I held Him, and would not let Him go,
Until I had brought Him into my mother's house,
And into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Jerusalem above is the mother of us all. There it is that communion is enjoyed, not in worldly ways or self-willed indulgence.
Communion fully restored, the section closes, as did the first, with the loving charge of the Bridegroom that none should disturb His bride:—
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roes, and by the hinds of the field,
(By all that is loving and beautiful and constant),
That ye stir not up, nor awake My love,
Until she[3] please.
May we all, while living down here, in the world, but not of it, find our home in the heavenly places to which we have been raised, and in which we are seated together with Christ. Sent into the world to witness for our Master, may we ever be strangers there, ready to confess Him the true object of our soul's devotion.
How amiable are Thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God.
Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house:
They will be still praising Thee....
A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield:
The Lord will give grace and glory:
No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee!
SECTION III
THE JOY OF UNBROKEN COMMUNION
Cant. iii. 6-v. 1