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"I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

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"As' with the gazels, and as' with the deer of the

plain,

"That ye stir not, nor raise up 'my' beloved till he please."

INTERPRETATION OF THE FIFTH IDYL.

As the affectionate wife, separated from her hus band during the day, while his employments call him abroad, expects with delight his return in the evening, and seems to claim that season as her own; so the Christian believer, compelled by the duties of his station to divest himself of heavenly meditations, and to spend the greater share of his time and attention on secular cares and occupations, looks with earnest expectation for his appointed seasons of prayer and retirement. And, generally speaking, the gracious Saviour is found of them that seek him: the peace and consolation which his presence can alone create, are enjoyed by his people, when they have "entered into their closet, and have shut their door, and pray to Him which seeth in secret ""Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways"."

But it may be, for purposes of trial or of discipline, that these comforts are withdrawn: the soul

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misses her beloved: the peace and satisfaction usually experienced by the devout mind, is sought in the accustomed means, and at the accustomed hour, and sought in vain. To such a circumstance we would apply the opening of the parable before us, "On my bed at night I sought the beloved of my soul; I sought him, but I could not find him.”

His absence, however, is intolerable. Nor can that which is very precious in the enjoyment, be lost without proportionate regret. "I will arise now, and go round the city. In the streets and broad places-I will seek the beloved of my soul." The believer, who is distressed in his feelings, and finds no relief in the private exercises of religion, seems admonished, that he should seek the society of the faithful, wherever they dwell. If spiritual distress is felt in the mind, or an unusual deadness oppresses its affections and hopes, a melancholy retirement is by no means to be resorted to; for we know that it is the Lord's pleasure to bless the intercourse of Christians one with another, to their mutual benefit and comfort. Hence the direction, "Comfort yourselves together, and edify one another."-" Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak."

The great Apostle himself seems to have looked to this resource; we read, in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, that one advantage

• 1 Thes. v. 2-14.

which he proposed to himself in visiting the eminent Christians at Rome, was, "that I may be comforted, together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and med." And doubtless the design of our heavenly Father, in thus constituting a kind of reciprocal dependence between the members of his family, is, to teach them to love one another, and to hold the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And oh, how are the poor and afflicted members of Christ robbed of their happiness by those divisions and separations which exist among us! Never surely ought the affectionate address of the Apostle to the Philippians to be more enforced than in the present day. "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels of mercies, fulfil ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one minde."

But in the parable before us, this second source of religious comfort is supposed to fail; even in the society of christian friends, consolation is not obtained: “I sought him, but I could not find him.” Accordingly, a still further means is pointed out.

"The keepers," or "watchmen, who go round the city, found me." By this incident the ministerial office is clearly intended to be represented, since one of the duties of those who bear this office is "to watch for souls," and to be ready at their ap

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pointed stations to advise the wanderer, or to comfort the afflicted. "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence."

To these watchmen the inquirer applies," Have ye seen the beloved of my soul?" And the distressed and tempted Christian should certainly avail himself of the benefit of the divine institution of the ministry. The answer given by these watchmen appears to have been satisfactory: very soon after her application to them, the wanderer finds the object of her search. This doubtless teaches us that God will honour his appointed means, and so bless the ministrations of his servants, that they shall not labour in vain, nor shall his people be finally disappointed, who" seek the law at their mouth, for they are the messengers of the Lord of Hosts"."-" "Twas but a little that I had passed them, when I found the beloved of my soul."

The temptation, of whatever kind it was, is dispersed; or that, which had caused the Lord to hide his face, is discovered and removed. Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are again vouchsafed; and on such an occasion, with what eagerness of mind will the mourner embrace the happy moment of returning consolation! "I held him, nor would I release him, till I brought him to the house of

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my mother, to the chamber of her that conceived

me."

Has the distressed or tempted Christian recovered a sense of the divine approbation? Was it through the advice and comfortable exhortations of friends or Christian pastors, or was it "too hard for him till he went into the sanctuary of God?" Wherever he has recovered his Saviour's presence, how anxious will he be to carry home his happy frame of mind, and to meditate in private on the manifestation of the heavenly love!

And being taught also, by the loss he had lately sustained, to value more the possession of spiritual peace and joy, how careful will he be-how tremblingly alive to the apprehension, lest he should lose them again, or be interrupted in their enjoyment! "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem -as with the gazels, and as with the deer of the plain-that ye stir not, nor raise up my beloved till he please!!"

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