Christ Church

Psalm 52: Reading The Story Lived

Joe Harby on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

This psalm gives us a glimpse of David’s early years, and of the faithfulness and trust he displayed in hard circumstances. But he knew what God was like, and he knew how the world worked. That being the case, he could wait patiently, trusting.

The Text

To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints” (Ps. 52:1-9).

Summary of the Text

According to the ancient inscription above the psalm, the occasion for this was the debacle with Ahimilech and his priests in 1 Sam. 21-22. The psalm begins with asking why Doeg the mighty would boast in mischief—God’s goodness is continual (v. 1). His tongue is like a razor, capable of cutting his lies fine (v. 2). Not only were they words of mischief, but lying words of mischief (v. 2). Doeg loves evil more than good, which means he loves good not at all. He loves lies more than words of righteousness (v. 3). Selah is an invitation to pause and reflect, and we should reflect on the mystery that makes sin attractive. He loves it when deceits devour (v. 4). But it comes back around—he loves destruction, but God will visit destruction upon him (v. 5). Think about that, and selah. The response of the righteous, when he sees this judgment, is to fear and laugh both (v. 6). Isn’t that the guy who did not make God his strength, and who did trust in his own wealth (v. 7)? But the wealthy scoundrel destroyed is nothing like David. In the house of God, offering true worship, he is a green and fruitful olive tree (v. 8). David will praise God forever, because God is the one who has done this great thing (v. 9). With that trust, the judgment is as good as done, and David will wait for it (v. 9). It is good before the saints.

The Backstory

David fell into disfavor with Saul, not because of anything he had done, but simply because the grace and favor of God was upon him (1 Sam. 20). David fled from Saul, who was seeking his life. David came to Nob, where Ahimelech was, and obtained the shewbread for his men, and the sword of Goliath (1. Sam. 21:6, 9). Doeg the Edomite saw him there. Ahimelech knew nothing about the falling out between Saul and David, and David told him he was on urgent business from the king. After this, David fled to various places in order to stay away from Saul. When Saul heard that David was in the forest of Hareth, he upbraided his courtiers. Doeg, who had been his chief shepherd, told the king that he had seen him getting help from Ahimelech. Saul summoned the priest, who answered him bravely. Saul ordered the priests slaughtered, which his men refused to do, to their credit. He then ordered Doeg to do it, which he promptly did, and then he went and sacked the city of Nob. This was probably the cause of Doeg’s ascendancy, mentioned by David in the psalm. And note how Saul, the persecutor (1 Sam. 22:8) felt persecuted. He was trying to kill David for no good reason, and wanted everybody to feel sorry for him.

Trusting in Riches

Doeg did not trust in God, but rather trusted in his riches and great wealth. He gained them by destructive deceit —he had been at Nob, and knew David was there, but he also knew that Ahimilech was innocent of any conspiracy. Nevertheless, he lied with a half truth, and then sealed his commitment to that lie with his willingness to shed innocent blood. “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (Ps. 62:10). Doeg had a good year, at least the way he was calculating it. But he read the story completely wrong.

Lover of Destruction Destroyed

There are four verbs that describe what God will do to Doeg, translated here as destroy, take away, pluck out, and root out. It would be hard to make the coming desolation of Doeg any more clear, and it is a destruction that is entire and absolute. The first verb means to pull down and break into pieces, the second means to pluck up by twisting, the third means to sweep away, and the last refers to him being rooted up out of the land of the living.

The Laughter of the Saints

When worldlings conspire against God, we are not surprised to find that God laughs that them (Ps. 2:4. But sometimes we think that the privilege of such laughter is withheld from us, afraid that we could not do this apart from personal vindictiveness, which the Scriptures everywhere forbid. But notice what it says. The righteous shall see and fear, and laugh. This is no petty malice. Modern saints have been so warned about the dangers of triumphalism that we have forgotten to fear God. There is a deep seated gladness in the prerogatives of God that cannot be described as jolly merriment, but is nevertheless a solemn and righteous laughter.

Thriving in the House of God

David writes this when he was still on the run, and Doeg in a position of power at court. The last time he had been at the house of the Lord, the priests had all been slaughtered as a result. Nevertheless, he saw himself, in the midst of his affliction, as a green olive tree. The olive was a symbol of Israel, and David (who knew he had been anointed king by Samuel) was that Israel, even though he was on the run. And Doeg, even though he was a mighty man at court, was a dead man walking. As you walk by faith in God, see yourself in the story that God is writing. Know the story well enough to call the shots beforehand, not in arrogance, but in humility.

Read Full Article

Psalm 51: When Crushed Bones Rejoice

Joe Harby on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

If forgiveness of sin is one of the glories of the new covenant, and it is (Heb. 8: 8-12; cf. Heb. 10: 17), then this psalm is one of the glories of the entire Bible. In this psalm, we learn the greatness of forgiveness, and in the course of learning this, we learn the true nature of that forgiveness.

The Text

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me . . .” (Ps. 51:1-19).

Summary of the Text

David begins with a cry for mercy, in accordance with the multitude of God’s tender mercies (v. 1), and not according to David’s just deserts. He asks for a thorough washing, a complete cleansing (v. 2). He is not trying to hide or cover up his sin (v. 3)—this psalm is for the chief musician, meaning that his confession is public. God’s law was the law that was broken, and so the sin, while it affected others, was sin against God alone (v. 4). David says that the sin extends down to his very nature (v. 5). Where the sin originated (in the inward parts), that is the place where God desires truth and wisdom (v. 6). He prays again for cleansing (v. 7)—hyssop was a plant used for sprinkling in ritual purifications (Lev. 14:4, 7; Num. 19:18-22). David prays that his crushed bones would be able to rejoice again (v. 8). He prays that God would turn His face away from his sins, and blot out his iniquities (v. 9). He then prays for a new creation, a complete renewal (v. 10). David then asks God not to hurl him away, and not to remove His Spirit from him (v. 11). He does not pray for his salvation back, but he does pray for the joy of it to come back (v. 12). When the cleansing is complete, then David can be used in the restoration of others (v. 13). The king cries out for deliverance from bloodguilt (v. 14), and then he will be able to sing. If God opens David’s mouth, then David will be able to praise Him (v. 15). There was no appointed sacrifice for the things which David had done (v. 16). But God delights in repentance in the inner man, and not just with regard to heinous sins like this one (vv. 16-17). God does not despise a broken spirit (v. 17). David’s sin had not just affected him alone; he was a king. And so David prays for mercy for his people (v. 18). True worship will then be offered to God (v. 19).

An Appalling Sin

We begin by noting that David really was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:4), and so this should make every last one of us mindful of our step (1 Cor. 10:12). David was around the age of fifty when this happened, and had no business staying home from the war. Uriah’s rejection of David’s temptation highlights David’s initial failure (2 Sam. 11:1, 11). The breech of one duty had begun with the neglect of another. Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of David’s cohort of thirty mighty men (2 Sam. 11:3; 23:34). If her father was one of David’s peers, then she was a lot younger than David, less than half his age. Without removing her possible culpability in this (no protest like Tamar’s is recorded), consider the circumstances. Nathan’s metaphor for this indicates something closer to rape than anything else. He says that the ewe lamb was killed (2 Sam. 12:4). Her grandfather, Ahithophel, was a counselor of David’s who later joined Absalom in his rebellion (2 Sam. 15:12)—and it is not hard to figure out why. The sin was appalling, and had its cascading effects. Amnon’s rape of Tamar happened shortly after this— why may a prince not do what a king may do? But it is when we get to Uriah that the horror really begins. He was a Hittite, meaning that he was a convert, and David had been a spiritual father to him. He also was one of David’s thirty great men (2 Sam. 23:39), and was a faithful convert. What Saul tried unsuccessfully to do to David, David “successfully” did to Uriah. The inscription of the psalm puns on David’s coming in to Bathsheba, and Nathan coming in to confront David about it.

The text is silent on the point, so we don’t know if Bathsheba was being a seductress, or as is more common in covenant circles, just a dope. It was not likely to have been simple voyeurism on David’s part. So in either case, we see from the subsequent history that her restoration was also genuine. We don’t need to dwell on the point—the point here is David’s sin—but as Christian women remember their responsibilities in modesty, they need to consider the basic alternatives. If a woman can’t leave the house without assuming that she is taking “the girls” for an outing, then she is either being really bad, or being really dumb. If others think they are going to the worship of God, but she is going to the heavenly Zion in order to headlight the saints, then the same alternatives are there. You can tell the difference if the subject is ever broached with her. If she is nonchalant, and knew all about it already, then she is the kind of woman that the book of Proverbs, your mom, and numerous blues songs warn you to stay away from. If she is offended and distraught, and can’t believe you would ever bring up such a thing, then she is just a dope. Either way, the sin should be dealt with before the kingdom is ruined, not after.

Take Not Thy Holy Spirit from Me

Once he received the rebuke from Nathan, David knew that he had become another Saul. And just as Saul’s house, Saul’s dynasty, had collapsed because of his lesser sin, David knew that his house, his throne, was forfeit because of his greater sin. Saul’s ability to govern had collapsed when the Spirit removed from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), and David knew that he deserved exactly the same thing. So he is not praying for his personal salvation here (v. 12), but rather praying for the preservation of the messianic line (vv. 18-19). Ultimately, this prayer of David’s includes us.

Three Things

This does not mean that David does not pray for himself also. In the context of his plea for cleansing, David asks for three things for himself. The first is the creation of a new heart, a renewed spirit. The second is fellowship with God, and the third is a restored joy. But he is not just checklisting his way through this. He has asked for a thorough washing. The word for wash in v. 7 does not mean anything like rinsing a plate, but rather a washing of a deep stain that had gotten down into the texture of the cloth. He is asking that his crushed bones might be able to rejoice. The multitude of God’s mercies is greater than the multitude of our sins—but the potency of His grace is such that it crushes us in repentance first. It is crushed bones that learn to rejoice.

Then I Will Teach

Drunkards in taverns don’t understand the grace of God, and so it will be easy for them to continue to mock David in their songs. Uriah’s life could not be given back to him, nor Bathsheba’s purity. So now David says he’s sorry, and has the unmitigated gall to set up shop to teach people on the basis of his experience? God has to do it. If God opens a forgiven sinner’s lips (v. 15), then the testimony can be compelling. Otherwise it is just another sob story on Oprah.

Fellow Transgressors

This puts everything in perspective. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, but it does not do so in light and trivial ways. And when we see others who need to be converted (v. 13), and they really do need to be converted, we can speak to them with real compassion, and not with any air of superiority or self-righteousness. This psalm teaches us in profound ways, and the message is thoroughly evangelical. This is good news for a sinful race.

Read Full Article

Cheerful Hearts And Good Words

Joe Harby on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

We need to begin with the obvious, which is that Scripture teaches that our words affect how we are doing, not to mention t hose around us. But this “obvious” truth can, if unattended, deteriorate into the vagaries of generic uplift. When we speak the good word, it must be a word that is truly wise and good.

The Text

“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Prov. 15:13).

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad” (Prov. 12:25).

Summary of the Text

We begin by juxtaposing two proverbs, asking each of them to illumine the other. The first tells us that there is a link between the condition of the heart and the condition of the countenance. A merry heart results in a cheerful countenance, just as a man speaks out of the abundance of his heart (Matt. 12:34). The heart is a thermostat, setting the temperature of the rest of your activities. If the heart is sorrowful, the spirit is broken, and if the heart is merry, then the countenance shows it. So, then, how do we adjust the thermostat? When a man’s heart is heavy, then his heart stoops. He becomes discouraged. He cannot carry the weight that providence is asking him to carry. When someone want to help, what they need to do is come in order to speak a good word. A good word makes his heart glad.

Timing is Everything

But this is a good word, not just any word, and not any old word that somebody thinks is good. “He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him” (Prov. 27:14). Suppose your roommate, or your spouse, or somebody in your house, comes staggering out to breakfast, and pours himself a bowl of Grumpy Nuggets, with no sugar and very little milk. Is that the time to wave your spoon in the air in time with the old gospel song you start to sing in a raucous manner? “Cheer up, ye saints of God, there’s nothing to worry about/Nothing to make you feel afraid, nothing to make you doubt. Remember Jesus loves you so why not stand up and shout?/You’ll be sorry you worried at all tomorrow morning.” And the word of Scripture is fulfilled; you are reckoned as one who curses.

The words you speak should be true, of course, but they need to be more than true. They must also be relevant, and in addition to being relevant, they must also be timely. The only difference between salad and garbage is timing. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear” (Prov. 25:11-12). So don’t be like Mary Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, saying true things all day long, in wildly inappropriate ways. And they should also be kind. The lock on the door of your mouth should have three keys—is it true? is it kind? is it necessary?

Creaturely Imitation

There is more involved in this than just heeding an exhortation to “be nice,” or to “say nice things.” If we need to do this kind of thing in wisdom, and we do, we need to do it in imitation. What we do, we are to do as children, as imitators or followers of God (Eph. 5:1). We worship God through the Word, and so it is not surprising that we are logocentric, that we are people of words. We serve and worship the God who is love, and so we are to walk in love (Eph. 4:15). And, in the same way, we worship the God who spoke the perfect word, the fitting word, into our hearts, and so we are to do the same to others, by imitation and by analogy. Our words are to be gospel, and our words are to be gospel-like.

Counterintuitive Words

We want to take it apart in order to find out how it works. But we need to begin with the reality that it works. The Bible calls the preaching of the cross “folly” to the worldly-wise. Why should we be surprised when they come up to us and say that what we are doing doesn’t seem relevant to them. Of course it doesn’t. That is a design feature. God defines what a word fitly spoken looks like. God defines what a perfect setting of silver should be.

Need and Grace

We learn how to speak to others, speaking the good word, by observing how God speaks to us. And when the gospel comes to us, what is it? We have human need on the one hand and divine grace on the other. The good word spoken is the intersection between need and grace. The good word that preaching brings is this—it is the declaration of the grace of God, addressed to human need, and the declaration is backed up with the authority of God’s throne. So when you come to encourage someone, what is it that you are imitating? It is not a hollow appeal that says, “don’t worry, be happy.”

The Declaration of the Christ

Christ, then, is to be preached. By that we mean Christ incarnate, Christ crucified, Christ buried, Christ risen, and Christ ascended. When He is declared in this way, the pattern of death, resurrection, and ascension is not put out there to complete an argument in your intellect, although it may do that. Neither is Christ over all to be preached in such a way as to soothe or excite your emotions, although it may do that as well. We are to love God with all our minds, and we cannot do that without the preaching of Christ crucified. We are to love God with all our hearts, and we cannot do that without the preaching of Christ risen and ascended. But something more is necessary. No, the faithful declaration of this gospel is always aimed at the citadel of the human will. You are not here as spectators, or observers, but rather as worshipers, and this means that you are on the mountain of decision. And when you go down again, into your day-to-day activities, you will be in the valley of decision. Here you are, and here is the Word declared. What are you going to do?

Read Full Article

Dealing With Discouragement

Joe Harby on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

Although the occasions can be many, there are two basic reasons for discouragement—internal and external. The internal occurs when for some reason we have given way to sin, and the external occurs when we are buffeted by circumstances, as Job was, but without sin. And, of course, it is possible to get discouraged in both ways. How are we to understand this? How are we to respond to it?

The Text

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Ps. 42:11).

Summary of the Text

We have dealt with this psalm in detail before, and so here we will just consider the implications of this one verse. First, the psalmist presupposes that the condition of peace is normal. He is cast down and disquieted, and he wants to know the reason why. This disturbance of his soul is the thing that requires explanation. “Why are you cast down?” he asks himself (v. 11). Second, the psalmist remonstrates with himself. He talks to himself, which is a good alternative to listening to himself. He preaches to himself, and it is a convicting sermon. Third, he comes to a pointed exhortation, commanding himself to hope in God. Not only this, but he anticipates that he will in fact obey the command, for he will in the future praise God.

False Comfort

When we speak peace to our hearts, we can do it in accordance with the Scriptures, or we can do it in accordance with our own pipe dreams. For example, someone who has become and idolater by turning away from the Lord can speak peace to his own heart, in his own name and on his own authority. “And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst” (Dt. 29:19). What I am declaring here are the words of the gospel, and the gospel does not sew cushions for sin.

Triune Peace

Remember that your salvation has occurred because God has included you in His triune life. The gospel is triune, just like the God who established the gospel. And this is why peace for your distress is triune peace. What do I mean? God the Father has declared that the comfort of peace is to be announced to us (Is. 40:1-2). Christ has become our peace by His own blood (Eph. 2:13-14). And why would the Father not give to us what Christ has purchased for us? And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Christ so that He might comfort those who mourn, that He might bind up the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18). Because Christ died, the executor of His testament is the Holy Spirit. Remember then, when you are struggling with discouragement, that Father, Son, and Spirit, are all engaged on your behalf.

Discouragement in Sin

One reason why Christians are discouraged in their attempts to live the Christian life is that they are attempting to run the race with cords around their feet, and a 150 pound backpack on (Heb. 12:1). And so the way out of discouragement in sin is repentance. Discouragement in such cases is disciplinary, and God’s hand is heavy upon you for a reason. Make sure to repent the sin all the way down to its foundations, and secondly, make sure to repent of the right sin. Don’t go snipe hunting in your conscience.

Discouragement in Afflication

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that hard circumstances mean that you must have sinned. This was the error of Job’s failed comforters (Job 2:11), and it was the error of the disciples concerning the man born blind (John 9:2-3). But at the least, every trial contains a temptation to murmur, an invitation to think that the God of universe has bungled matters when it comes to your case. But God does all things perfectly well (Rom. 8:28).

Two Advocates

When Christians sin, or when they struggle with affliction, there is an accuser of the brethren in heaven who accuses them there. But, thanks to God, we have an Advocate there on our behalf. Christ is our attorney, defending us before the Father (1 Jn. 1:1-2). But the devil does not just accuse you in the heavenly courts—he also accuses you to you. What kind of Christian do you think you are? We have an Advocate on earth, as well as in heaven (John 14:16). The same word describes the office of the Son and the Spirit. Whether you stand accused in heaven or on earth, you have a court-assigned defender. And neither the Son nor the Spirit have ever lost a case. “How could they get me off ?’ you might wonder. “I’m guilty.” They successfully defend sinners like you and me because they never, ever argue from your virtues or mine. Their case presupposes our guilt. They always plead the blood of Christ, shed on earth, and then they plead the blood of Christ, sprinkled on the altar of heaven.

Pictures of Your Peace

The Puritan William Bridge pictured it this way. First, distinguish the money in your bank account, and the money in your wallet. There is your basic, foundational wealth, and there is the money you have on you. If you are mugged, then the thieves can only take what you have on your person. They cannot get at your bank account, which is not on you. In the same way, a hard day can only disturb that day’s peace. You have a fundamental peace that a rainy day cannot touch (Rom. 5:1). Second, distinguish peace in the seed and peace in the flower. Often peace in the seed looks like trouble. When you were converted, you were now troubled over things that never bothered you before. Don’t be troubled over that kind of trouble. And third, distinguish peace from a distance, where you can only see the dancing, and everybody looks crazy, and peace up close, when you can hear the music.

The peace of God is a guardian, a fence, but it does not encircle your vices and sins. Rather, your hearts and minds are protected by the peace of God, which passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7).

Read Full Article

He Only Is Our True God

Joe Harby on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

That we all seek our own happiness is a universal truth. That we all fail to obtain the happiness we all seek is also a universal truth. God alone is our true good: he alone can fill the bottomless well of our longing for happiness.

The ancient rabbis, later Jewish commentators, church fathers, mediaeval and Reformation commentators are all unanimous in agreeing that the Song of Songs belongs in the canon of Scripture because the two lovers in the Song of Songs are the biblical Lord and his people, Yahweh and Israel, for us as Christians, Christ and the church. The church reads spiritually because she reads the whole of Scripture as a single story, unfolding from creation to new creation, written under the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit, a story which directly tells of the Lord’s stormy love affair with Israel and with humanity more broadly, sometimes in precisely those terms. The Song of Songs is a richly-woven tapestry whose lyrics are crafted from the language, imagery, botany, and geography of the Old Testament Scriptures, which tell a significant part of this story. These allusions are meant to inform our understanding of the Song. The formula “something of somethings” in the first verse is rare and almost always occurs in phrases that speak of the supremacy of God. Ancient tradition ascribes the Song to Solomon. 1 Kings 4.32-33 attributes 1,005 songs to Solomon and tells us that he spoke of trees, including the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, and of beasts and birds, all of which feature in the poetic world of this song. Solomon appears as a character and the Song is set in Solomon’s world, describing the land over which he reigned, making references throughout to the furnishings, decorations, and scents of the Temple where God met with his people, Solomon’s greatest achievement. (With the whole Bible story, the Song’s portrayal of God as husband and lover should exorcise once and for all the demon of falsely stereotyping the God of the Old Testament as chiefly an angry judge and vicious warrior.) The Song of Solomon is “a parable of the love of God and His people, in the form of an exotic, erotic, ecstatic love-duet” (J. I. Packer). Right analogies between divine and human characters or acts work both ways: they give us language with which to speak about God, and it is precisely at that point we also see the truth about the human matters called upon to do this, so the Song of Songs does give a theology of love between a man and a woman, once we have understood its allegorical meaning.

1. The Supremacy of Christ’s Love (vv. 2-4)

The woman talks to herself about her longing for her beloved (v. 2a), then she praises the man’s love and fragrance, and describes how she and others feel about him (vv. 2b-3). He is the king and her wish for more than just kisses from him is granted (v. 4a). From the beginning, the man and the woman are husband and wife, enjoying the deepest level of loving union. A chorus joins in singing the man’s praises (v. 4b).
The Old Testament repeatedly affirms that the Lord is king. Throughout the prophets, Israel is called a virgin. The king’s chambers hint at the Temple’s Holy of Holies. The furniture, utensils, and people associated with the Temple were anointed with oil blended with the finest aromatic spices. The words sung by the chorus are lifted from Israel’s corporate worship, praising God for his salvation (Psalm 118.24 and Isaiah 25.9). Remembering what God has done out of love for his people is a theme which runs throughout the Old Testament. The glad and joyful virgin bride brought into the chambers of the fragrant king she loves is Israel at the Temple singing Psalms to her Lord in celebration of his saving acts. The high point of this scene is the Lord’s union of love with his people, which is better than gladdening wine (cf Psalm 104.15). Salvation from the perspective of the Song of Songs is not receiving some benefit from God but union with Christ and thus with the Holy Trinity, being ‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 St. Peter 1.4), which is what Christ prays for (St. John 17.21-23). This union of love takes shape in the world of touch, scent and sound: his bursting from the spicèd tomb, the touch of bread and wine –
Christ’s body and blood – on our lips in the Lord’s Supper, the Psalms and Easter hymns which the church sings. God in Christ alone gives us the true happiness for which we constantly seek and try but fail to obtain from substitutes. “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you” (Augustine). We are to praise Christ to the complaining, restless world, that it might join us in being united to him as his bride, receiving his love and loving him.

Sexual union broadly considered, from kisses to where those kisses lead in the privacy of the inner chamber, provides an analogy for the Lord’s union with his people, so our bodies and what we do with them matter, and a failure to recognize this is a root cause of so much sexual immorality. We bear witness to this high view of physical love by abstaining from all sexual activity outside marriage. Within marriage, kissing, fragrance, praising one another, the king drawing his queen into the bedchamber are all integral to love. Dependence on one another is not weakness (cf Genesis 2.18).

2. The Unworthiness of Christ’s Bride (vv. 5-6)

The woman is speaking, defending her appearance to the daughters of Jerusalem (v. 5). She has a dark complexion because she has been working outside in the sun and this has given her a tan (v. 6), a mark of low social status. Her brothers have made her work in the family vineyards to punish her for not guarding her own vineyard, her body (cf 8.12): she has not been chaste. Nevertheless, she insists on her beauty, describing it in terms which places her at the pinnacle of high society amidst nobility and royalty: Kedar was a nomadic people renowned for power and splendour, the word for curtain is the same word used for the curtains in the wilderness tabernacle, and the curtain Solomon made is the dark Temple curtain of blue, purple and crimson which hung before the Holy of Holies.

The repeated message of the prophets is that Israel has not guarded her vineyard (a common Biblical metaphor). She has given her fruit to other lovers, building altars to other gods and worshipping idols (Hosea 10.1-2), thus incurring the punishment of exile to labour in another land, another vineyard. Yet in the Lord’s eyes, his bride is beautiful. The nomadic tent of meeting and its successor, the Temple, were the places where Israel’s unfaithfulness was dealt with through animal sacrifice, places which God made beautiful with the cloud of his glory filling them. The prophets’ accusation could equally be levelled at us. We have given the worship and trust that is rightly Christ’s alone to other people, institutions, and lifestyles.

We deserve God’s anger and punishment but in Christ’s sight his church is beautiful because he died in the place of his bride, taking her sin upon himself, facing the punishment that was rightly hers (Ephesians 5.25-27). The church is a holy temple for God to live in by the Spirit (Ephesians 2.21-22), who makes her more beautiful. Despite past sins and their ongoing consequences, we who have turned from our sins and are trusting in Christ can be sure of our standing before him, that we are part of his bride who is lovely in his eyes and whose loveliness is growing.
An unchaste, lower-class woman who is nevertheless considered beautiful is the analogy for the Lord’s bride. Beauty is important, but we should not allow our idea of what is finally beautiful to be determined by what the world thinks. One who imitates Christ’s love embraces in the union of marriage a person with all their imperfections, weaknesses, and stains, gives himself for them and so transforms them into one who is beautiful. Past infidelity – confessed, repented of, and forgiven – should not lessen the loveliness of the one who has been unfaithful in the eyes of the injured party.

3. The Trysting-Place Where Christ Waits (vv. 7-8)

The king is now a shepherd and the girl a shepherdess. She wants to know where he takes his flock to graze and rest so that she may go there to be with him and join her flock to his that it may rest and feed with his flock. She does not want to find herself amongst the flocks of another shepherd because he is the one she loves (v. 7). Her lover sees her beauty and gives her directions to find him: he tells her to follow the tracks his flocks have made and she will come to where his under-shepherds are encamped (v. 8).

“Thou whom my soul loveth” is a significant phrase in the Song of Songs, repeated four more times, and it echoes Deuteronomy 6.4-5. The woman is Israel and the shepherd-king who is the object of her love is the Lord. The first half of verse 7 uses the same phrase and verbs as Ezekiel 34.15, in which the Lord God is the subject. The flock the shepherd already has is the church of previous generations. Christ, the Good Shepherd (St. John 10.11), feeds them and gives them rest. The woman with her flock is the present generation of the church, wanting to join with the generations which have gone before in being with Christ, enjoying his nourishment and rest. The faithful church seeks this from Christ, no rival shepherd, and Christ seeks this too. Israel’s shepherds were the prophets and priests, those who taught the people (cf Jeremiah 23). For the shepherdess to follow the footsteps of her beloved’s flock and feed her kids by his shepherds’ tents is for the church of today to walk in the paths of the church of yesterday and be taught, protected, and nurtured where the church of yesterday was taught, protected, and nurtured, in local congregations under ministers of Christ. We reach our countryside rendezvous with our husband when we are faithful to the teaching, worship, and conduct of the church of previous generations (cf. Jeremiah 7.16) and when we gather with believers under pastors who are ministers of the word and sacrament, shepherds caring for and feeding their flock (means, not merit). A very literal demonstration of this is seen in a church in which successive generations grow up, marry, have children, and worship where their ancestors worshipped. Lord’s Day by Lord’s Day we enter our Sabbath rest and when we gather for worship, we ascend into heaven, where the souls of the faithful departed are themselves at rest, into the presence of the risen and ascended Christ himself (Hebrews 12.22-24).

Read Full Article