| “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out” (Song of Solomon 4:16). |
| I have mentioned previously that I grew up on a fruit farm. It was always beautiful to see the blossoms come out on the various fruit trees in the spring. In our area they usually came out about mid-May, and the whole orchard would be white with the pretty blossoms. We used to like to go for a walk in the orchard and smell them. Each kind of fruit tree had a distinct smell. |
| Sometimes, when we stood on the edge of the orchard, and a nice breeze was blowing, we could really smell the fragrance from so many trees in bloom. But here in our verse we find both the north wind and the south wind mentioned. The north wind is usually strong and perhaps cold, while the south wind is often softer, and warmer. We liked the south wind in the spring, but we did not like the north wind, for it sometimes blew so strongly that it actually blew some of the blossoms off the trees. |
| Why does Solomon mention both the north and south winds? It is because we are like the garden of the Lord, or that orchard with the blossoms. The Lord sometimes allows a strong wind in our life — perhaps an unhappy experience that we wish we did not have to endure. But that strong wind makes the fragrance flow out to the Lord, for often we learn more by a difficult experience than we do when everything is going well. |
| But the Lord allows the south wind too. He knows when we need some encouragement, and a time when things go well for us. Then the nice smell of His garden (us!) comes from the south wind too. The Lord can use difficult times in our lives, and also easy times, to allow us to give some enjoyment to Him. |
