Gold, the fine gold of (q) righteousness bestowed
Shall beautify her gates; and silver too,
(Tried on (r) the earth by trouble's hottest flame)—
Silver, the radiance of reflected love
And holiness inwrought, her bounds adorn.
Oh, city of the saved! thy lasting (s) streets,
Golden themselves, most rich and durable,
As the (t) transparent glass must image still,
To all eternity, the love of God!
VER. 12, 13, 14.-"While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi."
Are these thy bounteous promises, O Lord!
The Church enraptured cries! A (u) feast, indeed,
Of holy food, and precious, thou dost spread
And furnish in this (x) wilderness for me.
(y) Sweet are those "things to come" thy Spirit shows In rich variety, enduring worth,
And soul-inviting freeness! Mighty King,
Most condescending! when thou thus dost deign
To sit at table with unworthy guests;
To draw the (2) secret marrow from thy Word,
(q) Isa. xlv. 25; Rom. v. 1.
iii. 3.
Rev. iv. 6.
(x) Ps. xxiii. 5.
(z) Ps. lxiii. 5.
(r) Isa. i. 25; xlviii. 10; Mal. (s) Rev. xxi. 21.
(u) Isa. xxv. 6.
(y) John xvi. 3; 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10.
And feed and satisfy thy (a) hungering saints;
When beams such radiance o'er their praying souls
As the dead world dreams not, nor (b) understands.
Who then can speak their answering (c) delight?
Melting contrition, then, and gratitude,
Aspiring hope, and every pleasant herb,
Exotic though they be to nature's soil,
Send forth their fragrance like the spikenard bruised,
Yea, like its costly essence which was (d) pour'd,
In love's unsparing promptness, on a head
Soon to be pierced with thorns! The saved one's heart (e)
Still clings to the same Lord-still bathes, with tears
Of heartfelt penitence, the same dear feet—
Still counts no (f) cost too great to testify
The Saviour's preciousness. Messiah's death
Is still like myrrh; the (g) disinfecting spice
Guarding (h) his Church from sin's contagious breeze.
Yea, at her (i) heart, e'en in desertion's night,
Dwells the remembrance of his anguish'd cross,
To chase and neutralize temptation's power-
Bearing (j) about the dying of her Lord,
That his pure life be no less manifest
She prays incessantly. He lies embalm'd
In her affection's core; and, as the scent
(a) Matt. v. 6.
Acts xiii. 52; Rom. xv. 13.
(e) 1 John iv. 19.
(b) 1 Cor. ii. 14.
(d) Mark xiv. 3.
(ƒ) Phil. iii. 8.
(h) 2 Cor. i. 5.
(j) 2 Cor. iv. 11.
Of far-diffusing camphire, e'en amid
The luscious vineyards of Engedi's* bloom,
Touches the sense, and makes its potence felt;
So, in life's pleasant arbours, in all scenes
Of mental happiness and social calm,
Amid (k) creation's wonders, and the paths-
The cluster'd paths-of science and of lore,
The Christian's heart is sensible of Christ.
As in the (7) night of anguish to refresh,
So, in the day of happiness and ease,
To give new zest to earth's (m) felicity,
To brighten nature's brightness, and elate,
With sweet mementoes of a better land,
Immortal spirits, while they view and taste
The best, but still inferior, fruits of Time.
VER. 15.-"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove's eyes."
But hark! the Saviour whom his Church thus loves,
How tenderly he views her lowly faith,
And his own (n) gifts commendeth in his Bride!
"Lo, thou art fair! Thy undissembling eyes,
Full of devout, confiding tenderness,
Are ever fixt (o) on Him who is thine (p) all ;
(k) Ps. viii. 3, 4; xix. 1; civ. passim.
(m) Phil. iv. 12.
(0) Heb. xii. 2.
*The Hebrew word Engedi, signifies happiness. That translated Camphire, may in the original signify atonement.
As the fond dove's, that looks upon her mate,
Or mourns his loss and longs for his return.
"Zion, my Spouse, thou roamest not afar,
With eager gaze o'er earthly vanities.
Thou turnest not to creatures for thy help;
But, fondly lookest on thy Lord, thy King,
For (q) wisdom, strength, redemption, righteousness.
Thus art thou fair, thus lovely, as when first
I looked upon (r) creation at its birth,
And, lo, 'twas good! no spot, no blemish there!
Yes, and without a (s) wrinkle dost thou stand
In my foreseeing gaze, my (t) spotless Church,
From all eternity delighted in.
For, in an hour of mortal agony,
My finish'd sacrifice I viewed, well-pleased,
And (u) purchased thee for ever.
VER. 16.- -"Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green."
Oh, condescending Jesus !-Master!-Friend!-
What can thy people to such grace reply,
But echo back the words of their Beloved?
Thou too art fair, thou (x) pleasant; oh, our Lord!
Life breathes thy sweetness; and to die for thee (y)
(q) 1 Cor. i. 30.
(8) Eph. v. 27; Num. xxiii. 21. Eph. i. 4.
(x) 1 John iv. 19.
(t) 1 Cor. i. 8; 1 Thess. iii. 13;
(u) Acts xx. 28.
(y) Phil. i. 3.
Is sweeter than all life from thee apart;
Yea, the (2) dark grave is lighten'd by the thought,
That in the lonely rock of Calvary
Thy sacred body had its silent rest.
Touch'd not (a) corruption with her withering hand,
Thee! Holy One of God! but thou didst rise
(As from bare (b) grain the freshly-springing herb)
In all the beauty of unsullied life,
Pledge (c) of the promised harvest, earnest sure
Of future ripeness, yea, of garner'd (d) sheaves,
Thy glory and reward. Now cheerful Hope
Decks with strange garlands the believer's grave,
Gathering (e) her verdant buds, O Lord, from thine.
Our (f) bed is green; yes, though the worm (g) be there,
It preys but on the curtains of a tent
The pilgrim hath abandoned, whom a (h) house
Eternal in the heavens hath received!
VER. 17.-"The beams of our house are cedar, and the rafters of fir."
Are not its beams of cedar? Fretting (i) moth
Shall never injure them, nor spoiler touch
The wealth confided to those lasting walls!
(b) John xii. 24; 1 Cor. xv. 37.
(d) Rom. vi. 4, 5.
(f) Isa. lvii. 2.
(a) Ps. xvi. 20.
(c) 1 Cor. xv. 20.
(e) Thess. iv. 14.
(g) Job xvii. 13, 15; xix. 26.
Matt. vi. 19.
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