Where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flock to rest

Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to the Song of Solomon, chapter 1, and we'll read from our text, verses 7 and 8. A question and an answer. Verse 7, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. The Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8.

The Song of Solomon is a love song between Christ and His Church. Christ the Beloved, the Church the Bride. the virgins, the daughters of Jerusalem, the individuals in the church, and especially young converts, and those that are asking and seeking the things of God. Sometimes, as we read through this book, it's hard to discern which one is speaking, whether it is the church or whether it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, It goes from one to another, quite often from verse to verse. But this is communion, and this is love. It is what would be in a natural relationship, a loving relationship, between a couple that are courting or married. They speak one to another. One speaks, then the other speaks. backwards and forwards. It's a sacred book, a blessed book, and in some ways I tremble to preach from it, lest I mar anything that is in it.

On to, before looking at some points, just to briefly go through this chapter as to what I see in it. Firstly, we have, of course, the introduction, the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. And, of course, it's deep in types, in shadows, in illustrations. And our aim, our desire is to look past those types of illustrations and to see Christ and to see His Church and to see what is being said. And so we have first, In verses 3 to 4 it is the church that is speaking.

Verse 2 is, let him, that is Christ, kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Thy love is better than mine. And the church has to say what she views in Christ. The savour of thy good ointments, thy name is ointment poured forth. Do you know the best interpretation Really, this book, when the Lord blesses a soul, at least I've found so, it speaks the language of my soul. And something like that, thy name is to a blessed soul, it says ointment poured forth, it is precious to that soul.

And then there's that desire in verse 4, draw me, we will run after thee. The church is saying draw me, But the Church is not just one person. It's a multitude. So the Church has drawn we, the people of the Church, they will follow. It's a bit like Moses who says, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. And he's speaking of those going with him.

And then the Church has to say, of herself, what she views and feels of herself, and she feels her deformity, she feels her blackness in verses 5 and 6, I am black, but she also discerns what she is in Christ, but comely, beautiful in Christ, but not in herself.

I think one of the most remarkable Illustrations of that is when Balaam was bringing the word of God and blessing the children of Israel. And the Lord says through him that he has not seen perverseness in Israel. He has not seen iniquity there. And you think, is he really speaking about this people that ever since they came out of Egypt have rebelled, they've murmured, they've kicked, Is He really speaking about them? Yes, He is.

But as they stand in Christ. And it's very striking there, and it is here as well. And do remember this, if you and I truly know the Lord, we'll truly know ourselves as well. And we won't cease from being and feeling black, a sinner, and amazed and wonder that the Lord should ever bless us Have you ever felt that? You can't deny the blessings God has given, but you marvel. Why me? Why have I been blessed and favoured in this way? And you look and your mind goes to real things that you've said and done and walked in.

And they pwn our hearts. Remember not against me the sins of my youth. Every man, they shall know the plague of his own heart. And so the church here testifies of that, as the tents of Keter, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black. We may keep others' vineyards, but ourselves, our own heart, those of us in office, or perhaps in the church, in our family as well, we may think we order our family, we order the churches, and we try to do what is right. But when we look within, how well have I kept my heart? How well have I done there?

That no flesh might glory in his presence. The Lord will always do that. He'll make sure his people have something to keep down their pride. Why was it the Apostle Paul, when he had visions in the highest third heaven, that the Lord had to give him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet him? lest he be exalted above measure, a balance, that which he really knew within. And we must expect that as a people of God.

Then we have the verses of our text, which we'll come back to soon. And then skipping down to verse 9 and 10, this is now Christ speaking, and he compares the church and speaks of her as being numerous, like pharaohs, chariots, and then also beautiful, thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. And then in verse 11 we have not just one speaking, but we, and it is still, it is still the Beloved, it's still the bridegroom. But it's like in the beginning of the Word, isn't it?

Let us make man in our own image. It's like with the blessings that Balaam brought, not one, but three times. And we have here as well. We, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. It's a strange thing, isn't it? if we have our Lord here in complete isolation and not the Trinity set forth in some way. But then we have in verses 12 and 14 the Church's answer. While the King, while our Lord Jesus Christ sitteth at his table My spikenard sendeth forth the sweet the smell thereof. What an effect! When the Lord comes to his people, when he blesses his people, then there is that sweet savour, then there is that joy, then there is that praise. Thou only hast wrought all our works in us. From me is thy fruit found.

And the Church acknowledges this. and says this forth. And then we have in verse 15, Christ to the church and then the church to Christ. Behold thou art fair my love, behold thou art fair, thou hast dove's eyes. And then the church, it answers and says forth, behold Thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant also, our bed is green.

And the mutual love that is together, and especially the last verses there, it is as the Church speaks to As the Church speaks to Christ, there is the word Our that is there again and again. Our bed is green, our house are seeds of the beans, our rafters are fir, and is adjoining together of the Church and of Christ those endearments that draw her together and that oneness. How often in John 16 or through those chapters the Lord is emphasising that his people and himself are one. And when we think of the marriage union, they too, they twain, shall be one flesh, that I and my people as one." And so that is reflected in the language that goes through here.

I want to now come back to the verses of our text, verses 7 and 8. and first look at the church's question to Christ in verse 7 and then Christ's answer in verse 8 and then look at some points of application to us here. But firstly the question that is asked. Now, first, before the question is asked, there is a description, and this follows in the answer as well. It's not just, tell me where thou feedest. It is, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth.

And before ever the question, there's this testimony of love. One reason why. We read the portion in John 21, love us thou may. We know that we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren, but we love him because he first loved us. And here is the profession of that soul, loving and valuing the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then there's this question, tell me where thou feedest, where thou restest, this question, where, where. And she has an option She's looking at the places where Christ feeds and where he rests, but she could turn aside by the flocks of thy companions. But it's very clear here that Church does not want to go that way. That she wants to know where Christ is feeding his people and where he's bringing them to rest.

So you want to think of the things that the church here first knows. And it may be an echo with some of you here because often the Lord's people don't realise what they do know. They may more concentrate on what they don't know. And we'll come to that in a moment. What is it that the church here really is professing that they do know? And the first thing is that Christ has a flock. Where thou makest thy flock. Do we know that?

In John 10 our Lord speaks in a beautiful way of himself as the good shepherd. And of course a shepherd has a flock, he has sheep. And later on there's a tie with the shepherd's tents as well in the answer. God's people are spoken as a flock. In John 10 our Lord says, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Those two folds, there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

There is only really one flock. Yes, in the churches, in the chapels, there are different flocks, but there is only truly one church, one flock of God, one people that are the Lord. his own people, his own sheep, my sheep, they hear my voice, they follow me.

The question is then, do we know that? Are we persuaded? The Lord has, in all of this world, He has a people. There are individuals in this assembly amongst our churches that are members of this flock. They are part of this flock. They are part of the Church of God. They are the Church of God. And to be persuaded of that, the Lord does have a flock, a people. And then to be persuaded of this, that he feeds them where thou feedest.

Our Lord says, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, quoting from Deuteronomy. John 6, labour not for the bread that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life. spiritual food, spiritual manner, to be persuaded of this. You think of what our Lord insisted in John 6, except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. But how do we get that food?

Is it not thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing? Is it not our heavenly Boaz giving commandment to let handfuls of purpose drop and to let us glean among the sheaves? Is it not that the Lord himself as here feeds his people to may we, like the church here, be persuaded of that and know that. That God not only has a people but he sees to it that he feeds them.

What would we think of a family here and the husband, the wife, didn't feed the children? What if they said, well here's the cupboards and there's food in them, you help yourself. What would you think of that arrangement? And when we think the Lord does the sign, just help yourself. It is the Word. Does he not give a portion to seven and also to eight? Does he not send his Word and heal them? It's important to Christ, isn't it? that that which we receive is from His hand.

Hope each of us in our normal meal times. We give thanks, we ask a blessing on the food, we're acknowledging that though yes it comes from the supermarket and it comes from the ground and the farmers made it, ultimately it comes from the Lord. And how much more so in spiritual food which God's children, his flock, vitally need, otherwise they will not live. So if you know those two things, you know two important things. But the other thing they know is that he makes them to rest, where they rest at noon. What a difference from the labour under the law of God or from all of the things of this poor dying world. And what a difference for a soul that is crying out for mercy, for help, for blessing and then they receive rest.

I always remember how it was with my own dear mother when she was dying. And she had not the blessing that she wanted. And she used to pray right through the night, crying out aloud, Open the ark, bring me in, ask the Lord to bless her. When the Lord blessed her, she was quiet. She spoke of how beautiful the Lord was. But all of that labor, all of that crying, and all of that prayer, and all that wrestling finished. She was at rest. She found what she wanted. She had what she wanted. There's a difference.

I hope it is that those of you here do notice the Lord's people, notice the flock of God, Sometimes when they're in trouble. Other times when the Lord delivers them from troubles. When the Lord answers their prayers. When they're restless or when they have rest. When they've lost sight of the Lord and so trying to labour and work out a righteousness for their own. that then when they see it all completely, fully done by Christ, the finished work, then they can rest in Him, rely solely upon Him for the debt paid, for their righteousness, for everything that they have, and they can rest in that covenant, rest in His will. It's good to be persuaded that God does have a flock and he does give them rest. And you notice these things that others have. But then you come to yourself.

What do you know? What do I know of myself? The church here, she knew that she needed feeding as well. She knew her need. Do you know your need? Do you know that you need feeding? You need the Word of God. You need to receive that Word. This is why she is asking. This is driving her prayers. Does your need, does my need, Drive our prayers. It teaches us what to pray for. Lord, give me a portion tonight. Give me thy word. Grant me thy word graciously. May the night Jeremiah thy words were found and I did eat them.

They were to the joy and rejoicing of my soul. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. are our prayers driven by our own personal felt need because it's the Lord that makes us feel our need and to make us cry to him for those blessings that he has to give. But what else does he know?

A need of rest. Our Lord says, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. There's no rest in this poor dying world. There's no rest under the law. The law demands but never gives strength, never gives help, never gives any peace or rest. But that is to be found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives. He makes them, as in the verse here, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon, even in the heat of the day, makes them to rest.

Do we feel that? The last thing is that she knows that she does not know. Sometimes that is a great blessing in many aspects of life, isn't it? To be able to recognize what we don't know or what we can't do ourselves. I sometimes think of things around the home. They're most things that I can do. Handyman things and some electrical things as well. But there's some things I know I won't touch that. When it comes to gas things, I bring in the gas man.

And it's a blessing to know what you can do, or what you should not do, and don't touch, and you need someone else to do for you. It's a blessing to actually know that you don't know. And especially in the things of God. It's not a weak point. to confess and to have to say, like the church here, that she does not know, and has to ask, where, where, where thou feedest, where thou makest life long, to rest at night. So these then are the questions. But what is the answer? What answer does the Lord give? What answer does Christ give? The first thing is actually to highlight what they've just indicated they don't know.

When our Lord told parables, and especially in the Gospel according to Mark, he told the parable of the sower. And the disciples, they asked him, what it meant. A bit like this, asking. And he turned, he said, knowest thou not this parable? How then shall ye know any parables? Really the parable of the soul is a key parable because it speaks of hearing the word, the seed of the word entering into the heart and bring forth fruit.

And his first answer, before he interprets it to them, he highlights that they don't know. In other words, saying, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to explain this to you, but remember, you came to me and you did not know. Sometimes we forget, don't we? And once we know, we speak as if we've always known it, or it's come from us. And we take the honour and glory to ourselves. But our Lord takes this to remind first. You remember before I tell you that you do not know. He will highlight to his people that they are dependent upon him. They are ignorant without him. And in a way that's painful.

But it's fast followed on by the Lord opening up. and showing us what we do not know. What a token for good it is if we can look through life's pathway at those things that we know we did not know of ourselves and the Lord revealed them to us and taught them to us.

Remember, all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Great shall be the peace of thy children. This is the covenant that I'll make with them in those days. They shall not teach every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord, they shall all know me from the least unto the greatest."

Those things that we can say, that was revealed to me. That was shown to me. I didn't know that before the Lord opened it up to me. Those are real tokens for good. What the Lord has done, what the Lord has taught us. not we as taught ourselves. So he answers. And he points to two ways to answer these two questions. Let's read the verse. Verse 8.

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women. Notice again, just as the Church has said, O thou whom my soul loveth, Christ is saying, O thou fairest among women. With all what we said of what the Church knew, as well as what they didn't knew, Christ is still calling them fairest among women. Amongst those in this world, amongst poor sinners in this world, the Church of God, in their need, in their coming, in their being drawn to Him, are precious and beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.

The church is his bride and in Ephesians 5 he is preparing her for himself. All that he sees in her is all wrought by himself. He has loved her from eternity, he has chosen her, he has brought her to the birth and now he's bringing her to look to Him for those blessings that follow on for a living soul.

That's the important thing. This is a living soul that is noticing things. The Lord has a flock and He feeds them. He causes them to rest and feels things that I need feeding and I need rest. So where is the answer? To the Lord He points to these things.

Identify the flock. Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. Now to answer, where thou feedest and where thy flock to rest, you've already noticed those that the Lord has that are a flock, that are His people. So the Lord says, look to them, notice them, and put your footsteps where they are. Follow them. It's like the Apostle Paul saying, be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ. What a blessing if the Lord shows us one of his church, his people, and causes us to follow after them. My mind goes to Suki Harley. She did not know the Lord, but the Lord was beginning to work in her heart.

And she saw these Methodist women. She thought them foolish women. And to go along to the assembly, And she used to creep behind them and walk behind them and listen to what they were saying. But she couldn't keep away from them. And she wanted to go where they went. She wanted to know their secret. She kept close to them.

This is the teaching here. The Lord gives to His church His those that are following and those that are young in the way, those who are inquiring after the way, He gives those that he has blessed and who are following after him and he says to them, you identify them who you see and know as the Lord's dear people, the Lord's flock and you follow in their footsteps. It's a big, my sorry, responsibility for those of us who know the Lord that we walk worthy of the Lord.

You could ask this question. Could we say with the Apostle Paul, when he was before King Agrippa, and King Agrippa says, almost, thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul says that I would that thou were not almost, but altogether such as I am. accept this chain. Every one of the Lord's people have something they would not wish upon another. A besetting sin, a chain, an infirmity, a weakness, a providential trial. But we should be able to say, I would that thou be as I am.

That we desire another to be in the position where we are in Christ, to know the things that we know and to be blessed with the blessing and with the faith and the trust and the rest that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come all ye that fear the Lord, I will tell what he hath done for my soul, to recommend the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Lord gives direction here. There's a way of an answer.

Identify the flock and go in those footsteps. Cleave to them. Don't go to some other flock which you're not sure who is their shepherd or who they belong to. But if you truly find those you esteem, the Lords, and you have a godly jealousy for what they have and what they know, then follow close to them and be with them. Not that the blessing will come from them, but where they are going, where they are seeking, where their hope is, with the teaching that they are having, with the Word that they are sitting under.

They have been blessed by it. They have been fed by it. And you will be too. But there's another part as well. Identify the shepherds. Feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. You can get a picture of the shepherd pitching his tent, where he is, and round about is his flock. And we have the Church of God, the Church of God that has under-shepherds, those that are teaching, those that are preaching, those with which the flocks gather round and hear the Word. Again, notice where is Christ's flock attending? What ministry are they sitting under? What ministry are they feeding under? What ministry does give them rest for their souls? And why is it that they desire such a ministry? It's to notice that as well. And then it can give the answer where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. You might think, well, surely there must be a more complete answer than that.

But you know if a people of God, those that are taught and blessed by him, have truly been brought to life in their souls. They've been brought from under the law, which commands, condemns, but does not give strength. And that they've been brought to view the Lord Jesus Christ, I often think of the contrast in Hebrews 12, Mount Sinai, that smoked and burned with fire, but you come unto Mount Zion, to innumerable company of angels. The difference between the law and the gospel. You know, that distinction will make all the difference for a child of God, whether they feed or not. And I believe the great big danger today is that there are those shepherds that will make the gospel like the law. And they will use the word must, must, must in relation to the gospel. That is not the gospel. The law makes demands, but the gospel it draws and it brings forth the fruits under the preaching of the Word.

You just had Pentecost, just being reminded of the birth of the Church, of the first sermon, you might say, under the power of the Holy Spirit. And it was a sermon of which Peter laid to the charge of those present that they had taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain the one who was delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. He set forth from the Scriptures how Christ and what he had done at Calvary was all fulfilled. And he set forth that which brought them under that servant to be pricked in their hearts. They were brought to repent, to realise what they had done was sinful, wicked and evil.

But not without hope. What shall we do? He doesn't list a whole lot of things, does he? Repent and be baptised in the name of the Lord. They and they that gladly received his word were baptized. Under the preaching of the gospel, Christ finished work, his sufferings at Calvary, enduring the wrath of God in the place of his people. This is what the Lord said, except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood.

Not literally, of course. But in a spiritual sense, as Paul says, I determine not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is all the hope of the people of God, that He lived, He died for me, His blood atoned for my sin, His righteousness pits me for heaven.

The rest that the Gospel proclaims I want to look at some words of application and in doing so look at what the option was that she speaks of here as well. In the professing Church of God there are true churches and there are false churches There are true shepherds and there are false shepherds. There are those that, though not apostate, yet the preaching and the gathering is not fully correct, still perhaps under the law, not really a gospel ministry.

Some are saying about this period of time now that there is a revival amongst the young. Several times have been asked, have you seen it? Do you know of it? Well, more and more, those in the churches are saying, no, it does not look like that. But there are places, there are churches that have seen it.

And it seems to be those that would be called vibrant churches, or as my son, when he was first seeking the Lord, going from one church to another to find what his soul was after, he says, they're religious social clubs. That's what his verdict was. He was looking, just like the one here, had the question here, going from one to another to find what his soul longed for. Now I hope it will be the case that even if there are those that are drawn maybe by curiosity or the Lord using the means of friends in college or so to these churches, but where the true new birth is, there will be souls that are not satisfied there.

They can't feed, but they'll be persuaded that there is a flock and there is a way that they can be fed, but where? And it's to those this question is to be asked. Now it may not apply to many of you here, but I'm aware that the sermons here are heard further afield as well.

So if any does hear the word, any of you hear the word, and maybe you're tempted to go to this congregation or that congregation or under this under-shepherd or this preacher, before you do, Mark out where God's people are and where they are being blessed and where they are looking to.

Don't have your criteria, where are the numbers? Where is the liveliness or where is the young? You look where the Lord's people are and where they are blessed. Advice that is given here by the great head of the church. You know, there's some reason, isn't there, why we go to one place or another.

It's old saying, numbers draw numbers. But the reason here should be, you see the fruits in the Lord's people already. And you want those fruits yourself. So you want their company. You love them. You want to be where they are. And you want to hear the ministry that they hear. You want to follow after them.

But it may not be in that way. It may be that a church gradually departs from the true faith. That's happened again and again, and in this land, a church where we might have grown up with, that generations have been in. And you say, well, I'm staying there because. Because we've always worshipped there, and it means such a lot to me, this place.

But gradually they got away from the true teaching of the Word. Over in Australia, it would probably be 30 years, 35 years ago. And dear friends, the brethren that were on the TBS committee with me, they were in the church, they'd worship there quite happily for a while. But then it got further and further away, so far that they said, If the Word of God is not opened during the next service, we will leave. And after telling a lot of stories or jokes and singing and they said, oh, we haven't got enough time now to read the Word of God, we'll do it next time. It wasn't even opened. That far they'd gone away.

The low Presbyterians, thankfully we were able to point them to a good sound Presbyterian church where they're able to attend and be blessed under. But we saw their agony, their sorrow. And I'm sure that is replicated. That some of the Lord's dear people are staying in places and hearing a ministry and being in a company which is growing less and less like the flock of God. And the ministry is more and more dry, more and more legal, less and less the gospel of the free and sovereign grace of God and satisfying the souls of the people of God. If we are in assemblies like that, to look around, to see, are the Lord's people here? Are they feeding? Am I feeding? Am I satisfied with the Word of God? That should be our prayer, our test.

Before, of course, running away, lay it before the Lord, pray that the Lord would return, that the Lord would bring his word, that he may know his presence. And see, this is the word here, for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? Why should I just take second best? Why should I turn aside to something else? It's often struck me in Hebrews where it says of those who are strangers of pilgrims, and that if they had opportunity, they could have returned.

The world is still there for the people of God. Those who are separated and caught, they can go back any time. And there's stacks of churches out there that will go to the flesh and that will be quite happy for a natural man who can go back any time. But if you and I have got a love for the Lord and a love for our souls and an aching void the world cannot fill and want the bread of life sent down from heaven and want to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified, His finished work, then we won't want to take that option. We won't want to turn aside. want to be with the flock of God, and to be fed, and to have the rest that is in Christ alone. The Lord at His blessing. Amen.

Where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flock to rest

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Where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flock to rest

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