I invite your attention to the
Song of Solomon, chapter 1. Song of Solomon, chapter 1. We thus far have expounded verses
1 through 6, and today we will begin expounding from verse number
7. In verse one, we read the song
of songs, which means the foremost song, and it is Solomon's who
is a type of Christ. His wife, the Shulamite, speaks,
let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is
better than wine. Because of the fragrance of your
good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore
the virgins love you." Those are the members of the Church
of Christ. Lead me away. And the virgins,
the daughters of Jerusalem, say, we will run after you. Then the wife of Solomon, who
represents the Church of Christ, says, The king has brought me
into his chambers. The daughters of Jerusalem say,
we will be glad in rejoicing you. We will remember your love
more than wine. Now the Shulamite says to her
beloved, rightly do they love you. I am dark but lovely, O
daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar. like the
curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me because I
am dark, because the skin of the sun has tanned me. My mother's
sons were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the
vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept." Now she speaks to her beloved. This is the church of Christ
speaking to him saying, tell me, oh you whom I love, where
you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon, for why
should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your
companions? And Christ answers her in verse
number eight, if you do not know, Oh, fairest among women, follow
in the footsteps of the flock and feed your little goats beside
the shepherd's tents. I have compared you, my love,
to my filly among Pharaoh's chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with chains of gold. We will make you ornaments of
gold with studs of silver. And we're going to begin expounding
that passage today, beginning in verse number seven. Now as
we have said, this is the Shulamite, or the wife of Solomon, speaking
to him. And as we have already set forth,
she represents the church speaking to Christ. The Shulamite, or
the woman in this instance, represents the Church of Christ, and Solomon
represents Christ. In verse 7, she says, tell me,
O you whom I love. Now in the preceding two verses,
she had spoken of the fact that she had been greatly persecuted
and had not been permitted to keep her own vineyard, had been
forced to work in the vineyard of others, and now she turns
her attention to Christ and says, tell me, O you whom I love. She wants him to know that all
that she had suffered for him, all that she had suffered in
his name, all that she had suffered in his cause had not diminished
her love for him. Oh, you whom I love. This is true with saints today. If we are driven from Christ
as Sometimes the world would try to do to us, if we are driven
to Christ, what we learn is absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have been absent from my wife
for a few days, at least a couple of weeks, and I found that Absence
does indeed make the heart grow fonder. You begin to realize
how much you love someone when you are away from that one, and
this is what the Shulamite here experiences. She says, tell me,
O you whom I love. Here's what she asks. Tell me,
where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon." Now,
she has a good opinion of her husband. Her husband is a shepherd. Indeed, he is the good shepherd.
And what does the good shepherd do daily? He comes down to the
fold where all the sheep are kept. He calls them by name and
they come out and they begin to follow him. And where is he
going to take them? The green pasture they need to
feed. He'll lead them beside the still
waters. That's what the Good Shepherd
does. He does it early in the morning. He lets them eat and
drink. And then in the heat of the day,
he takes him to some shady spot and says, lie down and take your
rest. And so the Shulamite wants to
know, tell me, where do you feed your flock? And where do you
make your flock rest at noon? She wants to know where they
are. And she gives a reason for her
question. She says, for why should I be
as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? Here is described the condition
of saints when driven from Christ's flock and into the flocks of
their persecutors. We observed in an earlier exposition
that There have been times in the past when the Lord's Church
was forbidden to practice and to worship the Lord as they would
want to. I read just this past week that
in China, that there is a great persecution of the Lord's Church
or professing Christians being waged, and it's becoming worse.
And they're forbidding them to do things like baptism or to
partake of ordinances. And they're forcing them to train
their children in the ways of that government. And here is
an instance of the Lord's church being driven from Him by His
enemies, who are also her enemies. And she says, you know what?
When this happens, I feel like a harlot. I feel like one in
false religion when I am not permitted to worship my Lord
as I desire to do. So this is against her will.
She says, why should I be as one who veils herself in the
flocks of your companions? Notice, she says, why should
I be as one who veils herself? What is that kind of woman? In
this instance, it is a harlot. The King James Version says she
is one that turneth aside, and that aptly describes her. The Hebrew word here, translated
veil or turneth aside, is the word that means to cover, to enwrap. wrap oneself and envelop
oneself. It is used of a veil that is
worn by a harlot when she does not want to be recognized. You'll
find this word found, for example, in the book of Genesis, chapter
38, about a woman who wanted to get back at a man, so she
put a veil on her face, disguised herself, and sat by the road
as though she were a prostitute. She wore the veil. Well, this
is what the world wants the children of God to do. They want them
to wear the veil like a prostitute. It's a fitting attire for those
who are in the flocks of your companions. Now, observe that
phrase, the flocks of your companions. These are not the flock of Jesus
Christ, rather these are the churches of false shepherds.
These shepherds are false shepherds, claiming to be true shepherds.
These are Christ's false companions claiming to be his true companions. You can find false preachers
all around you today and ask them, are you a companion of
Jesus Christ? Well, they preach against him.
They do not preach the gospel. They preach this and that and
the other. They practice the hermitry of false religion. But
if you ask them who they are, oh, I'm a companion of Christ.
I'm an under-shepherd of Christ." And she says, well, this is where
that I am made to feel like I am, in the flocks of your companions,
in these false churches. Christ speaks this sheep under
these false companions, under these false shepherds in Jeremiah
chapter 50 verse 6 saying, My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them
astray. They have turned them away on
the mountains. They have gone from mountain
to hill. They have forgotten their resting
place. And this is why she asked, Where
do you feed your flock? because I'm not being fed where
I am. And where do you give your flock
rest? I'm finding no rest in this place
where they are putting meat. Christ also speaks of these false
shepherds over his sheep in Jeremiah 23, verses 1 and 2, saying, Woe
to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,
says Jehovah. Therefore says Jehovah, Elohim
of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people, you have
scattered my flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you
for the evil of your doings, says Jehovah." This wife of Christ
Under time of persecution, being driven away from Him, she says,
Tell me where you feed your flock. I want to be fed with them. Where
do you give your flock rest at noon? I want to find that rest
that your flock has. And so Christ answers her, beginning
in verse number 8. We now come to verse number 8.
And this is Christ speaking, and he here speaks for the first
time in this song. He speaks to her in a way that mildly
rebukes her ignorance, sweetly expresses her status, graciously
answers her question and briefly describes her beauty. Notice what he says in verse
number eight. If you do not know, if you do not know, This is Christ's
mild rebuke regarding his wife's question. Tell me, O you whom
I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon.
Sometimes our questions to Christ reveal our ignorance of him. Sometimes we ask questions to
Christ that we should know the answer to it because the answer
is obvious. And so it is in this instance.
She says, tell me, where do you feed your flock?
Where do you make it rest at noon? And he says, well, you
should know. or you should be able to find
out on your own, but since you ask, if you do not know, I'll
tell you. Oh, fairest among women. Look
at that word fair. It means beautiful, not moderately
good, acceptable or satisfactory. This Hebrew word is translated
beautiful in chapter six, verse four, and chapter seven, verse
one. Oh, fairest among women, he says
to her. Christ speaks of his wife as
the most beautiful woman there is, and this is despite the fact
that her skin had been greatly darkened by being forced to work
in the sun, and by the wounds and bruises she had suffered
from her persecutors. She, in the eyes of the world,
would be not pleasant to look at, but when Christ looks at
her, he sees her beauty. He speaks of her in the fondest
terms. Oh, fairest among women. Now
why would he see the beauty that is in her? It is because when
Christ looks upon His church, He sees her arrayed in His grace,
in His goodness, in His righteousness, and in His holiness. And surely
the woman who is arrayed in these is a beautiful woman. I would
hope that every woman in the church of Christ would wish to
be arrayed in the graces that Christ gives to his people. I would wish that every man in
the church of Christ desires that when Christ looks upon him,
Christ sees these virtues and these merits, they are his, and
he gives them to his people. Christ repeatedly speaks of how
fair or beautiful his wife is. He uses the same Hebrew word
in these instances. In chapter one, verse 15, he
says, behold, you are fair, my love. Behold, you are fair. In chapter six, verse four, he
says, oh, my love, you are beautiful. And surely the husband, the godly
husband of a godly wife would speak to his wife in such terms
as these. I've often, and I do often tell
my wife, I think she's beautiful. And sometimes during the day,
having told her in the morning, I'll just simply say, have I
told you? And she knows what I'm talking about. Yes, you told
me. But she likes to hear it again,
I'm sure. Have I told you how beautiful
you are? Every child of God should look
upon his wife as being beautiful. That is, assuming that he's married
to a godly woman. And every godly woman married
to a godly man should speak of him in the very same kind of
terms. He says to her repeatedly, you
are beautiful. And now he states the obvious
means of finding his flock. He says, since you say you do
not know, although you should know, if you do not know, here's
the first thing you should do. Follow in the footsteps of the
flock. Follow in the footsteps of the
flock. Take a look around you. When
you see the flock of Christ walking by, get in behind them. Do you
know where the flock of Christ is going? They're going where
He goes, because that's what they do. He comes to the sheepfold
early in the morning. He calls His sheep by name, and
they all come. And here He goes, and He's walking. And what are they doing? They're
following Him. and everywhere he goes, they're
following him. He leads them to the green pastures
where they feed and they follow him. He leads them to the place
of rest and they follow him. Do you want to know where to
find Christ? Follow his sheep because they're
following him. Now that is so obvious, is it
not? Christ says to his wife, Do you really have to ask? Do you not realize that you just
get in with my flock because they're following me and you'll
find me. I would hope, I would hope that
when people in this world follow me and follow you, I hope
we lead them to Christ. I hope because that's what Jesus
said they would do. Follow in the footsteps of the
flock. You know what they're saying?
His sheep say what we find recorded. They say, come and let us go
up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Israel. He will teach us his ways and
we shall walk in his paths. And that's what the sheep do.
They say, come with us. We're going to Christ because
we're following him. So if you want to find where
Christ is, follow his sheep. Now, the second means, he says,
is this, and feed your little goats beside the shepherds' tents. What does this mean? Go to where
his shepherds are. Go to the tent of his shepherds. Right now, it's this one. You're sitting in it right now.
The tents of the shepherds of Christ are where they preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you want to find out where
Christ is? Well, okay. If I am worth my
salt, and I pray that I am, if I am worth my salt, I'm taking
you to Christ right now. I hope that it is so. Sit under the ministry of a gospel
preacher. Oh, and by the way, bring your
little ones with you. Here's what he said, bring your
little goats to the shepherd's tents. They'll show you where
Christ is. And I hope that when this lesson
is done today, you can tell me, you showed me where he is, because
that's what I'm compelled to do. His sheep do not go to legalists leading
to the law. Free-wheelers leading to works,
Sabbatarians leading to a weekday, Pharisees leading to self-righteousness
and holier-than-thou-ness, Sacramentalists leading to water or an altar
or some other place where they claim saving grace is conferred
by them. No, no, no, no. I'm not going
to take you to any of those places. God willing, I'm going to take
you to Christ and his sheep will follow his shepherd and they
will find Christ. Do you want to know where Christ
is? Follow his sheep and sit under the ministry of his under
shepherd. He says in verse number nine,
I have compared you my love to my filly among Pharaoh's chariots. Evidently, Solomon had been given
a beautiful mare or a filly along with a chariot and more chariots
by Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And that should not surprise
us because Solomon married a daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. And
if the Pharaoh of Egypt had given Solomon a mare or a filly, and
a chariot. You can imagine that it was the
finest horse in Egypt, unless it was the one Pharaoh rode. It was a chariot of great workmanship. And Solomon says, you know what?
You are like my filly. that pulls my chariot, the one
that Thario gave to me." He compares it to a horse. You say, is that
not an insult? Oh no, no, no, no. That is a
compliment. Horses are known for their beauty,
their gracefulness, their strength, their boldness, and their usefulness. He says, I have compared you
to that which is dear and precious to me. He says in verse number
10, your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains
of gold. And here is intimated that that
the head of Solomon's horse was lavishly arrayed and decorated. And that was true among kings.
When they had a horse pulling their chariot, well, they just
didn't put some ordinary farm saddle on it. Did not go up with
blinders on it like a common work animal. No, no, no. No.
Oh, they dressed it up. They made it look like it was
fit for the king who was with it. Adam Oliarius. in the 17th century,
was a German ambassador to the Shah of Savavid Persia, present-day
Iran. He said that Persian ladies wear
two or three rows of pearls around the head. beginning on the forehead
and descending down to the cheeks and under the chin, so that their
faces seemed to be set in pearls." Well, that seems to describe
what Solomon is here saying regarding his wife. Christ says of his
wife in Ezekiel 16 verse 11, I adorned you with ornaments,
I put a chain on your neck, and I put a jewel in your nose, earrings
in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head, thus you
were adorned with gold and silver. And all of these things that
Christ says are graces that He gave to her. When Christ looks
upon His wife and sees her face, it's beautiful, decorated with
all His graces that He has given to her. And then He says, We will make
you ornaments of gold with studs of silver. Now, some commentators
see that Christ spoke in the singular tense, in verse 9, I
have compared you, but now He, or the person of the now changes so that he says,
we will make you ornaments of gold. And so some say, well,
this must be the daughters of Jerusalem, the attendants. They say, we will do things for
you also. Christ has said what he would
do. We're going to do something for you also. But that is evidently
not the case. Christ here had spoken to her. I will compare you. And now he
says, and we will do something else. Who is the we? Who will do this? It is Christ
speaking for himself and for God the Father and for God the
Holy Spirit. We will make you ornaments of
gold with studs of silver. Now, what would these be? It's
speaking of something that would be done in the future. This was
written, this song was written in the Old Testament day. It
described what had been done for the church of Christ in Old
Testament days. But now Jesus Christ points to
the New Testament day and he says, I'm going to do something
for you then that you have not experienced now. And furthermore,
it's gold, it's studs of gold and silver. I'm going to be even
greater to you in my gifts in the future than I am even right
now. Well, that's the way it is, is
it not? In this New Testament day, is
not the church of Christ graced much greater than she was in
the Old Testament day? I give you some examples. These
graces from the Holy Trinity include the New Covenant, which
abrogated and replaced the Old Covenant. The gospel, which is
more glorious than the law. Christian baptism and the Lord's
Supper, which are more glorious ordinances than those of the
law. Christ as prophet, who is a greater
prophet than Moses and all the other prophets who preceded him. Christ as priest, who is a greater
priest than Aaron and all of the priests who preceded him.
Christ as King, who was a greater King than David and all of the
kings who preceded Him. Christ as the sacrifice, who
was a greater sacrifice than those which preceded Him. Christ
as the Sabbath and rest, who was a greater Sabbath than the
seventh day and all of the days of rest that preceded Him. Now I tell you, the daughters
of Jerusalem The attendants of the Shulamite could not put these
kinds of graces on her. I'll tell you what, I want Christ to grace me. I want God to grace me. I am
happy when you grace me. I am happy when you do sweet
and kind things for me. I really do. I appreciate it. But as much as I appreciate what
you and other mortals do for me, that Christ would grace me, that
he would give me his studs of silver, ornaments of gold, that
he would put his graces upon me. And I hope and I pray that
the same desire is found in your heart as well. And O God, our
Father, to the glory of your name and to the honor of your
Son, Jesus Christ, we pray that you bless this word. to his glory
and in his name we pray, amen. You are dismissed.