King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.
The verse stands within a poetic dialogue, an Oriental love poem whose warm, vivid and highly figurative language fit its ancient Eastern setting. It describes how Solomon fashioned for himself a conveyance from the wood of Lebanon, using its finest cedar. That conveyance was a chariot of state, decorated with gold and silver and purple and carpeted with costly tapestry worked by the daughters of Jerusalem.
The poem as a whole presents a poetic picture and parable of Christ and His church, setting forth Christ's love and the answering love of the church. In that reading the experiences of Solomon in the poem may serve as types of Christ and the church.
The chariot signifies religious duty and every approach to God in praying and hearing and receiving, while the beloved within it signifies Christ meeting the soul with His strength and mercy and presence. Without Him there the chariot is worthless, and no such observance is an ordinance of comfort. No duty should be entered without bringing God to it, and none should be left with satisfaction without carrying God from it. Blessed is the soul that carries Christ to all duties and enjoys Christ in all and seeks Christ among all, going out in God's strength and returning in His presence.
The verse stands within a poetic dialogue, an Oriental love poem whose warm, vivid and highly figurative language fit its ancient Eastern setting. It describes how Solomon fashioned for himself a conveyance from the wood of Lebanon, using its finest cedar. That conveyance was a chariot of state, decorated with gold and silver and purple and carpeted with costly tapestry worked by the daughters of Jerusalem.
The poem as a whole presents a poetic picture and parable of Christ and His church, setting forth Christ's love and the answering love of the church. In that reading the experiences of Solomon in the poem may serve as types of Christ and the church.
The chariot signifies religious duty and every approach to God in praying and hearing and receiving, while the beloved within it signifies Christ meeting the soul with His strength and mercy and presence. Without Him there the chariot is worthless, and no such observance is an ordinance of comfort. No duty should be entered without bringing God to it, and none should be left with satisfaction without carrying God from it. Blessed is the soul that carries Christ to all duties and enjoys Christ in all and seeks Christ among all, going out in God's strength and returning in His presence.