16 Be awake, O north wind; and come, O south, blowing on my garden, so that its spices may come out. Let my loved one come into his garden, and take of his good fruits.
My loved one is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to take food in the gardens, and to get lilies.
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; to take my myrrh with my spice; my wax with my honey; my wine with my milk. Take meat, O friends; take wine, yes, be overcome with love.
But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever. So be it.
But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven. In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.
Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement, Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.
So that your lives might be pleasing to God, who has given you a part in his kingdom and his glory. And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith.
For this reason, we, from the day when we had word of it, keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the Spirit, Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his glory, so that you may undergo all troubles with joy; Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light;
And my prayer is that you may be increased more and more in knowledge and experience; So that you may give your approval to the best things; that you may be true and without wrongdoing till the day of Christ; Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
And he who gives seed for putting into the field and bread for food, will take care of the growth of your seed, at the same time increasing the fruits of your righteousness; Your wealth being increased in everything, with a simple mind, causing praise to God through us. For this work of giving not only takes care of the needs of the saints, but is the cause of much praise to God; For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all; While their hearts go out to you in love and in prayer for you, because of the great grace of God which is in you. Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.
To be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, doing the work of a priest in the good news of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be pleasing to God, being made holy by the Holy Spirit.
And when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved, and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God without fear.
The wind goes where its pleasure takes it, and the sound of it comes to your ears, but you are unable to say where it comes from and where it goes: so it is with everyone whose birth is from the Spirit.
But Jesus, seeing it, said to them, Why are you troubling the woman? she has done a kind act to me.
And he said to me, Be a prophet to the wind, be a prophet, son of man, and say to the wind, The Lord has said: Come from the four winds, O wind, breathing on these dead so that they may come to life.
O let the heavens be broken open and come down, so that the mountains may be shaking before you, As when fire puts the brushwood in flames, or as when water is boiling from the heat of the fire: to make your name feared by your haters, so that the nations may be shaking before you;
Awake! awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake! as in the old days, in the generations long past. Was it not by you that Rahab was cut in two, and the dragon Wounded? Did you not make the sea dry, the waters of the great deep? did you not make the deep waters of the sea a way for the Lord's people to go through? Those whom the Lord has made free will come back with songs to Zion; and on their heads will be eternal joy: delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.
My vine-garden, which is mine, is before me: you, O Solomon, will have the thousand, and those who keep the fruit of them two hundred.
Let us go out early to the vine-gardens; let us see if the vine is in bud, if it has put out its young fruit, and the pomegranate is in flower. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes give out a sweet smell, and at our doors are all sorts of good fruits, new and old, which I have kept for my loved one.
The produce of the garden is pomegranates; with all the best fruits, henna and spikenard, Spikenard and safron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my loved one among the sons. I took my rest under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Song of Songs 4
Commentary on Song of Songs 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
In this chapter,
Sgs 4:1-7
Here is,
Sgs 4:8-14
These are still the words of Christ to his church, expressing his great esteem of her and affection to her, the opinion he had of her beauty and excellency, the desire he had of, and the delight he had in, her converse and society. And so ought men to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and takes pleasure in it as if it were spotless and had no fault, when yet it is compassed with infirmity. Now, observe here,
Sgs 4:15-16
These seem to be the words of the spouse, the church, in answer to the commendations which Christ, the bridegroom, had given of her as a pleasant fruitful garden. Is she a garden?