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MEDITATIONS

ON

CHAPTER IV.

"I WILL open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us."-PSALM lxxviii. 2, 3.

"I have likened the daughter of Zion unto a comely and delicate woman."-JER. vi. 2.

"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”—Ex. iii. 5.

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MEDITATIONS.

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CHAPTER IV.

VER. 1.—" Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from Gilead.

Он, what a sight for angels, (a) what display
Of wisdom manifold (b) is Christ's dear Church!
Sealed by his Spirit; (c) strengthen'd by his might, (d)
Precious (e) before Him, honour'd and beloved-
Lo! thou art fair, saith thy redeeming God,

Lo! thou art fair, thou freely justified!

The pleasure of the Lord; (f) His soul's delight,
And prospering in His hand :—He sees thee one, (g)
In the collective many; one in faith (h)

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And gracious covenant, and yet, a flock,"
A multitude no man enumerates-(i)

A body-(k) where uniting into one

(a) 1 Pet. i. 12. ("Which things the angels desire to look into.")

(b) Ephes. iii. 10.
(d) Ephes. iv. 16.
(f) Isa. liii. 10.
(h) Ephes. iv. 3, 4.

(c) Ephes. i. 13; 2 Cor. i. 22; Rev. vii. 3.

(e) Isa. xliii. 4.

(g) John xvii.; xi.
(i) Rev. vii. 9.

22; Gal. iii. 28.

(k) 1 Cor. xii. 27.

Myriads of fibres are minutely wove,

Each with its functions and its means to act;
Mysterious force pervading every nerve
And subjecting the movements of the whole
To the volition of one guiding Mind—-

Thine are the locks, (1) of which each single hair
Draws nourishment distinctly; (m) and has root
In Him the Head. (n) Of which not e'en the least
Can e'er be injured to that Head unknown; (0)
Thine are the congregated (p) ringlets, diverse each
In form or fulness, yet containing each
Units all separable; vital all

And individual, howe'er amassed

In throngs collective, and those throngs themselves
Parts of a whole in fellowship with Christ, (q)
Round whom his people cluster; (r) and from whom
Derive those eyes of dove-like (s) gentleness
That look benignant on the world around.

Flock of the Saviour! (t) ransomed of His blood,
Thou from the heap of witness dost appear;
That "stone of help" which God in Zion laid (u)
In testimony sure of endless peace

With Jacob and his offspring-(v) thence thy claim
Thine only claim to safety in His fold.

(7) Hair is used as a type of the visible Church, Ezek. v. 1—3.

(n) Col. i. 18.

(m) John xv. 5, 6.
(p) 2 Cor. xi. 28. (all the Churches).

(r) 1 Pet. i. 8.

(u) Isa. xxviii. 16.

(s) Matt. v. 44; & vi. 12.
(v) Gen. xxxi. 48, 52.

(0) Luke xii. 7.
(g) 1 John i. 3.

(t) Ezek. xxxiv. 31;
Luke xii. 32.

They "come from Gâleed—”*(w). They were numbered there

Where reconciliation had its seal,

And Jesus witnessed of Jehovah's love.
Lo! what a mighty, undivided group (x)
Though nations, kindreds, tongues diversified
Blend in the vast assembly. Fed are all
By the same gracious pastor, (y) missing none
In the great day when gathered by His hand,
Whence none prevailed to pluck them! (~)

scans

The galaxies of heaven; He who calls

Each by its name (a) through that vast catalogue
Whose very glance o'erpowers puny man, (b)
Though, as the sand on ocean's spreading shore,
Unutterably many; (c) He can count,

Nor find one wanting of his Isräel;

He who

Thy faithful seed, (d) believing patriarch
Shall more than reach that promise wonderful
When He whose day thou sawest and wast glad, (e)
As the last lamb comes safely to his arms
Adopts triumphantly those crowning words

With note of marvel, with that strong Behold! (ƒ)
'I and the children whom Father gave."

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(w) Gen. xxxi. 44, 47. (*) John x. 28.

(c) Jer. xxxiii. 22.

(f) Isa. viii. 18.

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* Gilead, or Gâleed, The heap of Witness.

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