Song of the Bride, Parts 1-34 - Feasting at the King's Table

1:2 "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth." It is precious to have received the kiss of reconciliation, but
there is another longing in the hearts of those who are girding up their loins and pressing into the Spirit. This
longing is for the kiss of betrothal, which brings us nigh unto Him in a deeper way, in a closer relationship. In a
kiss, we are exchanging breath for breath—our soulish breath for the breath of the Spirit.
With certain foreign nations it is customary to kiss their own hands when they meet intimate friends instead of
kissing one another upon the lips, as is the custom with us. How many of God’s people are following after
manifestations, and new sensations that are of the flesh in the place of longing for a greater revelation of Christ
and His love. This attitude can be symbolized by "kissing their own hands." The "kisses of the mouth" is the
symbol of the intimate relation that is between a bride and a bridegroom. It is a token of the highest, closest
communion that one can have with the Lord.
"For thy love is better than wine." The word "love" means the continual proofs and tokens of His love. Wine is a
figure of prosperity and of all good and desirable things. It exhilarates and gives strength, but only for a time.
The love of Christ is better than all earthly good, and gives divine strength that abides. Wine makes the heart
warm, makes one bold, and merry, but how much more does the Lord do for those who partake of the New
Wine, which is found in His Love.
1:3 "Thine oils have a goodly fragrance;" "Christ" means the "Anointed One." The Wise Men brought to Him
gold, which symbolizes His divinity; frankincense, an emblem of His glory and fragrance; and the fragrant but
bitter myrrh which is a symbol of His fragrance and the bitterness and suffering through which He would pass.
Twice during His life the virgins of the bride anointed Him with costly oils—the first was near the beginning of
His ministry by one to whom He had forgiven much because she had sinned much. The other was Mary of
Bethany who sat at His feet and listened to His words: this was an anointing for His burial. It is when we cling
to a place low at His feet and hearken unto His words that we gather His fragrant oils in our alabaster boxes. It
is when he has broken the alabaster box that the oil is poured out upon His feet. Broken and contrite means
broken and powdered, made so small it can never again come together in its first shape. The more broken and
contrite the heart and spirit become, the more abundantly are the fragrant oils spilled at His feet. It is when we
smell the goodly fragrance of His humility that we begin to detect the offensive odor of our pride. It is when the
sweetness of His purity and holiness, His submission to God’s will, breaks in upon us, that we smell the vile
odors of our flesh, our stiffneckedness and our willfulness, our lack of love and our short-suffering.
"Thy name is as oil poured forth." Mary broke the alabaster box and poured the precious oil upon the Lord’s
feet and the fragrance filled the whole house. Thus it was when the alabaster box of His body, which contained
this precious perfume, was broken; the oil and fragrance flowed out, filling Heaven and earth. It was when His
body was broken, when His flesh was rent, that Heaven’s perfume came down to earth. When He said, "It is
finished," the perfume ascended unto God: and there commenced to ascend from Calvary the continual
incense, symbolized by the continual incense that was burned before God in the temple.
His "name" signifies His nature. As we walk close to our Beloved, others will sense the fragrance of His oils
upon us and He will be glorified! They will be drawn to the altogether-lovely One.
"Therefore do the virgins love Thee." The word "virgins" means the pure in heart, and the same word is
translated in Psalm 83:3 as "Thy hidden ones." It is when our robes are spotless that we can draw close to
Him; for none but the "Virgins" follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and the "Virgins" are they who love
the Bridegroom.
When the high priest, who, with the holy anointing oil upon him, had been ministering before God in the Holy of
holies, came out and passed among the congregation of Israel, the fragrance of that holy oil enveloped him.
No oil like unto this could be made by any man or be put upon any flesh: it could be only upon those who
ministered before God, and only upon them did this holy perfume linger and ascend before God. So with those
who draw close to their Mercy seat, Christ, and minister before Him; His oils are upon them, His likeness and
fragrance surround and emanate from them; and all who come near know that they have been abiding in His
presence.
SONG OF THE BRIDE, Parts 1–34 [Elaine Cook] ~ BIBLE STUDY 2