Scripture Reading: S.S. 7:1-13
By the end of chapter six the lover, having passed through various stages of transformation, has become Solomon’s duplication. She is now called Shulammite (the feminine form of Solomon — S.S. 6:13), for she has become the same as Solomon in life, nature, and image to match him for their marriage. This couple’s becoming one indicates the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem the redeeming God (signified by Solomon) and all His redeemed (signified by the Shulammite) become one. The New Jerusalem is a mingling of divinity and humanity to express the processed, consummated Triune God in human virtues.
At this point it seems that the book should end, yet it continues. Solomon is the lord of many vineyards, and these vineyards require much labor. Now the country girl, who has become his Shulammite, must become his co-worker. This indicates that eventually Christ’s lovers need to share in the work of the Lord. To share in the Lord’s work we need to be qualified, and our qualification depends upon the spiritual equipment, that is, it depends on our being equipped with all the attributes of the divine life.
In 7:1-9a we see that the lover, the Shulammite, is equipped as a worker in the work of the Lord.
The speaker in verses 1 through 5 is not Solomon nor the Shulammite but a third one — the Spirit. The Spirit is one with Christ (2 Cor. 3:17), and the Spirit is one with the believers (Rev. 22:17). Thus, when this third one speaks, it is as if the two are speaking. Christ, the believers, and the Spirit are one.
Verses 1 through 5 are the Spirit’s review of the virtues of the lover. Virtues are signs of maturity in the divine life. The more mature we are, the more virtues we have. Hence, to review the virtues of the lover is just to present what this co-worker has become, what she is.
First, the Spirit, esteeming her as one of the royal household, reviews her beauty. Romans 5:17 reveals that the life of Christ in us can make us kings to reign: “Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” In Romans we see that Christ’s life is a life of righteousness for our justification, a holy life for our sanctification, and a victorious life to make us overcomers. Romans also tells us that we can reign in this divine life of Christ. This life can make us kings; it can make us royal. Song of Songs indicates that a lover of Christ should reach the maturity in His royal life to reign as a king with Christ. This is the first virtue, the first qualification, for her to share in the Lord’s work.
Song of Songs 7:1 says, “How beautiful are your footsteps in sandals, / O prince’s daughter! / Your rounded thighs are like jewels, / The work of the hands of a skilled artist.” Here the Spirit reviews her beauty in the gospel preaching and in her standing power through the skillful transforming work of God the Spirit (Rom. 10:15; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Song of Songs 7:2 goes on to say, “Your navel is a round goblet / That never lacks mixed wine; / Your belly is a heap of wheat, / Fenced in by lilies.” In this verse the Spirit reviews her beauty in her inward parts filled with the divine life received through the drinking of Christ’s blood and the eating of His flesh by faith (John 6:53-54).
Song of Songs 7:3 continues, “Your two breasts are like two fawns, / Twins of a gazelle.” This refers to her beauty in her active ability to feed others in a living way (John 21:15, 17; cf. S.S. 4:5).
“Your neck is like a tower of ivory; / Your eyes, like the pools in Heshbon / By the gates of Bath-rabbim; / Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, / Which faces Damascus” (S.S. 7:4). Here the Spirit reviews her beauty in her submissive will (signified by the neck) wrought by the Spirit’s transformation through sufferings for the carrying out of God’s will, in the expression of her heart which is open to the light, clean, full of rest, and accessible (eyes — cf. 1:15; 4:1; 5:12), and in her spiritual sense of high and sharp discernment (nose).
Song of Songs 7:5 says, “Your head upon you is like Carmel, / And the locks of your head like purple. / The king is fettered by your tresses.” In this verse the Spirit reviews her beauty in her thoughts and intentions, which are strong for God (cf. 1 Kings 18:19-39), and in her submission and obedience for her consecration, which are for the glory of God and capture her Beloved, who is the King.
The Spirit’s review presents all the believers a beautiful portrait of the lovely lover of Christ from her feet to her head as an expression of Christ, whom she loves (cf. S.S. 6:4-10). Such a portrait qualifies her to share in the work of the Lord.
Suddenly, while the Spirit is speaking, Christ inserts some words. In 7:6-9a we have the Beloved’s inserted words.
“How beautiful and how pleasant in delights / You are, O love! / This your stature is like a palm tree, / And your breasts are like the clusters” (vv. 6-7). Here the Beloved praises her first in her beauty and pleasantness that delight others and then in her mature stature like Christ (Eph. 4:13) and in her rich feeding of others.
A co-worker of Christ must be a beautiful and pleasant person who delights others. The young co-workers need to learn to be pleasant with others and to carry out an attracting work. Others should be happy to see you and want to have fellowship with you. The lover has become such a person, so she is qualified to participate in the Lord’s work.
“I said, I will climb the palm tree; / I will take hold of its branches; / And your breasts will be like clusters of the vine, / And the fragrance of your nose like apples, / And the roof of your mouth like the best wine” (S.S. 7:8-9a). This indicates that the Beloved will enjoy her mature stature of Christ and share it with the members of His Body. He wishes that her feeding of others would be rich, that her intuition would be fragrant for nourishing others in life, and that her foretaste would be of the power of the age to come (wine — John 2:10; Matt. 26:29).
We have seen the portrait of her qualifications. Now we will see that she works together with her Beloved (S.S. 7:9b-13).
“Going down smoothly for my beloved, / Gliding through the lips of those who sleep” (v. 9b). Here she continues her Beloved’s word, wishing that the Lord would enjoy smoothly what she could be, and that those who love God in losing consciousness of themselves would enjoy what the Lord would enjoy. This indicates that our working together with others must become their enjoyment. As we co-workers are working together, we should remember to be a joy to others and to one another.
“I am my beloved’s, / And his desire is for me” (v. 10). Here she confesses that she belongs to her Beloved for His desire.
“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields; / Let us lodge in the villages” (v. 11). This reveals that she wants to carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world by sojourning from one place to another. This indicates that she is not sectarian. In the Lord’s work it is not easy to keep our work open, to not keep our work “in our pocket.” We must learn to keep the work open, so that others can come to sojourn there and we can go to sojourn elsewhere. This is to keep one work in one Body.
“Let us rise up early for the vineyards; / Let us see if the vine has budded, / If the blossom is open, / If the pomegranates are in bloom; / There I will give you my love” (v. 12). She and her Beloved work diligently not for herself but in the churches, for others to bud, blossom, and bloom, in which she renders her love to her Beloved. If we work in this way, others will receive much help.
“The mandrakes give forth fragrance, / And over our doors are all choice fruits, / New as well as old. / These, my beloved, I have stored up for you” (v. 13). In her working together with her Beloved there is a mutual love (signified by the mandrakes — Gen. 30:14) giving forth its fragrance between them as a couple loving each other, signifying the bridal love between the lover of Christ and Christ, and in their working places there are plenty of fragrant and choice fruits, new and old, which she stores up for her Beloved in love.
We need to learn to work for the Lord in a way that the Lord will enjoy. If in our working we care only for our own joy, we have already failed. We must work for His joy, bearing many fruits of love with much fragrance of love.
To share in the work of the Lord is not to work for the Lord but to work together with the Lord. This requires a matured life. The Pentecostal movement has stressed power and miracles, yet little attention has been paid to the matter of life. The Assembly of God has given more emphasis to the teaching of the truth, but it also has neglected the matter of life. Nevertheless, the Lord has had those who have sought out the experience of the inner life. This began with saints such as Madame Guyon, Brother Lawrence, and others. They were deep in life, but their teachings were mystical and mysterious. William Law improved their teachings into something quite practical, helping many believers. Andrew Murray was helped by him and was among the first to see that the New Testament Spirit of God has an element of humanity. He said that the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, the resurrected Christ who is the Spirit, contains His glorified humanity. Jessie Penn-Lewis received much help from Andrew Murray and stressed the subjective inner life, especially the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. A young man, T. Austin-Sparks, was saved through Mrs. Penn-Lewis’s preaching and became her co-worker. Mrs. Penn-Lewis saw the subjective aspect of the death of Christ, and T. Austin-Sparks saw the principles of resurrection for the building up of the Body of Christ. Brother Nee received much help in the early days from the writings of these teachers and from other good writings from the second century forward.
Through our experience we have learned that to work together with the Lord we must be mature in life and we must teach the high truths. Song of Songs does not emphasize truth, mentioning it only once (Amana means “truth”—4:8). However, in Song of Songs we see that to work with the Lord we need the maturity in life, we need to be one with the Lord, and our work must be for His Body. Our Lord is Solomon and we must be the Shulammite; that is, we must be one with the Lord. Actually, to work with Christ we must be Christ. Paul was a real Shulammite because he lived Christ (Phil. 1:21).
The Shulammite works as Solomon’s counterpart, taking care of all the vineyards (S.S. 8:11). This indicates that our work should be for the Body, not just one city. We must have a work that is for the entire world. This is what Paul did by establishing local churches and then working to bring them into the full realization of the Body of Christ.
