Song of Solomon 4:16
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. 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.
The garden is the heart of the believer and the church itself, wholly belonging to Christ and made fruitful only as it is yielded to the Spirit and cultivated by grace. Its spices and pleasant fruits are Christian graces and the fruits of the Spirit, whose flowing out is a life of Christlike influence spreading to others and drawing Christ to delight in it. The north and south winds are the moving of the Holy Spirit upon what grace has already planted, the north bringing conviction, repentance and cleansing from cherished sin, and the south melting the heart into gratitude, love and holy joy. The north wind is also trial and suffering, which like bruised herbs brings graces to flower and spreads their fragrance when the heart answers the Spirit's work. The call for the winds to blow and for the beloved to come is prayer for the Spirit to stir the soul and for Christ himself to enter into communion to enjoy and revive those graces, and he answers at once with gladness to walk in the soul, gather its spices and share his joy with the believer.
Garden and Its Winds
The verse belongs to an Oriental love poem written in the warm figurative language of the East and to be read in its own setting and language. It is a parable of Christ's love for the church and the church's answering love, with experiences in Solomon's life serving as types of Christ and the church.
The garden is the believer's heart and the church, belonging to Christ as His own. It is a heart wholly yielded to the Spirit, cultivated by regeneration rather than natural to humanity, where Christian graces do not arise of themselves but require continual care. Living water turns a moral desert into fragrance, beauty and fruitfulness, so that spiritual life flows out from the transformed heart as fragrant breezes.
The spices are Christian graces and the fruits of the Spirit, and their flowing out is Christlike influence and spiritual life spreading from a heart cultivated by grace into daily life. They include hope and joy as well as patience and submission, every grace to be grown fully and tended carefully and not endurance in dark trials alone, so that hope and joy thrive equally. Rich fruit draws the Beloved to delight in it, as He comes into His garden to enjoy its pleasant fruits.
The north and south winds picture the Holy Spirit's influence blowing over the garden so its spices flow out. The wind does not supply the spices but releases what the garden already bears, bringing a shaking down of fruit and spreading its fragrance. The north wind brings conviction of sin leading to repentance, tears, awakening to sin, removal of cherished sins, and revived vigor and faith to come to Jesus for rest. The south wind melts the heart into gratitude, love and holy joy, breathing upon little love in the drooping soul so fragrance may return and Jesus may delight in it again. Both are asked for so that penitence and godly grace give off fragrance, with renewed sense of Christ's presence and the joys of the Spirit.
The north wind also pictures trial and suffering that brings graces to flower and spreads their fragrance, like bruised herbs giving off their sweetest scent. Sorrow thus becomes a means of growing in holiness, bringing spiritual growth to flower. Adversity develops grace only when the heart responds to the Spirit's work. The church's fragrance therefore varies with circumstances, sometimes silent under strong influences and sometimes abundant under the lightest breeze, when its roses blossom and fill the air with perfume.
Prayer for Christ's Presence
The call for the winds to blow is prayer for the Holy Spirit to stir the soul as wind stirs a garden until its spices give out their fragrance. It is the Spirit inspiring and directing prayer so the soul can invite Christ into communion and offer Him the fruits of devotion. It asks that graces cultivated by regeneration and continual care should become evident in life rather than remain hidden. It seeks a shaking down of fruit so that Christlike influence spreads from the heart into daily life. In this it expresses need for a renewed sense of Christ's presence and the joys of the Spirit, for the wind does not supply the spices but releases what the garden already bears.
The verse is the cry of longing souls for the presence and joy of the Lord. The call to the north wind is the weary soul crying for revived vigor and lifted faith that it may come to Jesus for rest. The call to the south wind is the drooping soul with little love and little fragrance crying for breath upon it, that its spices may flow out and Jesus may delight in it once more. It is the fruitless soul for which Christ has done much crying for the breath of God to quicken its life and make it fruitful, turning like plants toward the sun in which they live with an uplooking that only the Saviour's love can satisfy. Though these longings are inaudible to human ears and often inarticulate toward God, Jesus hears them as sweet music in the Master's ear. Mourning over Christ seeming far away and grace seeming without fragrance itself discloses divine presence, the touch of Christ's own hand and the beginning of the joy the soul craves.
The invitation for the beloved to come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits welcomes Christ into communion to enjoy what devotion brings forth. It is spoken by the soul and by the church in solitude through tears of penitence, asking for His presence and making room for Him. It is grief over unfruitfulness asking God to make the spices flow out by reviving withered graces so they may again refresh the Lord. That answering love of the church to Christ can be weakened by unfaithfulness and lack of constancy.
Christ answers that prayer instantly with gladness, coming into the love and revived affections of the humble disciple to walk in the garden of the soul. There He gathers spices and smells the fragrance of every grace, eating and sharing joy as a pledge of the joys of His kingdom above. Rich fruit thus draws the Beloved to delight in it, so that Christ and the believer rejoice together in the fragrance of graces. The lesson is to live so as constantly to welcome Him into the garden of the soul.
The verse rejects a scentless, formal, fruitless religion and shows that conviction unto repentance, tears, and removal of cherished sins causes the fragrance of penitence and godly grace to flow out. Every grace must be grown all over and carefully tended, not endurance in dark trials alone but hope and joy thriving equally, for hope and joy are as necessary as patience and submission among the fruits of the Spirit. Christ as Master comes into His garden to find those pleasant fruits flourishing at His coming. Morning communion is such a garden refreshed by heavenly influence, where sweet fruits and blossoms are gathered before meeting the dusty world.