HIS CHEEKS ARE AS A BED OF SPICES, AS SWEET FLOWERS: HIS LIPS LIKE LILIES, DROPPING SWEET SMELLING MYRRH

The spouse continues her praise of her Beloved, still employing the rich symbolism of the Orient. She likens his cheeks to a bed of spices, raised banks of the sweetest herbs, towers of perfume. To appreciate the fragrance of His cheeks it seems evident that He must be very close to her, and she to Him. Is this the sweet­ness of the presence of Christ so desired by all who love Him? How sad to remember that these were the cheeks which men smote, and upon which they spat, Isa. 50. 6; Mic. 5. 1.

It is often remarked that in men the condition of the body may be revealed by the appearance of the cheeks. As Jamieson-Fausset-Brown remark, ‘It is in the cheeks that it is seen whether the body is full of fresh vigour or not’. They are the very seat of beauty and with Christ, the Beloved of the church, the sweet­ness of His Person radiates in His lovely countenance. It is ‘the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’, 2 Cor. 4. 6.

His lips are as lilies and they drop sweet smelling myrrh. A comment by the expositor Delitzsch is very beautiful. He writes, ‘she thinks of the lips as speaking. All that comes forth from them, the breath in itself, and the breath formed into words, is most precious myrrh’. What sweet and gracious words fell from the lips of the saviour during those years of His public ministry. To some there were words of compassion and comfort. To many a troubled, seeking soul there were words of salvation and solace. Words of peace and pardon must have calmed many an anxious doubting heart. If, as the psalmist says of Him, ‘grace is poured into thy lips’, Ps. 45. 2, then this grace flowed through to men. When He came, on that memorable sabbath day to Nazareth, and read from the prophet Isaiah, they ‘wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth’, Luke 4. 22. Sadly, like so many others in subsequent generations, they rejected those gracious words.

Many, though, will for ever bless God for sweet words that fell from the lips of the Saviour: Matt. 11. 28; John 3. 16; John 5. 24; John 6. 37; John 19. 30. Precious words indeed!