Why should ye stir up, or why awake My love,
Until she[5] please?
Hallowed communion indeed! May we ever enjoy it; and abiding in Christ, we shall sing, in the familiar words of the well-known hymn—
Both Thine arms are clasped around me,
And my head is on Thy breast;
And my weary soul hath found Thee
Such a perfect, perfect rest!
Blessed Jesus,
Now I know that I am blest.
SECTION VI
UNRESTRAINED COMMUNION
Cant. viii. 5-14
We have now reached the closing section of this book, which, as we have seen, is a poem describing the life of a believer on earth. Beginning in Section I. (Cant. i. 2-ii. 7) with the unsatisfied longings of an espoused one—longings which could only be met by her unreserved surrender to the Bridegroom of her soul—we find that when the surrender was made, instead of the cross she had so much feared she found a King, the King of Love, who both satisfied her deepest longings, and found His own satisfaction in her.
The second section (Cant. ii. 8-iii. 5) showed failure on her part; she was lured back again into the world, and soon found that her Beloved could not follow her there; then with full purpose of heart going forth to seek Him, and confessing His name, her search was successful, and her communion was restored.