dear people; that He "desires," that where He is, there "they should be also."1

11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.

12. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.

13. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have

laid up for thee, O my beloved.

"2

As Isaac "went out into the fields to meditate," and as David and Jonathan,3 that they might, without interruption, hold godly fellowship together, so the Church desires, here, to go forth without the city, into the quiet simplicity of country life, that there she might, undisturbed, hold sweet communion with Jesus.

And even thus did He, when in the flesh, oftentimes retire into a desert place, to refresh both His own and His disciples' spirits, in the midst of the busy excitement of the day.

How much the Church needs that quiet hiding of itself in these days of religious excitement, all know who know anything of spiritual life!

1. John xiv. 3, so John xvii. 24 3. I Sam. xx. 11.

2. Gen. xxiv. 63.

4. Luke ix. 10, so Mark vi. 31.

Sedebit solitarius et tac bit, quia levavit se supra se. "The solitary person will sit still and hold his peace, because he hath lifted up himself above himself."

Shun not, therefore, but rather seek retirement and solitude with Jesus. There does Jesus love to find and comfort His people. There you will find the "atmosphere more pure, the heavens wider opened, and God brought nearer!"'

And think not that you cannot be alone in the fields of devout spiritual communion with Jesus— even though called, in your civil capacities, to be continnally in the midst of the crowd. However great be the number of persons you hold converse with, however multiplied the business in which you are engaged, you may still be alone with Jesus; walking in hallowed communion with Him, offering to Him the choicest of your affections, the "tender grape," and the "pomegranate," and the "mandrakes," which give a pleasant smell; graces, fruits of righteousness, "new and old," which you must treasure up and lay by for Him who is not unmindful of your works and labours of love for His sake.1

1. Heb. vi. 10.

CHAPTER VIII.

1.

O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I

would kiss thee: yes, I should not be despised.

2. I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.

3.

His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.

4. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that yea stir not up, uor awake my love, until he please.

Conscious of the utter incapacity of the children of the world to do otherwise than mock her earnest longings and love for Jesus; and knowing how foolish and despised she must be by them in her enthusiastic admiration of her Lord; the Church longs for the time when nothing should cloud, nothing hinder her full and unrestrained expression of fond attachment; when her motives should be altogether beyond the possibility of misapprehension.

She promises to herself how diligently she would improve such a season. How she would keep close to His society; with what delight she would "lead"

Him into her "mother's house," that all her kinsfolk might also know and love Him: how she would feast Him with the rich "spiced wine" of devoted affection, and the "juice" of her "pomegranate;" the fruits of her most holy and chastened obedience. She would not then "be despised," neither would Underneath her would be

she faint any

more.

1

"the everlasting arms "2 of her beloved and Almighty Friend.

5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth; there she brought thee forth that bare thee.

6.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is

cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are

coals of fire, which hath a most

vehement flame.

7. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly

be contemned.

Briefly but beautifully do these words describe the Church's condition, origin, and hopes. Leaning upon the arm of Jesus, in close familiar fellowship and love, the pilgrim is travelling up from the

1. Chapter ii. 6.

2. Ps. lxxiii. 8.

wilderness of this world, to the "many mansions" in our Father's House. As she hastes, with weary step, oftentimes she finds it good to remind herself, for her comfort and encouragement, of this and that green spot where she found the Lord precious, "where she sought and proved His affection," where she "raised Him up," (i.e.) aroused Him by her fervent prayers of faith, to help her; excited Him to draw near unto her, so that she enjoyed His love, and the close and intimate nearness of His affection. Like "Elim," the place of palm trees, well remembered by the hosts of Israel, after they had passed through the wild and terrible desert, so these spots, where the citron and "apple tree" furnished so pleasant a shade, are not forgotten, even when the pilgrim reaches the summit of "the everlasting hills."

Till then, the Church prays that she may be ever recognised and acknowledged by Him as His :precious as a "signet on His right hand;"1 to his heart as the breastplate worn by the highpriest of Israel.

near

And why thus passionately long for such close and intimate communion?

Because the love that was shed abroad in her soul was so intense: "strong as death," as the "noble company of martyrs" gave proof; "cruel”