I am the rose of Sharon; and the lily of the valleys.
begins a new colloquy between Christ and his church, in which they alternately set forth the praises and excellencies of each other, discover the strength of their mutual affection, and express the delight and pleasure they take in each other’s company: but who begins this colloquy is not so easily determined. What is here said, may he applied either to Christ or to the church; and therefore I shall consider the words in both senses.
First, The words may be considered, as the words of the church, expressing the excellency of her grace, loveliness, and beauty, which she had received from Christ; and at the same time intimating her being exposed in the open field and low rallies to many dangers and enemies; and therefore tacitly desires his protection over her, which he seems to promise in verse 2. That these are the words of the church, seems to be the general opinion of the Jewish doctors, and is also embraced by some Christian interpreters. And,
1st, The church may be compared to “the rose,” 1. For beauty; it is called the beautiful flower its color is beautiful and delightful: the figure is exceeding just; nothing is more common in poems of this kind, than to set forth the beauty of women by the rose; such as Hero, Aspasia, and others; some have had the name of Rhoda from hence; and Helena for her beauty was called Podocrwv. The church may be fitly compared to it; no “rose of Sharon” can be more beautiful in color, and delightful to the eye, than the church is in the eyes of Christ; as she is clothed with his pure and spotless righteousness, adorned with the graces of his Spirit, and standing at his right-hand in cloth of gold, bespangled with the sparkling gems of divine grace; her beauty is desirable to him, she being in his eye “the fairest among women.” 2. For its sweet odor; the church and all believers are as the fragrant and sweet-smelling rose; their persons are so as considered in Christ; and all their graces, especially when in exercise; and all their duties and services, when performed in faith, and perfumed with Christ’s mediation (see chapter 4:10, Phil. 4:18; Revelation 5:8, 8:3, 4). 3. For its delight in sunny places; it thrives and flourishes the best there, and has the most fragrant smell: Christ is “the sun of righteousness,” under whose warming, comforting and refreshing beams, believers delight to be, and under which their souls grow, thrive, blossom exceedingly, and bring forth much fruit. 4. For its blossoming and flourishing, “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;” the church may be said to do so, when there is a large increase of members, and these much in the exercise of grace, and “fruitful in every good work;” then may the church be said to be as the blossoming rose.
2dly, She may be compared to the “lily of the rallies:” some women have their name from the lily, as Susanna; and so Sysigambis is the name of the mother of Darius which signifies the white lily to which for beauty women are sometimes compared; and with propriety enough may the.155 church be called a lily. She is compared to the “lily among thorns” in the next verse, and saints are frequently compared to lilies in this Song. And, 1. She may be likened to a lily for the glory, beauty and sweet odor of it. Christ says (Matthew 6:29), of the lilies of the field, that “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these;” and for the same reasons that she is compared to the beautiful and sweet smelling rose, is she likewise to the lily; which Pliny says, rosae nobilitate proximum est, “is next in nobleness and excellency to the rose.” 2. For its whiteness; there are various sorts of lilies, and they are of different colors; some are of red and purple colors, others are white; and it seems to be the white lily which is intended here, for this seems best to express her beauty; for the red rose and the white lily make her look somewhat like her beloved, “white and ruddy,” a perfect beauty; and of the white lily, Pliny says, candor ejus eximius, that “its whiteness is singularly excellent; the church, and all believers in Christ, are very aptly resembled by the white lily, who are clothed with “fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints,” wrought out by Christ, imputed by God the Father, and laid hold on by faith; this is so exceeding white, that being arrayed with it, they are all fair, and “there is no spot in them.” 3. For its fruitfulness; Pliny says, nihil est foecundius, us radice quinquagenos saepe emittente bulbos: “nothing is more fruitful, for oftentimes one root sends forth fifty bulbs:” and as fruitful are believers when the Sun of righteousness shines upon them, and Christ is as the dew unto them; for then “they grow as the lily, and cast forth their roots as Lebanon; their branches spread, and their beauty is as the olive tree.” The church brings forth many souls to Christ; and these bring forth much fruit, to the glory both of him and his father. 4. For its height, for which it is commended: the lily grows very high; Pliny says, nec ulli florum excelsitar major, interdiu cubitorum trium; “no flower exceeds it in height; for in the day-time,” (that is, when it erects itself,) “it is three cubits high.” Believers are trees of righteousness; and plants of Christ’s Father’s planting, which do not run along the ground, and cleave to earthly things, but lift up their heads heavenwards, and grow up on high in their desires and affections, having their hearts above, where their treasure is: believers are like the flowers of the lily, open towards heaven, but shut towards the earth. 5. For the weakness of its body, and largeness of its head: Pliny says of the lily, languido semper collo et non sufficiente capitis oneri; that it has “a weak neck, or body, which is not sufficient to bear the weight of the head.” Christ is the head of the body, the church, and far greater than that; he is not supported by it, but he supports it: the church’s strength lies in her head, as Samson’s did in his locks; she is weak in herself, but strong in Christ her head, and therefore says, “surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” 6. The church may be compared, not only to a lily, but to “a lily of the valleys:” there is a lily which is called lilium convallium, “the lily of the valleys:” but this seems not so much to intend the distinguishing name of some particular lily, as it does the place where it grows. And, 1. Valleys are low places; and, when the church is called “the lily of the rallies,” it may be expressive of the low estate and condition which she is sometimes in: believers are Christ’s myrtle-trees, and these are sometimes in the bottom, in a low condition; but he grants his presence with them, and the discoveries of his love to them; they are his doves, and they are often “like doves of the rallies, mourning every one for their iniquity, being humbled and, pressed down in their souls under a sense of sin and unworthiness; they are not only humble in themselves, and low in their own eyes, but are often in the deeps of affliction, sorrow, and distress, and out of these depths cry unto the Lord (see Ps. 130:1). 2. Lilies that grow in the rallies are exposed to danger; they are liable to be plucked up by every one that passes by, to be trodden upon, and eaten by the beasts that feed there, and also to be washed away, and destroyed by hasty showers of rain, that run from the hills and mountains down into the valleys with force and violence; so the church of Christ here on earth, in her low estate, is exposed to the rage of her adversaries, to be trodden under the feet, and torn in pieces by the teeth of those bulls of Bashan, that beset her around, and to be carried away by the flood of persecution, which “satan the old serpent casts out of his mouth after her.” Now it is a glorious instance of God’s mighty grace and power in protecting and defending his church, that this lily grows and abides in the rallies, notwithstanding all this danger. 3. Lilies of the rallies have more moisture, verdure, and greenness in them, than those upon the hills and mountains; because the sun has not that power over them, as R. Sol. Jarchi observes, to scorch and dry them up, and therefore are much more beautiful and excellent: so believers, being planted by “rivers of water,” are green, flourishing, and fruitful; whilst others look like “the heath in the desert,” dried and parched up. Christ is to the saints as “rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land;” by the one he refreshes them, and makes them fruitful; and by being the other he shades from that which would scorch them, and make them barren and unfruitful: and thus is the church the “lily of the valleys,” as well as “the rose of Sharon.” And the Targum here renders it, “the rose in the plain of the garden of Eden;” and some interpreters think the rose is meant; and we sometimes read of roses in valleys and certain it is there were roses in the vale of Sharon. But,
Secondly, The more commonly received opinion is, that these words are the words of Christ, owning all the glory and praises the church had given him in the former chapter, and setting forth more largely the beauties and excellencies of his person, the more to affect, enamor, and ravish her soul, and make her seek and long for him: and indeed it seems best to understand them of Christ, for self-commendation does not so well agree with the church as with him. What Solomon says (Prov. 27:2), is worth regarding, “let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips:” though it is lawful for the saints to speak of their glory, beauty, and excellency, as considered in Christ, in order to magnify the riches of his grace, for the instruction and encouragement of others, and in vindication of themselves against the calumnies of the world, and to obviate their mistakes concerning them, as in chapter 1:5, she says, “I am black but comely;” but her chief province and design in this Song appears to be, to set forth his praises, and not her own; and indeed the majesty and agreeableness of the stile with Christ’s language in the New Testament, such as, “I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am the vine, I am the way, the truth, and the life,” etc. as well as the connection of the words with the following verse, as one well observes, manifestly bespeak them to be the words of Christ, who may very well be called,
1st, “The rose of Sharon.” Christ fitly compares himself to a rose, which, as Bishop Patrick observes, is still one of the goodliest things to which a great prince can be likened in those Eastern countries; and gives an instance of it in the great Mogul complimenting one of our kings, as being like a rose in a garden: in the Misnah, mention is made of the king’s lily, or the king’s rose, being the king of flowers, and fit for a King, and an emblem of one; so the men of the great congregation of Ezra are compared to roses, in the Targum of Song of Solomon 7:2 and the ancestors of Melissus the Theban, after many calamities, are compared to the flourishing rose, for the height of honor and power they arrived unto Nor is this simile unfitly used by the bridegroom of himself, since it is sometimes given to men by their lovers;” and is very properly used in a Song of love, as this is; seeing the rose, as Philostratus calls it, is erwtov futon, the plant of love; and Anacreon calls it to rodon twn erwtwn, the rose of loves: it was sacred to love; the graces are represented, one of them as having a rose, another a myrtle-branch; and a crown of roses was consecrated to the muses; all this because of the beauty and loveliness of the plant. And to it Christ may be compared, 1. Because of its red color; which may be expressive of the truth of his humanity, and signify that he is really and truly man. having “taken part of the same flesh and blood,” that his people are partakers of; as also of his bloody sufferings in the same nature, on the account of which he is said to be “red in his apparel:” likewise both these together, the red rose and the white lily, make up that character which is given him, chapter 5:10 that he is “white and ruddy,” a compleat beauty, like the charming lily and blushing rose, “fairer than the children of men.” 2. He may be compared to the rose for its sweet smell, as for the same reason he is in the former chapter to spikenard, myrrh, and camphire; his person, sacrifice, grace and righteousness, have a delightful odor in them; no rose smells so sweet, as Christ does to believers; this Sharon-rose refreshes them, quickens their spiritual senses, and ravishes and delights their souls. 3. The rose is of a cooling nature, and therefore useful in burning fevers, inflammations, etc. Christ, by the effusion of his blood, by the oblation of himself, and by his dying in the room and stead of sinners, has appeased and removed his Father’s fierce and burning wrath from them; and it is only an application of this Sharon-rose, the person, blood and righteousness of Christ, which can cool and comfort the conscience of a sinner set on fire, and terrified by the law of God; the discoveries of his love and grace can only remove those dreadful terrors, and fire of divine wrath, which is kindled by a “fiery law,” and cure those inflammations raised thereby. 4. He is called “the Rose of Sharon,” for the excellency of it; the roses which grew there perhaps were the best of any. Sharon is the name of a fruitful plain or country, where herds and flocks were kept, as appears from 1 Chronicles 27:29, Isaiah 35:2, and 65:10; this plain or country lay between Caesarea and Joppa, beginning at Lydda; hence they are joined together (Acts 9:35), and reaching to the Mediterranean sea: hence the Jews in their writings say from Lydda to the sea in the vale; and this was so very fruitful, that the Targumist on this place renders it, “by the garden of Eden:” and Sharon is described in the Jewish map as fat and fertile, having in it very desirable fields, fruitful vines, and abounding with flowers and roses. There are various sorts of roses in different places, some better than others; those of the first class with the Greeks were those of Olenum, and next those of Megara Nisea, and then those of Phaselis, and then of others; with the Romans, the best were those of Praeneste and Campania, and then others: but of the roses in Judea, the rose of Sharon seems to have been the best, and therefore to that the comparison is made; there was a garden of roses in Jerusalem but not to them, but to those in Sharon is the allusion. The word for a rose is only used in this place and in Isaiah 35:1 and is so called, either from the collection and compression of leaves in it, or from the shadow of it; for the word seems to be compounded of one that signifies to hide and cover, and another that signifies a shadow; so Gussetius and so may be rendered, “the covering shadow:” but why a rose should be so.called is not easy to say; unless it can be thought to have the figure of an umbrella, or that the rose of Sharon was so large as to be remarkable for its shadow, like that Montfaucon saw in a garden at Ravenna, under the shadow of the branches of which more than forty men could stand. Christ is sometimes compared to trees for their shadow, which is pleasant and reviving, as in verse 3 (Hosea 14:7), but he here seems to be compared to the rose of Sharon on another account, even the excellency and fragrancy of it; for, Pliny says that the rose does not delight in fat soils, rich clays, or well-watered grounds, but thrives the best in poor lean ground; and that those are of the sweetest smell which grow in dry places, for ruderatum agrum amat, “it loves rubbish earth.” Now such dry and rubbish earth was that which was about the city of Sharon; for we read of such a place as inhabited (Acts 9:35), as the Talmudic doctors assert; who also tell us that those who built a brick house in Sharon, had no benefit of the law, mentioned in Deuteronomy 20:3 because the earth thereabout was not fit to make bricks of, nor would houses made of them continue long. Hence they also say that the high priest, on the day of atonement, prayed particularly for the Sharonites, that their houses might not become their graves. Now these being the best and sweetest roses which grew in this soil, and Christ being compared to one of them, denotes the excellency and preferableness of Christ to all others.
Some think that some other plant or flower is here intended; the Targum renders it, “the narcissus;” of which some are white, having white leaves surrounding a yellow flower and some of a purple color and which Pliny calls purple lilies: he says there are two sorts of them, one that has a purple flower, and the other is of the grass kind; some, he says have a white flower and a purple cup. The heathens used to call the narcissus the ancient crown of their superior deities and it was reckoned a beautiful flower, and of a sweet smell and for beauty Christ may be compared unto it: its white color may denote the purity of Christ; and the purple, his royalty, or rather his purple blood and sufferings of death. The Septuagint translate the words thus, “I am the flower of the field;” as do also the Vulgate Latin and Pagnine. Now Christ may be called so, 1. Kat ejxochn, by way of eminency, as being the chiefest and most excellent flower in the field; there is no such flower in the heavenly paradise as he is; among all the holy angels and glorified saints, there are none to be compared with him; and in his garden here below, no such flower grows as this; he is “the flower,” the choicest, the best, and the most excellent in the whole field or garden. 2. The flower of the field is liable to be plucked up or trodden under feet by beasts; Christ was exposed to the rage and fury of his enemies, those ‘strong bulls of Bashan” of which he complains (Ps. 22:13, 14). This sweet flower was laid hold on by “wicked hands,” and cropped; and still his precious person, blood and righteousness, are slighted, contemned, and “trodden under foot” by Christless and unconverted sinners. 3. This may be expressive of the meanness of Christ in the esteem of the world; a field-flower is little regarded; Christ is as “a root out of a dry ground,” and therefore they say, “he hath no form not comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him: hence he is despised and rejected of men,” they not knowing the real worth and value of this precious flower (see Isa. 53:2, 3). 4. The flower of the field is not of man’s planting, nor is it raised by his care and industry: Christ was conceived in the womb of a virgin, and born of her without the help of man; as the flower of the field, he had no father but his Father in heaven, and no mother but the virgin on earth; and so was Melchisedek’s antitype, “without father as man, and without mother as God.” 5. The flower of the field is open to all; whoever will may come to Christ for life and salvation; there is liberty of access to all sorts of sinners, to come to him and partake of his sweetness and benefits; he is not a flower in an enclosed garden, that cannot be come at, but stands in the open field; every sinner that labors under a sense of sin, and is heavy laden with the weight and burden of it, may come to him, and not fear a rejection from him; he is not “a fountain sealed, but opened to the house of David, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”
2dly, Christ may be very well compared to “the lily of the valleys,” 1. For its whiteness; the lily, as has been already observed, is exceeding white, which may intend the purity and holiness of Christ, who both in nature and life is “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; he is the lamb without blemish and without spot,” without the blemish of original or spot of actual sin; for he never knew it in his nature, nor did he ever commit it in his life, either in thought, word, or deed: or else the whiteness of the lily may signify his eternity; for so his head and his hairs are described by John (Rev. 1:14) to be “white like wool, as white as snow;” which represents him as the ancient of days, and as existing from everlasting to everlasting. 2. For its tallness; the lily grows up very high, as has been taken notice of Christ, as mediator, is “the rock that is higher than we are; from whence the waters of divine grace flow, to the refreshment of our souls, when overwhelmed “he is higher than the kings of the earth; nay, he is higher than the heavens,” and all the angels there; for he is “set far above all principality and power, and night, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” (Eph. 1:21). 3. For its fruitfulness; the lily is very fruitful, as has been before observed. Christ is “filled with all the fruits of righteousness,” and is possessed of all the blessings of grace; he is like a tree richly laden with fruit, and therefore is compared to an apple tree, in verse 3. all the church’s fruit and fruitfulness come from him; he is the green fir-tree, from whom all her “fruit is found.” 4. He may be compared to the lily for its excellency and glory; it being the next flower to the rose, and which is preferred by Christ to the glory of Solomon. Christ is the brightness of his father’s glory; is now, in our nature, “crowned with glory and honor;” and will shortly appear in his own glory, and in the glory of his Father, and of the holy angels. 5. He may be said to be the lily of the valleys, because of his wonderful humility and condescension, in assuming our nature, suffering in our stead, and in humbling himself unto the death of the cross for us; his whole life was one continued series of humility, as was his death an undeniable instance of it: Christ here on earth did not appear as the lofty cedar, but as the lowly lily, and that not of the mountains, but of the valleys; and it is with humble souls he delights to dwell; for though he is the high and lofty one, in his divine nature, yet he condescends to dwell with such who are of an humble and contrite spirit.
Chapter 2 Verse 2
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
it may not be so evident whose are the former words, whether Christ’s or the church’s, yet these manifestly appear to be his: and if we take the preceding verse as the words of the church, then we may consider this as the words of Christ, either owning and confirming what she had said of herself in it; as that she was indeed the most beautiful of all the roses and lilies which grew in fields and rallies, and that all others were but like thorns and briars when compared to her; and also, at the same time that he owns and commends her beauty, puts her in mind of her present state and condition in this life, as being attended with afflictions, sorrows, and sufferings: or else the words may be regarded as the answer of Christ to her complaint in the former verse, where she says, that she was indeed the blushing rose and charming lily, but then she was as the rose and lily in the open fields and valleys, liable to be plucked up by every one that passed by, and to be devoured or trodden under feet by the beasts of the field; to this Christ replies here, by owning it all to be true, and promising that he will keep and preserve her safe in the midst of her enemies, “as the lily among thorns;” nay, that her very enemies should be her protection, these thorns should be as an hedge about her. But if we take the former verse: to be the words of Christ, which seems most agreeable, then we are to consider these as his also; who, having in the former verse set forth his own beauties and excellencies, which was proper to be done in the first place, does in this set forth his church’s, in which may be observed,
I.What he compares her to; “a lily among thorns.”
II.The title which he gives her, “my love;” which discovers his regard unto her, and affection for her.
III.Her excellency and preferableness to all others in his esteem.
I.The church is here compared by Christ to “a lily among thorns.” The Targum renders it, the rose; and so it is in Zohar; and that this is intended, some strenuously contend for, which, and not the lily, they say, grows among thorns: Ainsworth would have what we call the woodbind or honey-suckle here meant, which grows in hedges; and indeed this is sometimes called lilium inter spinas, “the lily among thorns to which the church may be compared, because of its sweet smell; the flower of it gives an exceeding sweet smell; and makes those fields where it grows in abundance very delightful: believers in their persons, grace, and conversation, are like the “smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed;” being clothed with the sweet-smelling garments of Christ’s righteousness, and anointed with the savory ointments of the Spirit’s grace. Also the woodbind or honey-suckle cannot bear up itself, but has its dependence on others; it does not grow up erect, but for its support wraps itself about the body, branches and twigs of other trees, convolvens se adminculis quibuscunque, as Pliny observes; therefore we call it woodbind, from its binding about other trees; and for the same reason it is in Greek called periclymenon, which is also used by Latin writers: believers are weak, and cannot support themselves, and therefore by faith lean on Christ, who is their beloved; and are upheld by him with the right-hand of his righteousness; they cleave close unto him, and depend upon him for all grace here, and for glory hereafter. But the word will very well bear to be translated a lily, being the same that is so in the former verse; where it has been shewn in what sense the church may be compared to one; and therefore I shall only observe, 1. That Christ and the church bear the same names; Is he a lily? so is she; the church being married to Christ, and they too becoming one flesh, have one and the same name; hence the church is called Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), so the same name, Jehovah, our righteousness, which Christ is called by (Jer. 23:6), is given to her in chapter 33:16. Again, Christ is called Israel, Isaiah 49:3, which is the name of his church and people; for being espoused together, and having partook of each other’s natures, they also bear each other’s names. 2. That there is a very great likeness and near resemblance between Christ and his church; for when he says, she is “as the lily,” he means, she is as himself, who is “the lily of the valleys,” verse 1. and therefore, as one well observes he does not say she is the lily, but as or like the lily; for as he is; so are we, that is, believers, in this world. Christ and the church are both lilies in God’s eye, and are loved by him with the same love: believers bear the image of Christ, wear his righteousness, have the same spirit, though in measure, and are exposed to the same hatred, malice, and persecution of the world, being wounded with those thorns even as he was: and they shall be much more like him in another world; for they shall then be like him, and see him as he is; they shall then have everlasting and transforming views of him, which will change them into the same image, from glory to glory; for as they will then have more communion with him, so they will have a greater conformity to him, who is “the first-born among many brethren.” 3. That all the church’s beauty and loveliness come from Christ: it is because he is the lily, that she looks like one; her beauty is not natural to her, but is derived from him, who is her head and husband; she is indeed a perfect beauty, but then it arises from that comeliness Which he has put upon her.
Moreover she is not only said to be as the lily, but “as the lily among thorns.” By thorns may be meant, 1. Wicked and ungodly men, sons of Belial, which are “as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands,” (2 Sam. 23:6) these, like thorns and briars, are the curse of the earth; are worthless and unfruitful in themselves, and hurtful and grieving to the saints: David, Isaiah, and others have complained of them; righteous Lot was pricked with these thorns; his soul was vexed and grieved from day to day with their unlawful deeds: also like thorns, their end is to be burned, and that by the fierceness and fury of God’s wrath, who says, in Isaiah 27:4 “Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together;” which he will do at the last day, when he will bind up those thorns in bundles, and cast them into “the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone;” where “the people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up, shall they be burnt in the fire;” the terror of which sometimes surprises the sinners in Zion, who therefore say, “who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa. 33:12-14). 2. By thorns may be meant the reproaches, revilings, and persecutions of wicked men, whereby they afflict and disturb the saints; the Targum explains these thorns, of the wicked edicts and decrees of princes, by which the congregation of Israel was oppressed in captivity: the prophet Ezekiel is encouraged by the Lord faithfully to deliver his message to the people of Israel, the briars and thorns were with him, and though he had his dwelling among scorpions, that is, though he was reproached, reviled, and persecuted by them for it. Christ’s lily in all ages has more or less been attended with, and has grown up, among such thorns as these; for every, one that will live godly in Christ Jesus. shall suffer persecution of one kind or another; and yet they abide like “the lily among thorns,” in their faith, purity, and holiness; so that neither the frowns nor flatteries of the world can prevail upon them to desert the Redeemer’s interest, forsake the gospel, nor turn aside from the true worship of God; to which agrees R. Sol. Jarchi’s gloss on the text, which is this: “As the lily among thorns, which prick it, yet stands continually in its beauty and redness; so is my love among the daughters, who entice her to follow after them, and go a whoring after other gods, but yet continues in her religion.” 3. By thorns may be meant heretics and heretical doctrines, which pierce, prick, and grieve the children of God: now these false teachers, these wolves in sheep’s clothing, may be known by their fruits, which are none at all, that are good for any thing; for, “do men gather grapes off thorns, or figs off thistles!” there is no fruit of faith, sound doctrine, or a gospel-conversation to be found upon them; but are like unfruitful thorns, whom God suffers to grow up in his churches, that those which are filled with the fruits of righteousness might be made manifest; and in all ages, more or less, Christ’s lily, the church, has grown up among, and been pricked by, and pestered with such thorns as these. 4. The corruptions of our nature may be called so: these Canaanites remaining in the land, dwelling in our hearts, are pricks in our eyes, and thorns in our sides; these grieve and disturb us, and they make us groan with the anguish our souls are filled with by them. Perhaps the breaking forth of some corruption is intended by the thorn in the flesh, and messenger of Satan, that the apostle speaks of, 2 Corinthians 12:7, though the temptations of Satan may also be called by these names, which often give the saints a great deal of uneasiness, and throw them into much heaviness; and it may be that both the corruption of nature, and the temptations of Satan, which the apostle might labor under, are intended; and the thorn in the flesh may be expressive of the breaking out of some corruption; and the messenger of Satan may intend his temptations, by which it was stirred up and encouraged: though I rather think that both phrases are only expressive of the corruption of nature, which was wont to be called by the Jews, the messenger of hell; a phrase much like this used by the apostle. So in Mi-rash Hanneelam we read that R. Hona, in his sermons, used to advise persons thus, “O ye children of men, take care of the messenger of hell: but who is this? The evil imagination, (by which the Jews always intend the vitiosity of nature) is the messenger of hell. Now this being a phrase that was well known, the apostle adds it by way of opposition to the thorn in the flesh, as explanative of it, Moreover, worldly cares are compared to thorns which choke the word; they are pernicious .to saints, and make them barren and unfruitful, as well as grieve and disturb them (Matthew 13:22), but tho’ Christ’s lilies here on earth grow up among, and are annoyed by those thorns of sin and corruption; yet when they are transplanted into Christ’s garden above, “there shall be no more a pricking briar, nor a grieving thorn,” to give them the least disturbance.
II.Whilst Christ is comparing his church to a “lily among thorns,” he gives her a loving and affectionate title, my love, which has been already explained in chapter 1:9 and his mentioning it here shews, that even in her present state and condition she was a beauty in his eye; and that her being among thorns, was so far from detracting from it, that it rather served as a foil to set it off the more; as also, that she was still the object of his love, though in the midst of wicked and ungodly men, men of unclean lips and lives, haters of peace, religion, and godliness; though she was reviled, reproached, and persecuted. by them, yet she was loved, valued, and esteemed by him; nay, though she was attended with many infirmities, sins, and corruptions, that were grieving to her, and dishonoring to him, yet neither these, nor any thing else, should ever separate her from his love: she was Christ’s love and lily still, tho’ among thorns. The lily is often made use of in this love-song, to set forth the beauty of the church and of the saints in the eye of Christ; and his great love. to them, and delight in them, and very justly.
III.He sets forth her excellency and preferableness to all the daughters. By whom we are to understand the nations and men of the world; for it is usual in the Hebrew tongue to call the inhabitants of countries the daughters thereof; thus we read of the daughters of Tyre, Edom, Babylon, etc. none of which are to be compared with the church; these are like thorns to Christ’s lily: or else carnal, hypocritical, and formal professors may be intended, whom she calls in chapter 1:6 mother’s children; who made an external profession of religions but wanted that real and internal beauty which she was possessed of, and differed only in name from the rest of the sons and daughters of fallen Adam; but she, being distinguished by divine grace from them all, was preferable to them, 1. In beauty; these looked like thorns, she like a lily; they were black and uncomely, she the perfection of beauty, and the fairest among women. 2. In harmlessness; though there are thorns about, yet none upon the lily: ungodly persons are not only uncomely in themselves, but like thorns, pricking and hurtful to others; but as for the saints, they are “blameless and harmless, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” like lilies among thorns. 3. In fruitfulness: no fruit grows on thorns, but on Christ’s lilies grow all sorts of precious fruit; they are laden with them. 4. In their last end Christ’s lilies will be gathered by himself and his angels, and be put in his garden above; but the wicked, which are Satan’s tares and thorns, shall be bundled together, and cast into everlasting burnings; the one being highly valued and prized by Christ. the other hated and rejected by him; for as much as the lily exceeds the thorns which grow about it, so much does the church of Christ excel the men of the world among; whom it is here on earth; and as there is a difference now between them, though growing up together, so there will be one, and that far greater and more visible when separated; the one will be everlastingly glorified, the other everlastingly punished.