Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Song of Solomon 1:12

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12. While the king sitteth at his table — במסבו bimsibbo, in his circle, probably meaning the circle of his friends at the marriage festivals, or a round table.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The lovers talk together (1:8-2:7)

In reply to the girl’s longing, the man invites her to come and join him in the fields (8). He praises her beauty and promises to give her the finest jewellery (9-11). The girl responds that her greatest joy is just to be in his presence and let her love flow out to him (12-14). After the man further praises the girl’s beauty (15), she expresses her desire to be with him in the fields again, where they can lie down together in the shade of the trees (16-17).
The girl regards herself as nothing special - just a country maiden, just a small wildflower in a large field (2:1). Yes, replies her lover, but she is the only flower in the field. Compared with her, all the other girls are brambles (2). And her lover, replies she, is like a tree that surpasses all the other trees of the forest. He protects, strengthens and refreshes her. His company is to her a feast of joy and love (3-6).
In view of the girl’s strong desire for her lover, a warning is given (in the form of an appeal to the easily excited young women of Jerusalem). The warning shows the danger of trying to stir up love when a person is not ready for it (7).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE SHULAMITE’S NEGATIVE RESPONSE

“While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance. My beloved is to me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of Engedi.”

“While the king sat at his table” This means, “in the king’s absence.” He was either eating “at his table” or conducting the affairs of state. In the meanwhile, the Shulamite maiden possessed a small box of a very precious ointment which she carried between her breasts, reminding her continually of her real lover. Her imagination was not stirred at all by Solomon’s promise of gold jewelry; instead her mind went back to a bouquet of henna-flowers from the vineyards of Engedi, which had most likely come to her from her shepherd lover. The origin of that gift of flowers points to the true lover, not to Solomon. Scholars dispute it; but we see these as wild flowers.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

This and the next Song of Solomon 1:15-7 sections are regarded by ancient commentators (Jewish and Christian) as expressing “the love of espousals” Jeremiah 2:2 between the Holy One and His Church, first in the wilderness of the Exodus, and then in the wilderness of the world Ezekiel 20:35-36.

Song of Solomon 1:9

Or, to a mare of mine in the chariots of Pharaoh I liken thee, O my friend. (The last word is the feminine form of that rendered “friend” at Song of Solomon 5:16.) The comparison of the bride to a beautiful horse is singularly like one in Theocritus, and some have conjectured that the Greek poet, having read at Alexandria the Septuagint Version of the Song, may have borrowed these thoughts from it. If so, we have here the first instance of an influence of sacred on profane literature. The simile is especially appropriate on the lips, or from the pen, of Solomon, who first brought horses and chariots from Egypt 1 Kings 10:28-29. As applied to the bride it expresses the stately and imposing character of her beauty.

Song of Solomon 1:10, Song of Solomon 1:11

Rows ... borders - The same Hebrew word in both places; ornaments forming part of the bride’s head-dress, probably strings of beads or other ornaments descending on the cheeks. The introduction of “jewels” and “gold” in Song of Solomon 1:10 injures the sense and destroys the climax of Song of Solomon 1:11, which was spoken by a chorus (hence “we,” not “I,” as when the king speaks, Song of Solomon 1:9). They promise the bride ornaments more worthy and becoming than the rustic attire in which she has already such charms for the king: “Ornaments of gold will we make for thee with studs (or ‘points’) of silver.” The “studs” are little silver ornaments which it is proposed to affix to the golden (compare Proverbs 25:12), or substitute for the strung beads of the bride’s necklace.

Song of Solomon 1:12-14

The bride’s reply Song of Solomon 1:12 may mean, “While the king reclines at the banquet I anoint him with my costliest perfume, but he has for me a yet sweeter fragrance” Song of Solomon 1:13-14. According to Origen’s interpretation, the bride represents herself as anointing the king, like Mary John 12:3, with her most precious unguents.

Spikenard - An unguent of great esteem in the ancient world, retaining its Indian name in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It is obtained from an Indian plant now called “jatamansi.”

Song of Solomon 1:13

Render: A bag of myrrh is my beloved to me, which lodgeth in my bosom.

Song of Solomon 1:14

Camphire - Rather, כפר kôpher,” from which “cyprus” is probably derived (in the margin misspelled “cypress “),the name by which the plant called by the Arabs “henna” was known to the Greeks and Romans. It is still much esteemed throughout the East for the fragrance of its flowers and the dye extracted from its leaves. Engedi was famous for its vines, and the henna may have been cultivated with the vines in the same enclosures.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Tonight we want to look at the Song of Songs which is Solomon's. By the title it indicates that Solomon felt that this was the finest of the one thousand and five songs that he wrote. This is the excellency of the songs that he has written. Of the thousand and five songs, this one is it as far as Solomon is concerned.

In Ecclesiastes, we had a theme: vanity of vanities. In this we have, song of songs. The vanity or the emptiness of the world apart from God. The emptiness of the world in achievement, any achievement that is apart from God. Now he speaks of the song of songs which is Solomon's and the song of songs is a song of love.

Now there are some people who consider the Song of Solomon no more than just an erotic, oriental love song and feel that it has no place in the scriptures. But others have found tremendous inspiration in the Song of Solomon by looking at a spiritual allegory, seeing it as a spiritual allegory. Now to the Jews, it became a spiritual allegory of God's special relationship to the nation Israel. As God is seen in the figure of Solomon the king, and Israel as the favorite choice wife, and as they express their love of each other, so God's expressions of His love for Israel and Israel's expressions of their love for God.

And of course, through a lot of the prophets we find the same theme as God addresses Israel as His wife. And God tells of His love, His deep love for His people. And the espousals of the youth. "When you first discover Me. Where is that love that we had in the beginning?" God said. "Why have you turned away from the love? Who has drawn you away?" And as Israel turned their hearts from God and began to worship Molech and Mammon and Baal and some of the gods of the Canaanites, God spoke out against it as having forsaken Me, your first love, the true love. And you've taken up with these other paramours that are going to leave you desolate. And so to the Jew it became a beautiful spiritual picture of the relationship of the nation Israel, the special relationship the nation Israel experienced with God.

To the church, because the church is often seen in the New Testament as the bride of Christ, it became a picture to the church of the bride of the church, her relationship to Jesus Christ, her bridegroom, her coming King who we look forward to. And so the spiritual allegories are then made applicable to Christ and His love for the church and the church's response to His love.

John Gill, one of the great Puritan preachers, preached to his congregation a hundred and twenty-two sermons out of the Song of Solomon. So for those that are looking for sermon material, seeking to find it in the spiritual allegories, there's just a lot of material here. He preached a hundred and twenty-two sermons out of this book. Bernard of Clairvaux preached sixty-two sermons to his congregation just out of chapter 1. So the book is filled with imagery and possible allegorical applications.

Now, I am not one who really goes into the mystic allegorical applications of the scripture. Though I do see here many beautiful allegories, and you can take the text and spiritualize upon them, that just hasn't been my method of ministry of taking a text and seeking to spiritualize the text. Because different people can see different things in an allegory. And even in the Song of Solomon, there have been various interpretations of the Song of Solomon.

The basic interpretation of the Song of Solomon is that this is a young Shulamite girl that Solomon has fallen deeply in love with. And she is in love with him. And he addresses himself to her declaring his love and declaring her beauty, and she responding to him. While the daughters of Jerusalem are there asking questions of the young girl concerning her love for him, asking Solomon of his love for her, and so the... Actually, again, it's a song, so you see it's set up in a dramatic kind of an opera. You have Solomon standing there singing in his rich baritone voice of his love for his bride. And she with her high soprano answering him and singing, "Come, my beloved into my garden and drink. Taste of its fruits," and so forth. And then you have the chorus over here, the women's chorus, the female chorus. And they every once in a while sing in, "Tell us of thy beloved. Where is he grazing his flocks and so forth at this time?" And they are interjecting.

Now there is another interpretation of the Song of Solomon, basic overall interpretation. And this one is followed in the Amplified Bible and suggested in the Amplified Bible. And that is, that here is the same beautiful young Shulamite girl that Solomon has fallen madly in love with. And he is seeking to make her a part of his harem, for Solomon had a harem second to none. And he is seeking by his wealth, by his grandeur, by all of the gifts and the wealth to cause her to become a part of his vast harem. Seeking to woo her and to seduce her. And she is brought in with the other virgins and she is telling them, they wonder why she isn't responding to his love and she is telling them that she has a true love, a shepherd. And she doesn't respond really to Solomon's love because her heart is after another, her shepherd lover who she longs for, who she seeks after.

And in the spiritual allegories to this other way of looking at the Song of Solomon, Solomon in this other allegory represents the world. The Shulamite woman, the Christian, and how the world is seeking to allure the Christian away from her love for her Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And she has this deep fervent commitment to her shepherd, even Jesus Christ, and cannot be allured by all of the wealth and the glory and the grandeur of Solomon as he seeks to seduce her and draw her into his harem and all.

And so this is another possible interpretation. But this is the problem, the basic problem of spiritualizing the text and seeing it in an allegorical sense, because as you go through the book, either one fits. But surely they are diametrically opposed to each other as far as an interpretation goes. And yet, you can see and you can read it so that either way it fits. Solomon is the one she loves and they are expressing their love for each other. Or, she is sort of rejecting the love of Solomon because of her true love for her shepherd lover.

The Song of songs, which is Solomon's ( Song of Solomon 1:1 ).

It begins with the first singer who is this young Shulamite, beautiful girl, and she sings.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savor of your good ointments [or your perfume] thy name is as ointment [or perfume] poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: the King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee ( Song of Solomon 1:2-4 ).

Now speaking of herself, she said,

I am black, yet beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, and as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black ( Song of Solomon 1:5-6 ),

It doesn't mean that she was an Ethiopian, but she says,

because the sun hath looked upon me ( Song of Solomon 1:6 ):

She was well tanned.

my mother's children [my step brothers, actually] were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [or my own complexion and so forth] I have not kept ( Song of Solomon 1:6 ).

I'm ruddy and tan and so forth.

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where you make your flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? ( Song of Solomon 1:7 )

So her opening declaration of having been brought into the king's chambers. Her addressing the daughters of Jerusalem concerning her own unkept condition because of being outside, keeping vineyards. Sort of a Cinderella kind of a story, the wicked sisters made her do all of the work and she wasn't able to keep up her own cosmetics and all.

Now the king responds to her.

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women ( Song of Solomon 1:8 ),

And the question is where you feed your flocks. "If you know not, O fairest among women,"

go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders ( Song of Solomon 1:8-11 )

Now these are the daughters of Jerusalem, the virgins, the chorus responds. "We will make thee borders,"

of gold with studs of silver ( Song of Solomon 1:11 ).

And the bride responds.

While the King sits at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is to me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi ( Song of Solomon 1:12-14 ).

The camphire trees or cypress trees, and just that beautiful smell of the out of doors and trees in blossom there in Engedi.

Behold, thou art fair, [the king answers] my love; behold, thou art fair; you have doves' eyes ( Song of Solomon 1:15 ).

She responds to him.

Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir ( Song of Solomon 1:16-17 ).

So you have the opening of this love drama, the Song of Songs of Solomon.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Shulammite girl (Song of Solomon 6:3) described the effect that seeing Solomon had on her as he reclined at his banquet "table." She wore nard (spikenard, "perfume" NASB, NIV; cf. Mark 14:3; John 12:3), which was an ointment that came from a plant grown in northern and eastern India. He was as sweet to her as the fragrant myrrh sachet that hung around her neck.

"Hebrew women often wore small bags of myrrh between their breasts." [Note: Woudstra, p. 597.]

He was as attractive as henna at the refreshing Engedi oasis that lay on the west coast of the Dead Sea. Henna plants bore white blossoms, but their leaves produced a reddish-orange cosmetic dye. [Note: Kinlaw, p. 1220.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

While the King [sitteth] at his table,.... These are the words of the church, relating what influence the presence of Christ, her Lord and King, had upon the exercise of her graces, while he was keeping the nuptial feast, on account of his marriage with her. He was anointed King of saints from eternity, before his incarnation, when he was rejoicing before God his Father, as if at a feast; and while he was thus distant, the faith, hope, desire, and expectation of the saints, were exercised on him, as their Lord and King, that was to come: when he did come, he came as a King, as was foretold of him, though his kingdom was not of this world; and while he was here, the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven was preached, and emitted a sweet savour in Judea: and when he went up to heaven, after his resurrection, he was declared Lord and Christ, and sat down at the right hand of God, "in his circuit" f, or at his round table; alluding to such the ancients used, and great personages fed on, peculiar to themselves g; being encircled by angels and glorified saints: and in the mean while, before his second coming as King, when he will appear as such in a more glorious manner, he sits down at his table, in the ordinance of the supper, feasting with, entertaining, and welcoming his church and people. When as follows, she says,

my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof: or "nard", of which there are many sorts; but that which grows in spikes is reckoned the best, and from thence is called "spikenard": it was a chief ingredient in ointments, as Pliny says h; see John 12:3; and was much used at festivals, to anoint guests with; and with which their head and hair being anointed, gave a fragrant smell, and therefore used to make them acceptable i: in Syria, at royal banquets, as this here was, it was usual to go round the guests, to sprinkle them with Babylonian ointment k. This may have respect to the grace of the Spirit in the church, comparable to the most excellent ointment; and which grace being in exercise in her, both before and after the incarnation of Christ, and since his ascension to heaven, and while he grants his presence in Gospel ordinances, is very delightful and acceptable to Christ; or this spikenard, according to some l, may be meant of Christ himself, just as he is said to be "a bundle of myrrh" in Song of Solomon 1:13, and "a cluster of camphire", in Song of Solomon 1:14; and as ointments were used at feasts, and the church was at one with Christ, and as he was both master and feast, so he was the ointment of spikenard to her; and it is as if she should say, my beloved is at table with me; he is my food, and he is my spikenard m I need no other; he is instead of spikenard, myrrh, cypress, or any unguents made of these: his person is exceeding precious; his graces, of ointments, have a delightful savour in them; his sacrifice is of a sweet odour; his garments of righteousness and salvation smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; he is all in all.

f במסבו "in circuitu suo", Montanus, Piscator, Michaelis. g Vid. Cuperi Observ. l. 1. c. 2. p. 13. h Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 12. i "Illius puro destillant tempora nardo", Tibullus, l. 2. Eleg. 2. v. 7. & 1. 3. Eleg. 7. v. 31. "Madidas nardo comas", Martial. l. 3. Ep. 56. "tinge caput nardi folio", ibid. "Assyriaque nardo potemus uncti", Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 11. v. 16, 17. Vid. Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 3. k Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 15. c. 13. p. 692. l Theodoret, Sanctius, and Marckius. m "Tu mihi stacte, tu cinnamomium", &c. Planti Curculio, Act. 1. Sc. 2. v. 6.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.   13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.   14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.   15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.   16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.   17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

      Here the conference is carried on between Christ and his spouse, and endearments are mutually exchanged.

      I. Believers take a great complacency in Christ, and in communion with him. To you that believe he is precious, above any thing in this world, 1 Peter 2:7. Observe,

      1. The humble reverence believers have for Christ as their Sovereign, Song of Solomon 1:12; Song of Solomon 1:12. He is a King in respect both of dignity and dominion; he wears the crown of honour, he bears the sceptre of power, both which are the unspeakable satisfaction of all his people. This King has his royal table spread in the gospel, in which is made for all nations a feast of fat things,Isaiah 25:6. Wisdom has furnished her table,Proverbs 9:1. He sits at this table to see his guests (Matthew 22:11), to see that nothing be wanting that is fit for them; he sups with them and they with him (Revelation 3:20); he has fellowship with them and rejoices in them; he sits at his table to bid them welcome, and to carve for them, as Christ broke the five loaves and gave to his disciples, that they might distribute to the multitude. He sits there to receive petitions, as Ahasuerus admitted Esther's petition at the banquet of wine. He has promised to be present with his people in his ordinances always. Then believers do him all the honour they can, and study how to express their esteem of him and gratitude to him, as Mary did when she anointed his head with the ointment of spikenard that was very costly, one pound of it worth three hundred pence, and so fragrant that the house was filled with the pleasing odour of it (John 12:3), which story seems as if it were designed to refer to this passage, for Christ was then sitting at table. When good Christians, in any religious duty, especially in the ordinance of the Lord's supper, where the King is pleased, as it were, to sit with us at his own table, have their graces exercised, their hearts broken by repentance, healed by faith, and inflamed with holy love and desires toward Christ, with joyful expectations of the glory to be revealed, then the spikenard sends forth the smell thereof. Christ is pleased to reckon himself honoured by it, and to accept of it as an instance of respect to him, as it was in the wise men of the east, who paid their homage to the new-born King of the Jews by presenting to him frankincense and myrrh. The graces of God's Spirit in the hearts of believers are exceedingly precious in themselves and pleasing to Christ, and his presence in ordinances draws them out into act and exercise. If he withdraw, graces wither and languish, as plants in the absence of the sun; if he approach, the face of the soul is renewed, as of the earth in the spring; and then it is time to bestir ourselves, that we may not lose the gleam, not lose the gale; for nothing is done acceptably but what grace does, Hebrews 12:28.

      2. The strong affection they have for Christ as their beloved, their well-beloved,Song of Solomon 1:13; Song of Solomon 1:13. Christ is not only beloved by all believing souls, but is their well-beloved, their best-beloved, their only beloved; he has that place in their hearts which no rival can be admitted to, the innermost and uppermost place. Observe, (1.) How Christ is accounted of by all believers: He is a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of camphire, something, we may be sure, nay, every thing, that is pleasant and delightful. The doctrine of his gospel, and the comforts of his Spirit, are very refreshing to them, and they rest in his love; none of all the delights of sense are comparable to the spiritual pleasure they have in meditating on Christ and enjoying him. There is a complicated sweetness in Christ and an abundance of it; there is a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of camphire. We are not straitened in him whom there is all fulness. The word translated camphire is copher, the same word that signifies atonement or propitiation. Christ is a cluster of merit and righteousness to all believers; therefore he is dear to them because he is the propitiation for their sins. Observe what stress the spouse lays upon the application: He is unto me, and again unto me, all that is sweet; whatever he is to others, he is so to me. He loved me, and gave himself for me. He is my Lord, and my God. (2.) How he is accepted: He shall lie all night between my breasts, near my heart. Christ lays the beloved disciples in his bosom; why then should not they lay their beloved Saviour in their bosoms? Why should not they embrace him with both arms, and hold him fast, with a resolution never to let him go? Christ must dwell in the heart (Ephesians 3:17), and, in order to that, the adulteries must be put from between the breasts (Hosea 2:2), no pretender must have his place in the soul. He shall be as a bundle of myrrh, or perfume bag, between my breasts, always sweet to me; or his effigies in miniature, his love-tokens, shall be hung between my breasts, according to the custom of those that are dear to each other. He shall not only be laid their for a while, but shall lie there, shall abide there.

      II. Jesus Christ has a great complacency in his church and in every true believer; they are amiable in his eyes (Song of Solomon 1:15; Song of Solomon 1:15): Behold, thou art fair, my love; and again, Behold, thou art fair. He says this, not to make her proud (humility is one principal ingredient in spiritual beauty), but, 1. To show that there is a real beauty in holiness, that all who are sanctified are thereby beautified; they are truly fair. 2. That he takes great delight in that good work which his grace has wrought on the souls of believers; so that though they have their infirmities, whatever they think of themselves, and the world thinks of them, he thinks them fair. He calls them friends. The hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, is in the sight of God of great price,1 Peter 3:4. 3. To comfort weak believers, who are discouraged by their own blackness; let them be told again and again that they are fair. 4. To engage all who are sanctified to be very thankful for that grace which has made them fair, who by nature were deformed, and changed the Ethiopian's skin. One instance of the beauty of the spouse is here mentioned, that she has doves' eyes, as Song of Solomon 4:1; Song of Solomon 4:1. Those are fair, in Christ's account, who have, not the piercing eye of the eagle, but the pure and chaste eye of the dove, not like the hawk, who, when he soars upwards, still has his eye upon the prey on earth, but a humble modest eye, such an eye as discovers a simplicity and godly sincerity and a dove-like innocency, eyes enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit, that blessed Dove, weeping eyes. I did mourn as a dove,Ezekiel 7:16.

      III. The church expresses her value for Christ, and returns esteem (Song of Solomon 1:16; Song of Solomon 1:16): Behold, thou art fair. See how Christ and believers praise one another. Israel saith of God, Who is like thee?Exodus 15:11. And God saith of Israel, Who is like thee?Deuteronomy 33:29. Lord, saith the church, "Dost thou call me fair? No; if we speak of strength, thou art strong (Job 9:19), so, if of beauty, thou art fair. I am fair no otherwise than as I have thy image stamped upon me. Thou art the great Original; I am but a faint and imperfect copy, I am but thy umbra--the shadow of thee,John 1:16; John 3:34. Thou art fair in thyself and (which is more) pleasant to all that are thine. Many are fair enough to look at, and yet the sourness of their temper renders them unpleasant; but thou art fair, yea, pleasant." Christ is pleasant, as he is ours, in covenant with us, in relation to us. "Thou art pleasant now, when the King sits at his table." Christ is always precious to believers, but in a special manner pleasant when they are admitted into communion with him, when they hear his voice, and see his face, and taste his love. It is good to be here. Having expressed her esteem of her husband's person, she next, like a loving spouse, that is transported with joy for having disposed of herself so well, applauds the accommodations he had for her entertainment, his bed, his house, his rafters or galleries (Song of Solomon 1:16; Song of Solomon 1:16), which may be fitly applied to those holy ordinances in which believers have fellowship with Jesus Christ, receive the tokens of his love and return their pious and devout affections to him, increase their acquaintance with him and improve their advantages by him. Now, 1. These she calls ours, Christ and believers having a joint-interest in them. As husband and wife are heirs together (1 Peter 3:7), so believers are joint-heirs with Christ,Romans 8:17. They are his institutions and their privileges; in them Christ and believers meet. She does not call them mine, for a believer will own nothing as his but what Christ shall have an interest in, nor thine, for Christ has said, All that I have is thine,Luke 15:31. All is ours if we are Christ's. Those that can by faith lay claim to Christ may lay claim to all that is his. 2. These are the best of the kind. Does the colour of the bed, and the furniture belonging to it, help to set it off? Our bed is green, a colour which, in a pastoral, is preferred before any other, because it is the colour of the fields and groves where the shepherd's business and delight are. It is a refreshing colour, good for the eyes; and it denotes fruitfulness. I am like a green olive-tree,Psalms 52:8. We are married to Christ, that we should bring forth unto God,Romans 7:4. The beams of our house are cedar (Song of Solomon 1:17; Song of Solomon 1:17), which probably refers to the temple Solomon had lately built for communion between God and Israel, which was of cedar, a strong sort of wood, sweet, durable, and which will never rot, typifying the firmness and continuance of the church, the gospel-temple. The galleries for walking are of fir, or cypress, some sort of wood that was pleasing both to the sight and to the smell, intimating the delight which the saints take in walking with Christ and conversing with him. Every thing in the covenant of grace (on which foot all their treaties are carried on) is very firm, very fine, and very fragrant.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

Fragrant Graces

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A Sermon

(No. 3480)

Published on Thursday, October 7th, 1915.

Delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

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"While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof." Song of Solomon 1:12 .

THIS passage may be read in several ways. Literally, when Christ tabled among men, when he did eat and drink with them, being found in fashion as a man, the loving spirit broke the alabaster box of precious ointment on his head while the king was sitting at his table. Three times did the Church thus anoint her Lord, once his head and twice his feet, as if she remembered his threefold office, and the threefold anointing which he had received of God the Father to confirm and strengthen him. So she rendered him the threefold anointing of her grateful love, breaking the alabaster box, and pouring the precious ointment upon his head and upon his feet. Beloved, let us imitate the example of those who have gone before. What! though we cannot, as the weeping penitent, wash his feet with our tears, and wipe them with the hairs of our head, like that gracious woman, we may reck nothing, of fair adornments, or fond endowments, if we can but serve his cause or honour his person. Let us be willing to "pour contempt on all our pride," and "nail our glory to his cross." Have you anything tonight that is dear to you? Resign it to him. Have you any costly thing like an alabaster box hidden away? Give it to the King; he is worthy, and when you have fellowship with him at his table, let your gifts be brought forth. Offer unto the King thanksgiving, and pay your vows unto the Most High.

But the King is gone from earth. He is seated at his table in heaven, eating bread in the kingdom of God. Surrounded now not by publicans and harlots, but by cherubim and seraphim, not by mocking crowds, but by adoring hosts, the King sits at his table, and entertains the glorious company of the faithful, the Church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. He fought before he could rest. On earth he struggled with his enemies, and it was not till he had triumphed over all, that he sat down at the table on high. There sit, thou King of kings, there sit until thy last enemy shall be made thy footstool. What can we do, brethren, while Christ sits at the table above? These hands cannot reach him; these eyes cannot see him; but our prayers, like sweet perfume, set burning here on earth, can rise in smoke to the place where the King sitteth at his table, and our spikenard can diffuse a perfume even in heaven itself. Do you want to reach Christ? Your prayers can do it. Would you now adore him; would you now set forth your love? With mingled prayer and praise, like the offering of the morning and the evening sacrifice, your incense can come up acceptably before the Lord.

And, brethren, the day is coming when the King shall sit at this table in royal state. Lo, he cometh! Lo, he cometh. Let the Church never forget that. The first advent is her faith; the second advent is her hope. The first advent with the cross lays the foundation; the second advent with the crown brings forth the topstone. The former was ushered in with sighs; the latter shall be hailed with shoutings of "Grace, grace unto it." And when the King, manifested and recognized in his sovereignty over all lands, shall sit at his table with his Church, then, in that blessed Millennium, the graces of Christians shall give forth their odours of sweet savour.

We have thus read the text in three ways, and there is a volume in each; but we turn over another page, for we want to read it in relation to the spiritual presence of Christ as he doth now reveal himself to his people. "When the King sitteth at his table" that is, when we enjoy the presence of Christ "my spikenard giveth forth the smell thereof." Then our graces are in active exercise, and yield a perfume agreeable to our own soul and acceptable before God.

In the train of reflection I shall now attempt to follow, my manner must be hurried; and should it seem feeble, brethren, I cannot help it. If you get fellowship with Christ, I care little for the merits of my sermon, or the perils of your criticism. One thing alone I crave, "Let him kiss us with the kisses of his mouth"; then shall my soul be well content, and so will yours be also. The first observation we make shall be this:

EVERY BELIEVER HAS GRACE IN POSSESSION AT ALL TIMES.

The text implies that when the King is not present the spikenard yields no smell, but the spikenard is there for all that. The spouse speaks of her spikenard as though she had it, and only wanted to have the King come and sit at the table to make its presence known and felt. Ah! well, believer, there is grace in thy heart, if thou be a child of God, when thou canst not see it thyself; when thy doubts have so covered up all thy hopes, that thou sayest, "I am cast out from his presence"; yet for all that, grace may be there. When the old oak has lost its last leaf by the howling blasts of winter; when the sap is frozen up in the veins, and you cannot, though you search to the uttermost bough, find so much as the slightest sign of verdant existence, still even then the substance is in the tree when it has lost its leaves. And so with every believer, though his sap seems frozen, and his life almost dead, yet if once planted, it is there; the eternal life is there when he cannot discover it himself. Do you know if not, I pray you may never know experimentally that there are many things that keep a Christian's spikenard from being poured out. Alas! there is our sin. Ah! shameful, cruel sin! to rob my Master of his glory! But when we fall into sin, of course, our graces become weak and yield no fragrance to God. And too, there is our unbelief, which puts a heavy stone on all our graces, and blows out the heat which was burning the frankincense, so that no altar- smoke arises towards heaven. And often, it may be, it is our bitterness of spirit, for when our mind is cast down we hang our harps upon the willows, so that they give forth no sweet music unto God. And, above all, if Christ be absent, if through neglect or by any other means our fellowship with him is suspended, grace is there but oh! it cannot be seen. There is no comfort springing from it. But, beloved, though we mention this to begin with, we rather choose to pass on and observe that:

II. GRACE IS NOT GIVEN TO A CHRISTIAN TO BE THUS HIDDEN, BUT IT IS INTENDED THAT, LIKE SPIKENARD, IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN EXERCISE.

If I understand a Christian aright, he should be a man readily discerned. You do not need to write upon a box that contains spikenard, with the lid open, the word "Spikenard." You will know it is there; your nostrils would tell you. If a man should fill his pockets with dust, he might walk where he would, and though he should scatter it in the air, few would notice it; but let him go into a room with his pockets full of musk, and let him drop a particle about, he is soon discovered, because the musk speaks for itself. Now true grace, like spikenard or any other perfume, should speak for itself. You know our Saviour compares Christians to lights. There is a crowd of people standing yonder; I cannot see those who are in the shadow, but there is one man whose face I can see well, and that is the man who holds the torch. Its flames light up his face, so that we can catch every feature readily. So, whoever is not discovered, the Christian should be obvious at once. "Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth, for thy speech betrayeth thee." Not only should the Christian be perceptible, but grace has been given to him that it might be in exercise. What is faith, unless it is believing? What is love, unless it is embracing? What is patience, unless it is enduring? To what purpose is knowledge, unless it is revealing truth? What are any of those sweet graces which the Master gives us, unless they yield their perfume? I fear we do not enough gaze upon that face covered with the bloody sweat, for if we did, as sure as the King was thus in our thoughts sitting at his table, we should be more like him; we should love him better; we should live more passionately for him, and should spend and be spent, that we might promote his glory. I just note this point, and then pass on, that believers' graces, like spikenard, are meant to give forth their smell. But here is the pith of our whole subject, though we have little time to linger upon it:

III. THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH A CHRISTIAN'S GRACES CAN BE PUT INTO EXERCISE IS THAT HE MUST HAVE THE PRESENCE OF THE MASTER.

He is called "the King." I am told that the Hebrew word is very emphatic, as if it said, "The King" the King of kings, the greatest of all Kings. He must be such to us absolute Master of our hearts, Lord of our soul's domain, the unrivalled One in our estimation, to whom we render obedience with alacrity. We must have him as King, or we shall not have his presence to revive our graces. And when the King communes with his people, it is said to be at "his table," not at ours. Specially may this apply to the table of communion. It is not the Baptists' table; it is not my table; it is his table, because if there is anything good on it, remember, he spread it; nay, there is nothing on the table unless he himself be there. There is no food to the child of God unless Christ's body be the flesh, and Christ's blood the wine. We must have Christ. It must be emphatically his table by his being present, by his spreading it, his presiding at it, or else we have not his presence at all. I find the Hebrew word here signifies a "round table." I do not know whether that is intended which I understand by it perhaps it is it suggests to me a blessed equality with all his disciples; sitting at his round table, as if there were scarce a head, but he was one of themselves, so close the communion he holds with them sitting at the table; so dear his fellowship, sitting like one of themselves, made like unto his brethren in all things at his round table.

Well, now, we say that when Christ comes into the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, or any other ordinance, straightway our graces are vigorous. How often have we resolved that we would live nearer to Christ! Yet, though awe have resolved, and re-resolved, I fear it has all ended with resolving. Peradventure we have prayed over our resolutions, and for a little season we have sought it very earnestly, but our earnestness soon expired, like every other fire that is of human kindling, and we made but little progress. Be not disheartened, my beloved in the Lord: I tell thee, whether thou art able to believe it or not, that if thy heart be this night cold as the centre of an iceberg, yet if Christ shall come to thee, thy soul shall be as coals of juniper, that have a most vehement flame. Though to thy own apprehension thou seemest to be dead as the bones in a cemetery, yet if Jesus come to thee, thou shalt forthwith be as full of life as the seraphs who are as flames of fire. Why think you he will not come to you? Do you not remember how he did melt you when first he manifested himself to your soul? You were as vile then as you are now; you were certainly as ruined then as you are now; you had no more to merit his esteem then than you have now; you were as far off from him then as you are now I might say even further off. But lo! he came to you when you did not seek him; he came in the sovereignty of his grace and the sweetness of his mercy when you despised him. Wherefore, then, should he not come to you now? Oh! breathe the prayer, tenderly and hopefully breathe the prayer, "Draw me," and you will soon find power to run, and when all your passions and powers are fled, the King will speedily bring you into his chamber. Dark as your present state may be, there are sure signs of breaking day. I want you, brethren, to believe and to expect that you shall hold this night with Christ the richest, sweetest fellowship that ever mortal was privileged to enjoy, and that of a sudden. I know your cares forget them. I know your sins bring them to his feet. I know the wandering of your heart ask him to tether you to his cross with the same cords that bound him to the pillar of his flagellation. I know your brain is perplexed, and your thoughts flying hither and thither, distracted with many cares put on the thorn-crown, and let that be the antidote of all your manifold disquietudes. Methinks Jesus is putting in his hand by the hole of the door. Are not your bowels moved for him? Rise up and welcome him; and as the bread is broken, and the wine is passed round, come, and eat and drink of him, and be not strange to him. "Let not conscience make you linger"; let not doubts and fears hold you back from fellowship with him who loved you or ever the earth was, but do rest your unworthy head upon his blessed bosom, and talk with him, even though the only word you may be able to say may be, "Lord, is it I?" Do seek fellowship with him, as one who ignores every thought, feeling, or fact besides. So may it please him to manifest himself to you and to me as he doth not to the world.

If you that have never had fellowship with Christ think I am talking nonsense, I do not marvel. But let me tell you, if you had ever known what fellowship with Christ means, you would pawn your eyes, and barter your right arms, and give your estates away as trifles for the priceless favour. Princes would sell their crowns, and peers would renounce their dignities, to have five minutes' fellowship with Christ. I will vouch for that. Why, I have had more joy in my Lord and Master in the space of the ticking of a clock than could be crammed into a lifetime of sensual delights, of the pleasures of taste, of the fascinations of literature. There is a depth, a matchless depth, in Jesu's love. There is a luscious sweetness in the fellowship with him. You must eat, or you will never know the flavour of it. Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good! Behold how ready he still is to welcome sinners. Trust him and live. Feed on him, and grow strong. Commune with him, and be happy. May every one of you who shall sit at the table have the nearest approach to Jesus that you ever had! Like two streams that, after flowing side by side, at length unite, so may Christ and our soul melt into one, even as Isis melts into Thames, till only one life shall flow, so that the life we live in the flesh shall be no more ours, but Christ that liveth in us. Amen.