Hints to Preachers

Verse 1.—In the preface, the prophet commends the subject he is to treat of, signifying, 1. That it is a good matter—good, as speaking of the Son of God, who is the chief good. 2. Good for us; for upon the marriage of Christ to his church depends our good.—Bishop Nicholson.

Verse 1.—Character read by heart-writing. I. The true lover of Christ is sincere—“my heart”. II. He is a man of emotion. III. A man of holy meditation. IV. A man of experience—“things I have made.” V. A man who bears witness for the Lord.

Verse 1.—Three things requisite for Christian teaching: I. That the matter be good; and concerning the best of all subjects, “touching the King.” II. That the language be fluent like the pen, etc. 1. Partly from nature. 2. Partly from cultivation. 3. Partly from the Spirit of God. III. That the heart be absorbed in it—“My heart is inditing.”—G. R.

Verse 2.—In what respects Jesus is fairer than the best of men.

Verse 2.—Jesus—his person, his gospel, his fulness of blessing.

Verse 2.—I. We may and ought to praise Christ. Angels do, God does, Scripture does, Old Testament saints and New, so should we. It is the work of heaven begun on earth. II. For what should we praise him? 1. For his beauty. Is wisdom beauty? Is righteousness? Is love? Is meekness? All are found in him supremely—

“All human beauties, all divine, In our Redeemer meet and shine.”

2. For his grace. Grace of God treasured up in him. 3. For his blessedness—of God and for ever.—G. R.

Verses 2-5.—In these verses the Lord Jesus is presented, I. As most amiable in himself. II. As the great favourite of heaven. III. As victorious over his enemies.—Matthew Henry.

Verse 3.—The captain’s presence desired by the soldier. It is our honour, our delight, our safety, our strength, our victory, our reward.

Verses 3-5.—Messiah’s victory predicted and desired.—E. Payson’s Sermon.

Verse 5.—I. Arrows of judicial wrath are sharp. II. Arrows of providential goodness are sharper still. III. Arrows of subduing grace are sharpest of all. The quiver of the Almighty is full of these arrows.—G. R.

Verse 5.—Arrows—what they are; whose they are; whom they strike; where they strike; what they do, and what follows.

Verse 6.—The God, the king, his throne, its duration, his sceptre. Let us worship, obey, trust, acquiesce, rejoice.

Verses 6, 7.—Empire, Eternity, Equity, Establishment, Exultation.

Verse 7.—“Thou hatest wickedness.” He hated it when it assailed him in his temptation, hated it in others, denounced it, died to slay it, will come to condemn it.

Verse 7.—Christ’s love and hate.

Verse 8.—Christ’s garments—his offices, his two natures, his ordinances, his honours, all are full of fragrance.

Verse 8.—“Whereby they have made thee glad.” We make Jesus glad by our love, our praise, our service, our gifts, our holiness, our fellowship with him.

Verse 8.—I. The odour of his garments, not of blood and battle, but of sweet perfume. II. The splendour of his palaces—ivory for rareness, purity, durability, etc. III. The source of his delight. 1. Himself, the sweet odour of his own graces. 2. His people, the savour of those who are saved. 3. His enemies, “even in them that perish.” 4. All holy happy creatures who unite to make him glad.—G. R.

Verse 10.—“Christ the best husband: or, an earnest invitation to young women to come and see Christ.”—George Whitefield’s “Sermon, Preached to a Society of Young Women, in Fetter Lane.”

Verses 9, 10.—I. The connections of the Bridegroom are to be remembered, those of the Bride to be forgotten.

Verse 11.—“So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty.” Christ delighting in the Beauty of the Righteous.—Martin Luther. [Select Works, by H. Cole. I. 281.]

Verses 13-15.—I. The Bride’s new name—“The king’s daughter.” She is the king’s daughter for two reasons. 1. She is born of God; and 2. She is espoused to the Son of God. II. The Bride’s character—“All glorious within.” 1. Because Christ reigns on the throne of her heart. 2. Because she is the temple of the Holy Ghost. III. The Bride’s raiment—“wrought gold,” “needlework:” this is the righteousness of Christ; in other words, 1. His perfect obedience. 2. His atoning death. IV. The Bride’s companions—“Virgins that follow her.” V. The Bride’s home-going—“She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.... With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.” 1. She shall see the king in his beauty. 2. There will be an open declaration of his love to her before all worlds.—Duncan Macgregor, M.A.

Verse 14.—I. The presentation of the church to Christ. 1. When souls are first brought to him—“I have espoused you as,” etc. 2. When they come before him at death. 3. When the perfected church is presented to him—“That he might present it,” etc. II. The manner of presentation—1. “in raiment,” etc., such as he himself wrought out. 2. With all her followers. (1.) Their purity—“virgins.” (2.) Their fellowship—“companions.” (3.) Their succession—“that follow thee,” from one age to another until they are complete.—G. R.

Verse 17.—I. Christ is the Father’s delight. “I will make,” etc. II. He is the church’s theme—his name shall be remembered; and III. He is heaven’s glory, “Shall praise thee,” etc.—G. R.