John Trapp on Song of Solomon 4:15

Verſe 15. A fountain of gardens, a well, &c] Or, Oh fountain of the Gardens, &c. For they do beſt in mine opinion that make this to be the Churches ſpeech to Chriſt: grounded upon his former commendation of her. And it is as if ſhe ſhould ſay, Calleſt thou me, Lord, a Garden encloſed, a Spring ſhut up, a Fountain ſcaled? True it is, I am the garden which thine own right hand hath planted, walled, watered, &c. but for all that I am or have, the entire praiſe belongs to thee alone. All my plenty of ſpiritual graces, all my perennity of ſpiritual comforts, all my pleaſancy and ſweetneſs is derived from thee, no otherwiſe than the ſtreams of Jordan are from mount Lebanon, all my ſprings are in thee, as in their Well-head. Certum eſt nos facere quod facimus, ſed Ille facit, ut faciamus, ſaith Auguſtine. True it is that wee do what wee do; but it is as true, that Chriſt maketh us to do what wee do. For without him we can do nothing, John 15.5. In him is our fruit found, Hoſ. 14.8. It is hee that works all our works in us, Iſa. 26.12. Hence it is, that the Church is no where in all this book deſcribed by the beauty of her hands or fingers: becauſe hee alone doth all for her. The Church of Rome that will needs hammer out her own happineſs, (like the Spider climbing up by a threed of her own weaving, and boaſting with her in the Emblem, Mihi ſoli debeo) ſhews thereby of what Spirit ſhee is. That wretched Monk died blaſphemouſly, who ſaid, Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes, Pay mee heaven which thou oweſt mee. And what an arrogant ſpeech was that of Vega, Coelum gratis non accipiam, I will not have heaven of free-coſt? Haec ego feci, haec ego feci, ſhews men to be no better than meer Feces, ſaid Luther wittily. This I have done, and that I have done, ſpeaks them dregs, and dogges that ſhall ſtand without doors, Rev. 22.15. Hear a childe of our Church, ſpeaking thus of himſelf.

Georg. Fab. Chemnicenſis de ſcipſo.Fabricius ſtuduit bene de pictate mereri; Sed quicquid potuit, gloria, Chriſte, tua eſt.

This was Matriſſare, to be like his mother, whoſe Motto hath ever been, Non nobis Domine, Not unto us Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give the praiſe, Pſal. 115.1. If I be thy garden, Thou art my fountain; from whence unleſs I be continually watered, all will be ſoon withered, and I ſhall bee as one that inhabiteth the parched places in the wilderneſs, in a ſalt land and not inhabited,Abbot his Georg. 251. Jer. 17.6. In the Iſland of St. Thomas (on the back-ſide of Africa) in the midſt of it is an hill, and over that a continual cloud, wherewith the whole Iſland is watered. Such is the Lord Chriſt to his Church, Hoſ. 14.5, 6, 7. which therefore as Gideons Fleece muſt needs be wet and moiſt, when all the Earth beſides is dry and deſolate; as the mountains of Gilboah, or as St. Davids in Wales, which is ſaid to be a place, neither pleaſant, fertile, nor ſafe.

A well of living] Or, A pit of living and life-giving waters. Chriſtus & coelum non patiuntur hyperbolen: 2 Sam. 1.20. Godw: Catal. Giral. Camb. Puteus effoſſus ubi eſt aqua viva ſcaturiens & clara. Merc. A man cannot ſay too much in commendation of Chriſt, and his Kingdome: Hence the Church here cannot ſatisfie her ſelf. A Fountain ſhee calls him, a well, a ſtream, ſuch as makes glad the City of God, even that pure river of the water of life proceeding out of Gods Throne, Rev. 22.1. with Ezek. 47.6. Gregory makes this Fountain to bee the Scriptures; which bee ſaith, are like both to a Fountain, and to a pit. Some things in them are plain and open, and may be compared to a ſpring, which runs in an open and eminent place. Other things therein are dark and deep, and like unto a pit, that a man muſt dive into, and draw out with hard labour.

And streams from Lebanon] Watering the whole Church (as Jordan did the holy Land) and taſting, no doubt, of that ſweetneſs mentioned before, verſ. 11. Even as we ſee by experience, (ſaith one) that the waters that come out of the hills of ſome of the Iſlands of Molucca, taſte of the Cinnamon, cloves, &c. that grow there.