Verse 4 says, "My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock." For the bowels to be moved means that her deepest feelings are touched. Her questions are not a rejection, but an indication of the weakness of the flesh. Her will has fully been subjected to the Lord. The expression of delay is caused by her natural constitution. Inwardly, she has no problem at all, but she is somewhat feeble outwardly. Hence, the Lord encourages her with new invitations. If her heart were indeed hardened, the Lord would not have pursued her. Therefore, He "put in his hand by the hole of the door." This is a calling, not a chastisement. This hand is the hand that once embraced her, the hand that was once under her head. This hand is the nail-pierced hand. The Lord beckons her once again with such a hand. Putting the hand through the hole of the door means that the Lord is doing all that He can to reveal a part of Himself. Through the revelation of His hand, the Lord hopes that she will begin to think about Him. His hand represents His heart, and it reveals Himself.
All spiritual experiences are the result of the attraction of Christ. Men must see the Lord's revelation before they will rise above their present condition of ease to advance further with Christ. Those who truly see the Lord cannot fail to be moved in their bowels. But how few are those who are moved by the Lord! How many are there who can tell the difference between being touched by the teaching and being touched by the Lord?
The maiden rises to open the door. Because of the Lord's attraction, she is willing to accept the cross of shame, just as she was once willing to accept the cross of power. The hands that open the door, the hands that signify faith and obedience, surely drop with myrrh. Here we see not only the power of the Lord's death, but the smell of His death. The Lord's life, which has passed through death, is in her hands and it is rising up as a tide, enabling her hands to open the door. Even the lock of her will cannot help but be permeated with the smell of the Lord's death.
Verse 6 says, "I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." A person who is experienced in the Lord's dealing does not experience discipline from God when he is disobedient. God's discipline comes to him only after he is obedient. When a person is obedient, the Lord will show him the evil of disobedience. (With a beginner, the discipline comes before obedience, and discipline brings him into obedience. With an experienced person, discipline comes after obedience and gives the person the taste of the bitterness of disobedience.) In the maiden's feeling, her beloved is gone once again. Formerly, she lost the Lord's presence because of her foolishness. Now the pain she experiences is in her spirit. Her spirit seems to be bound in darkness, and there is no light. She recalls how she was beside herself when the Lord first called, and how her soul was raptured away to Him. When He spoke, her heart was ravished. Now she hates herself and does not know why she cannot have the outward strength to match her inward desires. She hates the fact that she gave a false excuse which caused Him to hide His glorious face. She can only look and call; she cannot find Him, and He will not answer. This search is different from the one she had before. This search is not on the streets or in the broad places, but before God. Even prayer seems to be useless.