Songs 4:6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Until the day break, etc. I. BY THIS IS MEANT THE PRESENT LIFE. It does not matter whether the words be taken as telling of the time until the day break or until the day close. In the former case, the speaker would mean that all the night long he would be on the mountains of myrrh, etc.; but in the latter, he would mean that until the day were done he would be there. It matters not, for the present life may be likened to either night or day. If to the night, then night time is meant to suggest the darkness in which men live. As to knowledge: "We see through a glass, darkly." As to happiness: "Man is born to trouble." As to the use of life: men choose to walk in darkness. The land sits "in darkness and in the shadow of death," because they who dwell in such land are in that deep spiritual darkness of which the prophet tells. If to the day, then as the time for toil, the season for diligent work, the period during which the busy affairs of men are transacted - such is our life so long as it continues. On either interpretation the present life is meant. II. THE PLACE WHERE DURING THIS LIFE WE MAY FIND CHRIST. On "the mountains of myrrh," etc. By this is meant, not heaven, for we cannot ascend into heaven; and the place told of here is evidently a place accessible. Therefore we take the "mountains of myrrh," etc., to mean the Church (cf. Isaiah 2:2). And there are many other Scriptures in which the Church is likened to hills or mountains (Psalm 68:15, 16; Psalm 87:1-3, etc.). Some have thought that the throne of grace, the place of prayer, is meant - and so it is; but more than that is included. Nothing less than the Church of Christ. And the similitude employed here is just. For the Church is as a mountain. 1. For elevation. The Church should be above the world. Hence, in the magnificent ministers which adorn this and other lands, the sacred fabric towers in lordly height far above all the dwellings that cluster around it. It symbolizes this very truth. Our Lord said, "Ye are a city set on a hill." 2. For visibility. "Which cannot be hid." Goodness ever betrays itself; like him from whom it comes, and of whom it was said, "He could not be hid." Does the visibility consist in anything else but character? Is not the Church the company of all the good? 3. For its majesty. It is God's vicegerent here on earth. By it "kings rule, and princes decree justice." Kings were its nursing fathers and queens its nursing mothers (cf. Isaiah 60). 4. For its immovability. (Psalm 135:1.) "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it," said our Lord. And here it is today, and it never seemed more likely to continue than it does today. 5. For its fruitfulness. The mountains and hills told of are not mere rocky heights, stony and barren, but rich and fruitful, their sides covered with noblest trees. "They that be planted in the house of the Lord," etc. 6. For its delightfulness. Myrrh and frankincense are the product of its trees, and make the whole place fragrant, precious, full of delight to him who dwells or comes there (cf. "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than," etc.). Christ loves to be there, and his people love to meet him there. For it is the place of accepted prayer, of hallowed communion, of adoring worship, of manifold spiritual help. And there Christ is to be found. He is there according to his Word, in his unseen but real presence, and in his gracious power. Myriads attest this. Therefore - III. WE SHOULD SEEK HIM THERE. The verse seems to be a suggestion to this effect. To forsake the assemblies, communion, and fellowship of the Church is to suffer great loss. Some say, "We can pray at home;" and when they must be at home no doubt they can, but when they need not be we doubt if many do. And when we think of the treasure store of help that is gained by them who seek the Lord in his Church, who get them to the mountain, etc., where he is, we commiserate, even whilst we condemn, those who never get themselves there at all. - S.C. Parallel Verses KJV: Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. |
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