s mine, and I am His"; and yet with
noteworthy difference. Then her first thought of CHRIST was of her claim
upon Him: His claim upon her was secondary. Now she thinks first of His
claim; and only afterwards mentions her own. We see a still further
development of grace in chap. vii. 10, where the bride, losing sight of
her claim altogether, says:--

I am my Beloved's,
And His desire is toward me.

No sooner has she uttered these words and acknowledged herself as His
rightful possession--a claim which she had practically repudiated when
she kept Him barred out--than her Bridegroom Himself appears; and with
no upbraiding word, but in tenderest love, tells her how beautiful she
is in His eyes, and speaks her praise to the daughters of Jerusalem.

To her He says:--

Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah,
[the beautiful city of Samaria,]
Comely as Jerusalem,
[the glorious city of the great KING,]
Terrible [or rather brilliant] as an army with banners.
Turn away thine eyes from Me,
For they have overcome Me. (See vv. 4-7.)

Then, turning to the daughters of Jerusalem, He exclaims:--

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines,
And maidens without number.
My dove, My perfect one, is but one;
She is the only one of her mother;
She is the choice one of her that bare her.
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed;
Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her,
saying,
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
Fair as the moon,
Clear as the sun,
Brilliant as an army with banners?

Thus the section closes with communion fully restored; the bride
reinstated and openly acknowledged by the Bridegroom as His own peerless
companion and friend. The painful experience through which the bride has
passed has been fraught with lasting good, and we have no further
indication of interrupted communion, but in the remaining sections find
only joy and fruitfulness.

FOOTNOTE:

[4] The Church of Popular Opinion, as pointed out by the Rev. Charles
Fox in an address at Keswick, as the Church of Philadelphia is the
Church of Brotherly Love.

SECTION V

FRUITS OF RECOGNIZED UNION

Cant. vi. 11-viii. 4

IN the second and fourth sections of this book we found the communio