The Bridegroom and Bride in Song of Solomon 4
Song of Solomon 4 • 2 min. read • grade level: 6
By W. T. P. Wolston
It is a blessed thing to cultivate in our hearts, not only the sense of what God has done for us, but also what He in grace has made us to be for Himself. It is most blessed to get away from ourselves, and entering into the secret of God’s presence, there to learn what those sentiments are which fill His heart. The Spirit of God makes those who believe in Christ to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: so the Apostle Peter says in his first epistle (1 Peter 1:88Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8)). That is our side of this joy, but “It is meet that we should make merry and be glad,” is His, for the Father has His joy as well, and it is boundless. He rejoices to have children near to Him-children who can enjoy God. “Christ suffered, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God”; and “we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Rom. 5:1111And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)). It is that we may enjoy Himself that we are made nigh by the precious blood of Christ. It is not merely what He gives us, but Himself, who is to be the portion of our souls, and this is the fruit of the new birth. Because born again, we enjoy God Himself. “We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But what is the new birth? By it we get a new nature, which has the capacity to enjoy and understand and know God. The soul gets this as the fruit of His grace. We are made to enjoy God; but then He has His side as His joy is to have His children near to Him, and we are to have the sense that there is nothing between our hearts and Himself. Thus we see there is the joy of the Father, and the children’s joy likewise.