first
speakers.

Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness
like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all powders of the merchant?

They themselves give the reply:--

King Solomon made himself a car of state
Of the wood of Lebanon.
He made the pillars thereof of silver,
The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple,
The midst thereof being paved with love (love-gifts),
From the daughters of Jerusalem.
Behold, it is the litter of Solomon;
Threescore mighty men are about it,
Of the mighty men of Israel,
They all handle the sword, _and_ are expert in war:
Every man hath his sword upon his thigh,
Because of fear in the night.

In these verses the bride is not mentioned; she is eclipsed in the
grandeur and the state of her royal Bridegroom; nevertheless, she is
both enjoying and sharing it. The very air is perfumed by the smoke of
the incense that ascends pillar-like to the clouds; and all that
safeguards the position of the Bridegroom Himself, and shows forth His
dignity, safeguards also the accompanying bride, the sharer of His
glory. The car of state in which they sit is built of fragrant cedar
from Lebanon, and the finest of the gold and silver have been lavished
in its construction. The fragrant wood typifies the beauty of sanctified
humanity, while the gold reminds us of the divine glory of our LORD, and
the silver of the purity and preciousness of His redeemed and peerless
Church. The imperial purple with which it is lined tells us of the
Gentiles--the daughter of Tyre has been there with her gift; while the
love-gifts of the daughters of Jerusalem accord with the prophecy, "Even
the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour."

These are the things that attract the attention of the daughters of
Jerusalem, but the bride is occupied with the King Himself, and she
exclaims:--

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King
Solomon,
With the crown wherewith His mother hath crowned
Him in the day of His espousals,
And in the day of the gladness of His heart.

The crowned KING is everything to her, and she would have Him to be so
to the daughters of Zion likewise. She dwells with delight on the
gladness of His heart in the day of His espousals,