Scripture Reading: S. S. 1:9-16a; 2:1-4
Ⅰ
In the first stage of overcoming (S. S. 1:2—2:7), the seeker of Christ over-comes the attraction of the world by being attracted and captivated by Christ—1:2-4; Matt. 4:16-20; Luke 9:23-24; Heb. 12:2; 13:13; Hymns, #437.
Ⅱ
Our love for the Lord does not depend upon our ability to love Him—it depends upon His loveliness—S. S. 5:10-16:
A
Loving the Lord Jesus is not a matter of our being able to love Him but of His being altogether lovely—Hymns, #169, 171, 172.
B
We cannot love the Lord without seeing His beauty; once we see His beauty, we cannot help loving Him—S. S. 1:2-4; Mark 12:30; 1 Cor. 2:9.
C
The Lord Jesus is lovable, and He makes all His lovers lovable also—S. S. 4:10.
Ⅲ
After we have been attracted by the Lord's beauty to love Him, we must learn one unique lesson—to be subdued—1:9-11:
A
Song of Songs speaks not only of love but also of the subduing of the will—v. 10; 4:1, 4.
B
The more our will is subdued, the more we will be transformed:
１
In 1:10 the Beloved appreciates the seeker's loveliness in her submission to Him (cheeks lovely with plaits of ornaments) and her beauty in her obedience to the transforming Spirit (neck with strings of jewels).
２
In 4:1 we see the beauty of Christ's lover in her submission and obedience through God's feeding (hair like a flock of goats).
３
In 4:4 the lover of Christ is beautiful in her having a will that is submissive to Him (neck like the tower of David).
Ⅳ
The lover of Christ is beautified through the process of transformation in the church life—1:7—2:4:
A
Whether we are overcomers or defeated ones depends on the transformation of our soul and on our attitude toward God's transforming work—Rom. 12:2:
１
God's transforming work is actually His exercising of His kingdom.
２
Transformation is a heavenly, spiritual, divine metabolic change in our being—S. S. 1:9-11, 15; 2:1-2.
B
Transformation in the church life is carried out by the transforming Spirit— 2 Cor. 3:18:
１
After the lovers of Christ enter into the church life, they begin to be trans-formed by the remaking of the Spirit—S. S. 1:9-16a; 2:1-2.
２
Transformation is the working of God's attributes into the seeking believers to become their virtues—Rom. 12:2, 9-21.
C
The lover of Christ is transformed from a strong natural person (mare) into a person who looks to the Lord with a single eye (eyes like doves—Matt. 3:16; 10:16) and into a person who lives a life of not relying on herself but trusting in Him (lily—6:28):
１
He appreciates her beauty in looking to Him with a single eye by the Spirit (eyes like doves)—S. S. 1:15:
ａ
A striking aspect of our beauty in the sight of the Lord Jesus is our single eye toward Him—Matt. 6:22.
ｂ
The eyes like doves signify the spiritual insight that comes from gazing on the Lord—2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 12:2.
２
After having the eyes like doves, she becomes a lily, signifying that she is now living a life of trusting in God, not in her natural strength—S. S. 2:1-2.
D
In this transforming work there is the need of the coordination of some "transformers"—the perfecting ones who help the seeker to know God in His nature and to experience Christ—1:11; Eph. 4:11-12:
１
They beautify the seeker in her submission to God through the trans-formation of the Spirit with the divine nature of God (plaits of gold) as ornaments in her expression (cheeks)—S. S. 1:10-11.
２
The perfected ones coordinate with the Spirit to beautify the seeker through the dispensing of the transforming Spirit with the divine life expressed in strings of jewels—v. 10.
E
Transformation is a feast; at this feast we, like Mephibosheth, who was crippled in his feet, enjoy the King's riches at His table—v. 12; 2 Sam. 9:1-13:
１
David preserved Mephiboseth's life, restored his inheritance, and invited him to feast with him at the same table—v. 7.
２
After Mephibosheth received grace from David, he looked only at the riches on David's table, not at his crippled feet underneath the table—4:4; 9:13.
３
As we are sitting at the table of our King, Jesus Christ, we should forget our "crippled feet" and enjoy Christ with His unsearchable riches for our transformation—S. S. 1:12; 2:4; Heb. 12:2; Eph. 3:8; Hymns, #542.
F
The love of Christ's lover toward Him as spikenard spreads forth its fragrance—S. S. 1:12; Mark 14:3; John 12:3:
１
Christ's fragrance is expressed by the lover in her spikenard—S. S. 1:12.
２
Our experience of Christ should be constituted into spikenard so that we have something to contain the fragrance of Christ.
３
First, Christ satisfies us so that we gain the spikenard; then we satisfy Christ by His fragrance in our spikenard.
G
The lover and the Beloved both have beauty, and they appreciate the beauty in each other; this shows that transformation produces a mutual appreciation between Christ and His lover—vv. 15-16a; Isa. 33:17a; Psa. 45:11a.