We have seen that the Song of Songs is clearly divided into two sections. The first section is mainly for the satisfaction and enjoyment of the seeking one. In the first three chapters she appreciates and enjoys the Lord, and she is permeated with the Lord. All the riches of the Lord are for her. By enjoying all these things, she is transformed by steps from a company of horses to a crown. All the natural things are gone; everything becomes spiritual. In a sense, she attains to the maturity of life, for she is a crown. If we were the writer of this book, we would probably stop here, because the seeking one has reached the utmost attainment of her spiritual life. But this is only the first section, which is for herself.
The second section is not for her, but for the Lord and for others. For this she had to be transferred from a crown to a garden. This involved at least three turns. As a garden she grows all the things which she had enjoyed of the Lord. She enjoyed the Lord as the myrrh, and now she grows myrrh. She enjoyed the Lord as the henna flower, and now she grows the henna flower. She enjoyed the Lord as the frankincense, and now she grows the frankincense. She enjoyed the perfume of all the powders, and now she grows all the spices for making the powders. In the first section the Lord was everything to her, but now in the second section the Lord enjoys everything out of her. In other words, now the Lord enjoys all that He is through her and out of her.
In today’s Christianity, most of the attention is given to the first aspect, that is, individual spirituality. The second aspect is completely neglected. Christians are encouraged to work for God, but are not told that the way to work for God is not by the outer working, but by the inner growth. When the Lord has been wrought into us, then we will grow out something, and this something will be our working. We do not need to work, but we do need to grow something.
After the seeking one is transferred into the second section, she grows and produces all the items of Christ which she herself has been enjoying. Now her producing is just her work, and her producing becomes satisfaction, contentment, and enjoyment for the Lord Jesus and for all His believers.
Some would think that all these things are far beyond our experience and therefore are too deep, but I do not believe that this is so. In spiritual matters, it is really difficult to say what is deep and what is not deep. It is not like studying a subject which is learned lesson by lesson. It is a matter of life. A baby has all the elements of human life, but they are not fully developed. Therefore, we should not think these things are too deep. In a sense, many of us have experienced all of these turns already. They simply are not yet fully developed.
I believe that many of us are crowns to the Lord. We are, in a sense, a crown to the Lord in our home, in our school, and at our job. Even the Lord Jesus is satisfied with us. We are Solomon with the crown. But we still need a turn. In spite of our high attainment, there are still some shadows, and our day has not broken. We must get ourselves to the mountain of death and the hill of resurrection and stay there for a length of time. We should not think that this is too deep. We all need such a turn.
Let us open ourselves before the Lord. I do believe we all have the sense that our day is not yet broken. We all realize that there are still some shadows. No matter how much we say, “Lord Jesus, I love You-You are altogether lovely,” there is still the sense that we are not clearly in the day. This is good. As long as we have such a realization, we will spontaneously say, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense” (4:6). We all have such a longing deep within. This is a turn, and this is the Lord moving and working within us. So we must learn to stay in the Lord’s death and resurrection until the day breaks and all the shadows flee away.
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