John Trapp on Song of Solomon 5:1

CHAP. V. Verſ. 1. I am come into my Garden.]

SO ready is the Lord Chriſt to fulfill the deſires of them that fear him, Sometimes hee not onely grants their prayer, Pſal. 145.19. but fulfills their counſel,Confeſſ. l. 5. c. 1. Pſal. 20.4. fits his mercy ad cardinem deſiderii, as Auſtin hath it, lets it be to his, even as they will. Or if he croſs them in the very thing they crave, they are ſure of a better: their prayers they ſhall have out either in money, or moneys worth. Chriſt, though he be a God that hideth himſelf, yet hee ſcorns to ſay unto the ſeed of Jacob, Seek yee mee in vain, Iſaiah 45.15, 19. that's enough for the Heathen Idols, verſ. 16, 18. Hee is not like Baal, who purſuing his enemies, could not hear his friends: or as Diana, that being preſent at Alexanders birth, could not at the ſame time reſcue her Epheſian Temple from the fire.Non vacat exiguis, &c. Hee is not like Jupiter, whom the Cretians painted without ears, as not being at leiſure to attend ſmall matters: and whom Lucian the Atheiſt feigneth to look down from heaven through certain creviſſes or chincks, at certain times: at which time, if Petitioners chance to pray unto him, they may have audience, otherwiſe not. No, no: the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are always open to their prayers, Pſal. 34.15. Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus. Baſil compares prayer to a chayn, the one end whereof is linked to Gods ear, and the other to mans tongue. Sozomen ſaith of Apollonius, that hee never asked any thing of God in all his life that hee obtained not. And another ſaith of Luther, Iſte vir potuit apud Deum quod voluit. That man could do what hee would with God; it was but ask and have, with him.

I have gathered my myrrhe with my ſpice] i.e. I have highly accepted of thy graces and good works: theſe are to bee gathered onely in Chriſts Garden. Hedge-fruits and wilde-hearbs, or rather weeds, are every where almoſt to bee had. Moral vertues may bee found in a Cato, who was homo virtuti ſimilimus, a man as like vertue as may be, ſaith Velleius: And he addes (but I am not bound to beleeve him) Qui nunquam recte fecit, ut facere videretur, ſed quia aliter facere non poterat, vell. lib. 2. that Cato never did well that hee might ſeem to do ſo, but becauſe hee could not do otherwiſe than well: But why then (might a man have asked the Hiſtorian) did your ſo highly extolled Cato take up the trade of griping uſury? Why did he ſo ſhamefully proſtitute his wife, ſo cowardly kill himſelf? Was it not becauſe he lived in the wilde Worlds waſte, and grew not in the Churches garden, hence his fruits were not genuine? his moral vertues are but ſhining ſinnes, beautiful abominations, a ſmoother way to hell. Civil honeſt men are but Wolves chained up, tame Devils, Swine in a fair meadow, &c. Operam praeſtant, natura fera est, (as the Civil Law ſaith of thoſe mixt Beaſts, Elephants and Camels) they do the work of tame Beaſts, yet have the nature of wilde ones. They are cryed up for ſingularly honeſt as ever lived, by ſuch as are ſtrangers to the power of Godlineſs, and aliens from the Common-wealth of Iſrael; like as in Samaria's famine, a cab of Doves dung was ſold at a great rate, and an aſſes head at four pound. But Chriſt, and ſuch as have the minde of Chriſt, are otherwiſe minded: they look upon an unregenerate man, though ſober, juſt, chaſte, liberal, &c. as a vile perſon; Pſal. 15.4. and upon all their ſpecious works, as dead works: when as (contrarily) they honour them that fear the Lord, and ſet an high price (as Chriſt here doth) upon their good parts and practices. Myrrhe and ſpices, or aromatical fruits, are but dark ſhadows and repreſentations of them.

I have eaten mine hony-comb with mine hony] As it were cruſt and crumb together: not rejecting my peoples ſervices for the infirmities I finde cleaving unto them, but accepting what is good therein, and bearing with the reſt, I take all well a worth, and am as much delighted therewith, as any man is in eating of hony; whereof hee is ſo greedy, that withall hee devours the comb too ſometimes. Mr. Dudley Fenner. Chriſt feedeth (ſaith an Expoſitour here) upon all the fruits of his garden, hee ſo much delighteth in it, as hee eateth not onely the hony, as it were the moſt excellent duties or works of the Church, (ſee Heb. 13.15, 16, 21.) but alſo the hony-comb as it were the baſer ſervices and fruits of his Spirit, of leaſt account: that hee receiveth of all ſorts moſt ſweetly mingled together, both the common and daily fruits of godlineſs, underſtood in milk, and the more rare of greater price, as ſolemn faſts and feaſts, ſignified by wine: both which hee drinketh together, that is, accepteth of them all.

Eat, O friends] That is, O you holy Angels, (ſaith the former Interpreter) which as my Nobles, accompany mee the King of Glory in Heaven, and have ſome communion with me in the gifts I beſtow on you. Mr. Diodate alſo thinks the ſame: But I rather encline to thoſe that by Chriſts friends here underſtand thoſe earthly Angels, the Saints, (ſee John 15.14. Iſa. 41.8. Jam. 2.23. whom hee cheareth up and encourageth to fall to it luſtily, and by a ſancta crapula (as Luther calls an holy gluttony) to lay on, to feed hard, and to fetch hearty draughts, till they bee even drunk with loves, (as the Hebrew here hath it) being raviſhed in the love of God, where they are ſure to finde it (as in hony-pots) the deeper, the ſweeter. Such as ſo eat, are called Chriſts friends, (by a ſpecialty) and ſuch as ſo drink, his beloved, as Gregory here well obſerveth: and they onely do thus that hear the Word with delight, turn it in ſuccum & ſanguinem, concoct it, incorporate it, as it were, into their ſouls, and are ſo deeply affected with it, that like drunken men, they forget and let go all things elſe, that they may retain and practice it. Theſe are not drunk with wine, wherein is exceſs, but filled with the Holy Ghoſt, Epheſ. 5.16.