I had scarcely passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, into the room of her who conceived me.
Parallel Translations
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I had scarcely passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, into the room of her who conceived me.
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It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
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Scarce had I passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Song of Solomon 3:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- Proverbs 4:13 Take firm hold of instruction. Don’t let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.
- Song of Solomon 6:12 Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
- Song of Solomon 8:2 I would lead you, bringing you into the house of my mother, who would instruct me. I would have you drink spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate.
- Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
- Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- Jeremiah 29:13 You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
- Lamentations 3:25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
- Genesis 32:26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
- Song of Solomon 7:5 Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses.
- Isaiah 49:14-18 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you! Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. Your children hurry. Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
- Isaiah 54:1-3 “Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says Yahweh. “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities.
- Hosea 12:3-4 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
- Matthew 28:9 As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
- John 20:16-17 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
- Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
- Revelation 3:11-12 I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Son 3:4 [It was] but a little that I…
Son 3:4 [It was] but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Ver. 4. It was but a little that I passed from them.] It is probable that, lighting upon these watchmen, she promised herself much counsel and comfort from them, but was disappointed. It pleaseth God many times to cross our likeliest projects, that himself alone may be leaned upon. The poor soul in distress is apt to knock at the creature’s door for comfort, to shark abroad, and to look this way and that way, as David did, for help. Yea, many use the means as mediators, and so fall short of Christ. It is a good note that one {a} makes upon this text, that she was a little past the watchman; which shows, saith he, that the Lord delays comfort, to draw his Church, through all his means, from the lowest to the highest, where she findeth in short time comfort; but many times not till she is past, that they might not attribute it to the excellence of the means, but unto God.
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But I found him whom my soul loveth.] Christ, as he therefore threateneth that he may not be put to punish, {b} so he therefore hides himself, otherwhise, that he may come in again to his people with more comfort: and his usual time to come in to them is, when they have well-nigh done looking after him, as he dealt by those two that were travelling to Emmaus, {Luk 24:13} when they have hanged up their hopes and their harps together, and are ready to cast away their confidence, and to leave looking any longer. "When the Son of man comes" - viz., with an answer to his people’s prayers, which they have now even given up for lost labour - "shall he find faith upon the earth?" {Luk 18:8} i.e., Will anybody ever think that, having stayed so long, he would yet come at last? Christ loves to comfort those that are forsaken of their hopes, and to give a blessing to those times and means whereof we despair. The pains cannot be cast away which we resolve to lose for Christ.
I held him, and would not let him go.] She held him with both hands earnestly; for faith hath two hands, one receiving Christ from God, the other giving the believer to God. With both she holds Christ - "the king is held in her galleries" by the bonds of love, by the cords of kindness, {Son 7:5} he is even held prisoner in her company - but especially with the former. She holds him as Jacob did, {Gen 32:26} though with much conflict. The devil strikes hard at her hand, and would make her loose her hold. Hence faith is fain to tug and wrestle, even till it sweat again. And therefore Paul calls it το εργον, the difficult "work of faith," {1Th 1:3} because the believer hath such ado to hold his own. If he cannot hold with his hands, he will make use of his teeth - as it is reported {c} of Cynegirus, that noble Athenian, and of our Sir Thomas Challoner, {d} in the wars of Charles V - any shift he will make rather than part with Christ, whom his soul loveth: having fastened on the tree of life, rather than drown, he is resolved to pull it up by the very roots. Let God fight against him with his own hand, and offer, as it were, to kill him, yet he will hang on still; he will trust, in an angry God, in a killing God, as Job; and as Jacob, he will wrestle, and not let go, though alone, and in the night, and upon one leg. "Lo! this is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek thy face": this is Jacob; {Psa 24:6} these be "Israelites indeed." {Joh 1:47}
Until I had brought him into my mother’s house.] That is, Into my conscience, say some - where faith dwelleth, and Christ by faith. {Rom 10:10 Gal 4:19} Into the synagogues of the Jews, say others, or into the congregations of the Gentiles. They do best that understand it of the Catholic Church, the supernal Jerusalem, that "Mother of us all," figured by Sarah, {Gal 4:24; Gal 4:26} where Christ hath most delightful dwelling, a comfortable commoration, and, as it were, conjugal cohabitation with his spouse, chamber fellowship. {Jdg 15:1}
{a} Mr Dudley Fenner.
{b} Ideo minatur, ut non puniat. - Chrys.
{c} Aelian,
{d} Camden.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I found him; Christ met me, and manifested his…
I found him; Christ met me, and manifested his love to me, according to his promise made to those that seek him constantly and diligently, Pro 8:17; Mat 7:7, &c.
I held him, and would not let him go, being taught by my late experience how doleful a thing it was to lose him, and how hard it was to find and recover him when he was lost.
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Until I had brought him into my mother’s house, that there I might entertain and embrace him, and gain my mother’s consent, and so proceed to the consummation of the marriage. She saith her
mother’s rather than her father’s house, because the men and the women had several and separated apartments in the house. For the mystical meaning, which is the principal sense intended in this book, as the spouse here, and in many other places of this book, signifies particular believers, so her mother is the universal church, or the true Jerusalem, which hath its rise from above, which is the mother of us all, Gal 4:26, in which Christ and believers are united, and have sweet communion together in holy ordinances, into which believers are said to bring Christ by faith and prayer, and the preparation of their hearts for him, whereby they invite and in some sort engage Christ to go with them into the public assemblies, and there to give them his loves, although otherwise it is Christ who properly brings believers into the church. But all particulars in allegorical scriptures are not to be strictly urged, as all learned interpreters agree, many being added only for the decency of the allegory.
Her that conceived me; Christ is as it were the father that begets, and the church the mother that conceiveth and bringeth forth, believers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Found him - Christ met me, and manifested his…
Found him - Christ met me, and manifested his love to me. Mother's house - As the spouse here, signifies particular believers, so her mother is the universal church, or the true Jerusalem, which hath its rise from above, which is the mother of us all, Gal. iv, 26, in which Christ and believers are united, and have sweet communion together in holy ordinances, into which believers are said to bring Christ, by faith and prayer. Conceived me - Christ is as it were the father that begets, and the church the mother that conceives and brings forth believers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Into my mother's house] The women in…
Verse 4. Into my mother's house] The women in the East have all separate apartments, into which no person ever attempts to enter except the husband. We find Isaac bringing Rebecca into his mother's tent, when he made her his wife, Ge 24:67. What is here related appears to refer to the third night of the nuptials.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Son 3:4. It was but a little, &c., but…
Son 3:4. It was but a little, &c., but I found him — Christ met me, and manifested his love to me. I brought him into my mother’s house — As the spouse here signifies particular believers, so her mother is the universal church, or the true Jerusalem, which hath its rise from above, which is the mother of us all, (Gal 4:26,) in which Christ and believers are united, and have sweet communion together in holy ordinances, into which believers are said to bring Christ, by faith and prayer. Into the chamber of her that conceived me — Christ is, as it were, the father that begets, and the church, the mother that conceives and brings forth believers.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I held him - This begins the fourth stanza.…
I held him - This begins the fourth stanza. The bride’s mother is mentioned again in Son 6:9; Son 8:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Me. She was perhaps dead. Women had separate apartments,…
Me. She was perhaps dead. Women had separate apartments, to which none but the husband could have access, Genesis xxiv. 28. At the end of the marriage-feast, the bride was conducted to her husband’s house, Matthew xxv. 1. (Calmet) --- The Jews shall in the end acknowledge Christ, (Worthington) as the Church desires. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. It was but a little, etc. — Better,…
4. It was but a little, etc. — Better, Scarcely had I passed from them, when, etc. He may have heard her voice, as she inquired, or he may now have been seeking her.
Into my mother’s house — This statement, and that of my own mother’s room, suggests at once the privilege and the safety of lovers under the sanctity of such a shelter. One can but infer that the mother was in widowhood, and the story has the greater diversity from the guardianship of the brothers over their sister, its heroine.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. It was but a little that I passed…
4. It was but a little that I passed from them] i.e. Hardly had I gone from them when I found him whom my soul loveth.
I held him] Rather, I laid hold on him.
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and would not let him go] Better, either as Oettli, I did not let him go until, &c., or as Driver, Tenses, § 42 β and § 85 note, I would not let him go until, &c. In the former case the impf. form is held to be an impf. consec., though the consec. waw has been separated from its verb by the negation. Cp. Psa_8:6 and Job_33:4. Bringing him to her mother’s house must signify that he was to be her acknowledged lover.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) I held him . . .—Bossuet, following Bede,…
(4) I held him . . .—Bossuet, following Bede, regards this as prophetic of Mary Magdalen (type of the Church) on the morning of the Resurrection.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain It was but a little that I passed from…
It was but a little that I passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother"s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. This verse plainly points to the search referred to in the previous verse being limited to the neighbourhood of Shulamith"s home. The lover was not far off, though he had delayed his coming. Possibly it is a real occurrence which is related. In that case we must suppose that the night was not very far advanced. But the hypothesis of a dream is the most natural explanation. The word cherer, which is used of the house, denotes the inner part, penetralia. The modesty of the last clause is very beautiful. The mother would, of course, at that time be in her sleeping chamber. There alone would the maiden receive her lover at such a time. The mother would gladly welcome the young man, and thus the love which Shulamith declares is set upon the ground of perfect chastity and homely purity. The object of this little episode introduced by the bride into her song as she lies in the arms of Solomon is to show that, ecstatic and intense as her devotion is, it is not the lawless affection of a concubine, but the love of a noble wife. The religious emotions are always presented to us in Scripture, not as wild fanaticism or superficial excitement, but as pure offering of the heart which blends with the highest relations and interests of human life, and sanctifies home and country with all their ties and obligations. The mother and the child are one in the new atmosphere of bridal joy. No religion is worthy of the name which does not bring its object into the chamber of her who conceived us. We love all that are bound with us in life not the less, but the more, because we love Christ supremely. We revere all that is just and holy in the common world the more, and not the less, because we worship God and serve the Lord. What a rebuke to asceticism, monasticism, and all unsocial religion!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain It was but a little that I passed from…
Son_3:4-5
It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loveth: I held Him and would net let Him go.
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The real presence, the great want of the Church
As God, Jesus is everywhere; as man, He is only in heaven; as God and man in one person, Mediator and Head of the Church, He is present with us by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, whom the Father has sent in His Name. This presence, not a bodily but a spiritual presence, is the glory of the Church of God. When she is without it she is shorn of her strength; when she possesses it all good things ensue.
I. Before ever we can bring the Well-Beloved into our mothers house, the Church, we must find Him personally for ourselves, It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loveth. How can we bring into the chamber of the Church Him whom we have not yet met with ourselves? How can we communicate grace to others instrumentally unless, first of all, we have received it into our own hearts? If thou wouldst bring Christ into the Church which thou lovest, then, first of all, thine inmost soul must so love Christ that thou canst not live without His company. This must be thy cry: Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? and this must be the goal of thine aspirations: I have found Him whom my soul loveth. It must not be talk, it must be soul-love; it must not be a profession of affection for Jesus, but the inmost bowels of our being must be moved by His Name. These ardent lovers of Jesus must diligently seek Him. The spouse sought Him, sought Him on her bed, sought Him in the streets, sought Him in the broadways, sought Him at last at the lips of the watchmen, sought Him everywhere where He was likely to be found. In seeking our Lord we must use all ministries. The spouse inquired of the watchmen. We are not to despise Gods servants, for He is usually pleased to bless us through them, and it would be ungrateful both to Him and to them to pass them by as useless. But, while we use the ministries, we must go beyond them. Do not imagine that hearing the truth preached simply and earnestly will of itself be a blessing to your souls. Far, far beyond the servant, pass to the Master. Be this the longing of each heart, each Sabbath day, Lord, give me fellowship with Thyself. Note that we must search to the very utmost till we find our Beloved. The Christian must leave no stone unturned till he gets back his fellowship with Christ. If any sin obstructs the way, it must be rigorously given up; if there be any neglected duty, it must be earnestly discharged; if there be any higher walk of grace, which is necessary to continuous fellowship, we must ascend it, fearing no hill of difficulty. Oh, for more Enochs, men who walk with God, whose habitual spirit is that of close communion with Jesus, meditating upon Him, yea, more than that, sympathizing with Him, drinking in His spirit, changed into His likeness, living over again His life, because He is in them, the monarch of their souls.
II. If we would be a blessing to the Church, and have already found Christ, we must take care to retain Him. I have found Him whom my soul loveth; I held Him, and I would not let Him go. How comparatively easy it is to climb to the top of Pisgah! It needs but a little effort; many bold and gracious spirits are fully equal to it. But to keep there, to abide in that mountain, this is the difficulty. Mark that, according to the text, it is very apparent that Jesus will go away if He be not held. I held Him and I would not let Him go; as if He would have gone if He had not been firmly retained. When He met with Jacob that night at the Jabbok, He said, Let me go. He would not go without Jacob s letting Him, but He would have gone if Jacob had loosed his hold. He will go unless you hold Him. But note, next, He is very willing to be held. Who could hold Him if He were not? He is the Omnipotent Saviour, and if He willed to withdraw He could do so: let us hold Him as we might. But mark His condescension. Jesus is willing enough to be retained by hearts which are full of His love. And whenever you have Christ remember that you are able to hold Him. She who held Him in the Song was no stronger than you are; she was but a feeble woman, poorly fed under the Old Testament dispensation; you have drunk the new wine of the new covenant, and you are stronger than she. You can hold Him, and He will not be able to go from you. Embrace Him with the arms of mighty affection, enchain Him with ardent admiration. Lay hold upon Him by faith, and clasp Him with love. Be also much in prayer. Prayer casts a chain about Him. He never leaves the heart that prays. Hold Him, too, by your obedience to Him. Never quarrel with Him. Let Him have His way. Watch His words; be careful to obey them all. Be very tender in your conduct, so that nothing grieves Him. Show to Him that you are ready to suffer for His sake.
III. It appears from the text that, after the spouse had thus found Christ for herself and held Him, she brought Him into the church--I brought Him to my mothers house. We ought lovingly to remember the Church of God. By the Holy Spirit we were begotten unto newness of life, but it was in the Church, and through the preaching of the Word there, that we were brought into the light of life. Did I hear a harsh but honest voice exclaim, But I find much fault with the Church? If thou lovest her, thou wilt go backward and east a mantle over all. But suppose thy candour is compelled to see faults in her; then there is so much the more need of her Lords presence in her to cure those faults. The more sickly she is, the more she wants Him to be her strength and her physician. I say, therefore, to thee, dear friend, above all things, seek to bring Christ into an imperfect Church, and a weak Church, and an erring Church, that she may become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. The saints can bring Him in by their testimony. I hope that often Christ is here when I have borne testimony to you of His power to save, of His atoning blood, of His exaltation in Heaven, of the perfection of His character, and of His willingness to save. But others can do it by their prayers. There is a mysterious efficacy in the prayers of men who dwell near to God. Even if they were compelled to keep their beds, and do nothing but pray, they would pour benedictions upon the Church. Wrestling prayers bring Christ into the innermost chambers of the Church of God. And there is no doubt that Christ is often brought into the Church by the example of those eminent saints who abide in Christ. You know what I mean. There is a very manner and air about some Christian men which honours Christ, and benefits His people. They may not be gifted in speech, but their very spirit speaks, they are so gentle, loving, tender, earnest, truthful, upright, gracious. Their paths, like the paths of God Himself, drop fatness.
IV. This leads me to the last point, which is this, to charge the Church that she be careful not to disturb the Lords repose, if we have been enabled by Divine Grace to bring the Lord into the chambers of our mothers house (verse 5). Observe, then, that the Lord Jesus in His Church is not indifferent to the conduct of His people. The Lord Jesus Christ, looking around His Church, if He sees anything evil in it, will do one of two things; either He will go right away from His Church because the evil is tolerated there, and He will leave that Church to be like Laodicea, to go on from bad to worse, till it becomes no Church at all; or else He will come and He will trim the lamp, or, to use the figure of the fifteenth of John, He will prune the vine-branch, and with His knife will cut off this member, and the other, and cast them into the fire; while, as for the rest, He will cut them till they bleed again, because they are fruit-bearing members, but they have too much wood, and He wants them to bring forth more fruit. It is not a trifling matter to be in the Church of God. Gods fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Loves vigilance rewarded
I. Before we actually come to our text, we may notice three preliminary steps in the spouses progress.
1. The first one is implied in the words, I love Him. She refers to her Beloved under the title of Him whom my soul loveth. Can you give the Lord Jesus that title?
2. Then, in the spouses progress, there came another step, I sought Him. Can you put your finger on that sentence and say,. That is true, too? Have you been seeking Him this Sabbath day? Are you coming to His table to-night seeking Him?
3. Then comes in a little minor or mournful music, for the next clause is, I sought Him, but I found Him not. The spouse is so sad about it that the tells out her woe twice, I sought Him, but I found Him not. Do you know that experience? I hope you are not realizing it at this time; but many of us have known what it is. Our Lord Jesus Christ would not have us think little of His company; and, sometimes, it is only as we miss it that we begin to appreciate the sweetness of it. If we always had high days and holidays, we might not be so thankful when our gala days come round.
II. Inside the text, there are three further steps: I found Him, I held Him, I brought Him into my mothers house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
1. This is the first of the second series of steps, I found Him. I do not wish to stand here and speak for myself, alone; but I want, beloved, that you should each one of you also say, I love Him, I sought Him, and now, I have found Him. What is meant by the words, I found Him? Well, I think a soul may say, I found Him, in the sense employed in the text, when first of all it has a clear view of His Person. My Beloved is Divine and human, the Son of God, and yet the Son of man. Let your soul picture Him so plainly that you can seem to see Him, for this will be a part of your finding Him. But that will not be enough; you must then get to know that He is present with you. We cannot see Him, but yet He that walketh amidst the golden candlesticks is, in spirit, in this house of prayer at this moment. If you can get that thought fully into your minds, that Christ is really here in our midst, you can then each one begin to say, I have found Him. But you want more than that, namely, to feel that He loves you, loves you as if there were nobody else for Him to love, loves you even as the Father loves Him. That is a daring thing to say, and I should never have said it if He had not first uttered it; but He says, As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you.
2. Now we come to the second step. The spouse says, I held Him. This is a deeper experience than the former one; I held Him means more than I found Him. How are we to hold Christ? Well, first, let us hold Him by our hearts resolve. Get you to Jacobs boldness when he said to the Angel of the Covenant, I will not let thee go except thou bless me; but go even beyond that, do not put in any except at all, but say, I will not let Thee go, for I cannot be blessed if Thou art gone from me. Further, brethren, hold Him by making Him your all in all. Yield up everything to Him, be obedient to Him, be willing to suffer for Him, grieve not His Holy Spirit, crown Him, extol Him, magnify Him, keep on singing His praises, for so will you hold Him. Hold Him, too, by a simple faith. That is a wonderful hold-fast. One word more before we leave this point. The only way to hold Christ is to hold Him by His own power. Think of poor Jacob, who, when the angel did but touch him, felt his sinews shrink directly, yet he said, I will not let thee go. And I, a poor trembling creature, may hold the Omnipotent Himself, and say to Him, I will not let Thee go. How is that wonder to be accomplished? I will tell you. If Omnipotence helps you to hold Omnipotence, why, then, the deed is done! If Christ, and not you alone, holds Christ, then Christ is held indeed, for shall He vanquish His own Self?
3. The next step is described in the words, I brought Him. With this we finish: I brought Him into my mothers house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. And where, I pray you, is our mothers house? I do not believe in any reverence for mere material buildings; but I have great reverence for the true Church of the Living God. The Church is the House of God, and the mother of our souls. How can you bring Christ to His Church? Partly, you can bring Him by your spirit. If you have really found Christ, and bring Him with you into the assembly, you will not be the man who will criticize, and find fault, and quarrel with your neighbour because he does not give you enough room in the pew. You will not be the person to pick holes in other peoples coats; but you will be very considerate of others. As for yourself, anything will do for you, and anywhere will do for you, for you have seen the Beloved. You want other people to get as much good as they can; you are no longer selfish; how can you be, when you have found Him whom your soul loveth? And now your poor brother need not be very choice in the selection of his words; if he will only talk about Jesus, you will be quite satisfied; if his accents should be a little broken, you will not mind that. So long as you feel that he wishes to extol your Lord, that will be enough for you. So, in this manner, you will in spirit bring the Beloved to your mothers house, to the chamber of her that conceived you. But, dear friend, it will also be a happy thing if you are able to talk about your Lord, for then you can bring Him to the Church with your words. But if, alas! you feel that you cannot speak for Christ, then, beloved, bring Him by your prayers. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.