’s, and His desire is towards me.” The spouse seems abruptly to break
off from listening to the song of the virgins, and turns to her own
husband-Lord, communion with whom is ever blessed and ever profitable, and she
says to him, “Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in
the villages. Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill. Whether it
be the bitterness of woe, or the cloying surfeit of earthly delight, close
fellowship with the Lord
Jesus will take the gall from the one and the satiety from the other.
I. First, then, in
the matter of self-examination. This is a most desirable and important
business, but every believer should desire to have communion with Christ while
he is attending to it. Self-examination is of the utmost importance. Well does
the spouse suggest that she should see whether the vine flourished, whether the
tender grape appeared and the pomegranates budded forth; for our spiritual
vineyard needs perpetual watchfulness. While you are attending to this
important business, see to it at the same time that you keep up your communion
with Christ, for you will never know so well the importance of self-examination
as when you see Him. Know His love for you, and all His griefs on your behalf,
and you will charge your own heart after this fashion--“See to it, that thou
make sure work as to thine interest in Jesus, that thou be really one with Him,
that thy faith in Him be genuine, and that thou shalt be found in Him in peace
at the day of His appearing.” Self-examination, however, is very laborious
work: the text hints at it. It does not say, “Let us go,” but “Let us get up.”
Self-examination is ever up-hill work. We need to school ourselves to perform a
duty so irksome. But, beloved, if we attempt to examine this, feeling that
Christ is with us, and that we are having communion with Him, we shall forget
all the labour of the deed. Keep close to the Saviour and the difficulties of
self-examination will vanish, and the labour will become light.
Self-examination should always be very earnest work. The text says, “Let us get
up early.” It has been well observed that all men in Scripture who have done
earnest work rose up early to do it. The dew of the morning, before the smoke
and dust of the world’s business have tainted the atmosphere, is a choice and
special season for all holy work. And yet again, self-examination, it seems to
me, is not the simple work that some people think, but is beset with
difficulties. I do believe that the most of self-examinations go on a wrong
principle. You take Moses with you when you examine yourself, and consequently
you fall into despair. I do not want you to look at Christ so as to think less
of your sin, but to think more of it; for you can never see sin to be so black
as when you see the suffering which Christ endured on its behalf: but I do
desire you, dear friends, never to look at sin apart from the Saviour. Examine
yourselves, but let it be in the light of Calvary; not by the blazing fires of
Sinai’s lightnings, but by the milder radiance of the Saviour’s griefs. It
appears, from the words of the spouse, that the work of self-examination should
be carried on in detail, if it is to be of real service. It is written, “Let us
see if the vine flourish, the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud
forth.” We must not take a general view of the garden, but particularize, and
give special attention to each point. Oh! to have our great pattern ever before
our eye! Jesus should not be a friend who calls upon us now and then, but one
with whom we walk evermore. Thou hast a difficult road to travel; see, O
traveller to heaven, that thou go not without thy Guide. In every case, in
every condition, thou needest Jesus; but most of all, when thou comest to deal
with thine own heart’s eternal interests. O, keep thou close to Him, lean thy
head upon His bosom, ask to be refreshed with the spiced wine of His
pomegranate, and then there shall be no fear but that thou shalt be found of
Him at the last, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing.
II. The Church was
about to engage in earnest labour, and desires her Lord’s company. It is the
business of God’s people to be trimmers of God’s vines. Like our first parents,
we are put into the garden of the Lord for usefulness. Observe that the Church,
when she is in her right mind, in all her many labours desires to retain and
cheerfully to enjoy communion with Christ. Taking a survey of Christ’s Church,
you will find that those who have most fellowship with Christ are not the
persons who are recluses or hermits, who have much time to spend with
themselves, but they are the useful indefatigable labourers who are toiling for
Jesus, and who in their toil have Him side by side with them, so that they are
workers together with God. Let me, then, try and press this lesson upon you,
that when we as a Church, and each of us as individuals, have anything to do
for Christ, we must do it in communion with Him. Let me hold up for your
imitation some in modern times who by works of faith and labours of love have
made us feel that the old spirit of Christianity is not dead. Our beloved
friend Mr. George Muller, of Bristol, for instance. There burns a holy
devotedness, an intensity of faith, a fervour of perseverance which I would to
God we all possessed. May we have more of this, aunt so by keeping close to
Jesus, we shall produce better fruits, richer clusters and more luscious grapes
than are commonly produced upon those vines which are in a less happy part of
the vineyard.
III. The Church
desires to give to Christ all that She produces. She has “all manner of
pleasant fruits,” both “new and old,” and they are laid up for her Beloved. We
have some new fruits. I hope we feel new life, new joy, new gratitude: we wish
to make new resolves and carry them out by new labours. Our heart goes up in
new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some
old things too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Christ
delights in it. There is our flint faith: that simple faith by Which, having
nothing, we become possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we
knew the Lord; let us revive it. Old things! why we have the old remembrance of
the promises. How faithful has God been! Old sins we must regret, but then we
have had repentances which He has given us, by which we have wept our way to
the Cross, and learned the merit of His blood. We have fruits, both new and
old; but here is the point--they are all to be for Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A call for revival
I. The fact which
is implied in the text, that love is the great motive for action in the cause
of Christ. This love has about it certain marked peculiarities.
1. It is first a love which realizes the person of the Beloved. Jesus
must be to us no historical personage who was once on earth, but is now dead
and powerless; he must be an actual person living still in our midst.
2. The love here spoken of was well assured of the affection of its
Beloved. Note the verse which precedes our text, “I am my Beloved’s, and His
desire is towards me.” A Christian is never strong for service when he does not
know whether Christ loves him
or not. Strive then for a well-assured sense of the Saviour’s love. Be not content
till you possess it, for it will be health to your spirit and marrow to your
bones: it will be a girdle of strength to your loins and a chain of honour
about your neck.
3. The love of the spouse lived in fellowship with the Well-beloved.
“Come, my Beloved, let us go, let us lodge, let us get up, let us see. There
will I give Thee my loves.” True love to Jesus grows stronger and stronger in
proportion as it abides in Him. If we have abounding love to Jesus we can
prosper under disadvantages, but if we have it not we have lost the great
secret of success. It yokes us with the strong Son of God, and so makes our
infirmities to be but opportunities for the display of His power.
4. This love leads the Church to hold all things in joint possession
with Christ. Observe that word, “at our gates are all manner of pleasant
fruits.” Love to Jesus constrains us to make over all that we hold to Him,
while faith appropriates all that Jesus has to itself.
5. The love which is the great motive to Christian action is a love
which looks to Jesus for united operation. It is, “Come, my Beloved, let us go
forth into the field, let us get up early to the vineyard.” All is well when
the Redeemer leads the way. Be not afraid, for you go in good company. Who
among us will be afraid to do anything or go anywhere if Jesus saith, “I will
go with you?”
II. Love leads us
to go afield in the service of Jesus. “Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into
the field.”
1. A loving Church spontaneously puts herself upon widened service.
She has a large heart towards her Lord, and longs to see Him reign over all
mankind. She does not wait to hear again and again the Macedonian’s cry, “Come
over and help us,” but she is prompt in mission enterprise.
2. The spouse, when she said, “Let us go forth into the field,” knew
that the proposal would please her Lord; for the nature of Christ is a large
and loving one, and, therefore, He would bless the far-off ones. His is no
narrow heart; His thoughts of love are far-reaching, and when the Church says,
“Let us go forth into the field,” truly her Lord is not backward to accept the
invitation.
3. The spouse is evidently prepared for any discomfort that may come
as the result of
her labour. She must needs leave the fair palaces of her royal husband and
lodge in rustic cottages. Poor lodgings there for Solomon’s fair spouse; but
what cares she?
4. The spouse is quite ready, to continue in this uncomfortable
service. She says, “I will lodge in the villages,” there will she abide a
while, not paying a flying visit, but stopping until the good work is done, for
which her Lord and she went forth. Oh, get ye out, ye Christians, into the
distant fields of labour. For our Master s sake, and in His strength and
company, we must compass sea and land for His redeemed ones. Only, if any of
you go, do not try to go alone. Stop until you breathe the prayer, “My Beloved,
let us go. You go in vain when you go not with the Master, but when you have
secured His company, then go and welcome, for you shall doubtless come again
rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you.”
III. Love labours
also at home. Nearer the palace there were vineyards, and the spouse said, “Let
us get up early to the vineyards.”
1. Note, then, that the Church does her work at home as well as
abroad. When she loves her Lord she works with zeal, she gets up early. All men
in Holy Scripture who loved God much rose early to worship Him. We never read
of one saint engaged upon sacred service who rose late. Abraham rose early,
David rose early, Job rose early, and so did they all. It is put here as the
very type and symbol of an earnest, vigorous service of Christ.
2. Notice that God’s people, when they are awake, first look well to
the Church. “Let us see if the vine flourish.” The Church is Christ’s vine. Let
us take stock of it.
3. Then the Church looks after the little ones. “Let us see if the
vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear.” No earnest Church forgets the
children of her Sabbath school, and every other agency for the young will be
sure to be well minded.
4. Then the Church also takes notice of all inquiries. “Let us see
whether the pomegranates bud forth.” If a Church be alive, there will be always
many to observe where the first tear of repentance is glistening.
IV. Love in a
Church brings forth all its stores for the beloved. The Church of God has in
herself, through the rich love of her Husband, all manner of pleasant fruits.
Some of these fruits are new, and oh, how full of savour they are. Our new
converts, thank God for them, what a freshness and power there is about their
love! Then there are old fruits, the experience of believers who are ripening
for heaven, the well-developed confidence which has been tried in a thousand
battles, and the faith which has braved a lifetime of difficulties. These old
fruits--the deep love of the matron to Christ, the firm assurance of the
veteran believer--there is a mellowness about them which the Lord delights in.
All these choice things ought to be laid up. Every good thing in a Church is
meant to be stored up, not to be despised and forgotten; and the point of all
is that all in the Church ought to be laid up for our Beloved. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Standing corn
I want you to go with me in thought and spirit while I try
to reproduce the lessons taught me in the rustling language of the standing
corn. “Let us go forth into the field.”
I. Here are
revelations from God. I feel myself to be in the presence of my Creator; and
all the questionings of doubt, and all the vain philosophies of the sceptic,
vanish like the morning mist. My intellect, my conscience, my heart, my
instinct if you will, prompts with remembrance of a present God. In this bright
field of waving corn I see His power. What mighty forces are here at work! I
see His wisdom. What harmony in the whole operations, with never a collision,
accident, or blunder! What exact adaptation of means to an end! I am led to say
with Cowper, “There lives and works a soul in all things, and that soul is
God.” I see His goodness. Not only has its wise Contriver had in view its
useful service, but He has clothed it with rare, refreshing beauty. I see His
faithfulness. After the desolating flood, God declared that hence on for ever
“summer and seedtime, autumn and harvest should not cease.” Since then
thousands of years have passed, stars have fallen, mountains have been
engulfed, nations have perished, mighty changes have been wrought, but this
rich, ripe field of standing corn in every waving stem declares the steadfast
faithfulness of God.
II. Life comes out
of death. Out of death and decay come life and beauty! Behold, I show you a
mystery! A few months ago this bright field of teeming life was a graveyard,
and every individual grain died, and was buried here, in sure and certain hope
of a glorious resurrection. In due time the trumpet of the spring winds
announced the grand arising day, and here the dead-alive are standing arrayed
in bright raiment and clad in a glory that excelleth. Standing here, the
mystery of the resurrection, it is true, remains, but the impossibility dies
out for ever! The cemetery is the field of God. I hear the winds of heaven
making music through the standing corn; and this is the burden of their song,
“Sown in dishonour and raised in glory!”
III. Like comes
forth from like. This heavy crop of wheat is all the outcome of scattered
wheat, and no other kind of plant could possibly arise. As the tall corn
rustles beneath the light autumnal wind I hear it say, “What a man soweth, that
shall he also reap.”
IV. Much comes from
little. In a small compass of bag and basket was the seed-corn contained! What
spacious yard, capacious barn, and extensive granary will be required to hold
the vast result! Mark you, it would have been much the same had cockle, tares,
or darnel been scattered on the soil. Little seeds bring great harvests, in
some thirty--, in some sixty--, and in some a hundred-fold. “Despise not the
day of small things.”
V. Fruit comes
from labour. This field of waving wheat is the farmer’s fee for hard and
willing work. You will find the truth hold good in your own daily labour, your
handicraft, your profession, or your trade. You will find, too, that diligent
effort will bring into your bosom rich sheaves of saving grace; that hard
labour in the Church or the school, Christ’s great field of toil, will bring
harvests of spiritual success.
VI. With progress
comes maturity. As you look at this field now, remember what it was. From the
day the life-germs broke through their decaying shells, advancement has been
the order of the day, flint the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the
ear, then the ripe and mellow grain ready for the garner. Little by little,
higher and greener, stronger and riper, ever maturing, ever progressing, until
the stage of perfection is reached at last. It is so in the moral world.
Constant progression in evil fits the sinner at last for the hopeless destiny
of the oven and the fire. Growth in grace brings maturity of Christian
character. Faith and hope and love grow stronger, brighter as the years go by.
The life grows purer and more like the great Exemplar as the harvest-time draws
near, until the shock of corn is garnered, being made meet for the paradise of
God.
VII. Advantage comes
from trial. As you look upon this sea of waving glory you remember that once it
was as naked as the highway. Think of the bitter winds that swept it, the
biting frosts, the drenching rains, the cutting ploughshare, the tearing
harrow, the crushing roller, and all the severity of discipline required. Then
came the hard fortunes of the tender plant, scorched and tossed, and battered
by wind and sun, until it lay limp, flaccid, and yellow on the ungenial ground;
and yet all these adverse seemings had a part in producing the golden glory
that waves in triumph now. It is just so in the Lord’s spiritual and human
field; crosses, trials, reverses, and disappointments are all necessary
preliminaries and preparatories to the joy of harvest.
VIII. Destiny comes
from character. By and by the reapers will put in the sickle. What for? In
order that the prostrate crop may be trodden under foot or bundled for the
fire? No, no. It is wheat, precious and good, therefore its destiny is the
barn, and even the gleanings shall be gathered and housed with care. The weeds,
the thistles, these are noxious and must feel the fire. Their character is bad,
and that decides their destiny. O men and women! your character shall decide
yours.
IX. Fruition comes
from faith. Many months ago, the farmer set to work here, but he could exercise
but small control; for aught he knew the land might have lost its fertility, or
the seed might have lost its germinating power. Perhaps the sun might forbear
to shine, or the rain to fall. There might be no return for all his anxious
care. But he had faith: faith in the soil, faith in the seed, faith in the sun,
faith in the sure processes that he could neither control nor understand. He
had faith and patience, too, and all this sterling gold is his reward, Learn
the lesson: God’s promise cannot fail. No good deed is lost. Incorruptible seed
cannot die.
X. The seen comes
from the unseen. The buried corn was hidden. What was going on beneath the
surface was hidden from human ear and eye. What is going on? You do not know.
What kind of seed is it? You cannot tell. How much will there be from it? You cannot
possibly predict. It is all secret, hidden--as secret, my friend, as the
thoughts of your heart, as the secret sins of your life, as the germ or bias of
evil in your nature. It is as secret, Christian, as the depth of your loyalty
and love, the private deeds of godly sacrifice, brave endurance, pious
beneficence, closet prayers. But wait a while; the secret of the soil is
revealed; the day hath declared it: and this fair field is the answer for all
the world to read. “There is nothing hidden that shall not be known.”
XI. Gain comes from
opportunity. If the farmer had let the ploughing season pass, if he had
permitted the sowing season to slip by, no such glorious sight as this golden
treasure would have gladdened his eye. No; he caught the season while it
lasted, he seized the opportunity while he had it. Last winter was the parent
of this success; last spring was the foster-mother of this field of corn. He
turned to use the precious present; he put out to usury the golden now; and
this is the usury that has come of it, this golden guerdon, this wealth of
grain. Don’t you hear every bended head, as the bright field shimmers in the
wind, saying “What thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, etc.”?
XII. All comes from
God. That’s the crowning lesson. His the soil, the seed, the sower, the sun,
the success. All are the absolute gift of His gracious providence and tender
love. (J. J. Wray.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》