John Trapp on Song of Solomon 4:16

Verſe 16. Awake, O North winde, come thou South, &c.] Theſe windes ſhe ſuppoſeth to be aſleep, becauſe they blow not. Rupertus calls the windes Mundi ſcopas, the worlds Beeſomes: becauſe God makes uſe of them to ſweep out his large houſe, and to purge the air. The Spirit of God firſt purgeth, and then watereth the faithful, whom the Church here calleth her garden, (though indeed it bee Chriſts) by reaſon of the nigh conjunction that is between him and her, Epheſ. 5.30. ſo that they both make but one myſtical Chriſt, 1 Cor. 12.12. Now wee all know, that to a compleat Garden are neceſſary, 1 that it be well encloſed, 2 Well planted, 3 Well watered, 4 that it bee amaena coeli aſpiratione perflabilis, well ſituate for winde and air, 5 that it bee fruitful and profitable. The Churches Garden hath every of theſe good properties, as appears here: And for the fourth, Chriſt is all the diverſe windes both cold and hot, moiſt and dry, binding and opening, North and South, fit for every ſeaſon. What winde ſoever blows, it blows good to the Church, for Chriſt ſpeaks to them, as David did to his Captains; Do this young man no hurt, handle him gently for my ſake: The Sunne may not ſmite him by day,Pſal. 121. nor the Moon by night. The nipping North of adverſity, the cheriſhing South winde of proſperity muſt both make for him.

That the ſpices thereof may flow out] That I may be ſome way ſerviceable to God, and profitable to men. Shee knew that in Gods account, to be idle, is all one as to bee evil, Matth. 25.26. to bee unthankfull,Horat. is to bee wicked, Luke 6.35. Paulum ſepulta diſtat inertia, Celata virtus, could one Poet ſay, and another, Vile latens virtus: quid enim ſubmerſa tenebris Proderit, obſcuro veluti ſub remige puppis,Claudian. de Conſul. Honor. Vel lyra quae reticet, vel qui non tenditur arcus?

Chriſt had made his Church a garden of ſweeteſt ſweets. Her deſire is therefore that her fruits being rightly ripened, her graces greatned, and made mature by the benign breath of the Holy Ghoſt, (compared here, as elſewhere, to the ſeveral windes,) their ſweetneſs may bee diſpread, and conveyed to the noſtrils of ſuch as have their ſenſes habitually exerciſed to diſcern good and evil. Heb. 5.14. As for others, their heads are ſo ſtuffed with the ſtenches of the world (that great muck-hill) and themſelves ſo choaked up with earth, as Core and his complices were, that they cannot reſent or ſavour the things of the Spirit; but, as vultures, they hunt after cation carcaſes: and as Tygers, they are enraged with the ſweet ſmell of the Churches ſpices.

Let my Beloved come and eat his pleaſant fruits] For who plants a Vineyard or Orchard, and eats not of the fruit thereof? 1 Cor. 9.7. The Garden is Chriſts: the pretious graces of his Spirit, and all acts of grace, thoſe pleaſant fruits are all his. Hee alone is the true proprietary: for of him, Rom. 11.36. and through him, and to him are all things. Of him, as the efficient cauſe; Through him, as the adminiſtring cauſe; and to him, as the final cauſe. Well therefore may it follow, to whom bee glory for ever. Chriſt counts the fruits that wee bear to bee ours, becauſe the judgement and reſolution of will whereby we bear them, is ours. This he doth to encourage us. But becauſe the grace whereby wee judge, will, and work aright, comes from Chriſt, aſcribe wee all to him, as the Church doth in the former verſe:Gen. 43.11. Cedren. ad an. 32. Justin. and preſenting him with the beſt fruits (as they did Joſeph) ſay as David, and after him Juſtinian, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Of thine own have wee given thee, 1 Chron. 29.14.