JESUS' LOVE SICKNESS

JESUS WAS CAUSING LOVE SICKNESS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Song of Solomon5:8 8
Daughters of Jerusalem, I
charge you- if you find my beloved, what will you tell
him? Tell him I am faint with love.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Lineage Of David
Ruth 4:18-22
J.R. ThomsonThis book closes with a genealogy. Readersofthe Scriptures
may sometimes have felt perplexed at the frequency with which genealogical
tables occur both in the Old Testamentand in the New. There is a sufficient
reasonfor this.
I. SCRIPTURE SANCTIONSTHE INTERESTHUMAN NATURE FEELS
IN GENEALOGY. No one is insensible to his own ancestry, especiallyif
among his progenitors have bee: men of eminence. Interest in ancestrymay be
carried too far, and may spring from, and minister to, a foolish vanity, but in
itself it is good. It is a witness to the dignity of human nature; it may be an
inspiration to worthy deeds;it may be a incentive to transmit influences of
characterand culture to posterity.
II. SCRIPTURE ATTACHES SPECIALIMPORTANCETO THE
GENEALOGYOF THE DEECENDANTSOF ABRAHAM. Israelwas the
chosenpeople, and the lineage of the tribes of Israel, and especiallyof Judah,
was a matter of national and local, but also of world wide, importance.
III. SCRIPTURE CAREFULLY RECORDSTHE GENEALOGYOF
CHRIST JESUS. He was the Son of man, the Sonof David, as well as the Son
of God. By evincing this, provision was made for commending Jesus to the
reverence of the Hebrew people; for making manifest the fulfillment of

prophecy, which was thus authenticated; for presenting the Saviorin all the
powerof his true humanity before the human race, as the objectof faith,
attachment, and devotion. Lessons:-
1. The obligations under which we individually may be laid by a pious
ancestry.
2. Our debt to posterity.
3. The claims of the Son of man upon our hearts. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
I have bought all that was Elimelech's.
Ruth 4:9
Redemption accomplished
S. H. Tyng, D. D.This passage brings to our view the greatsubject of the
gospelrevelation— redemption accomplishedin the death and resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ in human flesh for guilty man. Boaztook his
kinsman's shoes as a simple but solemn tokenof the agreementwhich he had
now assumed. He called all the inhabitants and elders of his city to witness
that he acknowledgedallthis responsibility, and was pledged to accomplish
the redemption which was thus describedand undertaken. The actual
accomplishmentof the work now depended upon the ability and the
faithfulness of Boaz. Everything now restedupon his powerand his truth.
Was it not just so with the hope of man from the day of his fail to the day of
the Saviour's manifestation and victory? He had undertaken to be man's
Redeemer. Could He, and would He fulfil the wonderful promises which He
had given, and upon which He had causedHis people to place their trust? The
history of the New Testamentanswers this all-important question. These
sacredScriptures reveal the facts of redemption accomplished;the work
undertaken completely finished; the fidelity of the Kinsman Redeemer
gloriously established;and His almighty power triumphantly made known.
This is now the greatmessageofthe gospelto guilty man. It proclaims this
accomplishedwork, and it begs man to acceptand enjoy the blessings which
are offeredin it freely and without price. Like Boaz, Jesus bought back the
whole inheritance for man. All that was lostin the first Adam is restoredby
the second. The RedeemerHimself now owns the inheritance which He has
purchased. That which was Elimelech's is now the property of Boaz. That

which was man's, and to be in the reward of man's obedience, is now Christ's,
and only to be had in the freeness and fulness of His gift. It is His own
inheritance, and He bestows it upon His people according to His will;
according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We have everything in Him.
Without Him we have nothing. He has bought back man also for Himself. His
chosenflock are His purchased possession, and are to be to the praise of His
glory for ever. But the people of Bethlehem were not merely the witnesses of
this covenantof Boaz; they were partakers of his joy. They united in their
supplications for abundant blessings upon the noble and exaltedplan which
Boazhad proclaimed. So angels, the witnessesofthe covenantof our
Redeemer, were more than silent witnessesalso. Whenthe foundation of this
wonderful work was laid in the Divine covenantthese morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shoutedfor joy. When the Saviour appeared
as babe in Bethlehemthey filled the heavens with their songs ofpraise and
prayer: "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men." When
He was travelling in the greatness ofHis strength, beneath His load of sorrow
on the earth, they ministered unto Him and strengthened Him for His work.
(S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/context/songs/5-8.htm"Song ofSolomon
5:8-9. I charge you, O daughters, &c. — The church having passedthe
watchmen, proceeds in the pursuit of her beloved, and inquires of every
particular believer, whom she meets, concerning him. Tellhim, that I am sick,
&c. — That I am ready to faint for want of his presence. Whatis thy beloved,
&c., more than another — Wherein doth he excelthem?
Believers might ask this, that they might be more fully informed of it.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary5:2-8 Churches and believers, by
carelessnessand security, provoke Christ to withdraw. We ought to notice our
spiritual slumbers and distempers. Christ knocks to awakenus, knocks by his
word and Spirit, knocks by afflictions and by our consciences;thus, Re 3:20.
When we are unmindful of Christ, still he thinks of us. Christ's love to us
should engage ours to him, even in the most self-denying instances;and we
only can be gainers by it. Carelesssouls put slights on Jesus Christ. Another
could not be sent to open the door. Christ calls to us, but we have no mind, or
pretend we have no strength, or we have no time, and think we may be

excused. Making excuses is making light of Christ. Those put contempt upon
Christ, who cannot find in their hearts to beara cold blast, or to leave a warm
bed for him. See the powerful influences of Divine grace. He put in his hand to
unbolt the door, as one wearyof waiting. This betokens a work of the Spirit
upon the soul. The believer's rising above self-indulgence, seeking by prayer
for the consolations ofChrist, and to remove every hinderance to communion
with him; these actings of the soulare representedby the hands dropping
sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the locks. Butthe Belovedwas
gone!By absenting himself, Christ will teachhis people to value his gracious
visits more highly. Observe, the soul still calls Christ her Beloved. Every
desertionis not despair. Lord, I believe, though I must say, Lord, help my
unbelief. His words melted me, yet, wretchthat I was, I made excuses. The
smothering and stifling of convictions will be very bitter to think of, when God
opens our eyes. The soul went in pursuit of him; not only prayed, but used
means, sought him in the ways wherein he used to be found. The watchmen
wounded me. Some refer it to those who misapply the word to awakened
consciences. The charge to the daughters of Jerusalem, seems to mean the
distressedbeliever's desire of the prayers of the feeblestChristian. Awakened
souls are more sensible of Christ's withdrawings than of any other trouble.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleThe bride, now awake, is seeking herbeloved. The
dream of his departure and her feelings under it have symbolized a real
emotion of her waking heart.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary8. She turns from the
unsympathizing watchmen to humbler persons, not yet themselves knowing
Him, but in the way towards it. Historically, His secretfriends in the night of
His withdrawal (Lu 23:27, 28). Inquirers may find ("if ye find") Jesus Christ
before she who has grievedHis Spirit finds Him again.
tell—in prayer (Jas 5:16).
sick of love—from an opposite cause (So 2:5) than through excess ofdelight at
His presence;now excess ofpain at His absence.
Matthew Poole's CommentaryDaughters ofJerusalem;of whom See Poole
"Song of Solomon1:5", See Poole "Song ofSolomon2:7". The church having
passedthe watchmen, and patiently borne, and in a manner forgotten, their
injuries, proceeds in the pursuit of her Beloved, and inquires of every
particular believer or professorwhom she meets concerning him.
That I am sick of love; that I am ready to faint for want of his presence, and

the tokens ofhis favour. Use all your interest and importunity with him on my
behalf.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleI charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,....
Young converts, as before observed; who, upon the hideous outcry the church
made in the streets, came to her to know what was the matter, whom she
addressedas after related; this shows the humility and condescensionofthe
church, in desiring the assistanceofweakersaints in her present case, andher
earnestnessand resolutionto make use of all ways and means she could to
find her beloved; and it becomes saints to be assisting to one another; and
conversationwith one another, even with weak believers, is often useful. And
these the church "adjures", or "causesto swear" (p); chargedthem on oath,
as they would answerit to God; which shows the strength of her love, her
sincerity, and seriousnessin her inquiry after him:
if ye find my beloved; who had but little knowledge ofhim, and communion
with him, since at present he was yet to be found by them; and it was possible,
notwithstanding, that they might find him before she did, as Christ showed
himself to Mary Magdalene, before he did to the disciples. The charge she
gave them is,
that ye tell him that I am sick of love; or, "whatshall ye", or "should ye tell
him?" (q) not her blows and wounds, the injuries and affronts she had
receivedfrom the watchmenand keepers ofthe wall; nor many things, only
this one thing, which was most on her heart, uppermost in her mind, and
under which she must die, if not relieved, "tell him that I am sick of love";
and that for him, through his absence, andher eagerlonging after him, and
the discoveries ofhis love to her; and which, though not incurable, nor a
sicknessunto death, for Christ suffers none to die through love to him, yet is a
very painful one; and is to be known by a soul's panting after Christ, and its
prodigious jealousyof his love, and by its carefulness,diligence, and industry,
to enjoy the manifestations of it. Of this love sickness;see Gill on Sol2:5.
(p) Sept. "adjuro", V. L. Pagninus, &c. (q) "quid narrabitis ei?" Pagninus,
Michaelis;"quid indicabitis ei?" Montanus, Marckius.
Geneva Study BibleI charge you, {g} O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my
beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick with love.
(g) She asks ofthem who are godly (as the law and salvationshould come out
of Zion and Jerusalem)that they would direct her to Christ.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges8. Icharge you] Better, I adjure
you, if ye find my beloved, what shall ye say unto him? That I am sick of love.
The connexionhere is difficult. The Shulammite’s loss was only in a dream,
and how canthe author representher as carrying over her dream loss into
real life? The answermade by some is, that this verse and the next contain
matter which was inserted only to introduce the description of the
Shulammite’s beloved. But even if that were the case we should still look for
some rational and intelligible transition. That canbe gotonly if we conceive of
the dream being related by the Shulammite while she is still not quite awake.
She is representedas not distinguishing betweenher dreams and reality.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 8. - I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye
find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. This appeal to the
ladies suggests thatthe bride is speaking from her place in the royal palace;
but it may be takenotherwise, as a poeticaltransference oftime and place,
from the place where the dream actually occurred, to Jerusalem. It is difficult,
in a poem of such a kind, to explain every turn of language objectively. We
cannot, however, be far wrong if we say the bride is rejoicing, in the presence
of her attendant ladies, in the love of Solomon. He has just left her, and she
takes the opportunity of relating the dream, that she may say how she cannot
bear his absence and how she adores him. The ladies enter at once into the
pleasantscheme of her fancy, and assume that they are with her in the
country place, and ready to help her to find her shepherd lover, who has
turned awayfrom her when she did not at once respond to his call. The
daughters of Jerusalemwill, of course, symbolicallyrepresent those who, by
their sympathy and by their similar relation to the object of our love, are
ready to help us to rejoice - our fellow believers.
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament2 I sleep, but
my heart keeps waking-
Hearken!my beloved is knocking:
Open to me, my sister, my love,
My dove, my perfect one;
For my head is filled with dew,
My locks (are)full of the drops of the night.
The partic. subst. clauses,Sol5:2, indicate the circumstances under which
that which is related in Sol 5:2 occurred. In the principal sentence in hist.
prose ‫קּפדּיו‬ would be used; here, in the dramatic vivacity of the description, is

found in its steadthe interject. vocem equals ausculta with the gen. foll., and a
word designating
(Note:‫קקוו‬ is knocking is not an attribute to the determinate ‫קקדּד‬ my beloved
which it follows, but a designationof state or condition, and thus acc., as the
Beirut translation renders it: "hear my beloved in the condition of one
knocking." Onthe other hand, ‫דקד‬ ‫ווקד‬ signifies "a beloved one knocking."
But "heara beloved one knocking" wouldalso be expressedacc. In classical
language, the designationof state, if the subst. to which it belongs is
indeterminate, is placed before it, e.g., "atthe gate stooda beloved one
knocking.")
state or condition added, thought of as accus. according to the Semitic syntax
(like Genesis 4:10;Jeremiah10:22; cf. 1 Kings 14:6). To sleepwhile the heart
wakes signifies to dream, for sleepand distinct consciousnesscannotbe
coexistent;the movements of thought either remain in obscurity or are
projectedas dreams. ‫רע‬ equals ‛awir is formed from ‫,רּוע‬ to be awake (in its
root cogn. to the Aryan gar, of like import in γρηγορεῖν, ἐγείρειν), in the same
way as ‫תמ‬ equals mawith from ‫.תּומ‬ The ‫ׁש‬ has here the conj. sense of "dieweil"
(because), like asherin Ecclesiastes 6:12;Ecclesiastes 8:15. The ‫ע‬ dag., which
occurs severaltimes elsewhere (vid., under Proverbs 3:8; Proverbs 14:10), is
one of the inconsistencies ofthe system of punctuation, which in other
instances does not double the ‫;ע‬ perhaps a relic of the Babylonian idiom,
which was herein more accordantwith the lingual nature of the r than the
Tiberian, which treated it as a semi-guttural. ‫,וקוק‬ a lock of hair, from ‫ץו‬
equals ‫,ץּדו‬ abscdit, follows in the formation of the idea, the analogyof ‫,עּדצו‬ in
the sense ofbranch, from ‫,עצו‬ desecuit;one so names a part which is removed
without injury to the whole, and which presents itself conveniently for
removal; cf. the oath swornby Egyptian women, laḥajât muḳṣu̇ si, "by the life
of my separated," i.e., "ofmy locks"(Lane, Egypt, etc., I 38). The word still
survives in the Talmud dialect. Of a beautiful young man who proposedto
become a Nazarite, Nedarim 9a says the same as the Jer. Horajoth iii. 4 of a
man who was a prostitute in Rome: his locks were arrangedin separate
masses, like heapupon heap; in Bereshithrabba c. lxv., under Genesis 27:11,
‫,וּוץ‬ curly-haired, is placedover against ‫,ועק‬ bald-headed, and the Syr. also
has ḳauṣoto as the designationof locks ofhair-a word used by the Peshito as
the rendering of the Heb. ‫,וקוקמ‬ as the Syro-Hexap. Job 16:12, the Greek
κόμη. ‫,לט‬ from ‫לטט‬ (Arab. ṭll, to moisten, viz., the ground; to squirt, viz.,
blood), is in Arabic drizzling rain, in Heb. dew; the drops of the night (‫,ּדסּדסע‬
from ‫,ססע‬ to sprinkle, to drizzle)

(Note:According to the primary idea: to break that which is solid or fluid into
little pieces, wherefore ‫עסּדסּדר‬ means also brokenpieces. To this root
appertains also the Arab. rashh, to trickle through, to sweatthrough, II to
moisten (e.g., the mouth of a suckling with milk), and the Aethiop. rasěḥa, to
be stained. Drops scatteredwith a sprinkling brush the Arabs call rashaḥât;
in the mystical writings, rashaḥâtel-uns (dew-drops of intimacy) is the
designationof sporadic gracious glances ofthe deity.)
are just drops of dew, for the precipitation of the damp air assumes this form
in nights which are not so coldas to become frosty. Shulamith thus dreams
that her beloved seeks admissionto her. He comes a long way and at night. In
the most tender words he entreats for that which he expects without delay. He
addresses her, "my sister," as one of equal rank with himself, and familiar as
a sisterwith a brother; "my love" (‫,)רע‬ as one freely chosenby him to intimate
fellowship; "my dove," as beloved and prized by him on accountof her purity,
simplicity, and loveliness. The meaning of the fourth designationused by him,
‫,יתמּד‬ is shownby the Arab. tam to be "wholly devoted," whence teim, "one
devoted" equals a servant, and mutajjam, desperatelyin love with one. In
addressing her tmty, he thus designates this love as wholly undivided,
devoting itself without evasionand without reserve. But on this occasionthis
love did not approve itself, at leastnot at once.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
SPURGEON
Heavenly Lovesickness!
“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, that
you tell Him that I am sick of love.”
Song of Solomon 5:8
SICK! That is a sadthing. It moves your pity. Sick of love–lovesick!That stirs
up other emotions which we shall presently attempt to explain. No doubt
certain sicknesses are peculiarto the saints–the ungodly are never visited with
them. Strange to say, these sicknesses, to which the refined sensibilities of the

children of God render them peculiarly liable, are signs of vigorous health.
Who but the Belovedof the Lord ever experience that sin sicknessin which
the soulloathes the very name of transgression, is unmoved by the
enchantments of the Tempter, finds no sweetness inits besetting sins, and
turns with detestationand abhorrence from the very thought of iniquity?
No less is it for these, and these alone, to feelthat self sicknesswherebythe
heart revolts from all creature confidence and strength, having been made
sick of self, self-seeking,self-exalting, self-reliance, andself of every sort. The
Lord afflicts us more and more with such self sicknesstill we are dead to self,
its puny conceits,its lofty aims, and its unsanctified desires. Then there is a
twofold lovesickness. Ofthe one kind is that lovesicknesswhichcomes upon
the Christian when he is transported with the full enjoyment of Jesus, evenas
the bride elatedby the favor, melted by the tenderness ofher Lord, says in the
fifth verse of the secondchapterof the Song, “Stayme with flagons, comfort
me with apples: for I am sick of love.”
The soul, overjoyed with the Divine communications of happiness and bliss
which came from Christ, the body scarcelyable to bear the excessive delirium
of delight which the soul possessed, she was so gladto be in the embraces of
her Lord that she needed to be stayed under her overpowering weightof joy.
Another kind of lovesickness,widely different from the first, is that in which
the soulis sick, not because it has too much of Christ’s love, but because ithas
not enoughpresent consciousnessofit. Sick, not of the enjoyment, but of the
longing for it. Sick, not because ofexcess ofdelight, but because ofsorrow for
an absent lover.
It is to this sickness we callyour attention this morning. This lovesickness
breaks out in two ways and may be viewed in two lights. It is, first of all, the
soul longing for a view of Jesus Christ in Grace. And then again, it is the same
soul possessing the view of Divine Grace and longing for a sight of Jesus
Christ in Glory. In both these senses we, as accuratelyas the spouse, may
adopt the languishing words, “If you find my Beloved, tell Him that I am sick
of love.”
1. First, then, let us considerour text as the language of a soul LONGING
FOR THE VIEW OF JESUS CHRIST IN GRACE.
Do you ask me concerning the sicknessitself–Whatis it? It is the sickness ofa
soul panting after communion with Christ. The man is a Believer. He is not
longing after salvationas a penitent sinner under conviction, for he is saved.
Moreover, he has love to Christ and knows it. He does not doubt his evidence
as to the reality of his affectionfor his Lord, for you see the word used is, “My

Beloved,” whichwould not be applicable if the person speaking had any doubt
about her interest.
Nor did she doubt her love, for she calls the spouse, “MyBeloved.” It is the
longing of a soul, then, not for salvation, and not even for the certainty of
salvation, but for the enjoyment of presentfellowship with Him who is her
soul’s Life, her soul’s All. The heart is panting to be brought once more under
the apple tree. To feelonce again His “left hand under her head, while His
right hand does embrace her.” She has known, in days past, what it is to be
brought into His banqueting house, and to see the banner of love waved over
her. She therefore cries to have love visits renewed.
It is a panting after communion. Gracious hours, my dear Friends, are never
perfectly at ease exceptthey are in a state of nearness to Christ. For mark
you, when they are not near to Christ, they lose their peace. The nearerto
Jesus, the nearer to the perfectcalm of Heaven. And the further from Jesus,
the nearerto that troubled sea which images the continual unrest of the
wicked. There is no peace to the man who does not dwell constantly under the
shadow of the Cross. ForJesus is our peace and if He is absent, our peace is
absent, too.
I know that being justified we have peace with God, but it is “through our
Lord Jesus Christ.” So that the justified man himself cannot reap the fruit of
justification, exceptby abiding in Christ Jesus, who is the Lord and Giver of
peace. The Christian without fellowship with Christ loses all his life and
energy. He is like a dead thing. Thoughsaved, he lies like a lumpish log–
“His soul can neither fly nor go
To reach eternaljoys.”
He is without liveliness. Yes, more, he is without animation till Jesus comes.
But when the Lord sensibly sheds abroad His love in our hearts, then His love
kindles ours. Then our blood leaps in our veins for joy, like the Baptist in the
womb of Elizabeth.
The heart when near to Jesus has strong pulsations, for since Jesus is in that
heart, it is full of life, of vigor and of strength. Peace, liveliness, vigor–all
depend upon the constantenjoyment of communion with Christ Jesus. The
soul of a Christian never knows whatjoy means in its true solidity, except
when she sits, like Mary, at Jesus'feet. Beloved, all the joys of life are nothing
to us. We have melted them all down in our crucible and found them to be
dross. You and I have tried earth’s vanities and they cannotsatisfy us. No,
they do not give a morselof meat to satiate our hunger.

Being in a state of dissatisfactionwith all mortal things, we have learned
through Divine Grace that none but Jesus, none but Jesus canmake our souls
glad. “Philosophers are happy without music,” said one of old. So Christians
are happy without the world’s goods. Christians, with the world’s goods, are
sure to bemoan themselves as naked, poor and miserable, unless their Savior
is with them. You that have evertasted communion with Christ will soon
know why it is that a soul longs after Him. What the sun is to the day, what
the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower–suchis Jesus Christ to
us.
What bread is to the hungry, clothes to the naked, the shadow of a greatrock
to the traveler in a wearyland–such is Jesus Christ to us. What the turtle is to
her mate, what the husband is to his spouse, whatthe head is to the body–such
is Jesus Christ to us. And therefore, if we have Him not, no, if we are not
conscious ofhaving Him. If we are not one with Him, no, if we are not
consciouslyone with Him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the
Song, “I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved,
tell Him that I am sick of love.” Such is the characterof this lovesickness.
We may sayof it, however, before we leave that point, that it is a sickness
which has a blessing attending it–“Blessedare they that do hunger and thirst
after righteousness.”And therefore, supremely blessedare they who thirst
after the Righteous One–afterHim who in the highest perfection embodies
pure, immaculate, spotless righteousness. Blessedis that hunger, for it comes
from God. It bears a blessing within it. For if I may not have the blessedness
in full bloom of being filled, the next best thing is the same blessednessin
sweetbud of being empty till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on
Jesus, it shall be next door to Heaven to be allowedto hunger and thirst after
Him.
There is a hallowednessaboutthat hunger since it sparkles among the
beatitudes of our Lord. Yet it is a sickness,dearFriends, which, despite the
blessing, causesmuch pain. The man who is sick after Jesus will be dissatisfied
with everything else. He will find that dainties have lost their sweetnessand
music its melody and light its brightness–life itself will be darkenedwith the
shadow of death to him–till he finds his Lord and can rejoice in Him.
Beloved, you shall find that this thirsting, this sickness–ifit ever gets hold
upon you–is attended with greatvehemence. The desire is vehement as coals
of juniper. You have heard of hunger that breaks through stone walls–but
stone walls are no prison to a soul that desires Christ. Stone walls, no, the
strongestnatural barriers, cannotkeepa lovesick heart from Jesus. Iwill
venture to say that the temptation of Heaven itself, if it could be offered to the

Believerwithout his Christ, would be as less than nothing. And the pains of
Hell, if they could be endured, would be gladly ventured upon by a lovesick
soul, if he might but find Christ.
As lovers sometimes talk of doing impossibilities for their fair ones, so
certainly a spirit that is set on Christ will laugh at impossibility and say, “It
shall be done.” It will venture upon the hardest task, go cheerfully to prison
and joyfully to death, if it may but find its Belovedand have its lovesickness
satisfiedwith His Presence. Perhaps this may suffice for a description of the
sicknesshere intended.
You may enquire concerning the cause of this lovesickness.Whatmakes a
man’s soul so sick afterChrist? Understand that it is the absence ofChrist
which makes this sicknessin a mind that really understands the preciousness
of His Presence. The spouse had been very willful and wayward, she had
takenoff her garments, had gone to her rest, her sluggishslothful rest, when
her Belovedknockedatthe door. He said “Opento Me, My Beloved. For My
head is filled with dew and My locks with the drops of the night.”
She was too slothful to wake up to let Him in. She urged excuses–“Ihave put
off my coat. How shall I put it on? I have washedmy feet. How shall I defile
them?” The Belovedstoodwaiting, but since she openednot, He put in His
hand by the hole of the lock and then her heart was moved towards Him. She
went to the door to open it and to her surprise her hands dripped with myrrh
and her fingers with sweetsmelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. There
was the token that He had been there, but He was gone. Now she began to
bestir herself and seek afterHim.
She soughtHim through the city, but she found Him not. Her soul failed her.
She calledafter Him, but He gave her no answerand the watchmen, who
ought to have helped her in the search, smote her and took awayher veil from
her. Therefore it is that now she is seeking, becauseshe has lost her Beloved.
She should have held Him fast and not have permitted Him to go. He is absent
and she is sick till she finds Him. Mingled with the sense ofabsence is a
consciousnessof wrong-doing.
Something in her seemedto say, “How could you drive Him away? That
heavenly Bridegroomwho knockedand pleaded hard, how could you keep
Him longerthere amidst the cold dews of night? O unkind heart! What if
your feet had been made to bleed by your rising? What if all your body had
seenchilled by the cold wind, when you were treading the floor? What had it
been compared with His love to you?” And so she is sick to see Him, that she

may weepout her love and tell Him how vexed she is with herself that she
should have held to Him so looselyand permitted Him so readily to depart.
So, too, mixed with this, was greatwretchedness because He was gone. She
had been for a little time easyin His absence. Thatdowny bed, that warm
coverlethad given her a peace, a false, crueland a wickedpeace. Butshe has
risen now, the watchmen have smitten her, her veil is gone and, without a
friend, the princess is desertedin the midst of Jerusalem’s streets. Hersoul
has melted for heaviness and she pours out her heart within her as she pines
after Her Lord. “No Love but my Love, no Lord but my Lord,” she says, with
sobbing tongue and weeping eyes. For none else cangratify her heart or
appease her anxiety.
Beloved, have you ever been in such a state, whenyour faith has begun to
droop and your heart and spirits have fled from you? Even then your soul was
sick for Him. You could do without Him when Mr. Carnal-Securitywas in the
house and feastedyou–but when he and his house have both been burned with
fire, the old lovesicknesscame back and you wanted Christ. Nor could you be
satisfiedtill you found Him once again. There was true love in all this and this
is the very essence ofall lovesickness.
Had not she loved, absence wouldnot have made her sick, nor would her
repentance have made her grieve. Had she not loved, there would have been
no pain because of absence andno sinking of spirits. But she did love, and
thus all this sickness. It is a delightful thing to be able to know when we have
lost Christ’s company that we do love Him–“Yes, Lord, You know all things.
You know that I love You. I did deny You. Yes, in the moment of Your
sorrow, I said, ‘I know not the Man.’ I did curse and swearthat men might
think I was no followerof Yours, but still You know all things, You know that
I love You.”
When you can feelthis, dear Friends, the consciousnessthatyou love will soon
work in you a heart-burning, so that your soul will not be satisfiedtill you can
tell out that love in the Master’s Presenceand He shall say unto you, as a
tokenof forgiveness,“FeedMy sheep.” I do not doubt that in this sickness
there had been some degree of fear. Sorrowful woman! She was half afraid
she might never find Him again. She had been about the city–where could He
be? She had sought Him on the walls and on the ramparts, but He was not
there.
In every ordinance, in every means of Divine Grace, in secretand in public
prayer, in the Lord’s Supper and in the reading of the Word, she had looked
after Him–but He was not there. And now she was half afraid that though He

might give His Presenceto others, yet never to her. And when she speaks, you
notice there is half a fear in her voice. She would not have askedothers to tell
Him if she had any assuring hope that she should meet Him herself–“Ifyou
find Him,” she seems to say, “O you true converts, you that are the real
daughters of Jerusalem. If He reveals Himself to you, though He never may to
me, do me this kindness, tell Him that I am sick of love.” There is half a fear
here and yet there is some hope. She feels that He must love her still, or else
why send a messageatall? She would surely never send this sweetmessageto
a flinty, adamantine heart, “TellHim I am sick of love,” and she remembered
when the “glancesofher eyes had ravished Him. She remembered when a
motion from her hand had made His heart melt and when one tear of her eyes
had opened all His wounds afresh. She thinks, "Perhaps He loves me still as
He loved me then, and my moans will enchain Him. My groans will constrain
Him and lead Him to my help.”
So she sends the messageto Him–“Tell Him, tell Him I am sick of love.” To
gather up the causesofthis lovesicknessin a few words, does not the whole
matter spring from relationship? She is His spouse. Canthe spouse be happy
without her belovedLord? It springs from union. She is part of Himself. Can
the hand be happy and healthy if the life-floods stream not from the heart and
from the head? Fondly realizing her dependence, she feels that she owes all to
Him and gets her all from Him. If, then, the fountain is cut off, if the streams
are dried, if the great source of all is takenfrom her, how can she but be sick?
And there is, besides this, a life and a nature in her which makes her sick.
There is a life like the life of Christ, no, her life is in Christ, it is hid with
Christ in God. Her nature is a part of the Divine nature. She is a partakerof
the Divine nature. Moreovershe is in union with Jesus and this piece divided,
as it were, from the body, wriggles like a worm cut asunder and pants to get
back to where it came from. These are the causes ofit. You will not
understand my sermonthis morning but think me raving, unless you are
spiritual men. “But the spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of
no man.”
What endeavors such lovesick souls will put forth. Those who are sick for
Christ will first send their desires to Him. Men use pigeons sometimes to send
their messages.Why, what sort of carrierpigeons do they use? The pigeon is
of no use to send anywhere but to the place from which it came, and my
desires after Christ came from Him, and so they will always go back to the
place from which they came. Theyknow the way to their own dovecot, so I
will send Him my sighs and my groans, my tears and my moans. Go, go, sweet
doves, with swift and clipping wings, and tell Him I am lovesick.

Then she would send her prayers. Ah, methinks she would say of her desires,
“Theywill never reach Him. They know the way but their wings are broken
and they will fall to the ground and never reachHim.” Yet she will send them
whether they reachHim or not. As for her prayers, they are like arrows.
Sometimes messageshave been sent into besiegedtowns bound to an arrow, so
she binds her desires upon the arrow of her prayers and then shoots them
forth from the bow of her faith. She is afraid they will never reach Him, for
her bow is slack and she knows not how to draw it with her feeble hands
which hang down.
So what does she do? She has traversed the streets. She has used the means.
She has done everything–she has sighed her heart out and emptied her soul
out in prayers. She is all wounds till He heals her. She is all a hungry mouth
till He fills her. She is all an empty brook till He replenishes her once again
and so now she goes to her companions and she says, “If you find my Beloved,
tell Him I am sick of love.” This is using the intercessionofthe saints. It is
unbelief that makes her use it, and yet there is a little faith mixed in her
unbelief. It was an unbelief but not a misbelief.
There is efficacyin the intercessionofsaints. Not of dead saints–theyhave
enough to do to be singing God’s praises in Heaven without praying for us–
but saints on earth cantake up our case. The king has his favorites. He has his
cupbearers. He has some that are admitted into greatfamiliarity with him–
give me a share in a good man’s prayers. I attribute, under God, the success
the Lord has given me to the number of souls in every quarter of the earth
who pray for me. Notyou alone, but in every land there are some that forget
me not when they draw near in their supplications.
Oh, we are so rich when we have the prayers of saints!When it is well with
you, speak for me to the Captain of the Host and if He should say to you,
“What was his message?”I have no other messagebut that of the spouse,
“TellHim I am sick of love.” Any of you who have close familiarity with
Jesus, be the messengers, be the heavenly tale-bearers betweenlovesick souls
and their Divine Lord. Tell Him, tell Him we are sick of love. And you that
cannot thus go to Him, seek the help and aid of others. But after all, as I have
said, this is unbelief though it is not misbelief, for how much better it would
have been for her to tell Him herself.
“But,” you say, “she could not find Him.” No, but if she had had faith she
would have known that her prayers could. For our prayers know where
Christ is when we do not know, or rather, Christ knows where our prayers
are–andwhen we cannotsee Him they nevertheless reachHim. A man who
fires a cannon is not expected to see all the way where the shot goes. If he has

his cannonrightly sighted and fires it, there may come on a thick fog, but the
shot will reachthe place. And if you have your hearts sighted by Divine Grace
after Christ, you may depend upon it–howeverthick the fog–the hot shot of
your prayer will reach the gates of Heaventhough you cannottell how or
where.
Be satisfiedto go to Christ yourself. If your Brothers and Sisters will go, well
and good, but methinks their proper answerto your question would be in the
language ofthe women in the sixth chapter, the first verse, “Where is your
Belovedgone, O you fairestamong women? Where is your Belovedturned
aside? That we may seek Him with you.” They will not seek Him for us they
say, but they can seek Him with us. Sometimes when there are six pair of eyes,
they will see better than one. And so, if five or six Christians seek the Lord in
company, in the PrayerMeeting, or at His Table, they are more likely to find
Him. “We will seek Him with you.”
Blessedlovesickness!We have seenits characterand its cause and the
endeavors of the soul under it. Let us just notice the comforts which belong to
such a state as this. Briefly they are these–youshallbe filled. It is impossible
for Christ to set you longing after Him without intending to give Himself to
you. It is as when a greatman prepares a feast. He first puts plates upon the
table and then afterwardthere comes the meat. Your longings and desires are
the empty plates to hold the meat. Is it likely that Christ means to mock you?
Would He have put the dishes there if He did not intend to fill them with His
oxen and with His fatlings?
He makes you long–He will certainly satisfyyour longings. Remember, again,
that He will give you Himself all the soonerfor the bitterness of your longings.
The more pained your heart is at His absence the shorter will the absence be.
If you have a grain of contentment without Christ, that will keepyou longer
tarrying. But when your soul is sick till your heart is ready to break, till you
cry, “Why tarries He? Why are His chariots so long in coming?” When your
soul faints until your Belovedspeaks to you, and you are ready to die from
your youth up, then shortly He will lift the veil from His dear face and your
sun shall rise with healing beneath His wings. Let that console you.
Then, again, when He does come, as come He will, oh, how sweetit will be!
Methinks I have the flavor in my mouth now and the fullness of the feastis yet
to come. There is such a delight about the very thought that He will come, that
the thought itself is the prelude, the foretaste of the happy greeting. What?
Will He once again speak comfortablyto me? Shall I again walk the bed of
spices with Him? Shall I ramble with Him among the groves while the flowers
give forth their sweetperfume–I shall! I shall! And even now my spirit feels

His presence by anticipation–“Orever I was aware, my soul made me like the
chariots of Amminadab.”
You know how sweetit was in the past. Beloved, what times we have had,
some of us! Oh, whether in the body or out of the body, we cannot tell–God
knows. Whatmountings! Talk you of eagles'wings? Theyare earthly pinions
and may not be comparedwith the wings with which He carried us up from
earth! Speak of mounting beyond clouds and stars?–Theywere leftfar, far
behind. We entered into the unseen, beheld the Invisible, lived in the
Immortal, drank in the Ineffable, and were blessedwith the fullness of God in
Christ Jesus, being made to sit together in heavenly places in Him.
Well, all this is to come again, “I will see you again and your heart shall
rejoice.” “Alittle while and you shall not see Me: and again, a little while and
you shall see Me.” “In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment. But
with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your
Redeemer.” Think of this! Why, we have comfort even in this lovesickness!
Our heart, though sick, is still whole, while we are panting and pining after
the Lord Jesus–
“O love Divine, how sweetYou are,
When shall I find my willing heart
All takenup with You?
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
The fullness of redeeming love–
The love of Christ to me.”
II. And now, secondly, with as great brevity as we can, this lovesickness may
be seenin A SOUL LONGING FOR A VIEW OF JESUS IN HIS GLORY.
And here we will considerthe complaint itself for a moment. This ailment is
not merely a longing after communion
“When I have tastedof the grapes,
I sometimes long to go
Where my dear Lord the vineyard keeps
And all the clusters grow.”
It is the enjoyment of Eshcol’s first fruits which makes us desire to sit under
our own vine and our own fig tree before the Throne of God in the blessed
land.
Beloved, this sickness is characterizedby certain marked symptoms. I will tell
you what they are. There is a loving and a longing, a loathing and a

languishing. Happy soul that understands these things by experience. There is
a loving in which the heart cleaves to Jesus–
“Do not I love You from my soul?
Then let me nothing love–
Deadbe my heart to every joy
When Jesus cannotmove.”
A sense of His beauty! An admiration of His charms! A consciousness ofHis
infinite perfection! Yes!Greatness, goodnessand loveliness, in one
resplendent ray combine to enchant the soultill it is so ravished after Him
that it cries with the spouse, “Yes, He is altogetherlovely. This is my Beloved
and this is my Friend, O you daughters of Jerusalem.” Sweetloving is this–a
love which binds the heart with chains of more than silkensoftness and yet
more firm than adamant.
Then there is a longing. She loves Him so that she cannot endure to be absent
from Him. She pants and pines. You know it has been so with saints in all
ages–wheneverthey have begun to love they have always begun to long after
Christ. John, the most loving of spirits, is the author of those words which he
so frequently uses–“Comequickly, even so, come quickly.” “Come quickly,” is
sure to be the fruit of earnestlove. See how the spouse puts it–“O that You
were as my brother, that suckedthe breasts of my mother! When I should
find You without, I would kiss You. Yes, I should not be despised.”
She longs to get hold of Him. She cannot conclude her song without saying,
“Make haste, my Belovedand be You like to a roe or to a young hart upon the
mountains of spices.” There is a longing to be with Christ. I would not give
much for your religion if you do not long to be with the Objectof your heart’s
affections. Thencomes a loathing. When a man is sick with the first
lovesickness, then he does not loathe–itis, “Stayme with flagons, comfort me
with apples.” When a man has Christ, he can enjoy other things. But when a
man is longing after Christ and seeking afterChrist, he loathes everything
else–he cannotbearanything besides.
Here is my messageto Jesus–“TellHim”–what? Do I want crowns and
diadems? Crowns and diadems are nothing to me. Do I want wealthand
health and strength? They are all very well in their way. No–“TellHim, tell
the Belovedof my soul that I grieve after Himself–His gifts are good–Iought
to be more grateful for them than I am, but let me see His face. Let me hear
His voice. I am sick of love, and nothing but that cansatisfy me, everything
else is distastefulto me.”

And then there is a languishing. Since she cannotget the societyof Christ–
cannot as yet behold Him on His Throne nor worship Him face to face–she is
sick until she can. For a heart so seton Christ will walk about traversing
highway and by-way, resting nowhere till it finds Him. As the needle once
magnetized will never be easyuntil it finds the pole, so the heart once
Christianized never will be satisfieduntil it rests on Christ–rests on Him, too,
in the fullness of the beatific vision before the Throne. This is the characterof
the lovesickness.
As to its Object–whatis that? “TellHim that I am sick of love.” But what is
the sicknessfor? Brethren, when you and I want to go to Heaven I hope it is
the true lovesickness. Icatchmyself sometimes wanting to die and be in
Heaven for the sake ofrest. But is not that a lazy desire? There is a sluggish
wish that makes me long for rest. Perhaps we long for the happiness of
Heaven–the harps and crowns. There is a little selfishness in that, is there not?
Allowable, I grant you. But is not there a little like selfishness?Perhaps, we
long to see dear children, beloved friends that have gone before. But there is a
little of the earthy there.
The soul may be as sick as it will, without rebuke, when it is sick to be with
Jesus. You may carry this to its utmost extent without either sin or folly. What
am I sick with love for? For the pearly gates?–No.But for the pearls that are
in His wounds. What am I sick for? For the streets of gold?–No.But for His
head which is as much fine gold. Am I sick for the melody of the harps and
angelic songs?–No.But for the melodious notes that come from His dear
mouth. What am I sick for? Forthe nectarthat angels drink?–No. But for the
kisses ofHis lips.
What am I sick for? For the manna on which heavenly souls feed?–No. But
for Himself, who is the meat and drink of His saints. Himself! Himself! My
soul pines to see HIM! Oh, what a Heaven to gaze upon! What bliss to talk
with the Man, the God, crucified for me! To weepmy heart out before Him.
To tell Him how I love Him, for He loved me and gave Himself for me. To
read my name written on His hands and on His side–yes, andto let Him see
that His name is written on my heart in indelible lines. To embrace Him, oh,
what an embrace when the creature shall embrace His God–to be forever so
close to Him that not a doubt, nor a fear, nor a wandering thought can come
betweenmy souland Him forever!–
“Foreverto behold Him shine,
Forevermore to callHim mine,
And see Him still before me.
Foreveron His face to gaze,

And meet His full assembledrays,
While all the Father He displays
To all the saints in Glory.”
What else can there be that our spirit longs for? This seems an empty thing to
worldlings, but to the Christian this is Heaven summed up in a word–“To be
with Christ, which is far better,” than all the joys of earth. This is the Object,
then, of this lovesickness.
Do you ask what are the excitements of this sickness? Whatis it that makes
the Christian long to be at Home with Jesus? There are many things. There
are sometimes some very little things that seta Christian longing to be at
Home. You know the old story of Swiss soldiers, thatwhen they have enlisted
into foreign service they never will permit the band to play the “Ranz des
Vaches”–the Song ofthe Cows, becauseas soonas everthe Swiss hears the
Song of the Cows, he thinks of his own dear Alps and the bells upon the cows'
necks and the strange calls of the herd-boys, as they sing to one another from
the mountain peaks.
And he grows sick and ill with homesickness. So if you were banished, if you
were takenprisoner or a slave, why, to hear some note of one of old England’s
songs would setyour spirit pining for home, and I do confess, whenI hear you
sing sometimes–
“Jerusalem!My happy home!
Name ever dear to me;
When shall my labors have an end,
In joy and peace and you?”
It makes me say, “You daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, tell
Him that I am sick of love.” It is the song of home that brings the
homesickness.
We remember what He used to be to us, what sweetvisits we have had from
Him. Then we get sick to be always with Him. But, best of all, when we are in
His presence, whenour soul is overjoyed with His delights–whenthe great
deep sea of His love has rolled over the mast-headof our highest thoughts and
the ship of our spirit has gone right down, foundering at sea in the midst of an
oceanof delights–ah, then its highest, its deepestthought is, “O that I may
always be with Him, in Him, where He is, that I might behold His Glory: the
Glory which His Father gave Him, and which He has given me, that I may be
one with Him, world without end.”
I do believe, Brothers and Sisters, that all the bitters and all the sweets make a
Christian when he is in a healthy state, sick after Christ–the sweets make his

mouth waterfor more sweetsand the bitters make him pant for the time when
the lastdregs of bitterness shall be over. Wearying temptations, as well as rapt
enjoyments all set the spirit on the wing after Jesus.
Well now, Friends, what is the cure of this lovesickness? Is it a sicknessfor
which there is any specific remedy? There is only one cure that I know of, but
there is some relief. A man that is sick after Christ, longs to be with Him and
pants for the better land, singing as we did just now–
“Father, I long, I faint to see
The place of Your abode.”
He must have the desire realized, before the thirst of his fever will be relieved.
There are some reliefs and I will recommend them to you.
Such, for example, is a strong faith that realizes the day of the Lord and the
Presence ofChrist, as Moses beheldthe promised land and the goodly
heritage, when he stoodon the top of Pisgah. If you do not get Heaven when
you want it, you may attain to that which is next door to Heaven and this may
bear you up for a little season. If you cannotget to behold Christ face to face,
it is a blessedmake-shift for the time to see Him in the Scriptures and to look
at Him through the glass ofthe Word. These are reliefs, but I warn you, I
warn you of them. I do not mean to keepyou from them–use them as much as
ever you can–but I warn you from expecting that it will cure that lovesickness.
It will give you ease but it will make you more sick still, for he that lives on
Christ gets more hungry after Christ. As for a man being satisfiedand
wanting no more when he gets Christ–why he wants nothing but Christ it is
true, and in that sense he will never thirst. But he wants more and more and
more and more of Christ. To live on Christ is like drinking seawater, the more
you drink the more thirsty you grow. There is something very satisfying in
Christ’s flesh–youwill never hunger except for that–but the more you eatof it
the more you want. And he that is the heartiestfeasterand has eatenthe most,
has the best appetite for more.
Oh, strange is this, but so it is. That which we would think would remove the
lovesicknessand is the beststay to the soul under it, is just that which brings it
on more and more. But there is a cure, there is a cure and you shall have it
soon–a black draught and in it a pearl–a black draught called Death. You
shall drink it, but you shall not know it is bitter, for you shall swallow it up in
victory! There is a pearl, too, in it–melted in it. Jesus died as well as you, and
as you drink it, that pearl shall take awayall ill effectfrom the tremendous
draught.

You shall say, “O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your
victory?” When you have once drank that black draught, you are secure
againstthat lovesicknessforever. Forwhere are you? No pilgrimage, no weary
flight through cold ether. You are with Him in Paradise!Do you hear that,
Soul? You are with Him in Paradise, neverto be separated, notfor an instant!
Neverto have a wandering thought, not one!Never to find your love waning
or growing cold again! Neverto doubt His love to you any more! Never more
to be vexed and tempted by sighing after what you cannotview. You shall be
with Him, where He is–
“Farfrom a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in.”
Till then, Beloved, let us strive to live near the Cross. Those two mountains,
Calvary and Zion, stand right opposite one another. The eye of faith can
sometimes almostspan the interval. And the loving heart, by some deep
mystery of which we can offer you no solution, will often have its sweetest
rapture of joy in the fellowship of His griefs. So have I found a satisfactionin
the wounds of a crucified Jesus, whichcan only be excelledby the satisfaction
I have yet to find in the sparkling eyes of the same Jesus glorified. Yes. The
same Jesus!
Well spoke the angels on Mount Olivet–“This same Jesus, whichis taken up
from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seenHim go
into Heaven.” This same Jesus!My Soul coats onthe words! My lips are fond
of repeating them. This same Jesus!–
“If in my soul such joy abounds
While weeping faith explores His wounds,
How glorious will those sears appear,
When perfect bliss forbids a tear?
Think, O my Soul, if it is so sweet
On earth to sit at Jesus'feet,
What must it be to weara crown
And sit with Him upon His Throne?”
Would to God you all had this lovesickness!I am afraid many of you have it
not. May He give it to you. But oh, if there is a soul here that wants Jesus, he is
welcome!If there is one heart here that says, “Give me Christ,” you shall have
your desire. Trust Jesus Christ and He is yours. Rely upon Him. You are His.
God save you and make you sick of vanities, sick after verities–pining even
unto sicknessfor Jesus Christ, the Belovedof my soul, the sum of all my hope,

the sinner’s only Refuge and the praise of all His saints, to whom be
everlasting glory. Amen.
COFFMAN
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE ALLEGORY
The Church is indeed married to Christ; but the Bridegroom has been taken away (Matthew
9:15); this is beautifully symbolized here by the absence of the Shepherd. The mistreatment of
the maiden stands for the persecutions, hatred, and bitterness of the world against the Bride of
Christ (His Church). Her being wounded speaks of the martyrdoms of the faithful. The maiden's
crying after her beloved speaks of the fidelity of the Church to the Christ in his absence. We
hardly need to be reminded that, "We must with many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God
(Acts 14:22)."
The function of this dream in the narrative is thus clear enough. It speaks of the absence of the
bridegroom, and the certainty of his identity with the Shepherd. Did not Christ say, "I am the
Good Shepherd." Any alleged absence of Solomon here is an absurdity. It is the Good Shepherd
who is in heaven where He is absent from the Church, his earthly bride.
Cook mentioned the Jewish understanding of the dream as a symbol of, "Israel's condition in the
Babylonian captivity, when the glories and privileges of Solomon's Temple were no more."Cross
ReferenceBarnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989 reprint
of 1878 Edition), Song of Solomon, p. 130." tooltipEnable="true"[11] Some Christian
interpreters saw the bride's sleep as the lethargy and indolence of the Church following the Great
Persecutions."Cross ReferenceThe Anchor Bible Commentary, Vol. 7c, p. 514."
tooltipEnable="true"[12] Pope also mentioned a scholar (Gordis) who took the whole passage
from Song of Solomon 5:2-
6://www.studylight.org/desk/index.cgi?q1=Song%20of%20Solomon+5:2&t1=en_nas3 as a
dream song.Cross ReferenceIbid., p. 515." tooltipEnable="true"[13] That would classify the
whole passage as a dream and also ease some of the difficulties of interpretation. "Any absurdity
can happen in a dream"! Nevertheless, we go along with Cook on this. He said of verse 8, "The
bride wakes up here."Cross ReferenceBarnes' Notes on the Old Testament, op. cit., p. 131."
tooltipEnable="true"[14]
The following somewhat lengthy paragraph reaching through Song of Solomon 6:3 is interpreted
by Jewish writers as, "An allegory of Israel in captivity praising God, `by the waters of Babylon.'
Christian interpreters apply it directly to the Incarnate Son of God."Cross ReferenceIbid."
tooltipEnable="true"[15]
BRUCE HURT MD
Shulammite...
Song 5:8 "I adjure (Lxx = orkizo = solemnly implore, give a command under oath) you, O

daughters of Jerusalem (picture), If you find my beloved, As to what you will tell him: For
I am lovesick."
NET - O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you– If you find my beloved, what will you
tell him? Tell him that I am lovesick!
NLT - Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem-- If you find my lover, tell him I am
weak with love. Young Women of Jerusalem
She told her friends to tell her husband if they found him to let him know she wanted his love
again
In many cultures there is an important distinction between the functions of right and left hands.
hand used for eating, shaking hands, touching, caressing, while reserved “unclean” tasks. This
probably applied biblical times, so it only logical that young man’s under woman’s head, his
caresses her. (Ogden, G. S., & Zogbo, L. A Handbook on Song songs. UBS series. New York:
United Bible Societies)
I adjure you- This phrase translates the Hebrew verb normally associated with making an oath
and here calls upon the maidens to make a solemn promise. In the Old Testament the person
swearing an oath does so by calling on a divine being or power, or even some part of the body
(cf Amos 8.14; Mt 5.36) in this way the oath-takers indicating how serious they are about
fulfilling what has been promised. The young woman is seeking their help to find her beloved
and tell him she was lovesick.
Lovesick - Literally "sick of love" which in context denotes "lovesick." The Beloved was
physically/emotionally sick because of her unrequited love for him. The Septuagint (Lxx) reads
"I am wounded with love" where the Greek verb titrosko means inflicted with a wound, injured,
damaged, and in context is used here to picture damage to her inner being. The Shulammite is
expressing a strong emotion.
In Song 2:5 she was lovesick at the presence of love, but here she is lovesick by the absence of
love!
Kinlaw - There is a realism in the Song that merits our respect. The course of true love seldom
runs smoothly for long. For every moment of ecstasy, there seems to be the moment of hurt and
pain.
Daughters of Jerusalem...
Song 5:9 "What kind of beloved is your beloved, O most beautiful among women? What
kind of beloved is your beloved, that thus you adjure (Lxx = orkizo = solemnly implore, give
a command under oath) us?"
WHAT'S SO SPECIAL
ABOUT HIM?
NET - Why is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful of women? Why is your
beloved better than others, that you would command us in this manner?
NLT - Why is your lover better than all others, O woman of rare beauty? What makes
your lover so special that we must promise this?
Beautiful (03303 - ‫י‬ ָ‫ֶפ‬‫ה‬) (yapheh) is an adjective meaning lovely, beautiful, describing beauty of
women (Ge 12:11, 14, 2Sa 13:1, Esther 2:7).

Constable on Song 5:9-16 - This pericope contains the most extensive physical description of
any character in the Old Testament, namely, Solomon. Of course, it is poetic and so not a
completely literal description. We might hear this attitude expressed in these words today: “What
is so great about him? Surely you could find someone who would treat you better than he does!”
(Ibid)
Carr - Love songs describing the physical beauty of the beloved are common in the ancient Near
East, but most of them describe the female. Such detailed description of the male, as here, is
seldom recorded. (Ibid)
POSB - The king’s wife then went to her friends to seek their help with her dilemma (v.8). She
asked them to swear that, if they found her husband, they would intercede on her behalf. She
instructed them to tell him that she loved him very, very much—that she was actually sick with
love for him. She wanted her husband to know that she was passionately in love with him and
that she desired him.....Take note of the friends’ response to her urgent plea (v.9). They were
very skeptical about Solomon. To paraphrase, they asked, “What is so special about Solomon?
Why do you want us to do this? Why do you care?” This attitude is markedly different from their
earlier feelings for their king (Song 1:3-4). What changed their admiration and affection for
Solomon to scorn? Their response to the queen’s request could be seen as sarcasm and mockery,
but that does not fit the context. Solomon’s taking of additional queens and concubines offers a
more realistic explanation for the change in their feelings: The Shulamite was their friend. They
had been happy for her, and rejoiced with her that the king had chosen her. They had contributed
a special, personal gift to their wedding (Song 3:10). They had once had the highest hopes for a
lifetime of bliss for their friend, but Solomon had turned out to be a philanderer, or adulterer. He
had broken her heart. He was no different from the pagan kings of the east who lustily and
pridefully collected women like they collected horses. Their reference to their friend as the
fairest or most beautiful of women fits into this line of reasoning. The daughters of Jerusalem
were not mocking the queen. They were reminding her how he had wooed her before they were
married. No doubt, this reference added insult to the injuries Solomon had already afflicted upon
her heart. They were also speaking the truth when they said the queen was beautiful, for she was
the most beautiful among the women. This was how the king had treated her. (Ibid)
Shulammite...
Song 5:10 "My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
SHE HEAPS UP PRAISE
FOR HER BELOVED
NET - My beloved is dazzling and ruddy; he stands out in comparison to all other men.
NLT - My lover is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand others!
Clearly the young woman loved her husband and did not take this opportunity to belittle him or
denigrate him to her friends. Instead she heaps compliments upon him from head to toe!
Criswell - This section is the only occasion in which the Shulamite praises the physical
appearance of her lover. She delights in his appearance, moving downward in her description
from the top of his head to his legs. Overall he is handsome in both appearance and character,
outwardly and inwardly. It is especially wonderful that she can call him her lover and her friend
(Song 5:16). Such a valuable lesson should not go unnoticed if we would cultivate a marriage
that is fulfilling and joyous.

Dazzling (06703 - ‫ק‬ַ‫)צ‬ (sah) is a Hebrew adjective which means glowing, radiant, beaming,
pertaining to shining beauty or handsomeness. The Lxx translates sah with the adjective leukos
which describe that which is characterized by bright light, so bright it appears white brilliant,
shining, radiant. Leukos was used to describe clothes (Mt 17:2), the hair of the glorified Lord
(Rev 1:14), clouds (Rev 14:14), of skin as white or fair (Liddell-Scott).
Dazzling and ruddy - compare verb form of sah in Lam 4:7. The exact meaning of these is
somewhat obscure but clearly in the ancient world described attractive features.
Ruddy (0122 - ‫א‬ָ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ם‬g) (adom) means red or ruddy (the stew Esau bought from Jacob - Ge 25:30),
red heifer (Nu 19:2), as red as blood (2Ki 3:22), apparel of prophetic picture of Messiah (Isa
63:2), red horse (Zech 1:8, 6:2). The Lxx translates adom with the adjective purros which
means having the color of fire (red).
Guzik on ruddy - “Most commentators take this simply as the normal complexion of a healthy
young man.” According to Carr, the ancient Hebrew word is adom, and Carr says: “The Hebrew
noun adam, ‘man’, is a more likely source for the term here, in which case, her lover is ‘manly’.”
(Ibid)
Kinlaw - The metaphors are ancient Near Eastern ones, but the import is clear: he is one in ten
thousand.
Shulamite (young woman)...
Song 5:11 "His head is like gold, pure gold; His locks are like clusters of dates, And black
as a raven.
NET - His head is like the most pure gold. His hair is curly– black like a raven.
NLT - His head is finest gold, his wavy hair is black as a raven.
HER BELOVED DESCRIBED
FROM HEAD TO TOE
Head...gold - Speaks of his value to her. He is very prized by her.
Henry Morris - The regal appearance of Solomon's head was appropriate for a king; his wavy
black hair likewise.
Locks...black as raven - Reminds us his description of her hair (Song 4:1).
See articles on clusters of dates, raven.
Constable - the Shulammite still loved Solomon very much, as is clear from her description of
him here. The comparisons illustrate his value and attractiveness to her more than giving us a
picture of his actual physical appearance.....Some features in her description may be purely
physical such as his black hair (v. 11). These verses show that a woman has the right to enjoy her
husband’s body (cf. 1 Cor. 7:4). (Ibid)
She paints a picture of her beloved with numerous terms of comparison - Like gold...like
clusters of dates...like doves...like a bed of balsam...like Lebanon. The Song of Solomon
makes liberal use of terms of comparison // similes // metaphors. A simile is easily identified
by a preceding "as" or "like." As is used in 9v - Song 5:6, 8, 11, 15; 6:4, 10, 13; 8:6, 10. Like is
used 47x in 36v (some represent additions by the translators) - Song 1:3, 5, 7, 9, 15; 2:2, 3, 9, 17;
3:6; 4:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11; 5:11, 12, 13, 15; 6:5, 6, 7, 10; 7:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9; 8:1, 6, 10, 14. Ask the
Spirit, your Teacher to guide you in the correct interpretation of these terms of comparison and

this should greatly assist your understanding of this great love letter. In addition to numerous
similes, the Shulammite also uses many metaphors to paint a picture of the wonderful
appearance of her lover. See Solomon's description of the Shulammite.
Song 5:12 "His eyes are like doves, beside streams of water, bathed in milk, and reposed in
their setting.
NET - His eyes are like doves by streams of water, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
NLT - His eyes sparkle like doves beside springs of water; they are set like jewels
washed in milk.
Eyes like doves - Compare his description of her (Song 1:5, 4:1). The meaning is not clear -
perhaps his eyes spoke of his gentle, peaceful character. See articles on doves
Bathed in milk - pictures the colored (? grey) pupils of his eyes set off by the surrounding white
of his eyes.
Reposedin their setting - Mounted like jewels.
POSB - "By the rivers of water” describes the eyes as glistening and sparkling. “Washed with
milk” portrays the brightness of the whites of his eyes in contrast to his dark pupils. Pastor and
marriage conference speaker Tommy Nelson says this is a reference to his sobriety. His eyes
were not red or bloodshot from a life of debauchery. His eyes were neither deep-set nor bulging,
neither close-set nor broad. They were perfectly mounted like precious stones, and they adorned
his appearance like jewels. (Ibid)
Song 5:13 "His cheeks are like a bed of balsam, banks of sweet-scentedherbs; His lips are
lilies, dripping with liquid myrrh.
NET - His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees yielding perfume. His lips are
like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.
NLT - His cheeks are like gardens of spices giving off fragrance. His lips are like lilies,
perfumed with myrrh.
His cheeks are like a bed of balsam - "They looked glowing and appealing. His cheeks both
looked and smelled pleasant, so she loved his natural scent as well as his cologne (Song 1:3)."
(POSB)
Balsam (01314 - ‫א‬ ָ‫ש‬ָ‫)ם‬ (besem) noun designating spice, balsam; fragrance, perfume which was
highly prized. See Balsam.
Lips are lilies, dripping with liquid - myrrh - Soft, inviting, kisses sweet.
Carr on lips...dripping with liquid myrrh - Delitzsch understands this to describe the words
the lover speaks, but the frequent use of the ‘kissing’ image in the Song (e.g. 1:2) suggests this as
a better interpretation here. (Ibid)
See balsam, lilies, myrrh.
Song 5:14 "His hands are rods of gold set with beryl; His abdomen is carved ivory Inlaid
with sapphires.

NET - His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite. His abdomen is like polished
ivory inlaid with sapphires.
NLT - His arms are like rounded bars of gold, set with beryl. His body is like bright
ivory, glowing with lapis lazuli.
Carr on hands - The Hebrew plural form here forbids the meaning (of hand - yad) discussed in
Song 5:4. (Ibid)
His abdomen is carved ivory Inlaid with sapphires - Probably refers to Solomon's "six pack"
stomach, but the meaning of inlaid with sapphires is obscure.
See articles on beryl; ivory, sapphires.
Song 5:15 "His legs are pillars of alabaster set on pedestals (bases) of pure gold; His
appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
NET - His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like
Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
NLT - His legs are like marble pillars set in sockets of finest gold. His posture is stately,
like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
Legs are pillars of alabaster - Both words imply strength.
Ryrie on pillars of alabaster - He was strong. His entire appearance was as impressive as the
cedars of Lebanon.
Set on pedestals (bases) of pure gold - His sandals which may indeed have been pure gold.
Choice as the cedars - Tall, strong and majestic like the famous cedars of Lebanon (cp Amos
2:9)
POSB - Solomon embodied the ideal male image of tall, dark, and handsome! (Ibid)
Song 5:15 - See articles on alabaster, Lebanon, cedars.
Song 5:16 "His mouth is full of sweetness. And he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved
and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem (picture)."
NET - His mouth is very sweet; he is totally desirable. This is my beloved! This is my
companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!
NLT - His mouth is sweetness itself; he is desirable in every way. Such, O women of
Jerusalem, is my lover, my friend. Young Women of Jerusalem
TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME:
BEYOND COMPARISON!
His mouth is full of sweetness - Could refer to his speech and we know Solomon was skilled
with words writing many wise words down as proverbs. Some think this refers to his kisses as
"sweet."
Wholly desirable - This sums up her accolades for her beloved. As the NET says he was "totally
desirable." He was everything she could ever desire in a man.

My beloved...my friend - Her lover and her friend is a good template for a satisfying marriage.
Is your spouse your lover and your best friend? As we might say today, they were "soul mates."
The Septuagint translates friend (rea) with the adverb plesion meaning near or close by and thus
one near by, a good description to which all married couples should aspire! Too often it is "far
away" (not physically, but in heart, mind and emotions -- a marriage covenant should not be that
way beloved! We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, continually seeking to
manifest to each other, to our children and to the watching world that glorious "one flesh"
relationship!)
Carr on friend (07453 - ַ‫ּדי‬‫()ע‬rea) - A common Old Testament word, rea expresses
companionship and friendship without the overtones of sexual partnership … friendship goes far
deeper than mere sexual compatibility and excitement. Happy is the husband or wife whose
spouse is also a friend.
Kinlaw adds that "The Song of Solomon is unabashedly erotic. Yet it is never satisfied to be
content with the physical alone. A normal person finds the erotic ultimately meaningful only if
there is trust and commitment, delight in the other’s person as well as in their body. The writer of
the Song understands this. Our hero is her lover, but he is more: he is her friend.”
Tim Jackson alludes to the Song of Solomon in his column "Answers to Tough Questions",
specifically in his discussion of the question is "What's the purpose of sex?" - In the Song of
Solomon, the husband's description of his bride's body (Song of Solomon 4:1-15) and her
description of his (Song 5:10-16) reveals the joy of love and sexual intimacy that God extols for
a married couple. While sexual intimacy between a couple is not to be observed by anyone
outside of the relationship, God, the One who sees and knows all, must smile with delight when
He sees two of His children enjoying the good gift of sex He has given to them. (What's the
purpose of sex - Answers to Tough Questions)
Guzik brings this section very "close to home" observing that "A wife may think that this is the
kind of man she could love; but she should probably remember that at one time, her husband was
this kind of man. She can see him that way again. Instead of thinking “I deserve better than him,”
she started being amazed at what she once had and still does. Of course, the exact same
reasoning applies to a husband in reference to his wife." (Ibid)
TODAY IN THE WORD - According to a story in the Christian Reader by Ida Pardue, shortly
before four-year-old Kathie was to serve as a flower girl in a wedding, her mother told her: “The
next time you see Kim, she’ll be radiant.” During the wedding, Kathie watched the bride with a
growing sense of disappointment. When she couldn’t contain herself any longer, the little girl
went up to the bride, pulled at her gown to get her attention, and demanded, “Kim, when are you
going to glow?”
One of the highlights of any wedding is the moment when the bride first appears. The music
swells, the congregation rises, and the groom looks down the aisle to see the one he loves
dressed in a “radiant” gown.
In today’s passage, it is the groom who is described as “radiant,” a Hebrew word that literally
means “dazzling.” Like David his father, Solomon is also characterized as “ruddy.” This was a
mark of physical attractiveness in Solomon’s day (cf. 1 Sam. 16:12). The bride admires
Solomon’s dark hair and beautiful eyes, commenting on her beloved’s physical features from
head to toe.

Some commentators have interpreted this image of Christ in her description. But we shouldn’t
think of this as a picture of His physical appearance, or we’ll miss the powerful imagery of
Christ as our Bridegroom. Just as the bride was overwhelmed when she saw the one she loved in
his splendor, we too will be overcome when we see Christ in His glory (Rev. 1:13–17).
What is the most beautiful sight you have ever witnessed? Perhaps it was a beautiful sunset or
waterfall that you saw while on vacation. It may have been the look on someone’s face when
they opened a special gift from you. Or it may have been the moment when your spouse first
came into view on the day of your wedding.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/song_of_solomon_commentary_5#5:8
him I am lovesick: The maiden’s plea to the daughters of Jerusalem shows that she came to
regret and suffer under her previous actions. Now she was lovesick, but not at all in same sense
as previously mentioned in Song of Solomon 2:5. Previously she was overwhelmed by the
presence of love; here she was aching at its absence.
i. “There is a realism in the Song that merits our respect. The course of true love seldom runs
smoothly for long. For every moment of ecstasy, there seems to be the moment of hurt and pain.”
(Kinlaw)
ii. By application to spiritual life, we may say that there are some sicknesses that are unique to
the saints:
· Sin-sickness, when the soul hates sin and wants nothing to do with it.
· Self-sickness, when the soul comes to hate self-indulgence, self-seeking, self-exalting, and self-
reliance of every sort.
· Love-sickness of the first type, when the believer is so deeply moved by the love of God that
they feel they can hardly bear it.
· Love-sickness of the second type, when the believer feels distanced from or deserted by Jesus,
and longs for a renewed sense of closeness.
iii. Spurgeon described this second type of lovesickness in this way: “It is the longing of a soul,
then, not for salvation, and not even for the certainty of salvation, but for the enjoyment of
present fellowship with him who is her soul’s life, her soul’s all… It is a panting after
communion.” (Spurgeon)
JOHN DUMMELOW
ALAN CARR
Song of Solomon 5:8-16

HE’S ALL THAT…AND SOMUCH MORE!
Intro: The Song of Solomon is only one of two books in the Bible that does not mention God.
The other is the book of Esther. This omission has caused the book to be viewed as controversial.
Some question why this book is even included in the canon of Scripture. Yet, the Jews have
accepted it as inspired Scripture for thousands of years.
They see within its pages an allegory of the relationship between Israel and Jehovah. They view
this book as a symbolic illustration of God’s love for the Jewish people.
Christians take a somewhat different viewpoint. Many Christian theologians look at the Song of
Solomon as an allegory of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Bride, the church.
I think there is enough in the book to satisfy both viewpoints, while there are problems with both
as well.
In my opinion, this book is a love story. It was written to chronicle the passionate love between a
man and his bride. There are some typological teachings in the book, but for the most part, it is a
factual story of genuine love. By the way, it is a beautiful picture of how married love is to be
exercised and enjoyed by a married couple.
Be that as it may, there is no doubt that there are pictures of our Lord painted on the canvas of
this book. In these verses, we have one of the clearest and brightest.
In 5:2-7 the bridegroom comes to the bedchamber of his bride. He has come to spent time with
the love of his life. When he arrives, she is sleeping and does not wish to get up to let him in, v.
3. He longs for her and reaches in through an opening in the door in an effort to plead with her,
v. 4. Her heart is stirred by his love for her and she rises to allow him to enter, v. 5-6a, but he has
already gone away, v. 6b. She calls him; she looks for him, but she cannot find him, v. 6. While
she searches for him in the late night, she is mistaken for a woman of the evening by the city
guards and she is mistreated,
v. 7.
Before I get to what I want to preach about, let me just mention the wealth of truth contained in
this image. How many times has Jesus come to us longing for our attention, our love; just to
spend a little time with us? How many times have we turned Him away? Maybe we were too
busy. Maybe we were too caught up in our own selves to bother with Him. Maybe the timing
was inconvenient for us. Whatever the reason, He came to us and we turned Him away. That
happens far more than it should! When the heavenly Bridegroom comes to us wanting he
attention of His Bride, we should lay aside everything to spend time with the Lover of our souls!
Who knows what we have missed by not being receptive to His advances. We turn Him away,
but we think that He should always be ready to meet with us when we want Him. It doesn’t
always work that way! When He calls to us, He wants us to respond to His call. He wants us to
spend time with Him willingly!
The bride cannot find her bridegroom, and she is mistreated and misunderstood by those who do
not understand their relationship.
According to
verse 2 she is recounting a dream. This dream is so vivid that it awakens a desire within her heart
for her beloved. In an effort to find him, she enlists the help of some of the other young women

in town, v. 8. She wants them to help her find him. She wants them to tell him when they do that
she is lovesick over him, and misses him greatly.
Their response is one of sarcasm, v. 9. They say, “
What makes him so special? What does he have going for him that makes him so much better
than other men?”
That is just the opening the bride needs! She is so filled with love for her beloved that she begins
to tell them why he is so great.
There is a slang term that has been in use for a while, I suppose it still is. It is used when
someone or something is better than anything or anyone else. The expression I am referring is
“all that”. When someone is “all that”, they are “of a superior nature; wonderful or attractive.”
So, for us older folks, if you ever hear a young person say that someone is “all that and a bag of
potato chips”; what they mean is this: “That person is over the top. They are in a league by
themselves.” In the 50’s they were “
dreamy”. In the 60’s they were “
groovy”. In the seventies they were “
hip”. In the 80’s they were “
cool”. In the 90’s they were “
awesome”. Today, they are “all that”. Got it? OK!
If the Shulamite woman was here today and we asked her to tell us why he beloved was so
special, she might just look at us and say, “
He’s all that!”
I want to take this bride’s description of her bridegroom and talk about our Savior. What she had
to say about her beloved has much to teach us about our Beloved. I want to preach on the thought
He’s All That…And So Much More! Let me show you why Jesus is all that!
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE BRIDEGROOM
(v. 10A)
A. White is the color of purity. Ruddy is the description of a person in the bloom of health. This
woman looks at her beloved as the essence of purity and health.
B. These two phrases are a good description of our Beloved as well.
· He is pure, 1 Pet. 2:2; 1 John 3:5; 2 Cor. 5:21. He is holy. Sin was not even an option with
Jesus. He was tempted, but sin had no chance against the absolute purity of our Redeemer. As a
pure, holy man, Jesus was able to lay down His life on the cross for His people. When He shed
His blood, He was shedding innocent blood. The innocent was giving His life for the guilty. It
was a sacrifice accepted by God, 1 John 2:2.
· He is ruddy. Jesus was the picture of manliness! He was not longhaired, emaciated, anemic
weakling! He was not the pasty-faced, little man portrayed by the artist’s brush! Jesus was a
man’s man! His muscles had been toned in the carpenter shop as He fashioned ox yokes and
made stone wheels for wagons. He would have been made physically powerful by the many
miles He walked across the mountains and through the valleys of Palestine.

His prowess is proven by the fact that He alone was able to take a whip and drive the money
changers from the Temple, not once, but twice, John 2:13-17; Matt. 21:12-13. No man tried to
stop Him!
Surely Jesus was the picture of health and the epitome of godly manhood. He was everything
Adam could have been had he not sinned. Jesus was all that and more!
II. THE CALIBER OF THE BRIDEGROOM
(v. 10b)
A. The Shulamite woman looks at her beloved and she calls him “
the chiefest among ten thousand”. She says, “When you see him you will know! There’s nobody
like him!”
This calls to mind the day David walked in the Valley of Elah to face down Goliath. Saul looked
at the giant and said, “He’s too big to fight!” David looked at Goliath and said, “He’s too big to
miss!” David faced the giant and David killed the giant. After the battle, the woman of Israel
lifted their voices in song and said, “…Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands,” 1 Samuel 18:7. From that day to this David has been the “
chiefest among ten thousand” to the Jewish mind.
B. Our Beloved is worthy of more praise than David! Our Beloved entered the valley of death,
faced down sin, Satan and the grave and carried off the victory! And, when we see the veil pulled
back and we are allowed a glimpse inside that heavenly city, we see Him, the Lamb of God,
surrounded by angels, “and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands,”
Rev. 5:11. They are all praising Him! Everywhere you look in the book of Revelation you see
the Lamb receiving praise from those He has redeemed by His blood, Rev. 4:8-11; 5:8-14; 7:9-
12. There’s nobody like Him!
But, that’s not all! His Father has “highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Phil. 2:9-11.
One day every saint and sinner, every angel and created being, every demon and Satan himself,
will bow at the feet of Jesus and worship Him. Every king, prince, dictator, president and elected
official will bow before Him. Every celebrity and dignitary; every famous and infamous person
who has ever lived, will prostrate themselves in humility before the King of Kings one day!
There’s no one who is worthy to stand in His presence. He is the greatest of the great!
C. All I am trying to say is this: “He’s all that and so much more!”
III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRIDEGROOM
(v. 11-16)
(Ill. In these next six verses, the Shulamite tries to describe the physical attributes of her beloved.
She tells these other ladies why he is “
all that”. In these words designed to describe a man, I can see an image of the Master. Let’s see
how the flattery of this bride reveals our Redeemer.)

A. v. 11a His Primacy – This phrase describes Him as the sovereign king. When He was here on
this earth, He was the son of a peasant woman, but there was royal blood in His veins. He was
the descendant of King David. When men saw Him, they just saw another Jew. But, a few caught
of glimpse of His glory.
The demons saw it and cried, “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high
God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not,” Mark 5:7. Peter caught a glimpse of it and
said, “
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Matt. 16:16. One day the whole world will see it
and bow to Him, “
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God,” Rom. 14:11.
Since the early days of the earth kings have risen up lay claim to this world. Each ruled for a
time and then vanished away. Nimrod, David, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great,
Napoleon, Charlemagne, Hitler and others have tried to rule the world. They are all dead and
gone.
One day Jesus will come, the crown will be placed upon His head. He will rule forever as the “
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
B. v. 11b His Power – This speaks of a man who is in the prime of his life. It describes a man
who is at the height of His power and strength.
These words paint a wonderful picture of our Savior. He has more power than we can imagine.
He simply spoke and this universe came into being, Gen. 1. He is able to take a few loaves and
fish and feed a multitude. He can walk on water, heal the sin, cast out devils and raise the dead.
He can touch a fevered brow and speak peace to a troubled heart. He can do more than we can
imagine, Eph. 3:20. He is all-knowing, all-presence and all-powerful. He is the “great I AM!”
The world sees Him hanging dead on a cross and all they see is weakness. What they fail to see
is that man may have nailed Him to a cross, but they were only able to do so because He allowed
them to! They see that broken, bloody body sealed in a tomb. To the lost, that is the end of the
story. What they do not see is three days after He died; Jesus arose in power and glory. He came
out of the grave and walked away with victory over death, Hell and the grave. If He can do that,
He can do anything!
C. v. 12 His Perception – Our Lord sees everything! He has witnessed everything that has ever
transpired and everything thing that has ever been thought about. He sees it all!
He watched this world take shape. He watched Adam take his first steps in the world. In fact, the
first sight Adam ever saw was the piercing eyes of our Lord. He saw the body of Lazarus as it
lay in the tomb, and at the same time, He saw the soul of Lazarus safe in Paradise. The Savior
looked at Lazarus and he came back to this world and walked out of the tomb alive! He saw the
demons flee from Mary Magdalene’s soul. He saw the darkness in the heart of Judas. He saw
Peter when Peter denied that he knew the Lord.
He looked down through time to see you and me. He saw us as the sinners we were and are. He
saw our wickedness and yet He kept His gaze of love locked on us. He watched us as we came to
Him for salvation. Now, His eyes are still on us. He watches us to guide us, to love us, to

minister to us. One day when this life is over, we will soar away to glory and we will look into
those eyes in Heaven!
D. v. 13a His Perfume – To be near Him is to breathe the scent of glory. To be in His presence is
to smell the rarified air of that heavenly land.
How many times have the saints been overwhelmed with the stench of this world? When that
saint turns away from the pain, the sorrow, the burdens and the problems of this life and gets lost
in the presence of the Lord, this world swiftly fades into insignificance. That was David’s
experience, Psa. 27:1-6. That was Job’s experience, Job 1:20-21. It can be our experience as
well!
E. v. 13b His Pronouncements – As our Beloved moved through this world, He was continually
speaking the words of hope and life. When the Jews heard Him speak they said, “
Never man spake like this man,” John 7:46. How true!
Whether Jesus was at a wedding, a funeral, the bedside of an invalid or at the deathbed, He
always had the right words to say! To Martha it was “Thy brother shall rise again.” To Lazarus it
was, “
Come forth”. To the leper it was “
I will be thou clean.” To the demons is was “
Come out of him”. To the winds and waves it was “Peace, be still.” To the lame man it was
“Rise and walk.” To the dying thief it was “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” To the
crowds that crucified Him it was “Father forgive them, they know what they do.” To the
disciples it was “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” To the Father it was “It is
finished!”
Thank God there is still myrrh falling from the lips of the Son of God. He is still calling sinners
to Him. He is still raising dead men to life. He is still speaking peace to troubled souls. Thank
God for His pronouncements!
F. v. 14a His Proficiency – Our attention is drawn to His hands. His hands had shaped the dust
into a man and brought the dust to life. His hands touched the little children who came to Him.
His hands touched the litter on which lay the body of the widow Nain’s son and raised him from
the dead. His hands touched the leper and delivered him from his disease. His hands touched
thousands of lives while He was here. Then, those hands were nailed to the cross when He died
there for you and me. Today, those hands hold the scepter that identifies Jesus as the King of all.
When He comes again those hands will receive His children and vanquish His enemies. I praise
God for the day my heart felt the tender touch of the Son of God!
G. v. 14b His Person – The body our Savior wore while He was here was nothing special from a
human standpoint, Isa. 53:2. He looked like an ordinary Jew. But, when you consider the nature
of His human body, you understand that Jesus was Someone pretty special. After all, He was
God in human flesh, Phil. 2:5-8.
Jesus became a man for one reason. He did so that He might die for me! Bless His name! No
wonder the saints want to praise Him!
H. v. 15a His Permanence – “Legs” speak of His standing. He is stable and He will never be
overthrown! No one was able to overcome Him while He was here. No one has been able to

overcome Him in Heaven. No one will overcome Him in the Tribulation, the Millennium or in
eternity. He stands today and He will stand forever. He is Lord and He always will be.
I. v. 15b His Presence – The cedars of Lebanon were renowned around the world for their
beauty, their stateliness and their majesty. When we see Jesus, we will see One Who is worthy of
worship, praise and glory. This world mocks Him today, but there is coming a day when every
saint, every sinner, every demon and every devil will bow in His presence and exalt Him.
When we see Him, we not see a lowly Nazarene. We will not see an ordinary man. When we see
Him, we will see the King in all His glory. We will be lost in the wonder, the power and the
majesty of our Lord!
J. v. 16a His Passion – The Shulamite thinks of the kiss of her beloved and she thrills at the
thought. How the soul of the redeemed saint of God stirs when it remembers the sweetness of
His kiss of grace! When we remember where and what we were. When we remember how He
came to us in love, grace and mercy and saved us from our sins and how He gave us new life in
Jesus. When we consider all that we have in Him, we remember the sweetness of His kiss and we
bless His name!
We were not worthy of His love. We deserved only death, Hell and judgment. But, He loved us!
He didn’t just love us; He died for us and shed His blood on the cross so that we might be saved
by grace. He made a way for people who did not deserve a thing He came to provide for them!
What a Savior. That is why the saints of God rejoice in Him and say “He’s all that, and so much
more!”
Conc: The Shulamite woman looks at her beloved and sums up her evaluation of him by saying “
He is altogether lovely!” In other words, she is saying, “He’s all that, and so much more! He’s
perfect! There is no blemish in Him at all!”
Can you say that about Jesus? Is He “all that” to you? If so, why don’t you take a few minutes to
tell Him how you feel about Him?
If you don’t Him and all that makes His so special, why don’t you come before Him and ask Him
into your heart to be your Savior and Lord?
If there are needs, you come!
THE INCOMPARABLE BRIDEGROOMAND HIS BRIDE NO. 2469
A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, JUNE 14, 1896
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTONON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, JUNE 10,
1866

“What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among
women? what is thy belovedmore than another beloved, that thou dost so
charge us?” Song of Solomon5:9
THIS morning [See sermon #694, “SinLaid on Jesus”], we had the great
privilege of preaching the doctrine of substitution, and of directing the minds
of God’s people to the solid rock of the meritorious sacrifice ofChrist
whereonall their hopes of heaven must be built. What we have to say tonight
is less doctrinal, and more practical, therefore let us guard ourselves atthe
outset. If we should, with very much earnestness, urge believers to good
works, letnobody suppose that, therefore, we imagine that men are saved by
works. Let no one for a moment dream that, in urging the believer to bring
forth fruit to righteousness, we are at all teaching that salvationis the work of
man. I have no doubt that all of us who know anything of true religion are of
the same opinion as that celebratedScotchdivine, old David Dickson, who
was asked, whendying, what was the principal subjecton which his thoughts
were engaged, and he answered, “Iam gathering up all my goodworks, and
all my bad works, tying them into one bundle, and throwing them all alike
down at the foot of the cross, andam resting alone upon the finished work of
Jesus.” Itis related of that mighty masterin Israel, James Durham, that his
experience at the last was very much akin to that of his friend Dickson, for he
said, “Notwithstanding all my preaching, and all my spiritual experiences, I
do not know that I have anything to hang upon excepting this one sentence
spokenby Christ, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise castout.’” “Ah!”
replied someone who stoodby Mr. Durham at the time, “you might well
hazard a thousand souls, if you had them, upon the strength of that one
precious text.” Having said so much by way of caution, I want to address
some earnestwords to the people of God upon certain practicaltruths that
arise out of our text, and the first thing I have to sayis this, that the daughters
of Jerusalemrecognizedin the spouse an exceeding beauty, which dazzled and
charmed them, so that they could not help calling her the “fairestamong
women.” This was not her estimate of herself, for she had said, “I am black,
but comely.” Norwas it the estimate of her enemies, for they had smitten her,
and wounded her. But it was the estimate of fair, candid, and impartial
onlookers. I. This leads me to remark, first, that OUR CHARACTER
SHOULD GIVE WEIGHT TO OUR PROFESSION OF RELIGION. You
will observe that it was in consequenceofthinking her the “fairestamong
women” that they askedthe spouse, “Whatis thy beloved more than another
beloved?” They thought that one so fair might well have her choice of a

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