Inward Conflicts

I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. Or ever...: Heb. I knew not made...: or, set me on the chariots of my willing people Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. of...: or, of Mahanaim - Song of Solomon 6:11-13

    “I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.”

    In these verses our Lord speaks to his church, not in her time of doubt and despair while she was seeking him, but he speaks here to his church in her very best condition. She had just begun to again enjoy his blessed fellowship. Christ has now returned to his spouse. The breach she had made by her neglect, he had healed by his grace. There was now a sweet renewing of love and fellowship.

    Christ speaks

    In verse 11 our Lord speaks to his beloved church and says, “Though I had withdrawn myself from you and gave you no comfort for a while, even then I had my eye upon you, even then I was watching over my garden with tenderness, love, and care. Though you did not see me, I saw you. I will never forsake the apple of my eye or the work of my hands.”

    In verse 12 our Savior tells us how that he was overcome by our broken, aching hearts and how anxiously he returned to his people who cried after him. It is as though he said, “I could hide my face no longer. My love for you compelled me, with irresistible force, to return to you. Almost before I knew it, ‘my soul set me on the chariots of my willing people’” (Marginal translation).

    Joseph hid himself from his brethren, because of their evil actions, to chastise them. But he could no longer refrain himself. His loving heart broken, he burst into tears, and said, “I am Joseph” (Gen. 45:1, 3). So our Savior cannot and will not forever hide his face from the objects of his love (Isa.54:7-10).

    We ought to be a willing people, seeking Christ always in love, faith, and hope. These will be like chariots to bring him to us. If we continue seeking the Lord, he will return to us in due time. “No chariots sent for Christ shall return empty” (Matthew Henry). Our Lord will return to us, because of his own grace, love, mercy, and faithfulness. We can do nothing to win his favor. He is gracious, because he will be gracious. He loves us, because he will love us. He returns to us, because he will return to us. He is faithful!

    In verse 13, the Lord Jesus, having returned to his beloved church, courts her, wooing her heart, and invites her to return to him. “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee.” Solomon chose his bride and espoused her to himself, giving her his name. “Shulamite” should be translated “Solyma”. The Hebrew word is the feminine of the name “Solomon.” The Lord Jesus Christ has made us so thoroughly one with himself that he has given us his name. He is our Solomon, and we are his Solyma. (Compare Jeremiah 23:6 and 33:16). All that our Lord Jesus Christ is, he has made us to be by divine imputation.

    This name “Shulamite” or “Solyma” means “Perfection.” Believers are perfect in Christ. We are complete in him. Being washed in his blood, we are spotless. Being robed in his righteousness, we are glorious, holy, and pure.

    This name “Shulamite” or “Solyma” also means “Peace.” “Therefore, being justified, by faith we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are no longer at enmity with God. Our consciences no longer accuse us. Peace has been made for us with God. The warfare is ended. God’s sword has been sheathed in our Savior’s heart. Justice no longer cries against us, but for us.

    Our Lord graciously calls for us to return unto him. Four times he says, “Return, return, O Solyma, return, return.” How willing our all-glorious Christ is to have us in his fellowship and communion! He says—Return to me. Return to your first simple faith. Return to your first tender love. Return to the place where we first met, the cross.

    Now catch the Master’s next loving words. Our Lord says to his beloved, he says to you and me, “Return, return, that we may look upon thee.” He seems to say, “You have not been with me much alone lately. You have neglected reading my Word and hearing it. I have seldom heard your voice, or seen your face. Return, return unto me, that we (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) may look upon you. If you return, we will look upon you again. I will show you my face again. We will look upon you in love. We will look upon you in forgiveness. We will look upon you in kindness. We will look upon you in pleasantness and satisfaction.”

    The bride speaks

    But then, in the second part of verse 13, we hear the bride, the church, the people of God speaking. Being convinced of her own sin, being full of shame, she confesses her frustration with herself. She thinks that there is no beauty in her, nothing in her that he could want to see. “What will ye see in Solyma? As it were the company of two armies.” She is saying, “There is nothing in me but conflict and confusion. In my heart two armies are at war. If you look upon me, you will see a raging battle, good fighting evil, light contending with darkness. I am not worth looking upon. I am a house divided against itself.”

    This is a true and accurate description of the people of God. All of God’s elect experience constant warfare within, constant conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, so long as we live in this body of flesh. This conflict, this warfare causes us so much pain and trouble.

    A painful fact

    These inward conflicts are facts in every believer’s life. The believer’s life is not all sweets. It is not all joy and peace. Faith in Christ will bring some bitter conflicts, which will cause God’s child much pain, much toil, and many tears. The struggles between the flesh and the Spirit are evident enough to all who are born of God. To the unbelieving, unregenerate religionist, true Christians are confusing paradoxes. We are the happiest and the most mournful people in the world. We are the richest and the poorest people on earth. We are men and women who possess perfect peace, yet we are always at war.

    We have seen races of this conflict throughout the Song of Solomon (1:5; 3:1; 5:2). We see these inward conflicts throughout the Psalms of David (Psa. 42; 43; 73). We see them dealt with and explained in the writings of the Apostle Paul (Rom. 7:14-25; Gal. 5:16-18). And we see these terrible inward conflicts in our own daily experience of grace.

    The people of God throughout the centuries have had the same struggles that we now have. John Bunyan wrote a book about his conflicts of heart and soul, which he titled, “The Holy War.” Richard Sibbes wrote a similar book called, “The Soul’s Conflict.” Though we are born of God, God’s saints in this world have a corrupt nature within, which would drive us to sin. Yet, we have within us a righteous nature, which would draw us into perfect conformity and union with Christ. Between these two forces of good and evil there is no peace (1 John 3:7-9).

    Two natures

    This conflict is caused by and begins in regeneration. C. H. Spurgeon said, “The reigning power of sin falls dead the moment a man is converted, but the struggling power of sin does not die until the man dies.” A new nature has been planted within us; but the old nature is not eradicated.

    Do not think for a moment that the old nature dies in regeneration, or even that it gets better. Flesh is flesh, and will never be anything but flesh. Noah, Lot, Moses, David, and Peter, like all other believers, had to struggle with this fact. We need no proof of the fact that God’s people in this world have two warring natures within beyond an honest examination of our own hearts and lives. Our best thoughts are corrupted with sin. Our most fervent prayers are defiled by lusts of the flesh. Our reading of Holy Scripture is corrupted by carnal passions. Our most spiritual worship is marred by the blackness within. Our most holy aspirations are vile. Our purest love for our Savior is so corrupted by our love of self and love for this world that we can hardly call our love for Christ love. From time to time we have all found by bitter experience the truthfulness of the hymn…

    “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it!

    Prone to leave the God I love:

    Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

    Seal it for Thy courts above.

    Without question, our heavenly Father could remove all this evil from us, but he chooses not to. Why?

    Good effect

    The fact is, these inward conflicts do have some good effect. Hard as they are to bear now, in heaven’s glory we will look back upon these days of great evil with gratitude, and see the wisdom and goodness of God in all of our struggles with sin. Our struggles with sin help humble us and curb our pride. Our struggles with sin force us to lean upon Christ alone for all our salvation (1 Cor. 1:30), and confess with Jonah, “Salvation is of the Lord.” Struggling hard with sin, we find that “Christ is all” indeed. Our struggles with sin cause us to prize the faithfulness of our God (Lam. 3:1-27). Our struggles with sin upon this earth will make the glorious victory of heaven sweeter. And our struggles with sin make us rejoice in the fact that “salvation is of the Lord.”

    I do not doubt that in eternity we will be made to see that God wisely and graciously allowed us to fall into one evil to keep us from a greater evil, or to make us more useful in his hands. Certainly, an honest acknowledgement of the sin that is in us, and of the fact that we are never without sin (1 John 1:8-10) ought to make us gracious, kind, forgiving, and patient with one another.

    Soon over

    Blessed be God, these inward conflicts will soon be over (Phil. 1:6; Jude 24-25). We shall soon drop this earthly tabernacle and shall be completely free from sin. We shall be perfect, personally perfect, at last. We shall be triumphant in the end. In that day when our God shall make all things new, the former things shall not only pass away, they shall be remembered no more! All the evil consequences of sin shall be forever removed. We shall be forever “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”

    Yet, so long as we live in this world we will be “as the company of two armies.” So I give you this word of admonition —“Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life” (Pro. 4:23). Keep your heart tender. Keep your heart in the fellowship of Christ. Keep you heart full of the Word. Keep your heart in prayer. Keep your heart full of the cross. Keep your heart full of Christ and rest your soul upon Christ.