Jesus was love better than wine

JESUS WAS LOVE BETTER THAN WINE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Song of Solomon1:2 2Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth- for your loveis more delightful than
wine.
Betterthan Wine!
C.H. Spurgeon
No. 2459. Deliveredon June 2nd, 1872
"Your love is better than wine!" Song of Solomon1:2
OUTLINE
I. Christ's love is better than wine because ofwhat it is NOT—
because it may be taken without question
because it is to be had without money
because it is to be enjoyed without cloying
because it is without lees
because it will never, as wine will, turn sour
because it produces no ill effects
II. Christ's love is better than wine because ofwhat it IS—

it has certainhealing properties
it gives strength
it gives joy
it gives sacredexhilaration
III. Christ's love in the PLURAL—
Christ's covenantlove
Christ's forbearing love
Christ's personallove
Christ's forgiving love
Christ's accepting love
Christ's guiding love
Christ's providing love
Christ's instructing love
Christ's sanctifying love
Christ's sustaining love
Christ's upholding love
Christ's enduring love
Christ's chastening love
Christ's love in your dying moments
Christ's love to those gatheredwith him in glory
Christ's love on the day of our resurrection
IV. Christ's love in the SINGULAR—
the love of Christ in the cluster

the love of Christ in the basket
the love of Christ in the wine-press
the love of Christ in the flagon
the love of Christ in the cup
The Scriptural emblem of wine, which is intended to be the symbol of the
richest earthly joy, has become desecratedin process oftime by the sin of
man. I suppose, in the earlier ages whenthe Word of God was written, it
would hardly have been conceivable that there could have existed on the face
of the earth such a mass of drunken men and women as now pollute and defile
it by their very presence. Forman, nowadays, is not contentwith the wine that
God makes, but he manufactures some for himself of which he cannot
partake, at leastin any abundance, without becoming drunken.
Redeemthe figure in our text, if you can, and go back from the drinking
customs of our own day to more primitive and purer times, when the ordinary
meal of a man was very similar to that which is spread upon this communion
table — bread and wine — of which men might partake without fearof evil
effects;but do not use the metaphor as it would now be understood among the
mass of mankind, at leastin countries like our own.
"Your love is better than wine." In considering these words, in the spirit in
which the inspired writer used them, I shall, first of all, try to show you that
Christ's love is better than wine because ofwhat is not; and, secondly, that it
is better than wine because ofwhat it is. Next, we will examine the marginal
reading of the text, which will teachus something about Christ's love in the
plural: "Your loves are better than wine." And then, lastly, we will come back
to the version we have before us, in which we shall see Christ's love in the
singular, for the love of Christ, even when it is described in the plural, is
always one; though there are many forms of it, it is evermore the same love.

I. First, then, I want to prove to you that Christ's Love is better than wine
because ofwhat it is NOT.
It is so, first, because it may be takenwithout question. There may be, and
there always will be in the world, questions about wine. There will be some
who will say, and wiselysay, "Let it alone." There will be others who will
exclaim, "Drink of it abundantly;" while a third company will say, "Use it
moderately." But there will be no question among upright men about
partaking to the full of the love of Christ. There will be none of the godly who
will say, "Abstain from it;" and none who will say, "Use it moderately;" but
all true Christians will echo the words of the Heavenly Bridegroomhimself,
"Drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved."
The wisdom of imbibing freely of the love of Christ shall never be questioned
even by the pure spirits in Heaven; this is the wine which they themselves
quaff in everlasting bowls at the right hand of God, and the Lord of glory
himself bids them quaff it to their fill. This is the highest delight of all who
know Christ, and have been born again by the regenerating powerof the Holy
Spirit; this is our greatestjoy while here below, and we can never have too
much of it. Yes, we may even swim in this sea of bliss, and there shall be none
who shall dare to ask any one of us, "What do you there?" Many delightsome
things, many earthly joys, many of the pleasures ofthis world, are very
questionable enjoyments. Christians had better keepawayfrom everything
about which their consciencesare not perfectly clear;but all our consciences
are clearconcerning the Lord Jesus, and our heart's love to him; so that, in
this respect, his love is better than wine.
Christ's love is also better than wine, because it is to be had without money.
Many a man has beggaredhimself, and squandered his estate, through his
love of worldly pleasure, and especiallythrough his fondness for wine; but the
love of Christ is to be had without money. What says the Scripture? "Come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price." The love of Christ is
'unpurchased'; and I may add that it is 'unpurchasable'. Solomonsays, in the
eighth chapter of this Book, "If a man would give all the substance of his
house for love, it would utterly be scorned," and we may as truly say, "If a
man would give all the substance of his house for the love of Christ, it would

be utterly scorned." The love of Jesus comes to his people freely; not because
they deserve it, or ever will deserve it; not because, by any merits of their own,
they have won it, or by any prayers of their own, they have securedit: it is
spontaneous love;it flows from the heart of Christ because it must come, like
the a streamthat leaps from an ever-flowing fountain. If you ask why Jesus
loves his people, we can give no other reasonthan this-"Becauseit seemed
goodin his sight."
Christ's love is the freest thing in the world — free as the sunbeam, free as the
mountain torrent, free as the air. It comes to the child of God without
purchase and without merit, and in this respectit is better than wine.
Again, Christ's love is better than wine because it is to be enjoyed without
cloying. The sweetestmatter on earth, which is for a while pleasantto the
taste, sooneror later cloys upon the palate. If you find honey, you can sooneat
so much of it that you will no longerrelish its sweetness;but the love of Jesus
never yet cloyedupon the palate of a new-born soul. He who has had most of
Christ's love has cried, "More!More!More!" If ever there was a man on
earth who had Christ's love in him to the full, it was holy SamuelRutherford;
yet you can see in his letters how he labored for suitable expressions, while
trying to setforth his hungering and thirsting after the love of Christ. He says
he floated upon Christ's love like a ship upon a river, and then he quaintly
asks that his vesselmay sink, and go to the bottom, until that blessedstream
shall flow right over the mastheadof his ship. He wanted to be baptized into
the love of Christ, to be flung into the oceanofhis Savior's love; and this is
what the true Christian ever longs for.
No lover of the Lord Jesus has eversaid that he has had enough of Christ's
love. When Madame Guyon had spent many a day and many a month in the
sweetenjoyment of the love of Jesus, she penned most delicious hymns
concerning it; but they are all full of craving after more, there is no indication
that she wished for any change of affectionto her Lord, or any change in the
objectof her affection. She was satisfiedwith Christ, and longedto have more
and more of his love. Ah, poor drunkard! you may put away the cup of devils
because you are satiatedwith its deadly draught; but never did he who drinks

of the wine of Christ's love become satiatedor even content with it; he ever
desires more and yet more of it.
Further, Christ's love is better than wine, because it is without lees. All wine
has something in it which renders it imperfect, and liable to corruption; there
is something that will have to settle, something that must be skimmed off the
top, something that needs refining down. So is it with all the joys of earth,
there is sure to be something in them that mars their perfection. Men have
sought out many inventions of mirth and pleasure, amusement and delight;
but they have always found some hitch or flaw somewhere. Solomongathered
to himself all manner of pleasantthings that are the delight of kings;he gives
us a list of them in the Book ofEcclesiastes:"I made greatworks for myself; I
built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself: I made gardens and
orchards for myself, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made
pools of water, to waterthe woods that brings forth trees: I gotservants and
maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had greatpossessions of
greatand small cattle above all that were in Jerusalembefore me: I gathered
also silver and gold for myself, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the
provinces: I gotmen singers and womensingers, and the delights of the sons
of men, and musicalinstruments, and that of all sorts;" but his verdict
concerning all of them was, "Behold, allwas vanity and vexation of spirit."
But he who delights himself in the love of Christ will tell you that he finds no
vanity and vexation of spirit there; but everything to charm and rejoice and
satisfy the heart. There is nothing in the Lord Jesus Christ that we could wish
to have taken awayfrom him; there is nothing in his love that is impure,
nothing that is unsatisfactory. Our precious Lord is comparable to the most
fine gold; there is no alloy in him; no, there is nothing that can be compared
with him, for "He is altogetherlovely," all perfections melted into one
perfection, and all beauties combined into one inconceivable beauty. Such is
the Lord Jesus, andsuch is his love to his people without anything of
imperfection needing to be removed.
The love of Christ, too, blessedbe his name! is better than wine, because it will
never, as wine will, turn sour. In certainstages ofdevelopment, and under
certain influences, the sweetferments, and vinegar is formed instead of wine.

Oh, through what fermentations Christ's love might have passedif it had been
capable of being acted upon by anything from outside of him! Oh, how often,
beloved, have we grieved him! We have been coldand chill towards him when
we ought to have been like coals offire. We have loved the things of this
world, we have been unfaithful to our Best-beloved, we have allowedour
hearts to wander to other lovers; yet never has he been soured toward us, and
never will he be. Many waters cannotquench his love, neither can the floods
drown it. He is the same loving Savior now as ever he was, and such he always
will be, and he will bring us to the rest which remains for the people of God.
Truly, in all these respects, because there are none of these imperfections in
his love, it is better than wine.
Once more, Christ's love is better than wine, because it produces no ill effects.
Many are the mighty men who have fallen down slain by wine. Solomonsays,
"Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling?
who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes? Theythat tarry long
at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." But who was ever slain by the
love of Christ? Who was ever made wretchedby this love? We have been
inebriated with it, for the love of Christ sometimes produces a holy
exhilaration that makes men say, "Whetherin the body, or out of the body, I
cannot tell." There is an elevationthat lifts the soulabove all earthly things,
and bears the spirit up beyond where eagles soar, eveninto the clear
atmosphere where God communes with men. There is all that sacred
exhilaration about the love of Christ; but there are no evil effects arising from
it. He that desires, may drink from this golden chalice, and he may drink as
much as he will, for the more he drinks the strongerand the better shall he be.
Oh, may God grant to us, dear friends, to know the love of Christ, which
passes knowledge!I feel sure that, while I am preaching on such a theme as
this, I must seem to some here present, to be talking arrant nonsense, for they
have never tasted of the love of Jesus;but those who have tastedof it will,
perhaps, by my words, have many sweetexperiences calledto their minds,
which will refresh their spirits, and setthem longing to have new draughts of
this all-precious love which infinitely transcends all the joys of earth.

This, then, is our first point: Christ's love is better than wine because ofwhat
it is NOT.
II. But, secondly, Christ's love is better than wine because of what it IS.
Let me remind you of some of the uses of wine in the East. Often, it was
employed as a medicine, for it had certain healing properties.
The goodSamaritan, when he found the wounded man, poured into his
wounds "oil and wine." But the love of Christ is better than wine; it may not
heal the wounds of the flesh, but it does healthe wounds of the spirit. Do not
some of you remember when your poor heart was gashedthrough and
through by the daggerof Moses,whenyou felt the wounds causedby the law,
the deadly wounds that could not be healed by human hands? Then, how
sweetlydid that wine of Christ's love come streaming into the gaping wounds!
There were such healing drops as this, "Come unto me, all you that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;" or such as this, "The blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleansesus from all sin;" or this, "All manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men;" or this, "He who believes on him is
not condemned;" or this, "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is none else." I cannot, perhaps, quote the text
that dropped like wine and oil into your wounds; but I remember well the text
that dropped into mine. The precious vial of wine that healed up all my
wounds as in a moment, and made my heart whole, was that text I quoted last,
"Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth." Wine made by man
cannot be medicine to a broken heart, nor canit heal a wounded spirit; but
the love of Jesus Christcan do this, and do it to perfection.
Wine, again, was often associatedby men with the giving of strength. Now,
whateverstrength wine may give or may not give, certainly the love of Jesus
gives strength, and strength mightier than the mightiest earthly force, for
when the love of Jesus Christ is shed abroadin a man's heart, he can bear a
heavy burden of sorrow. If he could have the load of Atlas piled upon his
shoulders, and if he could have all the care of all the world pressing upon his
heart, yet if he had the love of Christ in his soul, he would be able to bear the

load. The love of Christ helps a man to fight the battles of life; it makes life,
with all its cares and troubles, a happy one; it enables a man to do great
exploits, and makes him strong for suffering, strong for self-sacrifice, and
strong for service. It is wonderful, in reading the history of the saints, to notice
what the love of Christ has fitted them to do; I might almost say that it has
plucked up mountains, and castthem into the sea, for things impossible to
other men have become easyenough to men on fire with the love of Christ.
What the Church of Christ needs just now to strengthenher, is more love to
her Lord, and her Lord's love more fully enjoyed in the souls of her members;
there is no strengthening influence like it.
Wine was also frequently used as the symbol of joy; and certainly, in this
respect, Christ's love is better than wine. Whatever joy there may be in the
world (and it would be folly to deny that there is some sortof joy which even
the basestofmen know), yet the love of Christ is far superior to it. Human joy
derived from earthly sources is a muddy, dirty pool, at which men would not
drink did they know there was a stream sweeter, cooler, andfar more
refreshing. The love of Jesus brings a joy that is fit for angels, a joy that we
shall have continued to us even in Heaven itself, a joy which makes earth like
to Heaven; it is therefore far better than wine.
It is better than wine, once more, for the sacredexhilaration which it gives. I
have already spokenof this; the love of Christ is the grandeststimulant of the
renewednature that can be known. It enables the fainting man to revive from
his swooning;it causes the feeble man to leap up from his bed of languishing;
and it makes the wearyman strong again. Are you weary, brother, and sick of
life? You only need more of Christ's love shed abroad in your heart. Are you,
dear brother, ready to faint through unbelief? You only need more of Christ's
love, and all shall be well with you. I would to God that we were all filled with
it to the full, like those believers were on the day of Pentecost, ofwhom the
mockers saidthat they were full of new wine. Petertruly said that they were
not drunken, as men supposed;but that it was the Spirit of God and the love
of Christ filling them with unusual power and unusual energy, and therefore
men knew not what it was. Godgrant to us also this greatpower, and Christ
shall have all the glory of it!

III. But now passing rapidly on, for our time is flying, the marginal reading of
our text is in the plural: "Your loves are better than wine," and this teaches
us that Christ's love may be spokenof in the PLURAL, because it manifests
itself in so many ways. I ask all renewedhearts that have been won to Jesus,
the virgin souls that follow him whereverhe goes, to walk with me in
imagination over the sacredtracks ofthe love of Christ.
Think, beloved, of Christ's covenantlove, the love he had to us before the
world was. Christ is no new lover of his people's souls;but he loved them
before the day-star knew its place, and before the planets begantheir mighty
revolutions. Every soul whom Jesus loves now, he loved foreverand ever.
What a wondrous love was that — infinite, unbounded, everlasting — which
led him to enter into covenantwith God that he would bear our sins, and
suffer our penalties, that he might redeem us from going down into the pit!
Oh, the covenantlove of Jesus!Some dear souls are afraid to believe this
truth; let me persuade them to searchthe Scriptures until they find it, for, of
all the doctrines of Holy Writ, I know of none more full of consolationto the
heart when rightly receivedthan the greatfoundation truths of Divine
Predestinationand PersonalElection. Whenwe see that we were eternally
chosenin Christ, eternally given to Christ by his Father, eternally acceptedin
the Beloved, and eternally loved by Christ, then shall we say, with holy
gratitude, "Suchlove as this is better than wines on the lees, wellrefined."
Think next, beloved, of Christ's forbearing love— the love which lookedupon
us when we were born, and saw us full of sin, and yet loved us; the love which
saw us when we went astrayfrom the womb speaking lies-the love which
heard us profanely speak, and wickedlythink, and obstinately disobey, yet
loved us all the while. Let the thought of it ravish your heart as you sing,
"He saw me ruined in the fall,
Yet loved me, notwithstanding all.
He saved me from my lost estate,
His loving-kindness, oh, how great!"

Thus were we the subjects of Christ's electing love and forbearing love. Yes!
but the sweetnessto us was when was realized Christ's personallove, when at
last we were brought to the foot of his cross, humbly confessing our sins. May
I ask you who can do so to go back to that happy moment? There you lay at
the cross-foot, brokenin pieces, and you thought there was no hope for you;
but you lookedup to the crucified Christ, and those blessedwounds of his
beganto pour out a stream of precious blood upon you, and you saw that he
was wounded for your transgressions,that he was bruised for your iniquities,
that the chastisementof your peace was upon him, and that with his stripes
you were healed. That very instant, your sins were all put away; you gave one
look of faith to the bleeding Savior, and every spot and speck and stain of
your sin were all removed, and your guilt was foreverpardoned!
When you first felt Christ's forgiving love, I will not insult you by asking
whether it was not better than wine. Oh, the unutterable joy, the indescribable
bliss, you felt when Jesus saidto you, "I have borne your sins in my own body
on the tree, I have carried the greatload of your transgressions, Ihave blotted
them out like a cloud, and they are gone from you forever!" That was a love
that was inconceivablyprecious; at the very recollection, our heart leaps
within us, and our soul does magnify the Lord.
Since that glad hour, we have been the subjects of Christ's accepting, love, for
we have been "acceptedin the Beloved." We have also had Christ's guiding
love, and providing love, and instructing love. His love in all manner of ways
has come to us, and benefitted and enriched us. And, beloved, we have had
sanctifying love; we have been helped to fight this sin and that, and to
overcome them by the blood of the Lamb. The Spirit of God has been given to
us so that we have been enabled to subdue this ruling passionand overcome
that evil power. The Lord has also given us sustaining love under very sharp
troubles. Some of us could tell many a story about the sweetupholding love of
Christ — in poverty, or in bodily pain, or in deep depressionof spirits, or
under cruel slander, or reproach. His left hand has been under our head while
his right hand has embraced us. We have almostcourted suffering itself by
reasonof the richness of the consolationwhich suffering times have always
brought with them. He has been such a precious, precious, precious Christ to
us, that we do not know how to speak wellenough of his dear name.

Then let us reflectwith shame upon Christ's enduring love to us. Why, even
since we have been converted, we have grieved him times without number! As
I have already reminded you, we have often been false to him, we have not
loved him with the love which he might well claim from us; yet Christ has
never castus away, but still to this moment does he smile upon us, his own
brethren whom he has bought with blood, and to eachone of us he says, "I
have graven you upon the palms of my hands. I have espousedyou unto
myself forever. I will never leave you, nor forsake you." He uses the most kind
and endearing terms towards us to show that his love will never die away.
Glory be to his holy name for this! Is not his love better than wine?
There is one word I must not leave out, and that is, Christ's chastening love. I
know that many of you who belong to him have often smarted under his
chastening hand, but Christ never smote you in anger yet. Wheneverhe has
laid the cross on your back, it has been because he loved you so much that he
could not keepit off. He never took awaya joy without meaning thereby to
increase your joy, and it was always done for your good. Perhaps we cannot at
present saythat the Lord's chastising love has always been sweetto us, but we
shall say it one day, and I think I must sayit now. I bless my dear Masterfor
everything he has done to me, and I can never tell all that I owe to the anvil,
and the hammer, and the fire, and the file. Blessedbe his name, many of us
can say, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept your
Word." Therefore will we put in Christ's chastising love among the restof his
loves, and sayof it, "This love also is better than wine." We would sooner
have the chastisements of Godthan the pleasures of the world; we would
rather have God's cup full of gall than the devil's cup full of the sweetestwine
he ever made. We prefer to take God's left hand instead of the world's right
hand, and would soonerwalk with God in the dark than walk with the world
in the light. Will not every Christian saythat?
Beloved, there are other forms of Christ's love yet to be manifested to you. Do
you not sometimes tremble at the thought of dying? Oh, you shall have; and
you ought to think of it now — you shall have specialrevelations ofChrist's
love in your dying moments. Then shall you say, like the governorof the
marriage feastat Cana, "You have kept the goodwine until now." I believe
we have hardly any conceptionof what comfort the Lord pours into his

people's souls in their dying moments. We do not need those comforts yet, and
we could not bear them now; but they are laid up in store, and when we need
them, they will be brought out, and then shall our spirits find that the Lord's
promise is fulfilled, "As your days, so shall your strength be."
And then — but perhaps I had better be silent upon such a theme — when the
veil is drawn, and the spirit has left the body, what will be the bliss of Christ's
love to the spirits gatheredwith him in glory?
"Oh, for the bliss of flying,
My risen Lord to meet!
Oh, for the rest of lying
Foreverat his feet!
"Oh, for the hour of seeing
My Saviorface to face!
The hope of ever being
In that sweetmeeting-place!"
Or, as Dr. Watts puts it,
"Millions of years my wondering eyes
Shall over your beauties rove;
And endless ages I'll adore
The glories of your love!"
Then think of the love of the day of our resurrection, for Christ loves our
bodies as well as our souls;and, arrayed in glory, these mortal bodies shall
rise from the tomb. Oh, the bliss of being like our Lord, and being with him,
when he comes in all the splendor of the SecondAdvent, sitting as assessors
with him to judge the world, and to judge even the angels!And then to be in
his triumphal procession, whenhe shall ascendto God, and deliver up the
kingdom to the Father, and the Mediatorialsystemshall be ended, and God

shall be all in all! And then to be forever, forever, forever, "foreverwith the
Lord," with no fearof the soul dying out, with no dread of the false doctrine
of annihilation, like a grim specterevercrossing our blissful pathway! With a
life co-eternalwith the life of God, and an immortality divinely given, we shall
outlast the sun; and when the moon grows pale, and wanes forever, and this
old earth and all that is therein shall be burned up, yet still shall we be forever
with him. Truly, his love is better than wine, it is the very essence ofHeaven, it
is better than anything that we can conceive. Godgrant us foretastes ofthe
loves of Heaven in the present realizationof the love of Jesus, which is the self-
same love, and through which Heaven itself shall come to us!
IV. Now I must have just a few minutes for my lastpoint, and that is, Christ's
love in the SINGULAR, is a theme which might well suffice for half a dozen
sermons at the very least. Look at the text as it stands: "Your love is better
than wine."
Think, first, of the love of Christ in the cluster. That is where the wine is first.
We talk of the grapes of Eshcol;but these are not worthy to be mentioned in
comparisonwith the love of Jesus Christas it is seen, in old eternity, in the
purpose of God, in the covenantof grace, and afterwards, in the promises of
the Word, and in the various revelations of Christ in the types and symbols of
the ceremoniallaw. There I see the love of Christ 'in the cluster'. When I hear
God threatening the serpent that the seedof the woman should bruise his
head, and when, later on, I find many prophecies concerning him who is
mighty to save, I see the wine in the cluster, the love of Christ that is really
there, but not yet enjoyed. What delight it gives us even to look at the love of
Christ in the cluster!
Next, look at the love of Christ in the basket, forthe grapes must be gathered,
and castinto the basket, before the wine can be made. I see Jesus Christliving
here on earth among the sons of men — gathered, as it were, from the sacred
vine, and like a cluster thrown into the basket. Oh, the love of Jesus Christ in
the mangerof Bethlehem, the love of Jesus in the workshopofNazareth, the
love of Jesus in his holy ministry, the love of Jesus in the temptation in the

wilderness, the love of Jesus in his miracles, the love of Jesus in his
communion with his disciples, the love of Jesus in bearing shame and
reproachfor our sakes, the love of Jesus in being so poor that he had not
where to lay his head, the love of Jesus in enduring such contradictionof
sinners againsthimself! I cannot hope to enter into this greatsubject; I can
only point it out to you, and pass on.
There is, first, Christ's love in the cluster; and next, there is Christ's love in
the basket. Think of it, and as you think of it, say, "It is better than wine." But
oh! if your hearts have any tenderness towards him, think of the love of Christ
in the wine-press. See him there, when the cluster in the basketbegins to be
crushed. Oh, what a crushing was that under the foot of the treader of grapes
when Christ sweatas it were great drops of blood, and how terribly did the
greatpress come down againand againwhen he gave his back to the smiters,
and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, and hid not his face from
shame and spitting! But oh! how the red wine flowedfrom the wine-press,
what fountains there were of this precious sweetness, whenJesus was nailedto
the cross, suffering in body, depressedin spirit, and forsakenofhis God!
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" These are the sounds that issue from the
wine-press, and how terrible and yet how sweetthey are! Stand there, and
believe that all your sins were borne by him, and that he suffered what you
ought to have suffered, and, as your Substitute, was crushed for you.
"He bore, that you might never bear,
His Father's righteous ire."
Yes, beloved, Christ's love in the wine-press is better than wine!
Now I want you to think of the love of Christ in the flagon, where his precious
love is storedup for his people — the love of his promises, given to you; the
love of his providence, for he rules for you; the love of his intercession, forhe
pleads for you; the love of his representation, for he stands at the right hand
of the Fatheras the Representative ofhis people; the love of his union with his
people, for you are one with him, he is the Head, and you are the members of
his body; the love of all that he is, and all that he was, and all that he ever
shall be, for in every capacityand under all circumstances he loves you, and

will love you without end. Think of his rich love, his abundant love towards
his people;I call it 'love in the flagon', this love of his to all the saints which he
has storedup for them.
And then, beloved, not only think of but enjoy the love of Christ in the cup, by
which I mean his love to you. I always feel, when I getto this topic, as if I
would rather sit down, and ask you to think it over, than try to talk to you
about it; this theme seems to silence me. I think, like the poet, "Come, then,
expressive silence, muse his praise."
Love to me! Dearchild of God, do think of it in this way; let me speak for you.
"He loves me! He, a King, loves me! A King? The King of kings, HE loves me!
God, very Godof very God, loves me!" Strange conjunction this betweenthe
Infinite and a worm! We have heard and read romantic stories of the loves of
emperors to poor village maidens, but what are these compared with Christ's
love to us? Worms were never raisedso high above their meaner fellow-
worms as the Lord Jesus is above us. If an angelloved an emmet, there would
be no such difference as when Jehovah-Jesus loves us. Yet there is no fact
beneath Heaven, or in Heaven, that is so indisputable as this fact, that he loves
us if we are his believing people. For this we have the declarationof
inspiration; no, brethren, we have more even than that to confirm it beyond
all question, for we have his own death upon the cross. He signedthis
document with his own blood, in order that no believermight ever doubt its
authenticity. "Herein is love."
"Beholdwhat manner of love" there is in the cross!What wondrous love is
there! Oh! then, let us have Christ's love in the cup, the love that we may daily
drink, the love that we may personallydrink just now at this moment, the love
which shall be all our own, as if there were no others in the world, and yet a
love in which ten thousand times ten thousand have an equal share with
ourselves. Godbless you, dear friends, and give you to drink of this wine! And
if any here know not the love of Jesus Christ, I pray the Lord to bring them to
know it. May he renew their heart, and give them faith in him, for whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. "He who believes on him is not
condemned." His greatgospelwordis, "He who believes and is baptized shall

be saved." May the Lord confirm this word by his Spirit, for our Lord Jesus
Christ's sake!Amen.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Biblical Illustrator
Songs 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth: for your love is better than
wine.…
I. CHRIST'S LOVE IS BETTER THAN WINE BECAUSE OF WHAT IT IS
NOT.
1. It may be takenwithout question. Many delightsome things, manor of the
pleasures of this world, are very questionable enjoyments. Christians had
better keepaway from everything about which their consciencesare not
perfectly clear;but all our consciencesare clearconcerning the Lord Jesus,
and our heart's love to Him; so that, in this respect, His love is better than
wine.
2. It is to be had without money. Many a man has beggaredhimself, and
squandered his estate, through his love of worldly pleasure, and especially
through his fondness for wine; but the love of Christ is to be had without

money. The love of Christ is unpurchased; and I may add that it is
unpurchasable. Christ's love is the freestthing in the world, — free as the
sunbeam, free as the mountain torrent, free as the air.
3. It is to be enjoyedwithout cloying. If ever there was a man on earth who
had Christ's love in him to the full, it was holy Samuel Rutherford; yet you
can see in his letters how he laboured for suitable expressions while trying to
setforth his hungering and thirsting after the love of Christ. He says he
floated upon Christ's love like a ship upon a river, and then he quaintly asks
that his vesselmay founder, and go to the bottom, till that blessedstreamshall
flow right over the masthead of his ship. He wantedto be baptized into the
love of Christ, to be flung into the oceanof his Saviour's love; and this is what
the true Christian ever longs for.
4. It is without lees. There is nothing in the Lord Jesus Christthat we could
wish to have taken awayfrom Him; there is nothing in His love that is impure,
fine gold; there is no alloy in Him,; nay, there is nothing that can be compared
with Him, for "He is altogetherlovely," all perfections melted into one
perfection, and all beauties combined into one inconceivable beauty.
5. It will never, as wine will, turn sour. He is the same loving Saviour now as
ever He was, and such He always will be, and He will bring us to the rest
which remaineth for the people of God.
6. It produces no ill effects. Manyare the mighty men who have fallen down
slain by wine. But who was everslain by the love of Christ? Who was ever
made wretched by this love?

II. CHRIST'S LOVE IS BETTERTHAN WINE BECAUSE OF WHAT IT
IS. Let me remind you of some of the uses of wine in the East.
1. Often, it was employed as a medicine, for it had certainhealing properties.
wounds "oil and wine." But the love of Christ is better than wine; it may not
heal the wounds of the flesh, but it does healthe wounds of the spirit.
2. Wine, again, was oftenassociatedby men with the giving of strength. Now,
gives strength mightier than the mightiest earthly force, for when the love of
Jesus Christ is shed abroad in a man's heart, he can bear a heavy burden of
sorrow.
3. Wine was also frequently used as the symbol of joy; and certainly, in this
respect, Christ's love is better than wine. Whatever joy there may be in the
the basestofmen know), yet the love of Christ is far superior to it.
4. It is better than wine, once more, for the sacredexhilaration which it gives.
The love of Christ is the grandeststimulant of the renewed nature that can be
known. It enables the fainting man to revive from his swooning;it causesthe
feeble man to leapup from his bed of languishing; and it makes the weary
man strong again.
III. The marginal reading of our text is in the plural: "Thy loves are better
than wine," and this teaches us that CHRIST'S LOVE MAY BE SPOKEN OF
IN THE PLURAL, because it manifests itself in so many ways.

1. Think of Christ's covenant love, the love He had to us before the world was.
2. Think next of Christ's forbearing love.
3. Aye! but the sweetness to us was when we realized Christ's personallove,
when at last we were brought to the foot of His cross, humbly confessing our
sins.
4. When you first felt Christ's forgiving love, I will not insult you by asking
whether it was not better than wine. That was a love that was inconceivably
precious;at the very recollection, ourheart leaps within us, and our soul doth
magnify the Lord.
5. Since that glad hour, we have been the subjects of Christ's accepting love,
for we have been "acceptedin the Beloved."
6. We have also had Christ's guiding love, and providing love, and instructing
love: His love in all manner of ways has come to us, and benefited and
enriched us.
7. And we have had sanctifying love; we have been helped to fight this sin and
that, and to overcome them by the blood of the Lamb.
8. The Lord has also given us sustaining love under very sharp troubles. Some
of us could tell many a story about the sweetupholding love of Christ, — in
poverty, or in bodily pain, or in deep depressionof spirits, or under cruel

slander, or reproach. His left hand has been under our head while His right
hand has embracedus.
9. Then let us reflectwith shame upon Christ's enduring love to us. Why, even
since we have been converted, we have grieved Him times without number!
Yet He uses the most kind and endearing terms towards us to show that His
love will never die away. Glory be to His holy name for this! Is not His love
better than wine?
10. There is one word I must not leave out, and that is, Christ's chastening
love. I know that many of you who belong to Him have often smarted under
His chastening hand, but Christ never smote you in angeryet. Whenever He
has laid the cross on your back, it has been because He loved you so much that
He could not keepit off.
11. There are other forms of Christ's love yet to be manifestedto you. Do you
not sometimes tremble at the thought of dying? Oh, you shall have — and you
ought to think of it now, — you shall have specialrevelations ofChrist's love
in your dying moments. Then shall you say, like the governorof the marriage
feastat Cana, "Thou hast kept the goodwine until now.
12. And then — but perhaps I had better be silent upon such a theme, —
when the veil is drawn, and the spirit has left the body, what will be the bliss
of Christ's love to the spirits gatheredwith Him in glory?
13. Then think of the love of the day. of our resurrection, for Christ loves. Our
rise from the tomb. With a life coevalwith the life of God, and an immortality
divinely given, we shall outlast the sun; and when the moon grows pale, and

wanes for ever, and this old earth and all that is therein shall be burned up,
yet still shall we be for everwith Him. Truly, His love is better than wine, it is
the very essence ofHeaven, it is better than anything that we can conceive.
IV. CHRIST'S LOVE IN THE SINGULAR. — Look at the text as it stands:
"Thy love is better than wine."
1. Think first, of the love of Christ in the cluster. That is where the wine is
first. We talk of the grapes of Eshcol;but these are not worthy to be
mentioned in comparisonwith the love of Jesus Christas it is seen, in old
eternity, in the purpose of God, in the covenantof grace, and afterwards, in
the promises of the Word, and in the various revelations of Christ in the types
and symbols of the ceremoniallaw. There I see the love of Christ in the
cluster.
2. Next, look at the love of Christ in the basket, for the grapes must be
gathered, and castinto the basket, before the wine can be made. Oh, the love
of Jesus Christ in the manger of Bethlehem, the love of Jesus in the workshop
of Nazareth, the love of Jesus in His holy ministry, the love of Jesus in the
temptation in the wilderness, the love of Jesus in His miracles, the love of
Jesus in His communion with His disciples, the love of Jesus in bearing shame
and reproachfor our sakes,the love of Jesus in bring so poor that He had not
where to lay His head, the love of Jesus in enduring such contradictionof
sinners againstHimself!
3. But oh! if your hearts have any tenderness towards Him, think of the love of
Christ in the wine-press. What a crushing was that under the foot of the
treader of grapes when Christ sweatas it were greatdrops of blood, and how
terribly did the greatpress come down againand againwhen He gave His
back to the smiters, and Sis cheeksto them that plucked off the hair, and hid

not His face from shame and spitting! But oh! how the red wine flowed from
the wine-press, whatfountains there were of this precious sweetness, when
Jesus was nailedto the cross, suffering in body, depressedin spirit, and
forsakenofHis God! "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" Theseare the sounds
that issue from the wine-press, and how terrible and yet how sweetthey are!
4. Now I want you to think of the love of Christ in the flagon, where His
precious love is stored up for His people; — the love of His promises, given to
you; the love of His providence, for He rules for you; the love of His
intercession, forHe pleads for you; the love of His representation, for He
stands at the right hand of the Father as the Representative ofHis people;the
love of His union with His people, for you are one with Him, He is the Head,
and you are the members of His Body; the love of all that He is, and all that
He was, and all that He ever shall be, for in every capacityand under all
circumstances He loves you, and will love you without end.
5. And then not only think of, but enjoy the love of Christ in the cup, by which
I mean His love to you. For this we have the declarationof inspiration; nay,
we have more even than that to confirm it beyond all question, for we have
His own death upon the cross. He signedthis document with His own blood, in
order that no believer might ever doubt its authenticity. "Herein is love."
"Beholdwhat manner of love" there is in the cross!What wondrous love is
there!
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ's Love is Better than Wine
John Gill, D. D.

Songs 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth: for your love is better than wine.
I. FOR ITS ANTIQUITY. Goodold wine is accountedthe best (Luke 5:39).
Now no wine is comparable to this of Christ's love, for its antiquity; for it is a
love which commences from everlasting;it does not bear date with time, but
was before time was.
II. FOR ITS PURITY. It is wine on the lees wellrefined, free from all dregs of
deceit, hypocrisy, and dissimulation; it is a love unfeigned, a pure river of
waterof life.
III. FOR ITS FREENESS AND CHEAPNESS.
IV. FOR THE PLENTY OF IT. In the marriage at Cana of Galilee, there was
want of wine; but there is no want thereof in this feastof love: this is a river,
nay, an oceanoflove, which flows forth in plentiful streams to poor sinners.
V. IN THE EFFECTSOF IT.
1. Wine will revive and cheera man that is of a heavy heart (Proverbs 31:6).
2. Wine may remove a worldly heaviness, or a sorrow on the accountof
worldly things, the things of time; but not a spiritual heaviness, ora sorrow on
the accountof the things of another world, the things of eternity; but the

manifestation of Christ's love to the soul, can remove this sorrow and
heaviness, and fill it with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, and give him
that ease, andcomfort, and satisfactionof mind, he is wishing for.
3. If a man drinks never such large draughts of the wine of Christ's love, it
will never hurt him; when other wine, with excessive drinking of it, not only
wastes the estates, but consumes the bodies, and destroys the health of men;
but of this a man may drink freely and plentifully, without doing himself any
hurt; nay, it will be of considerable advantage to him, and therefore says
Christ (Song of Solomon5:1).
(John Gill, D. D.)
Communion with Christ
John Robotham.
Songs 1:2
1. Such as have the leasttaste of Christ's love, are impatient and restless in
their desires after the nearestfellowship and communion with Him. The
Church here desires Christ's manifestation in the flesh, that she might enjoy
him in a Gospel-dispensation, andhave sweeterdiscoveriesofHis favour: so
in like manner the Church of the New Testament, who did enjoy all the
privileges of the Gospel;yet she goes higher in her affections, anddesires
Christ's last coming, that so she might enjoy Him in that heavenly and
everlasting communion, which the saints shall enjoy hereafter.

2. Christ hath given more sweetand comfortable pledges of love and
reconciliationto His people under the Gospel, than He did under the Law
(Luke 10:24; Hebrews 12:18-20, 22;Ephesians 4:8).
3. The doctrine of the Gospelis very sweetand desirable (Hebrews 6:5; 1
Timothy 4:6; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 2:17).
4. Those strong desires and earnestlongings of the faithful after Christ, flow
from a principle of love (2 Corinthians 5:15; Jeremiah31:3; Hosea 11:4).
Christ is the oceanof spiritual love, from whence we derive, and into which
we return our love: so that our love proceeds from Christ's love; His love is as
a loadstone, attractive, drawing our affections to Him; our love is as the
reflecting back to Him againthe beams of His own love.
5. The love of Godin Christ is an infinite and a manifold love.
(1) His electing love (Ephesians 1:4-6, 11).
(2) His redeeming love, whereby He hath brought His from the bondage of sin
into glorious liberty and freedom (Galatians 4:4; Acts 20:28;1 Timothy 2:6).
(3) God's love of calling; the outward is a bare propounding of the Gospel;but
the inward call is a spiritual enlightening, "to know the hope of His calling"
(Ephesians 1:17). And that whereby the soul is made able to apprehend Him,
of whom it is apprehended (Philippians 3:12).

(4) God's justifying love, whereby He doth free and discharge His people from
sin and death, and accounts them righteous in Christ.
(5) His adopting love, whereby He accepts the faithful, unto the dignity of sons
(John 1:12; Romans 8:17).
(6) His sanctifying love, whereby He doth free believers from the filthiness of
sin, and restore in them againthe image of God, which con-sistethof
righteousness andholiness (Ephesians 4:24).
(7) His glorifying love, whereby He lifts up His people unto that state of life
and glory, and gives them an immortal inheritance, where all comfort, peace,
and joy shall abound, and where they shall have the communion of the
chiefestgood, the love of God shining forth immediately upon their hearts.
(John Robotham.)
Love Better than Wine
J.R. Thomson
Songs 1:2

The desire of the soul awakenedto the higher life is a desire which earth
cannot satisfy;it is a desire for God, for the manifestations of Divine favour,
the proofs of Divine affection. As one has said, "The Christian is not satisfied,
like Mary, to kiss the Master's feet;he would kiss the Master's face." The
enjoyment of God's kindness enkindles a desire for more knowledge ofGod, a
closerintercourse with God. This is the result of a sense - an imperfect but
genuine sense - of the incomparable preciousness ofDivine friendship and
favour. "Thy love is better than wine."
I. GOD'S GIFTS ARE GOOD. He is goodunto all. Every goodgift and every
perfect boon must be traced to his bounty. Wine is used here poetically as one
of the evidences ofDivine provision for man's needs. Wine maketh glad the
heart of man, oil maketh his face to shine, bread strengtheneth his heart.
Heaven bestows in abundance gifts which men often acceptwith ingratitude
or misuse to their own detriment.
II. GOD'S LOVE IS BETTER. Materialpossessions, temporalenjoyments,
the pleasures ofsense, are contrastedwith what enriches, purifies, and
rejoices the spirit. To the spiritual man the favour of Heaven yields more true
joy than he experiences in the time when corn and wine increase.
1. This follows from the very nature of man, who is a being made originally in
the Divine image, endowedwith an immortal nature. Such a being cannotfind
satisfactionin any lowersource of happiness.
2. It follows especiallyfrom the factof man's sin and salvation. As a
dependent being, man is a recipient of Divine bounty; but, as a being who has
departed from God, and has been restoredby forgiving mercy to favour and
fellowship, he is especiallyin need of constantrevelations of Divine love. And

as Christians we gratefully recognize that, in bestowing upon us his ownSon,
God has given unto us that love which is better than wine.
3. In partaking of Divine love we are in no dangerof excess. It had been better
for many a professing Christian had God's providence withheld the gifts
which have by the abuse of worldliness been prized above the Giver himself.
Not wine only, but the wealthand luxuries of life generally, have too often
been the occasionofforgetting and departing from God. But Divine love is a
draught of which none candrink in excess.
4. The love of Godis a lasting blessing, a perennial joy. The gifts of Divine
bounty perish, for they are of the earth. The love of God is imperishable as
God himself. - T.
The Bridegroomand the Bride
J.D. Davies
Songs 1:1-4
The song of songs, whichis Solomon's.
Love's native language is poetry. When strong and happy feeling dominates
the soul, it soonbursts into a song. As young life in a fruit tree breaks out into
leaf and blossom, so the spiritual force of love unfolds in metaphor and music.
Among the lyrics composedby King David, those which celebrate the
Messiah-Princehave the richestglory of fervour, blossommost into Oriental
imagery; and inasmuch as Solomoninherited somewhatthe poetic genius of
his father, it was natural that he should pour out in mystic song the heart

throb of a nation's hopes. The deep and inseparable union between Christ and
his saints is by no one set forth so clearly as by Jesus the Christ; hence love is
strong and tender, because love's Objectis noble, winsome, kingly, Divine.
I. THE BRIDEGROOM'SCHARMS.
1. The love of Christ is incomparably precious. "Thy love is better than wine."
All true love is precious - a sacredthing, a mighty force. The love of Jesus is
absolutely perfect, without any admixture of alloy. Love is the mightiest force
in the universe, a magnetwhose attractive power reaches from the throne of
God to the very gates ofhell. And love is as precious as it is potent. It makes a
desertinto a paradise; changes base metalinto gold; transforms foul rebels
into loving sons. It is a banquet for the heart; a perpetual feast;a fountain of
purest joy. What the rarestwine is for a fainting body, that the love of Jesus is
to a burdened soul.
2. The love of Christ is diffusive. It is as "unguent poured forth." The love of
God's Son existed long before it was manifested. That love is seenin all the
arrangements of creation. That love is unfolded in all the methods of daily
providence. "Byhim all things consist." Thatlove is shed abroadin the
believer's heart "by the Holy Ghost." As the flowers in our gardens pour out
their essentiallife in their sweetfragrance, so the love of Christ is Christ's life
poured out for us. All the love which angels cherishis Christ's love diffused.
He is the "Firstborn of the creationof God." All the parental love that has
ever glowedon the altar of human hearts is the love of Christ diffused. All
practicalbenevolence for the well being of mankind is the outflow of
Immanuel's love. The love that constrains me to compassionate deeds andto
intercessoryprayers is the love of Christ diffused. Discovering the heavenly
savour inspires our hearts with joy. Heaven is knit with silkencords to earth.

3. The love of Christ is condescending and gracious. "The King hath brought
me into his chambers." Had we been told that God admitted into his presence
chamber the unsinning angels, we should not have been so profoundly moved.
They are meet for his service. But to admit the base and degenerate sons of
men into his intimate friendship, this reflects a singular glory upon his
kindness;this is a miracle of love. By such familiar intercourse he trains us in
kingly conduct, communicates to us Divine wisdom, moulds us into his own
image. Beyond this deed of grace not even God cango. As there was no depth
of humiliation to which he was not willing to stoop for sinners, so there is no
height of excellence fromwhich he would exclude us. Such love no human
thought can measure. It is higher than heaven: how shall we scale it? It is
deeper than hell: how shall we fathom it?
II. THE BRIDE'S RESPONSE.
1. Her love originates in the high renownof his love. "Thy Name is as
ointment poured forth." So long as this strong force of love was confined
within the heart of Christ, no human soul could suspectits existence. On what
ground could any dweller on earth conjecture or imagine that he was the
objectof Immanuel's love? That love must be unfolded, declared, made
clearly known. And this is what Jesus has done. Not content with warm
protestations of his affection, he has stoopedto perform impressive deeds of
kindness - yea, prodigies of compassion. All the romantic stories of heroic love
Jesus has immeasurably surpassed. His renownis sung in all the courts of the
heavenly palace. He has made for himself a "Name above every name,"
human or angelic... This high reputation warrants our approach, our
admiration, our trust, our responsive love. "We love him, because he has first
loved us."
2. Our love craves a closerfellowshipwith his Person. "Draw me!" We have
made such discoveries ofexcellence in our Immanuel that we long for larger

acquaintance. To us he is a vast mine of spiritual wealth, and the deeper we go
the rarer jewels do we find. His charms seeminfinite, and no feartroubles us
that we shall exhaust them. We are troubled that our own love is so
inadequate, so unworthy; hence we desire a closerapproach, that his spiritual
beauty may quicken our languid affection. Feeling the magnetic power of his
love, we too may be magnetized. We cannot command, by a mere volition or a
mere resolve, that our love shall flow out. So the only way to intensify our love
is by coming into fuller contactwith his. Only life can generate life, and only
the love of Christ can stir into activity the principle of true love in us.
Therefore we pray, "Draw us into nearer fellowship, into more vital union!"
3. Our love desires a prompt obedience. "We will run after thee." We love to
walk in his footsteps, andwhen we discoverwhere his haunts lie, we run to
seek him there. So sincere is our love, that we long to do his will promptly and
heartily. We wish to hear every whisper of his commands. We deprecate that
anything on our part should chase the smiles from his face. We long that his
thoughts may be our thoughts, his dispositions our dispositions, his purposes
our purposes;so that betweenChrist and us there may be perfect concord. As
said Ruth to Naomi, so saywe, "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou
dwellest, I will dwell." We can do without food, we can do without friends, we
can do without health, but we cannot do without Christ. Wrote Samuel
Rutherford to a friend, "If hell fire stoodbetweenyou and Christ, you would
press through in order to reachhim." All service is delight when the feetare
winged by love.
4. Love brings us into the best society. "The upright love thee." The love that
draws the best men near to Christ likewise draws them near eachother. As
the spokesofa wheel getnear to the hub they getinto closerproximity to each
other. The more love we give out the more substantial goodwe get. The
friendship of the pious is a precious treasure;their wisdom enlightens, their
piety stimulates, their love enkindles, ours. In their societywe are elevated
and gladdened. The story of their experience inspires us for new endeavour;

their triumphs awakenour most sacredambitions. With Moses,we learn
meekness;with Elijah, we learn how to pray; with Job, we learn endurance;
with Martin Luther, we learn courage. The societyof saints throws into the
shade the societyof sagesorof kings.
5. Love treasures up the recollectionofpast favours. "We will remember thy
love more than wine." What Jesus Christ has done for us in the past he will do
again. Since his love is infinite, he has not exhaustedhis love tokens in the
past; he has more costly things yet to give, richer dainties yet to place on his
banquet table. Still, there are times when we cannot realize a present Saviour,
when the conscious possessionofhis love is suspended, and at such times it is a
cordial to our spirits to bring out the memorials and tokens of past affection.
Our memory is a vast chamber, hung round with ten thousand mementoes of
Immanuel's love. Thus, in a dark hour of depression, King David sang, "Yet
will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the hill Mizar." In
winter's dark days we will feastupon the fruits of well remembered summer.
6. Love creates the purest joy. "We will be glad and rejoice in thee." Joy
arises when a felt want is satisfied; but so long as we are sensible of needs and
cravings for which no supply is at hand we are miserable. A thirsty man upon
a scorching desert, leagues removedfrom any well, is a strangerto gladness.
The misery of lostspirits, doubtless, arises from passionate cravings forwhich
there is no supply. On the other hand, when we canfeel that Christ is ours -
ours in bonds which nothing can sever - we feel that every want is met, every
ambition is realized, every aspiration fulfilled. "Then shall I be satisfied, when
I awake,in thy likeness."Therefore,althoughoutward surroundings may
tend to depress, we can always find in the fulness of Christ sources ofhope
and joy. "With him is the fountain of life." - D.
Desire After God

S. Conway
Songs 1:2-4
Translatedinto language more congenialto our ordinary Christian thought,
these verses may be takenas a parabolic setting forth of the blessedtruth
containedin the well known words of the psalm, "My soul thirsteth for God,
for the living God; when shall I come and appearbefore God?" It surely
would be speaking blasphemy, and an abasementof the Bible, if we were to
look on the sensuous words with which these verses begin as meaning nothing
more than they say in their ordinary plain and literal meaning. We, therefore,
feel bound to lift them up from such low level, and to look upon them as
telling - no doubt in a vivid, Oriental way - of the soul's desire after God, the
holy thirst of which the verse from the psalm is the expression. And we
observe -
I. THAT THE CONSCIOUS POSSESSIONOF THE LOVE OF GOD IS
THE SOUL'S DEEP NEED AND DESIRE. Mentry all manner of other
delights, but they turn out mere apples of Sodom. He who wrote the Book of
Ecclesiasteshad left untried no single source of earthly joy. All were within
his power, and he did his best to gettheir bestout of them. And no doubt he
succeeded. But what then? Was he satisfied? did they contenthim? "Vanity of
vanities; all is vanity!" - that is his verdict upon them all. And his experience
is that of myriads more, all which goes to prove that the love of God alone can
satisfy. "Nostrum corinquietum estdonec requiescatin te." This saying of St.
Augustine's is the sobertruth, which finds such impassioned expressionin our
text. And the soul's desire for that love is the fruit of that love. "I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto me," said our Lord; and it is because ofhis
gracious drawings, the mighty lure with which he attracts our wills, that we
are possessedby this desire.

II. THE DIVINE LOVE IS THE EXHILARATION OF THE SOUL. "Thy
love is better than wine." "Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the
Spirit," says St. Paul; and he thereby teaches us, as does the text, that there is
a likeness betweenthe two - wine and the Spirit of God. And the resemblance
lies here - in the stir and joy of heart which wine for a while causes;and this,
though in no mere physical sense, is the blessedeffectof the Spirit of God. For
his office it is to shed abroad the love of Godin our hearts, and that causes joy
indeed.
III. AND IT IS FRAGRANT WHEREVER IT DWELLS. It is likened to
"perfume poured forth" and it fills "all the house."
IV. THE PURE IN HEART LOVE IT. "Therefore do the virgins love thee."
The desire for the Divine love is not universal - far from it. But "the pure in
heart" "see God," andhence their desire. - S.C.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(2) Love.—Marg., loves, i.e., caressesorkisses,as the parallelism shows. The
LXX., followed by the Vulg., read breasts (probably dadaï instead of dôdaï),
the origin of many fanciful interpretations: e.g., the two breasts = the two
Testaments whichbreathe love, the first promising, the secondrevealing
Christ. The reading is condemned by the obvious fact that the words are not
spokento but by a woman, the change of persons, from secondto third, not

implying a change of reference or speaker, but being an enallage frequent in
sacredpoetry. (Comp. Deuteronomy 32:15;Isaiah 1:29, &c) Instead of “let
him kiss me,” many prefer the reading “let him give me to drink,” which
certainly preserves the metaphor (comp. Song of Solomon7:9), which is
exactly that of Ben Jonson’s:—
“Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not ask for wine.”
BensonCommentary
Song of Solomon 1:2. Let him kiss me — The beginning is abrupt; but is
suitable to, and usual in, writings of this nature, wherein things are not
related in a historicaland exquisite order, but that which was first done is
brought in, as it were, accidentally, after many other passages;as we see in
Homer, and Virgil, and others. These are the words of the spouse, whereinshe
breathes forth her passionate love to the bridegroom, whom she does not
name; because it was needless, as being so well knownto the persons to whom
she speaks,and being the only person who was continually in her thoughts. By
kisses,the usual tokens of love and good-will, she means the communications
of his love and favour, his graces andcomforts breathed into her from the
Spirit of Christ. Thy love — This sudden change of the person is frequent in
pathetic discourses. Firstshe speaks ofhim as absent, but speedily grows into
more acquaintance with him, and by ardent desire and faith, embraces him as
present. Is better than wine — Than the most delicious meat or drink, or than
all sensualdelights, one kind being put for all.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:2-6 The church, or rather the believer, speaks here in the characterofthe
spouse of the King, the Messiah. The kissesofhis mouth mean those
assurancesofpardon with which believers are favoured, filling them with
peace and joy in believing, and causing them to abound in hope by the power
of the Holy Ghost. Gracious souls take mostpleasure in loving Christ, and
being loved of him. Christ's love is more valuable and desirable than the best

this world can give. The name of Christ is not now like ointment sealedup,
but like ointment poured forth; which denotes the freeness andfulness of the
setting forth of his grace by the gospel. Thosewhom he has redeemedand
sanctified, are here the virgins that love Jesus Christ, and follow him
whithersoeverhe goes, Re 14:4. They entreathim to draw them by the
quickening influences of his Spirit. The more clearly we discern Christ's glory,
the more sensible shall we be that we are unable to follow him suitably, and at
the same time be more desirous of doing it. Observe the speedy answergiven
to this prayer. Those who waitat Wisdom's gate, shall be led into truth and
comfort. And being brought into this chamber, our griefs will vanish. We have
no joy but in Christ, and for this we are indebted to him. We will remember to
give thanks for thy love; it shall make more lasting impressions upon us than
any thing in this world. Nor is any love acceptable to Christ but love in
sincerity, Eph 6:24. The daughters of Jerusalemmay mean professors notyet
establishedin the faith. The spouse was black as the tents of the wandering
Arabs, but comelyas the magnificent curtains in the palaces ofSolomon. The
believer is black, as being defiled and sinful by nature, but comely, as renewed
by Divine grace to the holy image of God. He is still deformed with remains of
sin, but comely as acceptedin Christ. He is often base and contemptible in the
esteemof men, but excellentin the sight of God. The blacknesswas owing to
the hard usage that had been suffered. The children of the church, her
mother, but not of God, her Father, were angry with her. They had made her
suffer hardships, which causedher to neglectthe care of her soul. Thus, under
the emblem of a poor female, made the chosenpartner of a prince, we are led
to considerthe circumstances in which the love of Christ is accustomedto find
its objects. They were wretchedslaves of sin, in toil, or in sorrow, wearyand
heavy laden, but how greatthe change whenthe love of Christ is manifested to
their souls!
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
the prologue. - The Song commences with two stanzas in praise of the king
(now absent) by a chorus of virgins belonging to the royal household.
Expositors, Jewishand Christian, interpret the whole as spokenby the
Church of the heavenly Bridegroom.

Songs 1:2
Let him kiss me - Christian expositors have regardedthis as a prayer of the
Church under the old covenant for closercommunion with the Godhead
through the Incarnation. Thus, Gregory:"Every precept of Christ received
by the Church is as one of His kisses."
Thy love - Betteras margin, i. e., thy endearments or tokens of affectionare
more desired than any other delights.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
2. him—abruptly. She names him not, as is natural to one whose heartis full
of some much desiredfriend: so Mary Magdalene atthe sepulchre (Joh
20:15), as if everyone must know whom she means, the one chief objectof her
desire (Ps 73:25;Mt 13:44-46;Php 3:7,8).
kiss—the tokenof peace from the Prince of Peace(Lu 15:20);"our Peace"(Ps
85:10;Col 1:21; Eph 2:14).
of his mouth—marking the tenderestaffection. For a king to permit his
hands, or even garment, to be kissed, was counteda greathonor; but that he
should himself kiss another with his mouth is the greatesthonor. God had in
times past spokenby the mouth of His prophets, who had declaredthe
Church's betrothal; the bride now longs for contactwith the mouth of the
BridegroomHimself (Job 23:12;Lu 4:22; Heb 1:1, 2). True of the Church
before the first advent, longing for "the hope of Israel," "the desire of all
nations";also the awakenedsoullonging for the kiss of reconciliation;and
further, the kiss that is the token of the marriage contract(Ho 2:19, 20), and
of friendship (1Sa 20:41;Joh 14:21;15:15).
thy love—Hebrew, "loves,"namely, tokens of love, loving blandishments.
wine—whichmakes glad "the heavy heart" of one ready to perish, so that he
"remembers his misery no more" (Pr 31:6, 7). So, in a "better" sense, Christ's
love (Hab 3:17, 18). He gives the same praise to the bride's love, with the
emphatic addition, "How much" (So 4:10). Wine was createdby His first
miracle (Joh 2:1-11), and was the pledge given of His love at the last supper.

The spiritual wine is His blood and His spirit, the "new" and better wine of
the kingdom (Mt 26:29), which we cannever drink to "excess,"as the other
(Eph 5:18; compare Ps 23:5; Isa 55:1).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Let him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth. The beginning of this book is
abrupt, and may seemdisorderly; but is very suitable to and usual in writings
of this nature, wherein things are not related in an historical and exquisite
order, but that which was first done is brought in as it were accidentallyafter
many other passages;as we see in Homer, and Virgil, and in the Greek and
Latin comedians. These are the words of the spouse, as all acknowledge,
wherein she breatheth forth her passionate love to the Bridegroom, whom she
doth not name, but only intimate by the pronoun relative him, which is here
put without and for the antecedent, as Psalm 87:1 114:2 John 20:15;which
manner of expressionshe useth, because it was needless to name him, as being
so well known to the personor persons to whom site speaks,and being the
only person who was continually in her thoughts and speeches. Bykisses,
which were the usual tokens of love and goodwill, she means nothing else but
the communications and manifestations of his love and favour to her, as the
following clause explains this; his graces and comforts breathed into her from
the mouth and Spirit of Christ.
Thy love: this sudden change of the person is frequent, especiallyin such
pathetical discourses. Firstshe speaks ofhim as absent, and at a distance, but
speedily grows into more acquaintance with him, and by ardent desire in faith
embraceth him as present.
Than wine; than the most delicious meats or drinks, or than all sensual
delights, this one kind being synecdochicallyput for all the rest, as it is Esther
5:6 Job1:13 Proverbs 9:2 Ecclesiastes2:3.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Let him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth,.... That is, Solomon; Christ, the
antitype of Solomon, the church's beloved; or it is a relative without an
antecedent, which was only in her own mind, "let him"; him, whom her
thoughts were so much employed about; her affections were so strongly after;
and whose image was as it were before her, presentto her mind: and "the
kisses ofhis mouth", she desires, intend some fresh manifestations and
discoveries ofhis love to her; by some precious word of promise from his
mouth, applied to her; and by an open espousalofher, and the consummation
of marriage with her. It may be rendered, "with one of the kisses of his
mouth" (n); kisseswith the ancients were very rare, and used but once when
persons were espoused, and as a tokenof that; and then they were reckonedas
husband and wife (o): on which account, it may be, it is here desired; since it
was after this we hear of the spouse being brought into the nuptial chamber,
and of the keeping of the nuptial feast, Sol1:4;
for thy love is better than wine; or "loves" (p); which may denote the
abundance of it; the many blessings of grace whichflow from it; and the
various ways in which it is expressed;as well as the high esteemthe church
had of it. This is said to be "better than wine"; for the antiquity of it, it being
from everlasting;and for the purity of it, being free from all dregs of
dissimulation and deceit on the part of Christ, and from all merit, motives,
and conditions, on the part of the church; for its plenty, being shed
plenteously in the hearts of believers, and who may drink abundantly of it;
and for its freeness andcheapness, being to be had without money and
without price; and it is preferable to wine for the effects of it; which not only
revives and cheers heavy hearts, but quickens dead sinners, and comforts
distressedsaints;and of which they may drink plentifully, without hurt, yea,
to greatadvantage.
(n) "uno tantum, vel altero de osculis oris sui", Michaelis;so Gussetius, p.
446. (o) Salmuth. in Pancirol. Memorab. Rer. par. 1. tit. 46. p. 215. (p)
"amores tui", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
Geneva Study Bible

Let {a} him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth: for thy love is better than
wine.
(a) This is spokenin the person of the Church, or of the faithful soul inflamed
with the desire of Christ, whom she loves.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
2. Let him kiss me with the kisses ofhis mouth] It may be doubted whether
this is spokenby the Shulammite of her absentlover, or by one of the ladies of
the court, of Solomon, In favour of the former view, there is the likelihood
that the heroine would first speak, andthe change of pronoun in Song of
Solomon1:3, if there be no change in the persons speaking, is abrupt. But the
change of pronoun would not be altogetherunnatural in any language if the
person spokenof were suddenly seenapproaching after the first clause had
been uttered. Nor even if he were not present at all would the change be
impossible; for in passionate poetrythe imagination continually vivifies and
gives life to its conceptions by representing the objectof affectionas present,
though actually absent. Perhaps the view that the king is seenapproaching
and that one of the court ladies speaks is preferable. In that case it would be
his kissesthat would be referred to.
for thy love is better than wine] i.e. thy caressesare better than wine. The
word dôdhîm is properly ‘manifestations of kindness and love,’but it also
means love. Here the former is the better translation.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 2-ch. 2:7. - Part I. MUTUAL LOVE. Song of Shulamith in the royal
chambers. Chorus of ladies, daughters of Jerusalem. Verse 2. - Let him kiss
me with the kisses ofhis mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Whether we
take these words as put in the lips of the bride herself, or of the chorus as
identifying themselves with her, is of little consequence.It is certain that the
idea intended to be expressedis that of delight in the approachof the royal

bridegroom. The future is used optatively, "Let me be takenup into the
closestfellowshipand embrace." All attempts to dispense with the amatory
phraseologyare vain. The "kisses" mustbe interpreted in a figurative sense,
or the sacredcharacterofthe whole book must be removed. The words may
be rendered, with one of his kisses;i.e. the sweetnessofhis lips is such that one
kiss would be rapture. Some have thought that allusion is intended to the
custom among idolaters referred to in Job 31:27, "My mouth hath kissedmy
hand;" but the meaning is simply that of affection. The greatmajority of
Christian commentators have regardedthe words as expressive of desire
towards God. Origensaid, the Church of the old dispensationlonging after
higher revelations, as through the Incarnation, "How long shall he send me
kisses by Moses andthe prophets? I desire the touch of his own lips." It is
dangerous to attempt specific applications of a metaphor. The generaltruth of
it is all that need be admitted. If the relation betweenGod and his people is
one that canbe setforth under the image of human affection, then there is no
impropriety in the language ofSolomon's Song. "To kiss a kiss" (‫נ‬ָ‫ש‬ ָׁ‫ק‬‫נ‬ ‫ש‬ ָ‫ָק‬‫נ‬) is
the ordinary Hebraic form (cf. "to counsela counsel"). Thy love is better than
wine. The plural is used, "loves," as in the word "life" (‫ַח‬ַָׁ ‫)םי‬- the abstractfor
the concrete, perhaps in order to indicate the manifestationof love in many
caresses. The change from the third person to the secondis common in poetry.
The comparisonwith wine may be takeneither as denoting sweetnessor
exhilarating effects. The intoxicating power of wine is but rarely referred to in
Scripture, as the ordinary wine was distinguished from strong drink. Some, as
Hitzig and Bottcher, would read ַָׁ‫נ‬ְׁ‫ש‬‫יק‬ַ, changing the pointing, and translating,
"Let him give me to drink;" but there is no necessityfor a reading so forced
and vulgar. The Septuagint, altering the vowels of the word "love," turn it
into "breasts,"and must therefore have supposedit addressedto the bride.
The word is connectedwith the Arabic, and runs through the languages,dodh
(cf. Dada, Dido, David). Perhaps the reference to wine, as subsequently to the
ointments, may be explained by the fact that the song is supposedto be sung
while wine is presented in the chamber, and while the perfumes are poured
out in preparation for the entrance of the royal bridegroom. We canscarcely
doubt that the opening words are intended to be the utterance of loving desire
on the part of the bride in the presence ofthe daughters of Jerusalem. Some
have suggestedthat vers. 1-8 are from a kind of responsive dialogue, but the

view of the older interpreters and of Ewald, Hengstenberg, Weissbach, and
others of the moderns, seems more correct, that all the first sevenverses are in
the mouth of Shulamith, and then ver. 8 comes in naturally as a chorus in
reply to the song of the bride. The use of the plural, "We will run after thee,"
etc., is easilyexplicable. The bride is surrounded by her admiring companions
and attendants. They are congratulating her on the king's love. She speaks as
from the midst of the company of ladies.
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament
It is further said of Koheleth, that he put forth efforts not only to find words
of a pleasantform, but, above all, of exacttruth: "Kohelethstrove to find
words of pleasantness, and, written in sincerity, words of truth." The
unconnectedbeginning biqqesh Koheleth is like dibbarti ani, Ecclesiastes
1:16, etc., in the book itself. Three objects follow limtso. But Hitz. reads the
inf. absol. ‫כותכו‬ instead of ‫,כותכו‬ and translates:to find pleasing words, and
correctlyto write words of truth. Such a continuance of the inf. const. by the
inf. absol. is possible;1 Samuel 25:26, 1 Samuel 25:31. But why should ‫וכתוכ‬
not be the continuance of the finite (Aq., Syr.), as e.g., at Ecclesiastes8:9, and
that in the nearestadverbial sense:et scribendo quidem sincere verba
veritatis, i.e., he strove, according to his bestknowledge and conscience, to
write true words, at the same time also to find out pleasing words; thus sought
to connecttruth as to the matter with beauty as to the manner? Vechathuv
needs no modification in its form. But it is not to be translated: and that which
was right was written by him; for the ellipsis is inadmissible, and ‫וכתו‬ ‫ןמ‬ is not
correctHeb. Rightly the lxx, καὶ γεγραμμένονεὐθύτητος. ‫בתכו‬signifies
"written," and may also, as the name of the Hagiographa ‫בתכוַח‬shows, signify
"a writing;" kakathuvah, 2 Chronicles 30:5, is equals "in accordancewith the
writing;" and belo kǎkathuv, 2 Chronicles 30:18, "contraryto the writing;" in
the post-bibl. the phrase ‫נבתכו‬ ‫במת‬ equals ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, is used. The
objectionmade by Ginsburg, that kathuv never means, as kethav does, "a
writing," is thus nugatory. However, we do not at all here need this subst.
meaning, ‫כותכו‬ is neut. particip., and ‫ַקת‬ certainly not the genit., as the lxx
renders (reading ‫,)כותכו‬ but also not the nom. of the subj. (Hoelem.), but, since
‫ַקת‬ is the designationof a mode of thought and of a relation, the accus. of
manner, like veyashar, Psalm 119:18;emeth, Psalm132:11;emunah, Psalm

119:75. Regarding the common use of such an accus. ofthe nearerdefinition
in the passive part., vid., Ewald, 284c. The asyndetonvechathuv yosherdivre
emeth is like that at Ecclesiastes 10:1, mehhochmahmichvod. That which
follows limtso we interpret as its threefold object. Thus it is said that Koheleth
directed his effort towards an attractive form (cf. avne-hephets, Isaiah54:12);
but, before all, towards the truth, both subjectively (‫)ַקת‬ and objectively
(‫,)תמב‬ of that which was formulated and expressedin writing.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Let him kiss me, etc. - She speaks ofthe bridegroom in the third person, to
testify her own modesty, and to show him the greaterrespect.
Thy love is better than wine - The versions in generaltranslate ‫ךַדד‬ dodeyca,
thy breasts;and they are said to represent, spiritually, the Old and New
Testaments.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Song of Solomon1:2". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/song-of-
solomon-1.html. 1832.
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The Biblical Illustrator

Song of Solomon 1:2
Let Him kiss me with the kisses ofHis mouth: for Thy love is better than wine.
Communion with Christ
1. Such as have the leasttaste of Christ’s love, are impatient and restless in
their desires after the nearestfellowship and communion with Him. The
Church here desires Christ’s manifestation in the flesh, that she might enjoy
him in a Gospel-dispensation, andhave sweeter discoveriesofHis favour: so
in like manner the Church of the New Testament, who did enjoy all the
privileges of the Gospel;yet she goes higher in her affections, anddesires
Christ’s last coming, that so she might enjoy Him in that heavenly and
everlasting communion, which the saints shall enjoy hereafter.
2. Christ hath given more sweetand comfortable pledges of love and
reconciliationto His people under the Gospel, than He did under the Law
(Luke 10:24; Hebrews 12:18-20;Hebrews 12:22;Ephesians 4:8).
3. The doctrine of the Gospelis very sweetand desirable (Hebrews 6:5; 1
Timothy 4:6; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 2:17).
4. Those strong desires and earnestlongings of the faithful after Christ, flow
from a principle of love (2 Corinthians 5:15; Jeremiah31:3; Hosea 11:4).
Christ is the oceanof spiritual love, from whence we derive, and into which
we return our love: so that our love proceeds from Christ’s love; His love is as
a loadstone, attractive, drawing our affections to Him; our love is as the
reflecting back to Him againthe beams of His own love.
5. The love of Godin Christ is an infinite and a manifold love.
Thy love is better than wine.
Betterthan wine

I. Christ’s love is better than wine because ofwhat it is not.
1. It may be takenwithout question. Many delightsome things, manor of the
pleasures of this world, are very questionable enjoyments. Christians had
better keepaway from everything about which their consciencesare not
perfectly clear;but all our consciences are clearconcerning the Lord Jesus,
and our heart’s love to Him; so that, in this respect, His love is better than
wine.
2. It is to be had without money. Many a man has beggaredhimself, and
squandered his estate, through his love of worldly pleasure, and especially
through his fondness for wine; but the love of Christ is to be had without
money. The love of Christ is unpurchased; and I may add that it is
unpurchasable. Christ’s love is the freestthing in the world,--free as the
sunbeam, free as the mountain torrent, free as the air.
3. It is to be enjoyedwithout cloying. If ever there was a man on earth who
had Christ’s love in him to the full, it was holy SamuelRutherford; yet you
can see in his letters how he laboured for suitable expressions while trying to
setforth his hungering and thirsting after the love of Christ. He says he
floated upon Christ’s love like a ship upon a river, and then he quaintly asks
that his vesselmay founder, and go to the bottom, till that blessedstreamshall
flow right over the masthead of his ship. He wantedto be baptized into the
love of Christ, to be flung into the oceanof his Saviour’s love; and this is what
the true Christian ever longs for.
4. It is without lees. There is nothing in the Lord Jesus Christthat we could
wish to have taken awayfrom Him; there is nothing in His love that is impure,
fine gold; there is no alloy in Him,; nay, there is nothing that can be compared
with Him, for “He is altogetherlovely,” all perfections melted into one
perfection, and all beauties combined into one inconceivable beauty.
5. It will never, as wine will, turn sour. He is the same loving Saviour now as
ever He was, and such He always will be, and He will bring us to the rest
which remaineth for the people of God.

6. It produces no ill effects. Manyare the mighty men who have fallen down
slain by wine. But who was everslain by the love of Christ? Who was ever
made wretched by this love?
II. Christ’s love is better than wine because ofwhat it is. Let me remind you of
some of the uses of wine in the East.
1. Often, it was employed as a medicine, for it had certainhealing properties.
wounds “oil and wine.” But the love of Christ is better than wine; it may not
heal the wounds of the flesh, but it does heal the wounds of the spirit.
2. Wine, again, was oftenassociatedby men with the giving of strength. Now,
gives strength mightier than the mightiest earthly force, for when the love of
Jesus Christ is shed abroad in a man’s heart, he can bear a heavy burden of
sorrow.
3. Wine was also frequently used as the symbol of joy; and certainly, in this
respect, Christ’s love is better than wine. Whatever joy there may be in the
the basestofmen know), yet the love of Christ is far superior to it.
4. It is better than wine, once more, for the sacredexhilaration which it gives.
The love of Christ is the grandeststimulant of the renewed nature that can be
known. It enables the fainting man to revive from his swooning;it causesthe
feeble man to leapup from his bed of languishing; and it makes the weary
man strong again.
III. The marginal reading of our text is in the plural: “Thy loves are better
than wine,” and this teaches us that Christ’s love may be spokenofin the
plural, because it manifests itself in so many ways.
1. Think of Christ’s covenant love, the love He had to us before the world was.

2. Think next of Christ’s forbearing love.
3. Aye! but the sweetness to us was when we realized Christ’s personallove,
when at last we were brought to the foot of His cross, humbly confessing our
sins.
4. When you first felt Christ’s forgiving love, I will not insult you by asking
whether it was not better than wine. That was a love that was inconceivably
precious;at the very recollection, ourheart leaps within us, and our soul doth
magnify the Lord.
5. Since that glad hour, we have been the subjects of Christ’s accepting love,
for we have been “acceptedin the Beloved.”
6. We have also had Christ’s guiding love, and providing love, and instructing
love: His love in all manner of ways has come to us, and benefited and
enriched us.
7. And we have had sanctifying love; we have been helped to fight this sin and
that, and to overcome them by the blood of the Lamb.
8. The Lord has also given us sustaining love under very sharp troubles. Some
of us could tell many a story about the sweetupholding love of Christ,--in
poverty, or in bodily pain, or in deep depressionof spirits, or under cruel
slander, or reproach. His left hand has been under our head while His right
hand has embracedus.
9. Then let us reflectwith shame upon Christ’s enduring love to us. Why, even
since we have been converted, we have grieved Him times without number!
Yet He uses the most kind and endearing terms towards us to show that His
love will never die away. Glory be to His holy name for this! Is not His love
better than wine?
10. There is one word I must not leave out, and that is, Christ’s chastening
love. I know that many of you who belong to Him have often smarted under
His chastening hand, but Christ never smote you in angeryet. Whenever He
has laid the cross on your back, it has been because He loved you so much that
He could not keepit off.

11. There are other forms of Christ’s love yet to be manifestedto you. Do you
not sometimes tremble at the thought of dying? Oh, you shall have--and you
ought to think of it now,--you shall have specialrevelations of Christ’s love in
your dying moments. Then shall you say, like the governorof the marriage
feastat Cana, “Thou hast kept the goodwine until now.
12. And then--but perhaps I had better be silent upon such a theme,--when the
veil is drawn, and the spirit has left the body, what will be the bliss of Christ’s
love to the spirits gatheredwith Him in glory?
13. Then think of the love of the day of our resurrection, for Christ loves. Our
rise from the tomb. With a life coevalwith the life of God, and an immortality
divinely given, we shall outlast the sun; and when the moon grows pale, and
wanes for ever, and this old earth and all that is therein shall be burned up,
yet still shall we be for everwith Him. Truly, His love is better than wine, it is
the very essence ofHeaven, it is better than anything that we can conceive.
IV. Christ’s love in the singular.--Look at the text as it stands: “Thy love is
better than wine.”
1. Think first, of the love of Christ in the cluster. That is where the wine is
first. We talk of the grapes of Eshcol;but these are not worthy to be
mentioned in comparisonwith the love of Jesus Christas it is seen, in old
eternity, in the purpose of God, in the covenantof grace, and afterwards, in
the promises of the Word, and in the various revelations of Christ in the types
and symbols of the ceremoniallaw. There I see the love of Christ in the
cluster.
2. Next, look at the love of Christ in the basket, for the grapes must be
gathered, and castinto the basket, before the wine can be made. Oh, the love
of Jesus Christ in the manger of Bethlehem, the love of Jesus in the workshop
of Nazareth, the love of Jesus in His holy ministry, the love of Jesus in the
temptation in the wilderness, the love of Jesus in His miracles, the love of
Jesus in His communion with His disciples, the love of Jesus in bearing shame

and reproachfor our sakes,the love of Jesus in bring so poor that He had not
where to lay His head, the love of Jesus in enduring such contradictionof
sinners againstHimself!
3. But oh! if your hearts have any tenderness towards Him, think of the love of
Christ in the wine-press. What a crushing was that under the foot of the
treader of grapes when Christ sweatas it were greatdrops of blood, and how
terribly did the greatpress come down againand againwhen He gave His
back to the smiters, and Sis cheeksto them that plucked off the hair, and hid
not His face from shame and spitting! But oh! how the red wine flowed from
the wine-press, whatfountains there were of this precious sweetness, when
Jesus was nailedto the cross, suffering in body, depressedin spirit, and
forsakenofHis God! “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Theseare the sounds
that issue from the wine-press, and how terrible and yet how sweetthey are!
4. Now I want you to think of the love of Christ in the flagon, where His
precious love is stored up for His people;--the love of His promises, given to
you; the love of His providence, for He rules for you; the love of His
intercession, forHe pleads for you; the love of His representation, for He
stands at the right hand of the Father as the Representative ofHis people;the
love of His union with His people, for you are one with Him, He is the Head,
and you are the members of His Body; the love of all that He is, and all that
He was, and all that He ever shall be, for in every capacityand under all
circumstances He loves you, and will love you without end.
5. And then not only think of, but enjoy the love of Christ in the cup, by which
I mean His love to you. For this we have the declarationof inspiration; nay,
we have more even than that to confirm it beyond all question, for we have
His own death upon the cross. He signedthis document with His own blood, in
order that no believer might ever doubt its authenticity. “Herein is love.”
“Beholdwhat manner of love” there is in the cross!What wondrous love is
there! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ’s love is better than wine

I. Forits antiquity. Goodold wine is accountedthe best (Luke 5:39). Now no
wine is comparable to this of Christ’s love, for its antiquity; for it is a love
which commences from everlasting;it does not bear date with time, but was
before time was.
II. For its purity. It is wine on the lees well refined, free from all dregs of
deceit, hypocrisy, and dissimulation; it is a love unfeigned, a pure river of
waterof life.
III. For its freeness and cheapness.
IV. For the plenty of it. In the marriage at Cana of Galilee, there was want of
wine; but there is no want thereofin this feastof love: this is a river, nay, an
oceanof love, which flows forth in plentiful streams to poor sinners.
V. In the effects ofit.
1. Wine will revive and cheera man that is of a heavy heart (Proverbs 31:6).
2. Wine may remove a worldly heaviness, or a sorrow on the accountof
worldly things, the things of time; but not a spiritual heaviness, ora sorrow on
the accountof the things of another world, the things of eternity; but the
manifestation of Christ’s love to the soul, can remove this sorrow and
heaviness, and fill it with a joy unspeakable and full of glory, and give him
that ease, andcomfort, and satisfactionof mind, he is wishing for.
3. If a man drinks never such large draughts of the wine of Christ’s love, it
will never hurt him; when other wine, with excessive drinking of it, not only
wastes the estates, but consumes the bodies, and destroys the health of men;
but of this a man may drink freely and plentifully, without doing himself any
hurt; nay, it will be of considerable advantage to him, and therefore says
Christ (Song of Solomon5:1). (John Gill, D. D.)

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Exell, JosephS. "Commentary on "Song of Solomon1:2". The Biblical
Illustrator. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/song-of-
solomon-1.html. 1905-1909. New York.
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Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
"Let him kiss me with the kissesofhis mouth;
For thy love is better than wine.
Thine oils have a goodly fragrance;
Thy name is as oil poured fourth;
Therefore do the virgins love thee.
Draw me; we will run after thee:
The king hath brought me into his chambers;
We will be glad and rejoice in thee;
We will make mention of thy love more than wine:
Rightly do they love thee."
"Let him kiss me with the kissesofhis mouth" (Song of Solomon1:1). "The
scene here is in the women's chamber of the royal house. The young bride

sings of her love for Solomon. In passionate romantic terms, she praises the
man she loves. The òils' (Song of Solomon1:3) are those with which the king
anoints himself. His name is as refreshing and soothing as oil."[1] That is one
way of viewing the passage.
Balchin understood it this way: "A number of different persons speak here.
The Shulamite, a young innocent from the country, has been thrust into the
king's harem. She is not at home. The over sensuous words of the women
grate on her sensitive ears. As they see the king approaching, they long for the
touch of his lips on theirs. The women are talking to one another about the
king. Your `love' (plural in the Hebrew) means caresses... `wine.' An apt
description of the intoxicating effect of caressing andkissing."[2]
"Your name is oil poured out" (Song of Solomon1:3). "There is a play on
words here. In Hebrew, `name' is [~shem] and òils' is semen."[3]Waddey
writes that, "His name was as refreshing and soothing as oil upon wind-burnt
skin."[4]
"St. Gregory, seeking some meaning beyond the words, wrote that, Èvery
precept of Christ is as one of his kisses.'"[5]
"Draw me. We will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his
chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee" (Song of Solomon1:4). "The
Shulamite speaks here."[6]She longs for her shepherd lover; and although he
is not present, she pleads for him to come and take her away. The better
version here reads:"Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has
brought me into his chambers."[7]This version fully supports the "two
lovers" interpretation. Note that the "us" in this place refers to the
Shulamite's true lover; and the third personreference to the king in the same
breath means that the king is not her beloved.
"The king has brought me into his chambers" (Song of Solomon1:4). The
king's chambers here are those of the king's harem.
"Let us make haste" (Song of Solomon1:4). There was always anextended
period of waiting before a woman takeninto the harem was brought into the

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