“I am come into My garden, My sister, My spouse: I have gathered My myrrh with My spice; I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (ch. 5:1).
Honey may be eaten immediately and enjoyed, while the honeycomb provides for future needs. It represents the result of meditation, and is much richer. Have I experienced such a banquet of love down here?
There may be tears from past failure —bitter as myrrh. We may have to say, “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest” (Psa. 51:44Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalm 51:4)). But “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,” so my soul can sing —
O love divine, Thou vast abyss!
Our sins are swallowed up in Thee;
Covered is our unrighteousness;
From condemnation we are free:
While Jesus’ blood, through earth and skies
Mercy free, boundless mercy, cries.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies” (Psa. 103:1414For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. (Psalm 103:14)).
God acts so that His holiness and truth are maintained, sins are judged in the light, the conscience is cleared, the heart is made happy, full communion is restored after failure, and the soul is established in grace.
While the bride slept, her heart was awake. She hears the voice of her Beloved. He is knocking, saying, “Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled: for My head is filled with dew, and My locks with the drops of the night.” She answers, “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” All is right outwardly, but the heart is cold.
She says, “My Beloved put in His hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for Him. I rose up to open to my Beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.” Rising, she opens the door, but He has gone.
She sought Him, but could not find Him. “I called Him, but He gave me no answer.” While out looking for Him, she was smitten and wounded by the watchmen of the city, and her veil taken by the keepers of the wall. She meets and finds the daughters of Jerusalem who ask her, “What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy Beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?” She describes His qualities and His precious love. She says, “He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”