Let us turn to the Song of Solomon
and I want to direct you to words that we find there in chapter
8 the short portion we read in Song of Solomon chapter 8 and
the opening part of verse 5 Song of Solomon chapter 8 5. Who is
this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her
Beloved? Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved? Last Lord's Day
evening we sought to say something with regards to the church in
the wilderness. We were considering those words
in Acts chapter 7 where Stephen at his martyrdom makes that noble
defense of his faith and recounts something of God's dealings with
the children of Israel as he seeks to bear his testimony to
the Lord Jesus as that one who is indeed the promised one, the
Messiah, the Christ of God. And in the course of His speech
before the Jewish Council and others, he
makes reference, remember, to Moses and the wilderness wanderings
of the children of Israel. And we have that expression,
the church in the wilderness. And here we have a description
in the Song of Solomon of one who would belong to that church,
who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon
her beloved. And as we come to consider the
words for a little while tonight, I want to deal with two very
basic headings really. First of all, to consider just
who it is that's being spoken of. Who is this person? And then
secondly, to consider the action. What is this person doing? Just
want us to consider then those two very simple points for a
little while as we look here into this part of God's holy
work. First of all, Who is this? And it is surely not without
significance that the text is put to us in the form of a question
for emphasis, I would say. Something quite remarkable to
behold, this particular individual. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? And there are various
characteristics that we can discover with regards to this individual. First of all, I say that this
is the believer. The church in the wilderness
is made up of believers. And here is a description of
one of those who is such a true child of God. it's a description
of all those who are part of that church in the wilderness
of course coming to this part of scripture it's good for us
to remind ourselves initially of what the song of Solomon is
all about it is a love song we recognize that the language is
very rich very descriptive, it's figurative language that is being
spoken, and it's Solomon's song. Solomon was the human author
of the book, but Solomon wrote this book under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. We're told in Kings, aren't we,
that he wrote 1,005 songs. 1,005 songs. And one of those songs is this,
but this one is different to all the others, because this
was inspired by God. But in it, Solomon is certainly
speaking of all the intimacy of the relationship between Solomon
and his bride, we might say. Or the relationship of a man
and his wife. We're not to ignore that aspect
of the book. It speaks of the dignity, the
purity of that love that there should be between a man and his
wife. The language might be descriptive
at times, maybe even embarrassing we might say. But remember the
words of the apostle unto the pure, all things are pure. But
unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure,
but their mind and conscience is defiled. We know from what we're told
concerning creation now that in the beginning God created
them male and female. Now we need to emphasize that
in such a day as we're living in. God created them male and
female. And what are we told at the end
of the second chapter in Genesis? God had made the man, formed
his body of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, he became a living soul. He names all the animals
that God creates. What a wonderful minds this man
has as he is there. He's just come pristine from
the hand of his great creator. He's made in God's image. What
a remarkable man. without any sin. He names all
the animals. But then we're told at the end
of that second chapter that there was not found and helped meat
for him. He gave name to all cattle, to
the fowl of the air, to every beet of the field, but for Adam
there was not found and helped meat for him. And the Lord God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took
one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And
the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh she shall be called
woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked,
the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. And what we
have in the Song of Solomon is the celebration, you see, of
that most intimate of all human relationships, that of a man
and his wife. However, there is a deeper spiritual
meaning of course to the book because there is a relationship
more intimate and closer even than that between a man and his
wife that is between the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride the
church and you don't need me to remind you I'm sure how The
apostle brings that out, doesn't he, in Ephesians chapter 5, that
portion there, at the end of that chapter where he's speaking
of relative duties and he comes to speak of the duties of the
man, the husband, and his wife. But then he says right at the
end, this is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the church. And so here, really, the relationship
that we're to consider when we come to the Song of Solomon is
not simply that of a human relationship. We're to consider it in terms
of Christ and His Church, which is spoken of as His Bride. And then, of course, at the end
of Scripture, we looked just then at the beginning, or the
second chapter there in the book of Genesis but when we come to
the very last book the book of the Revelation remember the words
that we find there in Revelation chapter 19 concerning the great
marriage supper of the Lamb let us be glad and rejoice and give
honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife
hath made herself ready And to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Right blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Or these are the true sayings
of God. Even here, back in our text,
in this 8th chapter, the final chapter of the psalm. Who is
this? Who is this that cometh up out
of the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved? Oh, this is the
Christian. This is the believer. This is
the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think last week we sang that
92nd hymn in the book. Remember Isaac Watts' paraphrase,
really, a part of the Song of Solomon. And how remarkable,
how true are the words. He paraphrases the question,
who is this fair one in distress that travels from this wilderness,
impressed with sorrows and with sins, and her beloved Lord she
leaves. This is the spouse of Christ
our God, bought with the treasures of His blood, and her request
and her complaint is but the voice of every saint. One struck by those final words,
this is the voice of every saint, every believer. Every believer
surely is seen here in the figure that's set before us in our text
tonight. Here is one leaning upon her
beloved. From whence does she come? She
comes up out of the wilderness. Or doesn't the wilderness tell
us something? What is the wilderness? It's a desert place. It's a barren
place. And you know, there is a repetition. We didn't only read this short
portion at the beginning of chapter 8 but we also read the third
chapter and we have a similar word there at verse 6 in that
chapter. Who is this that cometh out of
the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfume with myrrh and
frankincense with all powders of the merchants? There's a repetition,
and as we've said many a time, there's never vain repetition
anywhere in the Word of God. Christ has told us, hasn't He,
that men must give account for their idle words. God doesn't
speak idle words. If the Lord says something, we
take account of it. If the Lord repeats what He says,
We need certainly to take account of it. In His great wisdom He
has given us a fourfold gospel. What a great blessing that is!
The fourfold account of the birth, the life, the ministry, the death,
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here God
repeats Himself. And that is significant. Where
does the Lord God find His people? Or think of the language that
we have back in Deuteronomy 32. He found him in a desert land,
in a waste, howling wilderness. He led him about, he instructed
him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. Oh the Lord, you
see, where does he discover his people? They're in a desert place,
a barren land. What have they? They have nothing. And yet the Lord in His wisdom makes every provision for them
when they're in that sad condition. Now the psalmist cries out, I
am like a pelican of the wilderness, he says. Like
an owl of the desert. God's people at times feel themselves
to be in such barren places. They have nothing that they can
bring to the Lord, nothing that they can present to the Lord,
nothing to commend themselves. But the Lord takes account of
them, the Lord makes provision for them, the Lord ministers
to them. And that was really part of the reason why I wanted
to read also that 35th chapter in Isaiah because it reminds
us of what God does with the wilderness. That's a remarkable chapter,
that 35th chapter, and it speaks really of the Gospel and the
blessings of the Gospel. The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and
rejoice even with joy and singing. And why so? Well, it goes on,
doesn't it, there to speak of some of the blessings of the
Gospel. And think of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, the eyes of
the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame and lepers and heart and the tongue of the
dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out. and streams
in the desert, and the parched ground shall become a pool, and
the thirsty land springs of water, in the habitation of dragons,
where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushings." Oh,
the Lord, you see, He makes the wilderness a standing water. Where His people are, where He
finds them, He ministers to them. And this is a wonderful description,
really, of something of the blessings of the gospel, of the grace of
God. Again, look at the language of
chapter 51 and verse 3 there in Isaiah. The Lord shall comfort
Zion. He will comfort all her waste
places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden. and her deserts, like the garden
of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving
and the voice of melody. She is coming out of the wilderness,
but the Lord is able to make the wilderness a wondrous thing,
even a place of verdant pastures and lush meadows where his people
find much refreshment. But when we think of The wilderness
is not only a barren place. Is it not also a place sometimes
where God's people find themselves bewildered? All their bewilderment,
they lose their way. It's a perplexing place. There
are no paths. The sin you see is made to feel
that something of his lost condition. He knows not which way to turn,
where to go. And he's so easily diverted and
he wanders about into bypass. You know how Bunyan in The Pilgrim's
Progress explains something of that. Brings it out, doesn't
it? How Christian is wont to wander
out of the narrow way that leads to life and is in bypass meadow.
and the like, and so too the sinner. When the Lord God calls
him by his grace, what does he do? He won't surely then to turn to
the path of morality. You see by nature we're wedded
to the idea of a covenant of works, there's something to do.
And I've said before, we see it in the response of those in
the Acts of the Apostles, the day of Pentecost, when the people
are cut, when they're under conviction. Men and brethren, what must we
do? They think of doing something. In chapter 16, the Philippian
jailer turns to Paul and Silas and he's He thinks all the prisoners
have escaped. There's been this remarkable
event. An earthquake, the doors of the
prison have flown open. But there's more than that with
this man. He's obviously under some conviction
of sin because he cries out and says to those two men, what must
I do to be saved? He wants to do something. Well, bewildered the sinner is
at times when the Lord begins with him and he knows not what
to do. And so he looks to himself, he
looks to his own work, his own efforts, his own endeavours.
He might think in terms of, well, let's try the path of religion
and so I'll begin to attend church services more regularly. I'll try to perform my duties
as I ought. Of course, there's nothing wrong
with that. We should fill our place Lord's
day by Lord's day. We should attend the means of
grace. We should observe our own devotions. That's good and
right and proper. But we're not to rest in anything
of ourselves, surely. And what is this one here? She's
not doing that. Oh, she's brought here to lean
upon her Beloved. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved, it says? Who is the Way? The Lord Jesus. He tells us so plainly, I am
the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And how wonderfully dear John
Sennich brings it out in that lovely hymn that we were just
singing. Come hither soul, he says, I am the Word. There is
but one Word, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And so what do we see here? We
see not only who this person is, it's the believer, it's the
believer initially in the wilderness but she's knowing, experiencing
something of the Lord's dealings she's found it at times to be
a barren place, a bewildering place but now you see she's she's
coming out of that wilderness and now does she come out only
by leaning She's leaning upon her Beloved. Remember the language of the
Psalmist. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him,
and He will bring it to pass. Commit thy way. The margin gives
an alternative, doesn't it? Roll, it says. Roll thy way upon
the Lord. Well, that's faith. To roll our
souls upon the Lord, to lean upon the Lord. That's the way
of faith. We have nothing of ourselves.
We rest solely in Him. He's all our salvation. That
was David's experience. When he comes to the end of his
days, it's that covenant ordered in all things and sure. It's
him who is the mediator of that new covenant. David says this
is all his salvation and all his desire, all the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is faith that's being spoken
of. I said we'd consider not only the individual, the person
that's being spoken of, but what is this person doing? This is the way of faith, the
posture of faith. leaning upon her beloved. And it involves at least three
things. So, as we begin to draw to a conclusion, let's consider
the three things that are involved here. What is involved in leaning
here? Well, surely first of all there
is companionship. There is companionship. These
two are walking together. The one is leaning upon the other. And how can two walk together
except they be agreed? That's what Amos the prophet
says, isn't it? How can two walk together except they be agreed? So, there is some union between
these two. There's real companionship. There's
a closeness. There's an intimacy. They're friends. And who is this
one that's being lent upon? Oh, this is that one who sticketh
closer than a brother. This is real friendship. But isn't that the faith of Abraham? Abraham is the father of all
them that believe. That's what we're told in Scripture.
He's the father of all believers. And what was Abraham? Well, he
believed God, says James, and he was called the friend of God.
And what we have here is friendship. This is one who surely has the
same faith as Abraham had. It's the same faith as we see
in the beloved disciple John. Oh, remember John there as the
Lord comes to institute that holy supper? his last Passover
that he celebrates with his disciples and there is John as Christ changes
that Passover into what we observe now as the Holy Supper of the
Lord John is there leaning upon the Lord's bosom and John is
the beloved disciple and Christ here is the beloved
in the text that's the name that's given to him is it not she's
leaning upon who? upon her beloved oh this is David
the name David of course it means the beloved and isn't the Lord
Jesus Christ that one who is David David's greatest son the
beloved of the Lord it's interesting how this name
is used so much In this book, the Beloved, look at the language
that we have, for example, in chapter 5 verse 9, What is thy
beloved more than another beloved, or thou fairest among women?
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost
so judge us? And she replies, My beloved is
white and rudder, the cheapest among ten thousand. And then
we have that wonderful description of him, and the language so so
rich, an attempt to describe something
of the beauties that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. It continues
in chapter 6, Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest
among women? Whither is thy beloved turned
aside, that we may seek him with thee? My beloved is gone down
into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens,
and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved
is mine. He feedeth among the lilies."
Or the intimacy, you see, of the language that is being used
here. This speaks of real companionship
and real friendship. These two are as one. And there
is, of course, between Christ and His Church a real union,
there's an eternal union. We remarked this morning how
she is chosen in Him. The language that we have there
in Ephesians 1, she's chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. He is God's first elect. My servant
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, says
God, I have put my spirit upon him, and she's chosen in him.
But there's not only an eternal election, there must also in
time be that experimental union. Eternal union, yes, but then
also an experience of that union. and
this is what is being described surely it is the intimacy of the relationship
she leans hard upon him but what else do we see here? besides
friendship there's also confidence you see faith we know is that
that looks away from from self We have to look away from our
own ideas and our own works. Going the language of the wise
man, there in the book of Proverbs, Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, lean not unto thine own understanding. We're not to look
to ourselves. We're not to lean upon our own
understanding. we are to be found looking on
to Jesus looking away on to Jesus taking our eyes off every other
object looking away and only on to Jesus the author and the
finisher of our faith and this is what we see here who is this
that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved and
you know In the strange ways of faith
at times the believer has to lean there in the midst of all
the darkness and all the confusion and all the bewilderment. Think
of those words that we have at the end of Isaiah 50. Who is
among you that feareth the Lord? And obeyeth the voice of his
servant? And walketh in darkness and hath
no light? let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God that one who is in darkness and
of course you remember there in those closing verses of Isaiah
50 there is really a contrast between one who is nothing more
than a formalist and one who is a true child of God Because
after those words that we've just tried to recite from verse
10, we have a description of the other. Behold all ye that
kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks. Walk in the
light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have at mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Or those who want to make themselves Christians. Those who are looking
to themselves and leaning on their own understanding. lighting
their own fire, as it were. The condemnation that we have
there in that final verse, but that previous verse, who is among
you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant?
Who is God's servant? The Lord Jesus, my servant, mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth. Well, here is one that obeys
the voice of Him, and yet walks in darkness and hath no light,
let him trust. in the name of the Lord and stay
upon his God." Oh, there's confidence. The confidence of faith at resting
in Christ, in Christ alone. This is the posture of those
who are the true people of God, who belong to that Church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They are friends of Christ. They
trust in Christ. And then finally they know deliverance.
They're delivered. They come up. We have it here,
don't we? She is coming up from the wilderness. We have it again there in chapter
3 and verse 6. She cometh out of the wilderness,
it says. There's deliverance. She's not
always in the wilderness. There's deliverance. And the
children of Israel were not always in the wilderness. There was
a church in the wilderness, but that's the church that enters
into the Promised Land. And it was that faithful generation,
you remember the generation that came out? They didn't enter in,
did they? The spies, when they first come
to that land of promise. They send out the spies and only
two are faithful men, Joshua and Caleb, but ten of them bring
an evil report and the people are afraid. Why? The land is
peopled by great giants of men. They're fenced or walled cities. And God condemns them to 40 years
of wilderness wandering. But there's a church there. Even then I remember thee, the
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousal, says God,
when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, Israel was holiness
to the Lord. All that generation that ultimately
goes into the promised land, they come out of the wilderness
and they go into that land, the land flowing with milk and honey
that God had promised. What is it to come out? Well,
it's ultimately this, is it not? It's coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, says Christ. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. It's coming to Christ. But how
do you come to the Lord Jesus Christ? You might say to me tonight,
that's all very well and good, but how? How can I come to the
Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I would say that there's
some clue, really, in what we have in that other verse that
I referred to, chapter 3 and verse 6, "...who is this that
cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfume
with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant."
Now the language of course is symbolic, but what's the significance
of the figures that are being used there? Well, remember what
we are told in the New Testament Scriptures
concerning what prayer is. We are told something, aren't
we, of what prayer is there in the book of the Revelation. We
read of golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of
the saints. Golden vials full of odors which
are the prayers of the saints. And what we have there you see
in chapter 3 and verse 6 is a description really of her prayers. This is
how she comes up. She comes up in that prayerful
spirit. This is how we are to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's by prayer. We have to come, we have to seek
Him. We have to knock and He opens. We have to ask and He gives.
That's the way wherein the Lord is pleased to grant that great
blessing of salvation. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Whosoever asketh, findeth he
that seeketh. Whosoever asketh, receiveth he
that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. The Lord repeats Himself freely. And we know that all those promises,
and those are promises, shalls and wills, All those promises in the Lord
Jesus Christ, aye, aye, and amen, to the glory of God by us. God
is true to His word. He never says to the seed of
Jacob, seek him, I face him vain. You shall seek me and find me
when you shall search after me with all your hearts. This is
how we come. We have to come, we have to cry,
we have to call, we have to seek. There's no other way. This is
how she comes out of that wilderness, like pillars of smoke, perfumed
with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchants. It reminds us of the golden altar,
where the incense was burnt in the holy place, and there the
fragrance fill that place. And of course here in the Holy
of Holies was the mercy seat where God said He would be in
the midst of Israel. And all the elders filling that
place. It's the prayers of the saints.
We have to come out of that wilderness in by pleading with the Lord,
calling upon His name, seeking His face, and believing that
all those promises that are in Christ are Yah and Amen. Oh God grant that we might know
what it is then to bear something of the marks of this character
who is being described here in our text tonight. Who is this
that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved? Oh the Lord be pleased to grant
that that might be descripted of you and descriptive of mirth. And the Lord bless to us His
Word. Amen.