Shall we turn to the final reading in
first, in the fifth chapter of Solomon, the
Song of Solomon, beginning to read at verse
nine and through the end of the chapter,
for our final study upon the beauty of
the Beloved.
Reading at verse nine we shall reprove.
What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved?
O thou fairest among women.
What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved
that thou dost so charge on?
My Beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest
among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold,
his locks are bushy and black as a
raven, his eyes are as the eyes of
doves by the rivers of water, washed with
milk and thickly set, his cheeks are as
a bed of spices and sweet flowers, his
lips like lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh, his
hands are as gold rings set with a
bow, his belly or body is as bright
ivory overlaid with sapphire, his legs are as
pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine
gold, his countenance is as Lebanon excellent as
the cedars, his mouth is most sweet, yea
he is altogether lovely, this is my Beloved
and this is my friend, O daughters of
Jerusalem.
May God bless the reading and hearing of
his words, may the Holy Spirit continue to
minister to our hearts the loveliness of Christ.
May I repeat what we stated at the
commencement of these studies?
We thank God that it is true that
the work of Christ, his redemptive work upon
the cross, is the perfect resting place for
the conscience.
We thank God that the precious word, the
word of Christ, the Bible, is the perfect
guide for our path.
But we rejoint above what we could put
in human language, that the person of Christ,
his blessed person, is the perfect object for
the heart.
And Beloved, you and I as believers in
the Lord Jesus, and much can we do
acknowledge, there is no greater and more perfect
object for our heart's affection, for our heart's
contemplation, and for our heart's devotion, than the
person of the Lord Jesus.
The description that is given in this portion,
though it be symbolical language, has brought before
us some of the excellent glories, both in
his deities and in his humanity of our
Lord Jesus.
Today we conclude our study by taking the
last two verses, and we find that the
fifteenth verse, that the Spirit of God brings
the description that his legs are as pillars
of marble.
Under the robe that her Beloved wore, she
recognized and described the legs of her Beloved
as being pillars of marble.
The symbol of his legs can be a
twofold one.
They symbolize his strength, and they also symbolize
his steadfastness.
For thank God, the Beloved, by this symbol,
presents to us the strength of his legs,
as well as the steadfastness of those legs
pertaining to his character.
Let's meditate upon the strength that they suggest.
There is a verse written in the 147th
Psalm that tells us that the legs of
a man, the Lord taketh not pleasure in
the legs of a man.
For all of us are aware of this
fact.
Humanly speaking, the day comes, as the ecclesiastical
writer in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12,
Solomon, wrote, someday we feel these legs bending,
giving way under the burdens of life.
But this is not so of the Lord
Jesus.
The legs of the Lord Jesus gave no
indication of bending and giving way under the
burdens that were his.
And may I point out that one of
the indications of those untailing legs of strength
is revealed to us when he was upon
the cross.
You remember, they came to break the legs
of those who were hanging upon the cross,
to hasten their death.
But when they came to the body of
the Lord Jesus, they perceived that he was
already dead, and they break not his legs.
The Lord's legs, a type of his unfailing
strength, were not permitted to be broken on
the cross as the others were.
For the Father would grant some emblem of
his eternal and everlasting strength by not permitting,
even in the midst of his weakness and
of his death, those blessed legs to be
broken.
And as John writes in the nineteenth of
his gospel, these things were done that the
scripture might be fulfilled.
A bone of him shall not be broken,
and even in his weakness and in the
hour of his great death, the Father would
not permit the symbol of his everlasting strength
to be impaired.
But may I point out to you, our
redemption rests upon those pillars of marble, your
redemption and mine.
For upon him the weight of all of
his people's sins was placed when he was
hanging upon that tree.
The sins of his people, from the beginning
to the end of human history, were all
placed upon him, and could those legs support
the weight of sins that were put upon
him?
We thank God they did.
His legs are as pillars of marble.
But if may I point out another truth.
Not only is our redemption upon him resting,
and those legs are pillars of marble to
support that work, but also the maintenance of
his church rests wholly upon him.
You know, it needs strong legs to bear
a heavy burden, and when the burden may
be too heavy, the legs crumble.
And humanly speaking, this is so true of
us all.
But when we see the maintenance of his
church, and beloved may I say, when you
try to take the burden of the church
upon yourself, you really get crushed down.
But Jesus said, as he spoke to Peter,
upon his confession, thou art the Christ.
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, in Matthew
16.
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for faith
thou art Peter, and upon this rock himself
I will build my church, and the gates
of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And thank God the maintenance of his church
rests upon the pillars of marble.
And I want to confess, when I try
to hold the church up, I get pretty
low, but thank God the maintenance of his
church rests wholly upon those pillars of marble
himself.
Then may I point out, and this is
remarkable, the burdens of all of his followers
are placed upon him.
As we may have mentioned in preceding messages,
casting all your care upon him, for he
cares for you.
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, it's Psalm
55, 22 says, cast thy burden upon the
Lord, and he shall sustain thee.
My beloved, I wonder, I know we could
not, but I wonder how many believers have
brought their burdens, and they have placed them
upon him, and his legs never gave way.
He is able and has proved his ability
to support the burdens of all his followers.
Century after century, year after year, they have
come to him with their burdens, and beloved,
he has been unfailing.
Blessed be his name.
Thousands and thousands of saints have brought their
burdens and cast them upon him, and he
has sustained them by his mighty power, for
his legs are pillars of marble.
Thank God for the symbol of his eternal
strength.
Underneath thee are the everlasting arms, and thank
God there is the strength of an everlasting
person whose legs are pillars of marble to
sustain the weight of his own people.
But then those legs speak of steadfastness, and
may I point out to you, as the
writer of the Wiseman says, the legs of
the lame are unequal.
And when you look at the human legs
of the human family, they are unequal, they
are not steadfast.
Sometimes they're halting, sometimes they're limping, sometimes they
are broken.
But when you see the pillar of strength
in those marble legs, they're steadfastness indicated.
For they're upright, they are immovable.
Now let me remind you that Satan tried
to move those legs, as when we think
of the temptation in the wilderness.
As the Lord Jesus came out of the
wilderness at the end of those forty days,
weary, hungry, worn, weak, the devil knew what
he needed.
He said, If thou be the Son of
God, command these stones to be made bread.
And in the weakness of his condition, though
weary and faint, those legs would not bend
before the adversary, as he answered, and went
on his way faithfully.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God.
What Satan desired was to make those legs
bow and bend before him in obeisance.
He takes them to the pillar of the
temple, to the pinnacle of the temple, and
from that pinnacle he commands him, Cast thyself
down, for it is written, He shall give
his angels charge over thee.
And on that difficult place, a pinnacle of
a temple, he is requested to bow to
the request of the adversary.
But whether it be a pinnacle, or whether
it be a solid ground, those legs refuse
to bow to the adversary, as he answers,
Thou shalt not cast the Lord thy God.
And then, for a final desperate effort, Satan
takes them to a high mountain, and he
shows to him in a moment of time
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory
of them.
He gives the Lord Jesus a view of
all the power and glory of the earthly
kingdoms that were under his authority in this
scene.
But may I remind you that it is
a lovely fact to realize, he'd only took
the devil a moment to show all that
he had, but it's going to take eternity
for the Lord Jesus to show us all
that he has.
But when he showed him the kingdoms of
the world, and said, All these will I
give thee, if thou wilt bow down and
worship me.
And beloved, those legs never bowed.
As he said, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And my beloved, the devil tested those legs.
But do you know what he had to
say?
They're pillars of marble.
They are pillars of marble.
He would not bow to Satan.
And yet every one of us, and every
other human being is bound.
The legs of every other human being have
bent in obeisance to Satan's desires, sometime and
another.
But may I also state, those legs are
still pillars of marble.
For yonder in the heavens, Satan still proves
that they are pillars of marble.
For when at the throne of God, the
accuser of the brethren, thus accuses the saints
upon the earth, there is a living intercessor,
great I preach, and advocate, those legs still
stand in faithful ministry, pleading and advocating for
his own, to maintain their relationship, and to
present them in his person and way, always
acceptable before the Father.
And Satan, though he's the accuser of the
brethren, finds this one who stands immovable, for
his legs are pillars of marble, in the
presence of God.
And you know one of the glorious facts
that lies before us is the precious truth
that someday, and perhaps soon, as the Prophet
Zechariah writes, his feet shall touch the Mount
of Olives, and back to the earth, the
blessed person of our Lord Jesus, and his
feet and legs will stand upon the Mount
of Olives at his return.
And the kingdoms of this world will be
then ruled by our beloved Saviour, as he
shall stand in that day, the conqueror of
the nations, and King of Kings, and Lord
of Lords.
What a day!
I was tremendously impressed, and perhaps some of
you have been too, at the close of
that war between Israel and the Arabs in
1967, those six days of war.
I was tremendously impressed, and seeing upon the
newscast one day, the visual link of the
burial of many of those Israelite soldiers.
When they had conquered the Mount of Olives,
they carried many of those soldiers, and buried
those bodies on the Mount of Olives.
And to witness that sight, that they had
the possession of that scene which they had
never known for centuries.
But my thoughts went immediately, as I viewed
in the picture that mount, and the ritual
of the great services being carried on, the
railing, as well as the attending armies that
were there present at the scene.
It was a tremendous thing, thrill one's soul,
to realize God's earthly people were in the
mount.
But I could not help but think, that's
the mount my Saviour's coming back, and his
feet will touch that mount in the day
of his return to the earth, and he
will set up his eternal kingdom, and manifest
his glory.
You know beloved, look, the world needs a
man with legs of love.
You cannot put the government of the world
on a human being.
He can't take it.
He could never administrate it.
He cannot glorify God, nor bless man.
But thank God for the strength and the
steadfastness of the one who's coming.
This is my beloved.
This is my friend, she writes.
But don't, those legs, if you may note
carefully, they are set upon sockets.
The feet are feet of fine gold.
From head to the bottom, she says, is
fine gold.
For his head was of gold, and his
feet are of gold, and the golden sandals,
they are the sockets for the marble pillars.
And she declares, as far as she is
concerned, the bride declares, my beloved is gold
from head to bottom, and surely he is.
The joy of knowing the value of Christ,
he is gold, the most fine gold from
head to bottom, and even his blessed feet
are thus symbolizing the bride's estimation as being
sockets of fine gold.
Oh my beloved, let's just meditate for a
brief moment or two on the preciousness of
those feet.
Let me give you this thought, and I
think it symbolizes the preciousness of the feet
of Jesus to the heart of his bride.
In Luke chapter 7, you remember in the
house of Simon the Pharisee, there came a
woman, and she washed his feet with her
tears.
This was the preciousness of the feet of
Jesus to her heart.
Those blessed feet had come to where she
was, and met her deep soul's need, in
that which was the solemn and serious need
of her simple condition.
And the preciousness of those feet, to her,
demanded the washing of them with her own
tears.
And also, she wiped those feet with the
hair of her head.
So precious, not even a towel was proper
in her estimation, the very hairs of her
head she would use to wipe those feet
as she washed them with her tears.
She did more than that.
She covered those feet with kisses, with adoration,
with love, and with the emotion of an
appreciated soul that is undervalue of what Christ
was for her sole eternity.
She did that of which we read no
other has done.
She ardently, fervently kissed those feet.
Judas betrayed him on the cheek with a
kiss, but the bride says, this one is
worthy even to kiss his feet.
And we think of Mary of Bethany pouring
the alabaster box, a precious spikenard, in John
12, and pouring it upon his feet, and
the whole house was filled with the odor
of the ointment.
Her beloved, great and glorious as he is,
the true estimate of a spiritual heart to
worship and ardently adore and tell their appreciation
of him, is to pour oneself and prostrate
oneself.
Revelation chapter five.
You remember that in that scene, in the
midst of the throne, in the midst of
the living creatures, in the midst of the
elders, there stood a lamb as it had
been freshly slain, and John says, as he
turned to look, he beheld and he saw
that whole congregation of saints, as well as
living creatures, they fell down before the lamb
to sing their praises of his worthiness.
And beloved, your place and mine belongs at
his feet to pour out our ardent adoration
and affection for himself.
Blessed feet.
There's been power and authority in those feet.
On the human side, how precious they are
to have brought us the message of Islam,
and the love of his father God.
On the divine side, those feet with authority,
they walk the waves of the Sea of
Galilee, as we know.
And the deity of the Son of God
was acknowledged by the waters of the sea.
Thank God.
In Revelation chapter one, you read the glory
of his coming person, when as the judicial
judge and priestly judge of all the earth,
he is described in Revelation one, and his
feet are as the burning of brass in
a fire.
For they are feet that will be inflexible
in their judgment when he comes to the
earth.
Do you ever notice the psalmist I think
in the 18th Psalm says, he will crush
his enemies under his feet?
But oh beloved, in that coming day of
his return, unbending, inflexible, he will crush the
enemies under his feet in the day of
his judgment.
Beloved, you know my heart aches sometimes, when
I begin to realize what the world is
facing, when and the many around him rebellious
against the person of Christ, the God of
glory, and the Word of God.
The day of judgment is bringing the return
of our Lord, and his feet will touch
the earth, and with inflexible, unbending judgment, his
enemies will be destroyed by him, and not
one will be left.
But you know, hell combined with earth to
put those blessed feet upon the cross, and
the great murderer, he put those cruel nails
through the feet of our blessed, blessed Lord.
And though those nails were driven through his
blessed feet as they fastened him there, thank
God those feet came out of all the
power of evil that was arrayed against him,
and in victory those feet calmly walked out
in the joy and power of his resurrection,
to triumph over the bloody nails of the
murderer.
And may I remind you, when the devil
named his feet to that cross, it was
the devil's defeat.
For his feet shall bruise thy head.
And that was the very first promise in
the Word of God, and it was given
to the devil.
And thou shall bruise his heel.
But his feet shall bruise thy head.
And thank God, though with delight they may
have seen him nailed to the tree, and
the host of evil gleefully joined around them,
it was the defeat of Satan's power and
of his authority.
Yes, beloved, his feet are set upon sockets
of fine gold.
But now she goes to a general description
at the end of verse 15.
She speaks of his general countenance, how he
looks in all of his bearing.
His countenance is as Lebanon's, as excellent as
the sea is.
The only thing we can say briefly concerning
Lebanon, that majestic mountain, that goodly mountain Lebanon,
as it is recorded in the Word of
God, with all of its majesty, standing up
amidst the land around.
And in the majestic appearance of that wonderful
mountain, she says, that describes the general What
a majesty!
What a majesty!
Oh, how we can rejoice that indeed the
majesty of Christ resided in his whole person,
both human and divine.
And thank God that we recognize the majesty
that belongs to him, whether humanly and whether
divinely.
You remember Peter, James and John were on
the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord Jesus.
And in 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter says,
we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
There was not only majesty in his bearing
on the human side, but Peter, James and
John were eyewitnesses of the majesty of the
Savior on the divine side.
When his face did shine as the sun,
his garment was as white as the light
in glistening.
And may I say, my beloved, there's no
person that is more majestic than the Lord
Jesus.
His present majesty, he sat down upon the
right hand of the majesty on high.
And we say with the poet, majestic sweetness
sits enthroned upon the Savior's crown.
And what a joy to recognize, if you
want to see a majestic person, this is
my beloved, and this is your beloved.
But not only majestic is Lebanon, but enduring
is the Cedars.
And as she speaks of the excellency of
the Cedars, she compares their beloved to the
Cedars, which were one of the most excellent
of all the trees in the land.
Now may I note with you, that the
Cedar is excellent and sane for its durability.
For its durability.
It is a wood that is used because
of its durability, and is excellent and sane
for its durability.
And what shall we say of the Lord
Jesus?
His name shall endure forever, wrote the psalmist.
Blessed be God.
Oh what a name, as we've been singing
of it.
Jesus, what a lovely name.
But throughout all eternity, the name of Jesus
will endure forever.
The world would like to stamp out the
name of Jesus.
It cannot.
It will not.
That name shall endure forever.
But the Cedar is also excellent for its
fragrance.
The fragrance of Cedar.
In chapter one of this book of the
Song of Solomon, in verse three, thy name
is as ointment, precious and precious, purifying as
well as fragrant ointment that is poured forth.
Thy name is as perfumed ointment, fragrant ointment
poured forth.
And what a fragrance as we sang this
morning to that lovely name.
Jesus, oh what a lovely name.
And as the Cedar is fragrant, so the
Beloved in his name is fragrant to his
bride.
You know, I'm sure you realize it.
Doesn't it make your soul shrink and your
heart tear when you hear someone blaspheme that
name?
It seems unbearable that the name you know,
the name you love, the name that is
dearest, the name that will endure forever, men
blaspheme that, and take him in vain.
But God has given him a name that
is above every name, that is the name
of Jesus.
Now may I emphasize that?
The name of Jesus.
He has many names, but the name of
his humiliation, the name of the lowly Jesus,
the name of Jesus, that that name every
knee shall bow, of things in heaven, of
things on earth, of things under the earth,
and Beloved in the coming day of eternal
glory, the universe, whether it will be the
celestial realm and all who shall be in
it, whether it be the earthly realm and
all who shall be on it, whether it
be the eternal region and all who may
be banished eternally there, that name is going
to be worshipped.
It will endure forever.
You know, I want to say something.
I'm glad I'm going to lose my old
name and get a new name when we
get to glory.
I will write upon him my name and
declare.
Isn't it good night to know the worries
will be, will have disappeared when you get
to heaven, and all your names that you
have down here, and there the family will
be one.
And the name that is above every name
will pregnant every being and be born upon
the character and the resemblance of every person.
Praise the Lord.
I'll tell you one thing, they'll never tell
us up there, they'll have to tell us
we look like Christ, which we shall.
And his name shall endure forever.
You know, I'll tell you, you gotta, you
better be careful about what you think of
your own name down here.
You're in, you have up in Virginia what
they call the FFBs, the Famous Families of
Virginia.
I remember our dear brother Wilson, Lester Wilson,
many many years ago, he had a tent
meeting in a certain town in North Carolina,
this goes back about, and I recall there
was a young man that was saved, and
he was not a very bright mental boy,
but he was saved.
And he was encouraged by brother Wilson to,
Lester Wilson, to read his Bible.
And he said, when he met him on
the street one day in the local town,
he said, have you been reading your Bible?
Yes brother Wilson, I've been reading your Bible,
my Bible.
He said, the
FFBs.
Well of course he didn't recognize what the
word was.
Beloved Lord, we lay down all the names
that we have here.
There's only one name that's going to endure
forever, for it is excellent, as the cedars.
And then we think of the perpetual greenness
of the cedar tree, when all other trees
may be only worth fuel, just good for
fuel.
The cedar tree bears its greenness, and thank
God how true this is of our blessed
Lord Jesus.
And thank God that cedar has become a
refuge for you and me.
It's in Ezekiel, I believe, it's in chapter
17, where God tells the prophet Ezekiel, that
he will bring his people to lodge in
the valley in a future day of glory.
And they will be dwelling safely under his
wings.
And the symbol of the cedar tree is
given them to be their place of safety
and protection.
But let's face it now, for we must
close.
Go down with me to the last verse.
His mouth is most sweet.
The last feature that she describes the beloved
with is literally his mouth, its sweetnesses.
His mouth is most sweet.
And beloved, we've already touched, and we've but
briefly referred to it, the sweetness of his
mouth and the sweetness of his lips.
The pure words and the ministry that fell,
the gracious words that proceeded out of his
mouth.
But then there's not only the sweetness of
his words.
In chapter one she declares, in verse two,
let him kiss me with the kisses of
his mouth.
For there's the, may I put it this
way, the sweetness of his mouth.
There's the sweetness of his affection.
Oh beloved, is that kiss is a symbol
of affection.
The sweetness of his affection.
Used to be an old hymn we sang,
seems like centuries ago.
There's no love to me like the love
of Jesus.
Never to fade or fail.
The sweetness of his mouth.
Oh the precious sweetness of his affection.
The sweetness of his friendship.
The sweetness of his fellowship.
The sweetness of his grace.
All these indicated by the sweetness of his
mouth.
And may I say, the sweetness of his
breath.
My goodness, I don't know how many of
you, how often I may have to say,
so do you have halitosis?
Well he never does.
There's nothing, nothing at all that will never,
from his blessed mouth, be contrary to the
desires of your heart.
But the sweetness of his breath.
I love the words in John chapter twenty.
You remember when he came into the upper
room, and he breathed upon his disciples, and
he breathed upon them, saying, Receive ye the
Holy Ghost.
And may I humbly suggest, it was the
breath of his new creation life.
His death, his burial, his resurrection was accomplished.
Now he was the head of the new
creation, and he breathed on them the breath
of the new creation life in the power
of the Holy Spirit.
You'll admit, there's only three times you read
of God breathing in the Bible.
In Genesis two, when he made Adam, and
that inanimate form was before him, he breathed
into his muscles the breath of life, and
he became a living soul.
And then we have in second Timothy, chapter
three, verse sixteen, all Scripture is given by
inspiration by the breath of God, and it's
profitable, and so on.
The breathing of the divine breath upon the
Holy Book.
And then, thank God, our Lord Jesus has
breathed into the soul of every one of
his own, the breath of the life of
the new creation.
Praise the Lord.
Praise God for that new creation, and its
life, which from him has been imparted in
the power of the regenerating Spirit to all
of his own.
But you know, some day the Lord Jesus
is going to destroy his enemies with his
breath.
With the breath of his lips shall he
slay the wicked.
Isaiah 11 and verse 4.
O Beloved, with the breath of his lips
he shall destroy the wicked.
I am grateful to thee his breath is
sweet, and to the Beloved his mouth is
moist.
But she adds, and this is the summary
of all that has preceded, in the conclusion,
she speaks of his complete, perfect loveliness.
She says he's altogether lovely.
Altogether lovely.
There's nothing to be removed from the lovely
character of this person.
There's nothing to be altered.
There's nothing that can be added.
Let me say it again.
There's nothing that could be taken away from
him, that needs to be taken away from
him.
May I say there's a lot of things
that would certainly make us better people.
There are conditions about you and me that
need to be altered.
And there are things perhaps that could be
added to make us more lovely.
Not he.
There's nothing for him to disguise nor excuse.
He can stand the utmost penetration and analysis
of character.
The world hates Christ and would remove him
if they possibly could from his character, but
it cannot.
For everything that is lovely is found in
him.
All that is lovely of God is found
in him.
Let me emphasize that word all again.
All, everything that is lovely of God, is
found in him.
All that is lovely in humanity is found
in him.
All that is lovely of the earth, it
is found in him.
All that is lovely in the universe is
found in him.
Every part and every feature of Jesus is
altogether lovely.
And all the ingredients of his character and
person, they sum up to one whole.
He is altogether lovely.
Whether you're following from his birth, lovely in
his birth, lovely in his childhood, lovely in
his death and resurrection, lovely in every phase
of his life, whether king, whether shepherd, saviour,
servant or son.
Name it.
He's altogether lovely.
You know, the saints share his loveliness, but
they're not altogether lovely.
The saints are lovely, but they're not altogether
lovely.
And I want to tell you, you're lovely,
but you're not altogether lovely.
We've got only one person who's altogether lovely.
And did you ever not know that in
the Bible, when you see some of the
great heroes of faith, the men of the
word of God, such as Noah, such as
Abraham, Moses, David, Job, Peter, John, and we
glory in the fact of their wonderful faith.
I tell you what, you can find something
wrong with every one of them.
God says, there's only one person that's altogether
lovely, and that's my son.
And do you remember when he was on
the Mount of Transfiguration, there before Peter, James
and John, poor Peter opened his big mouth
as he should never have done, and he
said, Lord, it's good for us to be
here.
Let's build three tabernacles.
One for you, one for Moses, and one
for Elijah.
And do you know what happened?
The cloud came and overshadowed the whole scene.
And under that bright cloud, a voice said,
this is my beloved son.
Hear ye him.
And the Lord God the Father wiped away
the sight of James, of the sight of
Moses, and the sight of Elijah.
Which it must have been wonderful for those
disciples to see.
And you know, when they looked up, they
saw no man but Jesus only.
Beloved, your Saviour and mine is the only
altogether lovely one.
And don't you start telling me how lovely
I am.
You've got the wrong man.
The one we know and love is the
one whose beauty we have seen this week.
The beauty of the beloved, and we say
of him, this is my beloved.
Altogether lovely, and we add in closing, as
the writer does, this is my beloved, this
is my friend.
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, hallelujah, what a
friend, and what a beloved, shall we pray.
Blessed God and Father, it is with joy
we lift our hearts to acknowledge where true
eternal satisfying beauty, in character and in person,
resides in thy lovely son.
How we thank thee for sending him here
to us.
O Father, what he's done, what he is
doing, and what he will yet finish, is
beyond our comprehension.
But to think that we can have a
foretaste, and we can have a present blessing,
and a present share in thy son.
Father, we just don't know how you parted
with him, to send him from the glory,
down to this earth below for us.
But we lift our hearts in gratitude and
praise, and acknowledge with adoration, he is altogether
lovely, and pray fervently, we may see more
of his loveliness, day by day, until we
look upon him face to face in the
glory above.
What a day that will be.
We commend ourselves, asking thee to keep us
walking in his blessed fellowship throughout the rest
of the day, and bring us together in
the evening by thy will.
May the great and the loveliness of the
Lord Jesus be with us all.
Amen.
Thank you for coming.
The Lord bless you.