John Trapp on Song of Solomon 1:6

Verſ. 6. Look not upon mee, becauſe I am black] Look not upon mee, viz. with a lofty look, with a coy countenance, fix not your eyes upon mine infirmities and miſeries, ſo as to diſdain mee, or to diſeſteem mee for them. Blackiſh I am, I confeſs, tanned and diſcoloured. The old Latine tranſlation renders it brown, (lovely brown wee call it, belle brunette, the French) Others, ſomewhat black, q. d. My blackneſs is not ſo much as you may think for: Judge not therefore according to the appearance. Stumble not at my ſeeming deformities. A faithful man may fall far, but the ſeed abideth in him, the new nature cannot bee loſt: the oyl of Gods Spirit, wherewith hee is anointed, ſetteth the colours, which are of his own tempering, ſo ſure on, and maketh them cleave ſo faſt together, that it is impoſſible hee ſhould ever return to his own hiew, to bee coal-black, as before. Howbeit hee is ſubject to much affliction, anguiſh and diſtreſs, as it were to the ſcorching of the Sun: and that, with many that have not ſenſes exerciſed to diſcern good and evil, renders him deſpicable; but that ſhould not bee. Of Queen Elizabeth, it is ſaid,Camb. Eliſ. that ſhee hated no leſs than did Mithridates, ſuch as maliciouſly perſecuted vertue forſaken of fortune: as when a Deer is ſhot, the reſt of the Herd puſh him out of their company.

Becauſe the Sun hath looked upon mee] By Sun here ſome have underſtood the Sun of Righteouſneſs, whom when the Church looks intently upon, ſhee is bedazled, and ſees her own nothingneſs, in compariſon of his incomparable brightneſs. Others by Sun here will have original ſin to bee meant; which indeed hath brought the blackneſs of darkneſs upon the ſpirit of our minds, and bored out the eye of our underſtandings. The ſame Original pravity they underſtand by the following words, Sons of the ſame Mother, and by being kindled with wrath, they underſtand ſin encreaſing and raging as it were; And by appointing the Church to keep other Vineyards, they underſtand the committing of the works of the fleſh, and the deeds of darkneſs, with which ſhee was as it were holden, ſo that ſhee could do nothing elſe, till the Lord had looſed her out of theſe chains. But they do beſt that by Sun in this place underſtand the heat of perſecution, and the parching of oppreſſion, according to Mat. 13.6, 21. Lam. 1.6, 13, 14, &c. What Bonefires were here made in Queen Maries daies, burning the dear Saints of God to a black coal, lighting them up for tapers in a dark night, as they did in Neroes daies? After John Huſſe was burnt, his adverſaries got his heart, which was left untouched by the fire, and beat it with their ſtaves. The ſtory of the Maccabees perſecutions prophecied of Dan. 11.36. and recorded, Heb. 11.35. to the end, is exceeding lamentable. Oppoſition is (as Calvin wrote to the French King) Evangelii Genius, Luth. in Gen. 29. and Eccleſia eſt haeres crucis, ſaith Luther, The Church hath its croſs for its inheritance. All that will live godly in Chriſt Jeſus (if they bee ſet upon it ſo to do) ſhall ſuffer perſecution, there is no avoiding of it, 2 Tim. 3.12. When Ignatius came to the wilde Beaſts, Now, Act. and Mon. ſaith hee, I begin to bee a Chriſtian, and not till now. That Chriſtian, ſaith Mr. Bradford, hath not yet learnt his ABC in Chriſtianity, that hath not learned the leſſon of the Croſs,Luth. &c. Omnis Chriſtianus Crucianus. This the worldling cannot away with: and although he make a fair ſhew in the fleſh, or ſet a good face on it (as the word ſignifies) as if hee had ſet his face toward Sion, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. yet when it comes to a matter of ſuffering, hee ſtumbles at the Croſs, and falls backwards: hee will not ſuffer perſecution for the Croſs of Chriſt, Gal. 6.12. Hee looks at the Church with a Vultures eye, as though hee would behold nothing in her but corruption and carrion. Hee makes an ill conſtruction of her infirmities, and will not ſtick to ſay, if hee have a mind to ſhake her off, that ſhee is black and deſpicable, that ſhee provides but poorly for her followers, that the great ones favour her as little, as the Lords of the Philiſtims did David, Cic. pro. L. Flavio. &c. Cicero veram religionem ſplendore imperii, gravitate nominis Romani, majorum inſtitutis, & fortunae ſucceſſibus metitur. Cicero's marks of the True Religion were the largeneſs of the Roman Empire, their ſpreading fame, their Anceſtours Ordinances, and their ſingular ſucceſs. The Papiſts have the like Arguments for proof of their Church.Luth. T. 2 But what ſaith Luther? Ego non habeo aliud contra Papae regnum robuſtius argumentum, quam quod ſine cruce regnat. I have no ſtronger argument againſt the Popes Kingdome than this, that hee reigns without the Croſs.

My Mothers children were angry with mee] i. e. Worldly men that are of the ſame humane race that I am; theſe fretted at mee, as Moab did at Iſrael (becauſe they were of a different Religion) Numb. 22.3, 4. or as Tobiah and his complices did at Nehemiah and his Jews: Neh. 6.1 it was quarrel enough to Jeruſalem, that it would not bee miſerable. Hypocrites and Hereticks eſpecially, are here underſtood (as ſome conceive) ſuch as pretend to bee children of the Church, and her greateſt friends, as the Donatiſts would bee the onely Chriſtians, and after them the Rogation Hereticks called themſelves the onely Catholicks. So did the Arians, and ſo do the Papiſts, whoſe anger againſt the true children of the Church is far hotter than Nebuchadnezzars Oven after it had been ſeven times heated for thoſe three conſtant Worthies. Hypocritis nihil eſt crudelius, impatientius & vindictae cupidius (ſaith Luther, who had the experience of it) plane ſunt ſerpentes, &c. there is not a more cruel creature, more impatient and vindictive, than an hypocrite. Hee is as angry as an Aſp, as revengeful as a Serpent, &c. Hee is of the Serpentine ſeed, and carries the old enmity, Gen. 3.15. Cains club, Gen. 4.8. with 1 John 3.12. Your Brethren that hated you, that caſt you out for my names ſake, ſaid, Let the Lord bee glorified, Iſa. 66.5. Here was a fair glove drawn upon a foul hand.Act. & Mon. In nomine Domini incipit omne malum, was grown to a Proverb here in times of Popery.

They made mee the Keeper of the Vineyards] No marvel therefore that I am Sun-burnt, ſith I have born the burden and heat of the day, as Matth. 20.12. it hath been my task to keep out Boars, Foxes, and other noiſome creatures; yea it hath been my lot to bee put upon ſome ſervile offices (as thoſe poor Vinedreſſers were, 2 King. 25.12.) not ſo ſuitable to my place and ſtation aſſigned mee by God: Yea, although I am dead with Chriſt from the rudiments of the world, yet as though living in the world, [non-Latin text not transcribed] I have by theſe Impoſtours and Impoſitours been made to dogmatize after the commandements and doctrines of men, Col. 2.20, 22.

But mine own Vineyard have I not kept] q. d. Being burdened with humane rites and traditions, and having been the ſervant of men, 1 Cor. 7.23. I have departed from the duty that God preſcribed unto mee. Sane bene, Full well truly have I rejected or ſlighted the commandement of God, that I might keep mens tradition, Mark 7.9. Thus ſhee ſhames and ſhents her ſelf: ſhee bluſheth and bleedeth before the Lord for her careleſneſs in duty. Yea ſhee tells the world the true reaſon of her preſent blackneſs: ſomewhat ſhee had to ſay againſt others, but moſt againſt her ſelf. After I was made known to my ſelf, Poſtquam oſtenſum fuerit mihi. Trem. laid Ephraim, ſcil. by looking in the glaſs of Gods Law, I repented, Jer. 31.19. Get thee this Law, as a glaſs to look in, ſaid Mr. Bradford, ſo ſhalt thou ſee thy face foul arrayed, and ſo ſhamefully ſawcy, mangy, pocky and ſcabbed,Serm. of Repent. pag. 26 that thou canſt not but bee ſorry at the ſight thereof. Thus hee. Phyſicians in ſome kinde of unſeemly Convulſions, wiſh their Patients to look themſelves in a Glaſs, which will help them to ſtrive the more, when they ſhall ſee their own deformities. It is fit wee ſhould oft reflect, and ſee every man the plague of his heart, the errour of his life, keeping our hearts ſoft,1 King. 8. Pſal. 19. ſupple and ſoluble: for ſoftneſs of heart diſcovers ſin, as blots do run abroad, and ſeem biggeſt in wet paper. When the Cockatrices egg is cruſhed, it breaks out into a viper, Iſa. 59.5.