smell to God! What a comfort this should be to the saint who is "rich in good works," as an evidence that with him "the winter is past," and the sun has arisen upon his once frozen heart of stone. "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love" (Heb. vi. 10; Rom. vi. 22; Hosea xiv. 8).

"Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

66

66

Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings,

Thy better portion trace;

Rise from transitory things

Towards heaven-thy native place."

Awake, awake, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem; shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down," &c. (Isaiah lii. 1, 2). "I will arise, go to my father."

and

It is a precious invitation, for it is Christ that calls; and he does not bid us depart, but "Come." "Come out and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and I will receive you." "Come unto me "Come away" (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18). "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth," &c. (Philip. iii. 13, 14).

Rise, saith my Lord, make haste away,

No mortal joys are worth thy stay."

"And when we hear our Jesus say,

Rise up, my love, make haste away,
Our hearts would fain outfly the wind,

And leave all earthly things behind."-WATTS.

CHRIST'S INVITATION.

Ver. 14. "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”

No figure could more beautifully represent the Church of Christ, than a dove hid in the clefts of the rock.

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee."-TOPLADY.

"Be thou to me for a rock of habitation, whereunto I may continually resort”. "In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock”. "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Psalm lxxi. 3; Psalm xxvii. 5; Psalm lxi. 2; Psalm xxxi. 2, 3). "The secret places of the stairs" is not a distinct figure from the rock; for it has evident reference to the gardens , in the East, where the terraces one above another were cut out of the rock; and to these terraces the stairs were the ordinary means of ascent. The timid dove took refuge there, and found it a secure "hiding place" and a precious shelter (Isaiah xxxii. 2). "He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks ;" therefore, "trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is

the Rock of Ages" (Isaiah xxxiii. 16, and xxvi. 4, margin).

Thrice blessed they who are hidden in the cleft of that Rock (Exod. xxxiii. 18-23), that they may see the goodness of the Lord, and be safe when the billows swell, and the storm rises high! It is only while we are thus" in Christ Jesus " that our countenance beams with the reflection of his glory, and that his Spirit breathes through us, and makes our voice sweet. But the Father delights in us, in his well-beloved Son, and loves to hear the breathings of "the Spirit of his Son in our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." "Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." "The prayer of the upright is his delight."

How strange and sad it is that we should be so silent so slow to pray, so slow to praise, when Jesus is saying to us, "Let me hear thy voice." If it is "sweet" to him, should we not be offering the sacrifice of praise "continually" (Heb. xiii. 15)? If it be in our power to yield a moment's pleasure to our beloved, should we not delight to let him hear our voice? Alas! that he should hear our voice so seldom! Our faith in his word is so small, that we barely believe him when he affirms that it is "sweet." Yet he says, "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb"-" Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely"-"Sweet

is thy voice" (Cant. iv. 3, 11). He even loves to hear us speaking of him to one another (Mal. iii. 16)! And the secret of God's delight in the voice of his people is simply this-"It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" (Matt. x. 20).

For the same reason he sees beauty in their countenance; for the soul that is much in communion with Jesus reflects his beauty, being

66

changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit" (2 Cor. iii. 18). Thus, when Moses was forty days in the mount "his face shone" (Exod. xxxiv. 29), though he wist it not. "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty." "Thy countenance is comely!" "All fair."

Ver. 15.

THE BRIDE.

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."

In

The Bride here is all intent upon the care of the vineyard, and conscious of the danger to her " tender grapes " from "the foxes, the little foxes." Eastern countries, where the gardens and vineyards were cut out of the rocks in terraces, these "little foxes" concealed themselves in great numbers under the luxuriant foliage of the vines, and did great mischief, especially in spring, among the "tender grapes."

Well, therefore, may the Church cry out, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults" (Psalm xix. 12)—those subtle and almost unperceived sins which so sadly

66

spoil the vines." "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us," "looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God" (Heb. xii. 1, 15; 2 Tim. ii. 16, 17).

"The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts and pleasures of life," all which "choke the word," so that we become unfruitful, may be understood by these little foxes. They secretly eat away the tender grapes, and spoil the vines; therefore they should be diligently and earnestly prayed against (Luke viii. 14). This watchful care bespeaks that integrity of heart in the bride which leads to the precious assurance and " confidence of faith, expressed in the following verse:-"For if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God" (1 John iii. 21). The indulgence of any, the least known sin, condemns us, and our happy sense of assurance is clouded; but in the exercise of strict watchfulness, it is sweetly realised.

66

Ver. 16. "My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies."

Here is faith in strong and lively exercise-" the full assurance of faith," accompanied, as it ever is, with a true heart (Heb. x. 22). "My beloved is mine, and I am his." It is appropriating faith—a