My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
5 sermons cite this verse
… catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Beth-er. The third thing that I see, the third and final thing I see is security. In this time of engagement, security, protection is important. great buds on a vine, which first of all, I love the imagery of Song of Solomon. There's so much imagery of vineyards, of vines, of growth, of beauty. And I don't know if you've ever spent time at a vineyard, but even just sitting down at one and looking out, you just feel your heart rate going down and just like the calmness, the peace, the beauty of just looking out, there's nothing except vines growing. And maybe here and there, there's someone like trimming or watering or whatever, but it's just so calming. And I love that imagery with relationships, like this is the heart, this is the goal. But grape buds are tiny, like a mustard seed, tiny, seemingly insignificant, nothing to look at. I brought a picture of some, and you can barely even see them. They're green, they're tiny, nothing to look at, but they're vulnerable, especially if they're not protected. In that day, it was the foxes. The little foxes would come into the vineyard and eat these little grapes, and if the little tiny buds, and if the vines weren't …
Well, we cannot build a city with streets of gold. We cannot find chrysolytes and pearls with which to build a Jerusalem the Golden! We must take the place as we find it. And this world of ours, though a very fair earth, is not all we should like it to be—but we cannot alter it. It is very much like a convict settlement, a prison house to Christians. This is not our rest and, as we look abroad upon it, we feel it is not a proper place for the spirit to dwell in. It needs a better land in which to develop itself. But how, then, are we to get Heaven upon earth? I think there are three things we can do. The first is, we can get it, if we cannot alter the place, by being more like the spirits in Heaven. They are happy in Heaven, not only because it is Heaven, but because they are heavenly! They could not be otherwise than happy. If those blessed spirits were on earth, so perfectly pure as they are, they would be perfectly happy. It is not, I say, so much the place that makes their Heaven, as their state of mind. They are completely conformed to the will of God. They delight themselves intensely in the Most High. They have been freed from their earthly grossness and they are now like the pure gold that has passed through the furnace. Let us pray for holiness and we shall get happiness! Let us ask to be heavenly-minded and we shall get Heaven! There is no fear about our joy if we can get holiness. Very much in proportion as we shall become fit for Heaven shall we have days of Heaven upon earth! …
"My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feeds among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether." Song of Solomon 2:16,17. [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon, upon parts of the same passage, are #1190, Volume 20—A SONG AMONG THE LILIES; #2442, Volume 41—"MY BELOVED IS MINE" and #2477, Volume 42—DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.] IT has been well said that if there is a happy verse in the Bible, it is this one—"My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feeds among the lilies." So peaceful, so full of assurance, so bursting with happiness and contentment is it, that it might well have been written by the same hand which penned the 23rd Psalm—"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters." The verse savors of Him who, just before He went to Gethsemane, said to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you...In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Let us ring the silver bell of this verse again, for its notes are exquisitely sweet! "My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feeds among the lilies." Yet there is a shadow in the latter part of the text. The prospect is exceedingly fair and lovely—earth cannot show its superior—but it is not entirely a sunlit landscape! There is a cloud in the sky which casts a shadow over the scene. It does not dim it—everything is clear and stands out sharply and brightly—"My Beloved is mine, and I am His." That is clear enough, yet I say again that it is not altogether sunlight—there are shadows—"Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away." There is also a mention of the "mountains of Bether"—the mountains of division—and to have anything like division is bitterness. I see here a paschal lamb, but I see bitter herbs with it. I see the lily, but I think I see it still among the thorns. I see the fair and lovely landscape of assured confidence, but a shadow, just a slight shadow, takes away some of its glory. And he who sees it has to still look for something yet beyond—"till the day breaks and the shadows flee away." …
"My beloved is mine, and I am His: He feeds among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether." Solomon's Song 2:16,17. [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same verses are #1190, Volume 20—A SONG AMONG THE LILIES; #2442, Volume 41—"MY BELOVED IS MINE" and #2477, Volume 42—DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.] IT may be that there are saints who are always at their best and are happy enough never to lose the light of their Father's Countenance. I am not sure that there are such persons, for those Believers with whom I have been most intimate have had varied experiences and those whom I have known who have boasted of their constant perfectness, have not been the most reliable of individuals. I hope there is a spiritual region attainable where there are no clouds to hide the Sun of our soul, but I cannot speak positively, for I have not traversed that happy land. Every year of my life has had a winter as well as a summer, and every day its night. I have hitherto seen bright days and heavy rains, and felt warm breezes and fierce winds. Speaking for the many of my Brothers and Sisters, I confess that though the substance is in us, as in the olive tree and the oak, yet we do lose our leaves and the sap within us does not flow with equal vigor at all seasons. We have our downs as well as our ups, our valleys as well as our hills! We are not always rejoicing—we are sometimes in heaviness through manifold trials. Alas, we are grieved to confess that our fellowship with the Well-Beloved is not always that of rapturous delight, but we have at times to seek Him and cry, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!" This appears to me to have been in a measure the condition of the spouse when she cried, "Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved." …
Amidst all your travels, have you never passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death? Have you not experienced the gloom of darkness where your spirit was so desponding that you did not know what to do? Though you had been a Christian for many years, you could not discern the hope of your calling! Though you had come to the full assurance of understanding, you could not take hold of one Covenant Promise with the slightest confidence! Though you had been known aforetime to sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His," He hid His face from you! You sought Him, but you found Him not. In sermons you found no refreshment. In prayer no communion. You were reduced to such a low state of mind that you seemed as though you were counted with them that go down into the Pit. You were so haunted with gloomy doubts and fears, that you cried out, "Your wrath lies hard upon me and You have afflicted me with all Your waves." Through that perilous and gloomy valley you walked! Out of that valley, at last, you came into the bright clear sunshine! And when you sat down and looked back upon the place of dragons and the land of terrors, you could sing, "He delivered me." Yes, Lord, You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from falling! Unto Your name be all the praise! …