It is a dream that is told of in these verses. It was natural for her who tells it to have dreamt such a dream. Lifting up the story to the higher level of things spiritual, what these verses say suggests -

I. CONCERNING DREAMS GENERALLY. They are often revelations of life and character. Sometimes they are mere folly, the misty vapours exhaled by a gross and over-fed body. But at other times, as here, they have a deeper meaning. They show the manner of a man's life, the bent of his inclinations, the character of his soul. Our dreams never play us false. The motives that govern their acts are the motives that govern ours. A man dreams about the sins he loves too well; about the sorrows that haunt his life; about the joys on which his heart is set. Dreams have played a large part in God's governance of men. They often show us what we should avoid and what we should seek after. Though some are foolish, we cannot afford to despise them as if all were so.

II. CONCERNING THIS DREAM. In both its stages it reveals the fervent love of the dreamer.

1. It began sorrowfully. She thought she had lost her beloved (vers. 1, 2). This the deepest of distresses to the renewed soul (cf. Psalm 77:1-4). If heaven would cease to be heaven, as it would were Christ's presence withdrawn, how much more must this life be all dark and drear if we have him not! And she tells how she sought him.

(1) In the city, amid the business and turmoil of men. But it is but little that he is there. They would most probably crucify him if they found him, so deadly is the hate the world hath for him. It is not true that virtue needs only to be seen to be loved. As our Lord was dealt with, so would it be.

(2) And in the assemblies, in society. And we cannot be surprised that he was not there. Society! does that word summon up the idea of a community who would cherish Christ's presence?

(3) But even the watchmen could not tell her of him. How wrong this! Zion's watchmen, and not know where Christ is to be found! They had found her, and very likely found fault with her, but they could not help her to find him. Such pastors there are, and to them "the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." We can picture the soul's distress when these failed her. To have gone to the house of God hungering for direction Christwards, and to come back with none at all - that is a sorrow not unknown nor slight. But her dream did not end so.

2. It ended joyfully.

(1) Her beloved revealed himself to her. She "found him. But what is our finding other than his showing? (cf. the four findings of Christ told of in John 1.). How often when we have passed from" Sundays and services and sermons, and have not found Christ, he is found of us in some other season, place, and circumstances! If he be found of them that seek him not - as he says he is - how much more will he fulfil his word, "They that seek me shall find me"!

(2) And she clave to him. "I held him," etc. The soul thus holds her Lord by her prayers, her trust, her communion, her service, her self-surrender. These grasp the Beloved, and will not let him go.

(3) And she will be content with nothing less than the full assurance of his love (ver. 4). We should resolve to have a religion that makes the soul happy. The religion that does not do this does but little at all. Cf. the elder son in the parable of the prodigal, he had a religion, but it was all gloom. Let us not be satisfied so. And if we seek, and find, and cleave, and so continue as set forth here, the joy of the Lord shall be ours.

III. CONCERNING THE AWAKING. Ver. 5 shows that she is awake, and conscious of the love of her beloved, and would not be torn therefrom until he pleased (cf. on Song of Solomon 2:7). But, awake, the soul finds that what was sad in her dream was but a dread, but what was joyful is an abiding reality. We cannot lose Christ really, though we may think we do; and the soul that seeks him shall find him. - S.C.

When once the Spirit of truth has begun his work in the heart, there is a strong yearning after Jesus. In fulfilling his mission as the Revealer of Christ, the Spirit excites within us intense longings to have the friendship of Jesus. We take this as clear proof that a work of grace has begun in us if we feel that none but Christ can satisfy. Now we can part with all we have to obtain this goodly pearl. As the man who had inadvertently slain a fellow flees with lightning speed toward the city of refuge, feeling that the blood avenger is at his heels, so the convicted sinner has an eye for only one object - Christ. This persistent search for the Saviour is a token for good. The tree that does not easily languish in summer drought, but grows, blossoms, unfolds its fruit, has most certainly deep roots in the soil; so, if under manifold discouragements we steadily seek after Christ, we may be sure that we are planted in the soil of grace by the Lord's right hand. Three main thoughts are in this text.

I. JESUS SOUGHT. "I sought him whom my soul loveth."

1. True love to Christ glows brightly ever, in his absence. Genuine love is of all things the most unselfish. We love him not so much for the benefit to be obtained; we love him because he is lovable. Having once known him, we cannot restrain our love. To give the shrine of the heart to another would be self-degradation, idolatry. On this account it may be that Jesus keeps away. He sees some growing rivalry within. He sees some need for our self-purging. He wants the soul to realize a deeper need. He wants to make his love more prized. Many worthy reasons has Jesus for hiding himself. 'Tis a temporary winter in order to bring about a more prolific harvest. So, whether we have any assurance of his love or not, we will love him; we will seek after him.

2. The absence of Jesus makes midnight for the soul. "By night... I sought him." If Jesus has been our Sun of Righteousness, then his departure makes our night. All the things relating to the spiritual world are dark to us if Jesus be absent. We cannot see the face of our Father. We cannot read our titles clear to the heavenly inheritance. There is no growth of holy virtues in us. We cannot run the heavenly race. It is a time of wintry darkness and wintry barrenness if Jesus keeps away. No artificial light can take the place of Immanuel.

3. There is sound resolution. The soul has reached a noble resolution. "I will rise now." Some resolutions which we make are worthless. They are made under excited feeling, or from a passing fear, or they are the outcome of a shallow nature, which lightly esteems a pledge. But a resolution made in the strength of God is a firm step taken in advance. It is the first step in a series; for the strength of God is behind it. Genuine resolution never waits. It moves onward at once. No sooner had the prodigal boy resolved to return, than "he arose and came to his father." So here the bride says in the same breath, "I will seek him I sought him." The future is instantly translated into the present. Good resolution is not a pillow to sleep on; it is a horse which we should instantly mount.

4. There is active and persistent search. No journey is too great if we can only find our Beloved. Thousands travel every year over hot sands to Mecca in the hope of getting nearer to Mohammed, and so gaining his empty favour. Sharp privations are gladly endured in order to purchase this worthless merit. Gold seekers will voyage to the antipodes, and will run a thousand risks to obtain the virgin ore. Then does not highest wisdom impel us to seek the "unsearchable riches of Christ"? Shall the common adventurers of earth put us to shame? We must seek everywhere, in all likely places. If in one search we have been disappointed, we must try another. Columbus was not easily daunted when he was on the search for a new continent. Many noble lives have been sacrificed in the effort to find a searoute over the North Pole. Joseph and Mary did not easily abandon the search for the child Jesus. Pressed down with sorrow, they sought him in one company after another, nor gave up their effort until they found the lad.

"The subtle chemist can dissect
And strip the creature naked till he find
The callow principles within their nest.
What hath not man sought out and found
But his dear God?"

5. First disappointments will not deter us. "I sought him, but I found him not." The earnest seeker after Christ is not easily daunted. The first hindrance will not depress him, nor the second, nor the twentieth. Delays in finding Jesus only whet his appetite, and spur him on to fresh search. Failure in finding Christ is in no sense a detest. It is a gain in knowledge. It is helpful in experience. It is part of the process in the attainment of success. Difficulties make the man. If one road does not lead to righteousness and rest, another road will; for there is a road. And Christ is watching us carefully to see if we are faint hearted. The first experiment to utilize electricity for illuminating a city did not succeed, nor the second; yet mechanicians persevered until they reached the goal. And every awakened sinner is resolved to find Christ, or to die in the attempt. Our own blunders, as a rule, are the cause of delay.

6. There will be inquiry for Christ from qualified persons. "The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" These watchmen fifty represent the pastors of the Church. They know the haunts and habits of the Prince. They know the proneness of man's heart to err. They know the subtleties of the adversary and the deceitfulness of sin. Therefore a faithful pastor is a good guide for seeking souls. These under-shepherds are ever on the look out for Christ-seekers. We read, "They found me." Then they were searching for such. This is their business. As a man who has navigated a ship a hundred times through an intricate rocky channel makes the best pilot, so they who have themselves found Christ and walk daily with him are best qualified to lead wanderers into his fold. Shrink not from asking counsel. Avail yourself of every help.

II. JESUS FOUND. "I found him whom my soul loveth."

1. Jesus uses consecrated men to bring his chosen ones into his presence. Those who know him best are honoured to be chamberlains in his palace, and to introduce guests to his banquet table. His employment of us in this sacred and noble work is an unspeakable honour. A consecrated man is sure to become a guide to others, whether he fill an office in the Church or not. The pious women who talked with each other of Christ in the cottage porch at Elstow led John Bunyan into the friendship of Christ. As men who have travelled through a terra incognita erect guide posts for those who may follow, so every friend of Christ will find a heavenly pleasure in guiding wayward feet into the right way. Never was Paul the apostle a nobler man than when he put into words the burning desire of his heart, "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

2. Diligent search is always rewarded. If, in self-diffidence, we follow the light of Scripture, sooner or later we are sure to succeed. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." Men have searched long for the philosopher's stone and for the secret of perpetual motion - have searched long, and searched in vain. But no sincere lover of Christ yet sought him and failed to find him. Not more surely may you expect a harvest where you have sown good seed than success from seeking Christ. It prevails with the uniform regularity of law. "Then shall we find him when we seek him with all the heart." When there is a seeking sinner and a seeking Saviour, they are sure to meet ere long. Calvary is an old trysting place.

3. Genuine love appropriates Christ. "I held him." We naturally value anything a great deal more if we have taken many pains to acquire it. A jewel is valued for its rarity as well as for its intrinsic beauty. There is but one Christ; hence when we find him we hold him fast. But in what way can we hold him? We hold him by frequent communing with him. We hold him fast when we hourly try to please him. We hold him if our love is strong and fragrant. We hold him if in our heart garden there are ripe fruits of holiness. We hold him if there is harmony of purpose, will, and life. He loves companionship.

4. Every attempt of Jesus to depart is energetically resisted. "I would not let him go." In this way Jesus often tests our love. We have displeased him, and he rises to depart. Then will we confess the evil thing? Will we make some fresh self-sacrifice in order to detain him? He is not easily offended. He hateth putting away. But he loves to see in us a delicate sensitiveness of feeling. He delights to find a tender and childlike affection. It is for our highest good that he should be appreciated. As he did at Emmaus he sometimes deals with us: "he made as though he would have gone further; but they constrained him." And now he gladly yields to our constraints. It brings him delicious joy to feel the embraces of our love. If he can only strengthen and elevate our love, he has conferred on us the very highest good. If love grows, every grace will grow. If love grows, we grow like Christ. And this is love's firm resolve, "I would not let him go."

III. JESUS MADE KNOWN. "Until I had brought him into my mother's house."

1. We wish our best friend to accompany us everywhere. The genuine disciple desires to take Jesus with him into every circle and into every occupation. He is not content to have Jesus only on sabbath days and on special occasions. He wants Jesus always at his side - yea, better, always in his heart, he has no friend whom he cannot introduce to Jesus. He has no occupation, no recreation, he wants to keep from the eye of Jesus. Into every chamber of the house Jesus is welcome. He is a fitting Guest for every room, a fit Companion on every journey, a fitting Partner in every enterprise. We do all things in the name of Jesus.

2. This language suggests benevolent effort for our households. Love is generous. Having found such spiritual treasure in Jesus, we want every member in our household, viz. children, parents, servants, to share in the "unsearchable riches." "I brought him into my mother's house." Happy the man who can testify that! If we are under tremendous obligations to earthly parents, how can we better discharge the debt than by making them partakers of Christ?

3. This language suggests our usefulness to the Church. As we give to the imagery of this book a spiritual interpretation, so may we properly regard our mother's house as the Church on earth. This is our true Alma Mater. We bring the Bridegroom with us into the Church. We cannot enjoy our piety alone. We inspire the whole Church with a nobler life. Our sacred love to Jesus is a contagion. Others feel the heavenly charm, and they desire to have Jesus too. And from the Church the benefit extends to the whole world. Would that all men knew our Lord! - D.

This whole book is a glorification of love; it teaches that human love, if true, is sacred, ennobling, and inspiring; it shows the excellence of human love, that it is worthy of being the emblem of that love which is spiritual and Divine. As St. John has taught us, "He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love." The Object of the Christian's love is Christ, in whom the love of God has been revealed and communicated to us.

I. THE GROUNDS OF THE SOUL'S LOVE TO CHRIST. The soul that loves the Redeemer is not prompted by blind, unreasonable impulse; such love as that expressed in the language of the text is rational and justifiable.

1. The soul loves Christ for his own Divine, unapproachable excellence, for what he is in himself. He is worthy above all to be thus loved. With an "intellectual love," as the English Platonist phrased it, does the illumined and living soul love him who is the Effulgence of the Father's glory and the Revelation of the Father's heart.

2. The soul loves Christ in gratitude for Divine compassion, ministry, and sacrifice. The cycle of Christian doctrine concerning the Person and mediation of the Redeemer is an exhibition as much of God's love as of his holiness and his wisdom. What our Saviour has done for us is an appeal to the soul which awakens the response of grateful affection.

3. The soul loves Christ because of the revelations of Divine friendship made to the individual nature. The language of the Canticles is rich in portraying the personal element in the relation between the Lord and humanity as redeemed by him. And every Christian is prompted to affection by those intimate displays of Divine affection which experience records in the recesses of the spiritual nature.

II. THE PROOFS OF THE SOUL'S LOVE TO CHRIST. An emotion such as this cannot take possession of the mind, and dwell in the mind, without becoming a principle, controlling and inspiring the nature, and prompting to manifestations of marked, decisive import.

1. The soul keeps him whom it loveth in perpetual memory.

2. The soul takes an ever-growing delight in his society; places the highest happiness in spiritual fellowship with Christ.

3. The soul proves the sincerity of its love to Christ by treasuring up his precepts, by seeking to live under the inspiring influence of his presence and character, by yielding to him a cheerful, constant, and unquestioning obedience. Whom the soul loveth the hand serveth, the tongue witnesseth unto, the whole life honoureth by obeying and glorifying. - T.

The romantic incident here poetically related has usually been regarded as a picture of the experiences through which many a soul is permitted to pass during this state of probation and Divine discipline.

I. THE SOUL'S SEARCH.

1. The appreciation of Christ involved in this quest. Men seek for gold because they value it; they dive for pearls and dig for precious stones. Multitudes are indifferent to the Saviour because they know him not; because their spiritual susceptibilities are not awakened. But those to whom he is chief among ten thousand cannot be satisfied until they possess him and enjoy his fellowship.

2. The quest may be both earnest and prolonged. The desire for highest good is amongst the noblest and purest of all human characteristics. And seeking is good, even though finding be better. A search which is sincere and patient is in a sense its own reward. And there are those whose spiritual experience can only thus be justly described. It is a low view of human nature which looks upon such high quest with contempt; which takes for its motto, Nil admirari - "Not to desire or admire." The young and ardent will do well to make the search after God's truth, after God himself, the occupation of their life.

II. THE SOUL'S DISTRESS.

1. Seeking does not always issue in speedy finding. The soul may seek with a mistaken purpose, or in the wrong way, or with a misguided aim, or at the wrong time, i.e. too late.

2. The absence of the sought Saviour is the cause of distress and complaint.

"This is the way I long had sought,
And mourned because I found it not." There is no repose for the heart until Christ be found. "Cor nostrum inquietum est, donec requiescat in te," says St. Augustine - "Our heart is restless till it rests in thee." There is something of mystery in the providential arrangement that the lot of man should so often be one of seemingly fruitless search and disappointed endeavour. Yet this is discipline for which many have had reason to give thanks; it has called forth courage, it has braced to patience, it has stimulated aspiration, it has sweetened success.

III. THE SOUL'S DISCOVERY.

1. A delayed discovery. The soul has followed hard after him. The moment of revelation has been again and again deferred. The call has been loud, but has met with no answer but the echo.

2. A promised discovery. The word has gone forth from heaven, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found." The promise has been proclaimed by Christ himself, "Seek, and ye shall find." He does not say, "Seek ye my face in vain."

3. A gracious discovery. "I found him whom my soul loveth." How condescending the revelation! How joyful the sight, the apprehension, the hope's fulfilment!

4. A discovery which the soul uses for its own lasting satisfaction. As the bride in the poem "held" her spouse, grasped him by the arm in the fulness of her joy, and "brought him into the house," there to enjoy his society, so when the soul finds Christ it finds in him One who satisfies every deep craving of its nature. And to find him is to retain him, not as a wayfaring man who tarrieth for a night, but as an inmate never to be displaced from the heart, a friend to go no more out forever. - T.

In this verse very much that it concerns Christ's ministers to give heed to is suggested.

I. THE WATCH THEY HAVE TO KEEP. Christ's ministers are meant (Isaiah 52:8; Isaiah 62:6; Ezekiel 33:7). Their watch is to be over themselves, over their teaching, over the Church of God.

II. THE REASON OF THEIR APPOINTMENT. It is night, when men sleep, when the foe takes advantage; hence the need of watchmen (Isaiah 21:11, 12).

III. THE DUTY THEY HAVE TO DISCHARGE. "To go about the city." The ways and windings of the human heart. The highways of the Word of God. The streets of the city of God, the Church. They need to be acquainted with all these.

IV. WHAT THEY WILL MEET WITH. Such as they found here. They "found me;" that is, a wearied and sorrowful soul. They find such through their preaching or their pastoral work (1 Corinthians 14:24, 25). So souls are found. True watchmen are sure to find such.

V. THE QUESTION THEY WILL BE ASKED. (Cf. John 12:21, "Sir, we would see Jesus.") This the suggestion of what we read here. "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" And this is what such souls need; and the more they are directed to him, the more will the watchmen be valued and their word heeded. This is what our congregations want from us, and the question which in reality they put to us.

VI. THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR ANSWER. Had they told her where he was whom she sought, she would have passed from them with gratitude and joy; as it was, because they could not tell her, she went away in deep distress. Such issues depend upon their word. It is good when they have seen Jesus for themselves. It is better when they can direct seeking souls to him. But it is sad indeed if they have neither seen him nor know how to direct inquirers to him. So was it with these watchmen; so let it not be with us. - S.C.

(For explanation of details in these verses, see Exposition.) We have set before us here such glory as pomp and splendour, strength and power, great riches and sensual pleasure, could give. All that in which Solomon delighted, and for which his name became famous. Now, these things suggest -

I. A GREAT TEMPTATION. They were so:

1. To Solomon, for he yielded to it. All that these things could do for him he enjoyed to the full. The tradition of "Solomon and all his glory" came down through the centuries that followed. And the like things are a great temptation to men now. What will they not do for them? They were the last of the temptations with which Satan tempted our Lord. And to the good, the temptation of them lies in the suggestion that was doubtless made to the mind of our Lord - so much good may be done by them; they will so help in establishing the kingdom of God. His mind was, we may well believe, absorbed with the question how the great work he bad come to do, the establishment of this kingdom, could be accomplished. And here was the point and force of this temptation. To yield to it would have been as if he had fallen down and worshipped the evil one. Hence he spurned both it and him. And still "in the multitude," not of "words" only, but even more of riches, "there wanteth not sin." Therefore these things are not to become the object of desire in a good man's soul.

2. They were designed to tempt her of whom this song tells. Solomon would dazzle her with his splendour and wealth, and so would make her "forget" her "kindred" and her "father's house;" for the king desired her beauty. And in like manner the same temptation is held out still. For the sake of these things what sacrifices are made of loyalty and truth and goodness! She resisted by the might of her affection for her "beloved;" the power of her true love enabled her to overcome. And only the presence in our hearts of a higher love, and, best of all, the highest, even the love of God, will drive out and overcome all lower and evil love.

II. A GREAT LACK. There is nothing in all this glory of pomp and wealth which marks the presence of those Godward riches which alone are real; nothing to satisfy the soul of man or to help it in its life. The soul might starve, as Solomon's did, in spite of all this glory; and, on the other hand, the soul can prosper well though it can call none of this glory its own. We cannot help desiring earthly riches - they are designed in due measure to attract and stimulate us; and they will do us no harm if we are careful, all the while we seek them, to be rich towards God; to possess, as we may, "the unsearchable riches of Christ." But poor and miserable is that soul, though he have all Solomon's glory, if he have not these.

III. A VIVID TYPE. This is what expositors in all ages have mostly seen in the pomp these verses describe. Some have seen a setting forth of the glory of Christ on his return to heaven. He comes up out of the wilderness of this dreary world. The incense of praise, fragrant and precious, is given to him. He is borne in stately triumph (cf. Psalm 24:7-10). He is attended by his angel guards. He has prepared a place for them that love him, and will receive them unto himself. All who love him are to go forth and behold his glory. Thus the triumph of Jesus, the King of Zion, is shown forth. Others have read in these verses the unseen glory of the redeemed soul. He comes up out of the wilderness, as Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. The entrance into glory is with joy and praise. Angel guards surround. The King hath prepared a place, a throne - his own throne - on which the redeemed with their Lord shall sit. Love - Christ's love - has paved all the way. The vision of Christ in his glory which the redeemed shall enjoy. In such ways as this have devout souls found this Scripture full of profit; in this or in other ways may we find it likewise. - S.C.

In Asiatic lands wheeled carriages were rare, and are rare still. This is accounted for by the absence of roads. To construct and maintain roads through a hilly country like Palestine required more engineering skill than the people possessed; and further, there was a general belief that to make good roads would pave the way to military invasion. Hence all over Palestine the pathways from town to town were simply tracks marked out by the feet of men and beasts. Over the level plain of Esdraelon Ahab might ride in a chariot; but if Solomon brought up wheeled chariots from Egypt he had a prior undertaking, viz. to make a road from Beersheba to the capital. Therefore travelling princes rode in a covered palanquin, which served to screen from the hot sun by day, and became a bed at night. Owing to the scorching heat, much of the journey would be taken during the cool hours of night, and hence the need for a strong bodyguard. Before the rapt imagination of the sacred poet such a scene passed. The stately procession arrested his attention, and he asks, "Who is this?" What great king is this? Such is the poetic imagery. Now, what is the religious instruction? It is the march of Christ through the ages - a march beginning with the wilderness and terminating, with his coronation in the new Jerusalem. Though he has been long hidden, the day is coming when the King of Zion shall be revealed to the eyes of men, and he shall "be admired by all who love his appearing."

I. OBSERVE THE MARCH OF CHRIST TO HIS GLORIOUS THRONE.

1. His lowly beginning is indicated. "He cometh out of the wilderness." This is how he appeared to the onlooker. His prior state was hidden from mortal eye. So far as men saw, Jesus began his strange career in the cattle manger of a stable. The world to him was a wilderness, void of all attractiveness. In this respect he followed the fortunes of ancient Israel, for they too had first the wilderness, then the "land flowing with milk and honey." When Jesus began his mission, human life was a veritable wilderness. The beauty and joy of Eden had departed. On every side raged jealousies, hatreds, strifes. The civilized world was under the iron despotism of Rome. The prophets of God had ceased to speak. Hope of a golden age had almost died out, except in a few believing hearts. The glory of Greece and Tyre had waned. The human race was on the verge of reckless despair. Our earth was reduced to a desert.

2. Christ's coming was fragrant with heavenly hope. Even in the loneliest desert there are some living plants, and these ofttimes possess aromatic essences. The shrubs are storehouses of fragrant spice. The sweetest perfumes come from the Arabian desert. Such things abate the mischief of noxious miasma. Rare perfumes refresh the senses, and betoken noble rank. The mightiest King did not despise the sweet odours of myrrh and frankincense. So neither did Jesus Christ treat with contempt the simple virtues and courtesies of the people. Ha stooped to learn from the lips of Jewish rabbis. He gave his benediction to the wedding feast. He was pleased with the gratitude of a poor leper. He commended the brotherliness of the despised Samaritan. He accepted the hospitality of peasant women. He praised the generosity of a poor widow. A sweet and refreshing savour pervaded all his words, all his deeds. From his cradle to his grave he was perfumed with frankincense and myrrh.

3. His coming was a conspicuous thing. The procession was seen afar off. Possibly the flame of torches during the night march sent up in front and in rear huge pillars of smoke. Or possibly clouds of dust from that dry soil rose from the feet of the host, and in that clear, transparent air was seen thirty or forty miles away - even from the hills of Zion. Anyhow, the procession is seen from a distance. Curiosity is aroused. Many eyes are turned to the novel spectacle, and the question leaps from lip to lip, "Who is this?" So, too, the progress of Jesus through our world has excited the wonder of successive generations. When he read the Scripture in the rustic synagogue of Nazareth, men asked, "Who is this?" When he fed the five thousand on the mountain side, or ruled nature with a nod, they asked, "Who is this?" When, on the Day of Pentecost, the whole city was thrilled with astonishment, men asked, "Who is this?" At Corinth, at Ephesus, at Antioch, when multitudes left their idols for the new faith, men asked, "Who is this, whose onward march is so kingly, so triumphant?" And still they ask in the bazaars of India and in the temples of China, "Who is this?" His march is the march of a Conqueror: the King of kings, because he is the Prince of Peace.

II. OBSERVE HIS BODYGUARD.

1. This is a token of peril. But the peril is not that of open war. If a bannered host should oppose his march, he would meet it with his invincible forces. Michael and all the powers of heaven would fight his battle. It is not open war. The foes in the desert are Ishmaelites; They seek for plunder. They make sudden and covert attack in the night. So has it been in the progress of our Immanuel. From the band of his own disciples the traitor came, and came by night. The priests of Jehovah were his worst foes. Professed friends, like Ananias and Sapphira, have stabbed his cause in secret. The persecutors of his gospel have usually laid their plots in the dark. Atheists and hypocrites have been his bitterest foes. The enemies to the cause of heavenly truth still lie in ambush.

2. Variety of service can be rendered to our gracious King. There were some who bore on their shoulders his palanquin; some who carried torches; some who perfumed his Person; some who wielded swords in his defence. And various service is needed still. If one cannot be a general on the battlefield, he may be an armour bearer. He who cannot fight in the ranks can be a sentinel at the gate or a watchman on the tower. The child wanting yet in martial strength may be fleet of foot as a messenger. If too old for field service, we can be mighty at the throne.

3. The life guards are well equipped. "They all hold swords." And in the service of Immanuel the sword is keen and has a double edge. In the olden time a Damascus blade had great renown; but the sword of truth is forged and furbished in heaven, and has a penetration which is irresistible. If once we get this sword of truth into a man's conscience, it does exploits there. The tongues with which we speak winsomely and graciously of our King is a two-edged weapon. The pen is mightier than the sword, and the tongue of fire is mightier than the pen. The Word of the Lord is invincible.

4. All service is useful in this King's progress. It made the march a more imposing spectacle. It silenced the murmurers and the scorners. Does Jesus Christ require human service? He has chosen such plans of warfare as require various agencies of man. He prefers to work through feeble and imperfect men, for thereby he confers blessing on friends and on foes at once. Through exercise our spiritual energies become more robust. Through service our faith and love are tested. The more fervid zeal we bring to our Master's cause, the more honour crowns his head. We serve the King, we serve the human race, we serve ourselves, at one stroke. Loving service is the richest spiritual perfume.

III. NOTE HIS PALANQUIN. It is made of cedar wood from Lebanon; the bed is gold, the pillars are silver, the curtains are resplendent with imperial purple.

1. This carriage, or palanquin, may fitly represent for us the covenant of grace. In this our Immanuel rides triumphantly. In order to set this forth so as to impress the dull senses of humanity, the most precious things of earth are used as metaphors. As cedar is the richest and hardest among timber, as gold and silver are the costliest of metals, as the purple colour was selected for royalty, these material splendours feebly adumbrate the eternal covenant of redemption. Nothing on earth can adequately express it. It is notable for its antiquity; notable for its rarity; notable for its splendour; notable for its usefulness. As the palanquin must be made worthy of a king, the covenant of grace is well worthy of our God. To save is his eternal purpose.

2. The curtains were the handiwork of virgins. "Worked by the daughters of Jerusalem." All through the East, women are despised, down-trodden, treated as an inferior race. If in Western lands women are ennobled and honoured, it is wholly due to the grace of our King. So from the very beginning Jesus intimated that the service of women would be acceptable. He was dependent on an earthly mother's care. Once and again, women ministered to him "of their substance." The deed which he predicted should be known throughout the world was the deed of a woman. Women gathered round his cross in sweetest sympathy, while others laughed and jeered. Women performed the last acts of care for his dead body. Women were the first to greet him on the resurrection morn. "In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female."

3. These curtains and carpets are adorned with emblems of low. Our version says, "paved with love." It should rather be, "inwrought with symbols of love." Just as in our day men use the form of a heart, or the figure of a fire, to denote warm and genuine love, so some device of love was interlaced in the manufacture of these curtains by the deft fingers of devoted women. It is not more true that we rest in Christ's love than the converse, he rests in our love. "If any man love me, he will keep my commandments: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and will make our abode with him." To the same effect we read, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts." Love has a thousand devices for expressing itself.

IV. MARK THE ADORATION WHICH BEFITS THE KING. "Go forth, ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon." In some respects David was the type of Christ. "He was despised and rejected of men," and yet a mighty king. But, in respect to the magnificence of his kingdom and the peacefulness of his reign, Solomon better prefigures Jesus.

1. To appreciate Jesus as King we must know him. "Go forth, then, and behold him." Look into his excellences. Examine his claims to Kingship. Note carefully the unstained purity of his character. Behold his hands, bearing the marks of the nails - marks of love! Behold his feet, firm "as fine brass; as if they glowed in a furnace," and set upon the serpent's head. Behold his heart, still pulsating with everlasting love for the fallen sons of men. Learn well all his kingly qualities; for no true loyalty, no complete consecration, can spring up in us until we know him.

2. Note especially that he is crowned. He is appointed to this supreme throne as the world's King by the Eternal Father. "By the right hand of God he is exalted." Yet the symbols of his reign we place upon his head. On his head are already "many crowns." Every ransomed sinner is another ornament in the diadem of our King. Never did king wear such a crown as this. He is crowned already with world wide renown. Every thorn in that crown, which impious mockers thrust upon his brow, is now transmuted into a ray of peerless glory. Today kings and princes bow before him, and already his "enemies lick the dust." From a hundred empires the shout ascends, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" We do not hail and welcome him simply as the Victim of the cross; we bow to him as our soul's true King.

3. This coronation of Jesus is attended with gladness of heart. It is not always so. Sometimes the heir to a nation's crown is very unfitted to wear it. He is too young to sustain its cares. He would prefer a life of pleasurable ease. Or the crown itself may be disgraced. The throne is planted with sharpest thorns. The empire is reeking with discontent. That coronation may be no better than a crucifixion. Not so with King Jesus. To be crowned means success for his great redemptive mission. "For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross." As his grief was unexampled, so shall be his joy. The globe shall be his empire. Because his capacity for joy is infinite, his joy shall rise until the Capacious heart is fall. The joy will be eternal, because the triumph can never be reversed. - D.

The pomp of Oriental poetry is nowhere more dazzling and imposing than in this passage, where is depicted the procession of the royal bride, who is escorted with magnificent accompaniments, and welcomed into the metropolis with universal and cordial joy. Expositors have seen in this gorgeous picture a description of the dignity and beauty of the Church, the bride of Christ. The incense rising in perfumed clouds heralds the approach of the bridal procession. The palanquin which contains the bride is of the cedar of Lebanon; silver pillars support its canopy of gold, and the hangings and drapery are of costly purple. The palanquin itself is the provision of the king's munificence, and the ornaments are the gift of the wealthy ladies of Jerusalem. Accompanying the festive procession is an escort of armed and valiant warriors, not only for security, but for state and dignity. The royal bridegroom meets and joins the cortege, having upon his head the crown of festivity and happiness, for it is the day of his gladness of heart. The daughters of Jerusalem go forth from the city to join in the welcome, and to swell the number and add to the dignity and attractiveness of the bridal train. "Which things are an allegory."

I. THE CHURCH IS SUMMONED TO QUIT THE WILDERNESS OF THE WORLD, AND BECOME THE BRIDE OF CHRIST.

II. THE CHURCH IS INVESTED BY DIVINE LIBERALITY WITH ALL THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO HER SPIRITUAL GLORY.

III. THE CHURCH IN HER PASSAGE THROUGH EARTH IS ACCOMPANIED WITH THE INCENSE OF DEVOTION AND OF SERVICE.

IV. THE CHURCH IS ENVIRONED WITH DIVINE PROTECTION.

V. THE CHURCH IS THE OBJECT OF CHRIST'S AFFECTION AND THE OCCASION OF HIS JOY.

VI. THE CHURCH IS REGARDED BY ANGELIC INTELLIGENCES WITH THE DEEPEST INTEREST AND SATISFACTION.

VII. THE CHURCH IS ASSURED OF AN ETERNAL HOUSE IN THE FAVOUR AND COMMUNION OF THE DIVINE KING. - T.