“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits.”
Song of Songs 4:16
My Garden is His
The Song of Songs is more than an anointed sonnet. It is a prophetic writing that spans the history and the desire of God with His people. By the illumination of the Spirit, we see the ever-deepening relationship between Christ and His Bride.
“Do not look at me, that I am black, that the sun has looked on me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard I have not kept.”
Song of Songs 1:6 (LITV)
It is a progressive narrative. We see in the beginning the lowly Shunamite woman fully aware of her sinful condition: “Look not upon me, because I am black”. There is a growing consciousness that she has neglected her own vineyard; “but mine own vineyard have I not kept”. (Song of Songs 1:6)
The world, and even “the church”, has employed these precious ones to work in “their” vineyards while causing them to neglect their own. “My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the (their) vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept”. (Parenthesis mine)
As the divine interaction between her and her Beloved continues, we see the power of His love drawing her into the singularity of a relationship with Him, where everything else becomes dim in the light of His beauty. She is now making Him her own as she begins to comprehend that she is HIS. (Philippians 3:12 ESV link)
“My beloved is mine, and I am His…”
Song of Songs 2:16 (LITV)
Within the dynamic of this growing relationship, she cries out to the North wind (representing the workings of the Cross) and to the South wind (representing the comfort and the warmth of His Spirit) to blow upon her garden, that the “spices” of it may flow out unto Him.
“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;
blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out…”
Song of Songs 4:16
Because of the security of her relationship with Him, she now welcomes all the dealings necessary to cause the “spices” of her garden to flow out unto Him in worship and adoration. There is something deep within her arising out of the mystery of this relationship: a transference from her garden into HIS!
“Let my beloved come into His garden,
and eat His pleasant fruits.”
Her garden has now become His. She invites Him to eat and partake of the fruits of her love for Him! Such things are past understanding. He would bring us into such depths of relationship where we are His, and He is ours!
“My beloved is mine, and I am His…”
Song of Songs 2:16 (LITV)
True Ministry
The purpose of true and valid ministry is to encourage each of His precious ones to cultivate their own garden that HE may come and enjoy the fruit of His workings in each. As we develop our own vineyard, the wine of His Spirit invigorates and inspires others to become His Beloved.
When we are healthy and alive in Him, His drawings and pressings in us will also cause others to “run after” Him.
“Draw me, we will run after Thee…”
Song of Songs 1:4
Those who feel the drawing of His Spirit cannot keep it to themselves.
Related Post: Love’s Pursuit
“Now in the place where He was crucified
there was a garden…”
John 19:41
“Where there is a Cross, there will be a garden. Of course, the cross must be properly borne. We must suffer for others, not careful about ourselves. We must take the cup from the hands of the Father, even though it is presented by the hands of a Judas!
We must suffer silently. No man or woman, who really suffers deeply for another’s salvation, talks about it, save to God. Suffer for others in your Gethsemane-garden, and when you have been crucified after that fashion, then look for a garden in bloom.
Set up a Calvary in your own heart! Let the cross there be a splint from the Cross of your Saviour! Bring thither your self-love, your ambitions, your moods and vagrant, selfish thoughts. Fasten your self-life, vain and proud as it is, to the Cross of Jesus, and let it remain there. Then in the garden of your character will arise a profusion of the rarest and sweetest flowers.
If the world shuns your company, if you go lonely and unappreciated through life, yet you may find that the Lord Jesus will walk in the glades of your garden in the cool of the day, as He did in Paradise.”
– F.B. Meyer
“My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up,
My love, My fair one, and come away.”
Song of Songs 2:10
Brian Troxel
