The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth. Therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love thee. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me. My mother's children were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon? For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherd's tents. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. Behold, thou art fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair. Thou hast dove's eyes. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved. Yea, pleasant. Also, our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters are fir. Amen. We'll end the reading at verse 17. And trust the Lord to bless His word to us. Let's seek Him in prayer. Call upon Him at this time for His blessing. Our Father in heaven, we come again before Thee in the name of Christ. We thank You for the reading of the precious, inspired, infallible Word of God. And we pray, Lord, that as we have read it, we ask that You would write it upon our hearts. And Lord, as we hear it preached tonight, we would have it written as well in that way upon our hearts. Lord, we ask for help. Help for the preacher. Help for the hearers. We ask that you would open these verses to us. Make them plain. Stir our hearts. Lord, we simply desire to be more drawn out after Christ. To have our hearts stirred up to pursue Him in all holy devotion. Lord, that you would prepare us tonight for a week of preparation, as it were, of our minds and of our hearts to come to the table. Lord, meet with us tonight. Speak to us tonight. Bless us for thy glory's sake. Fill me with thy spirit and grant me help, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, we're coming to verse 12 through 14. Verses 12 through 14, we'll read those verses again. This is the bride speaking, the church, as it were, saying, while the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphor. in the vineyards of Engedi. Before we come to these verses, we need to just remind ourselves of where we are in terms of the discussion, the discourse, the communication between Christ and his church. In those last verses, we just considered last time, verses nine through 11, Christ has told the church how lovely she is to him and why. You remember this comparison in this reflection as we looked at it as Christ reflecting on his church, he compares her, calls her his love and compares her to this company of horses and then describes her as something most beautiful, something most precious to him, something that he adores. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. In other words, she stands out to him. She is precious to him. That's how Christ reflects on his church. That's how he views his blood-bought bride. And yet here, now that has stirred the bride to respond with a lofty statement. of how precious he is to her. As he has now said, this is what you are to me, now the bride responds, this is what you are to me. And you can readily relate to that, I'm sure. We know, as we have noted many times, this whole book is a picture. It is given to us in romantic language to communicate something to us of the redemptive intimacy, the holy connection and relationship between Christ and His people. He is the greater than Solomon and we are His church. And so it is prophetic in that sense, for obviously it's written before redemption has taken place in terms of the cross, and yet it gives to us some of the fullest and most glorious statements that warm our hearts in thinking upon Christ and what he thinks of his church. And so you can relate to that relationship. The wife or the husband, the husband may say to the wife, you are such and such to me. And the wife says, well, you are such and such to me. And so it is here in these verses. She speaks of him in this lofty language in verses 12 through 13 and describes him really as basically the most valuable thing to her, the most precious thing that she has. Well, that then leads us to the question for ourselves as we come to this tonight and as we're looking at it specifically to come to the table next week, what value does Christ have to you? That's the question that should arise in your mind when you read these statements. Can I say what is said here? Once we understand it, hopefully by the end of this message, I trust you will be able to say this with an understanding of what she is thinking of, what the point of it all is as she describes him as the king sitting at his table and the spikenard sending forth the smell thereof, calling him a bundle of myrrh, saying she'll hold him all night betwixt her breast, that is near her heart, saying he is a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. I know that that language is far removed from you. We don't talk like that. We don't know a lot of what these references mean offhand. But the very clear thing that should stand out to you at the very beginning is value, is preciousness. And the question for you and for me as we come to this is what value does Christ have to you? Is he the most precious thing? that you could ever have. Is He your most valued possession, the one you want to give everything to and the one that you would give everything for? Is that what He is to you? You know, as we come to the Lord's Supper next week, that's a very helpful way to prepare our hearts. Because as you're coming to that supper, You're coming to reflect on the one that you are vowing is that very thing. The one you want to give everything to, the one you are willing to give everything for. It was said, as I speak of Christ in such exalted terms, it is so lost on so many today. They don't often view Christ that way. Christ is not often the chief end of their life. In so many places in the world, it's just He's a means to an end. People often say, well, do you want to go to heaven? And heaven is this place of no pain, no suffering, no problems. And they say yes. And they say, oh, well, Jesus Christ is the way to get there. And the people that sometimes they tell that to really want nothing to do with Christ, they just want everything to do with this place they think of as heaven. And it was one preacher who said a very powerful thought, an unregenerate man would be miserable in heaven. Someone who is not born again, someone who is not madly in love, we might say, with Jesus Christ will be miserable in heaven. You know why? Because heaven is all about Christ. That is what heaven will be. It will be perpetually and eternally all about the Lord Jesus Christ and for someone to be unregenerate in heaven, which is impossible, of course. But if they were there, they'd be miserable. If you're not madly in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, then you can't enter into the language of the Song of Solomon. You can't understand the heartwarming love and passionate statements that are contained here. I trust you are madly in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, and I mean that in a biblical sense. We should be caught up and raptured, as it were, with Christ. And that's what these statements are getting at. And you need to know that before we look at them. We're really looking at, in these verses, what Christ is to the Christian. what Christ is to the Christian. And I want us to see, there are really two things that the bride, or we might say the church, is saying the believer by application should be able to say in these verses, verse 12 and then verses 13 through 14. Just two things. The first thing, what she is saying in verse 12, really, As she says, while the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. I suggest to you what she is saying in that verse, and this is our first consideration, is that he is worthy of all that I have. He is worthy of all that I have. I suggest to you that is what she is saying by noting this, while the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. He is worthy of all that I have. The reason I say that is this. There is a picture here of this one who she is in love with, this one who is the greater than Solomon, sitting at this table of communion. The table being the place where there was intimate fellowship between the king and those who he held closest. He sits at the table and there's this mention of spikenard sending forth the smell thereof. In other words, there's a picture here of the bride anointing the king with this precious ointment that then fills the area with the aroma. Spikenard was considered one of the most valuable things at the time. It was something of great value, something of great price. It was near and dear to those who had it. And this is a picture of the bride coming to the king and anointing him with that which is considered most valuable. Costly. And by saying that statement, verse 12, she is saying he is worthy of all that I have. You might think of a certain scene when I describe such a picture to you because we are given a very helpful thing in John chapter 12 that would remind you of this. John 12 and verse 1. We'll read through to verse 7 to get this picture before you and then come back to Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 12. It says in John 12 verse 1, Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Listen closely, read closely. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." You see, here's the king sitting at the table, a place of most intimate fellowship, and here comes Mary with a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anoints the king. You read on, verse four. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. I point that language out to you because this is very helpful when you go to Song of Solomon chapter 1 and verse 12. It is very similar in terms of the picture. And Mary, she had kept this ointment, this very costly, precious ointment that Judas, who was the betrayer, he eyes it immediately and says, we could have sold that for 300 pence. In other words, we could have made a lot of money selling that and she has here wasted it on him. But you see, it was all the difference with Mary. Mary had kept this spikenard, she kept this precious, costly ointment, as it were, and she saved it for this very special occasion where she could come and bow her knees to the Redeemer King and anoint him and say to him, Everything I have, the most valuable thing that I can think of. Everything that I can muster. I want to give it to you. He is worthy of all that I have. Go back to Song of Solomon. That's what's going on here. It is the bride, which is symbolic of the church, every believer who is considering what Christ is to you tonight. You can come to verse 12, you can come to this picture of the king sitting at the table, And the believer takes all that they have, the most valuable things, and comes and anoints Him and says, You are worthy of all that I have. He is worthy of all that I have. That's what she's saying in verse 12. Why is He worthy? As we look at this, why is He worthy? Well, some of the things contained in the statement will help us there. He is worthy of all that I have. worthy because of who he is, worthy because of who he is. Why would you or I, why would the bride be so taken up, so captivated with this one individual so that she would be willing to give all that she has to take this costly ointment of spikenard and anoint him with it because of who he is? She calls him the king. She calls him the king. while the king sitteth at his table. Now, she is not just referring to any king. If we take it by historical language, we know it's the song which is Solomon's. And so in one sense, we could say it's referring to Solomon. But we know that this is not a historical setting. This is something that Solomon wrote as sort of an allegory to point us to the greater than Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater son of David. And so when the language of the king is used, it is referring to the one who is the greater than Solomon. The one who is the greater than David. The one who was to redeem his people. The one who is the king whom the father has set upon his holy hill of Zion. The one who is sovereign over all the earth. The one who is sovereign over the affairs of men. The one who is the king of love. You remember the paraphrase of Psalm 23, the king of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his and he is mine forever. That's the king referred to here. The king sitteth at his table because of who he is. And of course, we come to this in the full language of the New Testament, knowing exactly who that's talking about. The Old Testament saints didn't know the identity, as it were, of Jesus specifically. They knew of Messiah to come. They knew of the King that would come and deliver them from their sins. But you and I can come to this and we can read it in light of the New Testament and say, yes, this is referring to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This is referring to the one who is the one who subdued me to himself. The One who has conquered me. The One who has delivered me from my sins. He is the King. The King of redemption. The King who came to die in order that you might live. He is worthy because of who He is. He is worthy of all that I have. The King. but worthy also because of what He has done for her. I mean, Christ is worthy of all that anyone has because He is the God of heaven. He is the King. But He is worthy specifically because of what He has done for her. You remember the last time this specific language was mentioned in this book. It says, while the king stood at his table. Well, if you back up and you go to the beginning of the book, remember, there's this prayer, this request for communion that comes from the bride. That's how the book begins. That's how the book starts. With a plea, with a cry for communion with Christ. Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. For thy love is better than wine. She then speaks of the savor of his good ointments, his name being as ointment poured forth, the sweetness of the name that communicates deliverance. You remember the name of Solomon, meaning peace, prophesied about that he would be a man of rest. Therefore, do the virgins love me? Draw me, we will run after thee. And then what does she say? What does she acknowledge? The king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. Oh, that you would behold it there, that you and I would behold it. She begins the book requesting for communion with Christ and the King of Glory, this Redeemer King, He graciously grants that request. And she's able to say, the King hath brought me into His chambers. The chambers of the King was the most intimate place. You didn't go into the chambers of the King unless you were of His most intimate company. namely his wife or someone close to him that he would need to have private conversations with. Now she's in the very chambers of the King of Glory, the chambers of the King of Redemption. What is she saying? Now this King who has delivered her, and you remember how she views herself. Look not upon me because I am black, because the Son hath looked upon me. She speaks of herself as a lowly and sinful. I am black, but come, Leo, you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. You remember, we looked at that as a great contrast. She's reflecting on the horrible ugliness of these tents of Kedar, these beaten rags. that had been used out in the wilderness and beaten up by the sun. They're dry and corrupt, as it were, and she views herself because of her sin in that way. And yet, she also says, I'm comely because she knows she's in Christ. She knows she has the righteousness of Christ as her beauty, which our Lord acknowledges as well. But you see, the king had done that for her. The king is the one who made all that different. The king is the one who brought her into his chambers. The king is the one who made her what she is now. The king is the one who is making her beautiful in his time. This is the king that is referred to in verse 12, worthy because of who he is, worthy because of what he has done for her. She is now at his table. Do you see it? In verse 12, While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. In other words, she's there at the table. Now she has, as it were, if we think of the picture of Mary, she has cast herself at his feet and anointed him with what she has as most precious. But she is at the table. The place of communion, the place of intimacy with the king. Just to remind you of that language in the Old Testament, you remember David, how he treated Mephibosheth, who was one of the sons of Jonathan. And for the sake of the covenant that he made with Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who was lame in his legs, he couldn't walk, he was of no value to the king. If anything, he was a threat to the king in terms of his potential hostility because of all that had happened. And just to remind you of the language of how David treated Mephibosheth, this poor, lowly man who really deserved nothing but destruction, yet because of a gracious covenant that David entered into with Jonathan, he says of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 verse 12, In verse 11, pardon me, Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servants, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. And so, verse 13, Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table, and was lame on both his feet. Do you see how this communicates to us this place of intimacy and communion? No one came to the king's table who was not of his closest company. Just like the chamber, so it is with the table. The king only wants those whom he's closest to at the table. And here she's saying, while the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof, worthy because of who he is, worthy because of what he's done for her. Can you not relate to that? as a New Testament believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, when we come to the table next week. You are invited, if you are a Christian, you are invited to come and dine with the King. To come and cast your eyes upon Him who has made all things ready. Come, for all things are now made ready. And you and I, if we're in Christ and we come properly, having examined ourselves and looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, not finding perfection in ourselves, but looking to him, casting away sin and doubt and coming with understanding, we get to come and dine at the Lord's table. And feast with him. Upon the gospel. It's marvelous to me. And she is saying in this text, he is worthy of all that I have. And Christ brings his people to the table. To do what? To look upon the gospel, to have our faith strengthened, to be encouraged in what Christ has done. But also to say afresh, he is worthy of all that I have. He is worthy of all that she has. That's what she's saying. And that's what you can say. I trust when we come to the table. Now, I know we're not perfect. I know that there's sin left in us, but yet we can come and sincerely say. And even as you go through this week and seek to prepare your heart. Ask the Lord to help you to come to the table with that mindset and that heart's desire to give everything afresh over to Christ. Here it's Spikenard, this costly perfume, this ointment. But what is it for you and for me? It's everything. It's our time, our energy. Everything that you have. To freshly give it over to Christ and to think of ways that we may, as it were, anoint our king with all that he has given us. That I would cast my time at his feet, that I would cast all my affections at his feet, that I would cast my energy at his feet. That I would cast my faith at his feet. We may not feel like we have much to offer the Lord at times. As we say He's worthy of all that I have, you may not feel like you have very much. But Christ never told us to give Him much. He just wants all that you have. You think about it in relation to even our faith. We may not have much faith, but we come to this King and we anoint Him with all that we have. We cast our faith upon Him. Puny and feeble as it may be, we are coming to the Lord's table to freshly say, all that I have, it's yours. I trust we can all say that. If you can't say it, then search your heart and ask God to help you to truly love Christ more, to love Him so much that you're willing to lose all for Him, to give all to Him. He is worthy of all that I have. That's verse 12. And then in verse 13 through 14, she makes this statement regarding a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of camphor. Now, in this statement, I believe these two things are meant to go together. Of course, they are distinct and we'll deal with some of that, but they are communicating the same thing. And I believe what she is saying, what the bride is intended to be saying in verse 13 through 14, is that he is without a rival for all of my heart. Not only is He worthy of all that I have, He is without a rival for all of my heart. In other words, there's nothing else that has a place in my heart. I'm not going to give any space to anything else. He is without a rival. He is the one. You think of chapter 5 and how the daughters of Jerusalem will ask her, What is thy beloved more than another beloved? O thou fairest among women. And she begins to describe Him, my beloved, as white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. It's something similar here. There's no rival, for my heart is what she's saying. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. In other words, what she's saying is that He is this valuable spice to me, this desired spice, as it were, this desired material of myrrh, and I'm going to hold him all night betwixt my breast, that is, close and dear to my heart. And the same will hold true for the cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. It's all saying he's without a rival for my heart. Before we look at those verses, you need to look at your own heart and ask yourself, is Christ without a rival for all of my heart? Is there anything in this world that pulls me away from Christ? If there is, you need to kill it. If there is, you must behead it. And you must give the Lord Jesus Christ the crown rights to all of your heart. He is without a rival for all of my heart. Why is He without a rival? As we look at these verses, we'll see some things that will help us here before we close. Why is he without arrival for all of my heart? Well, he's without arrival because of a personal perception. He's without arrival because of a personal perception. You'll note the repetition in verse 13 and 14. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. Verse 14, my beloved is unto me. as a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. You see, this beloved, this king that the bride speaks of, he's without a rival because of a personal perception of him. She's not saying that this is how everyone views him. It's important to see this. She's not saying that this is how the world views him. This is how everyone elsewhere views him. But she's saying, unto me, he is this. Unto me, he is a bundle of myrrh. Unto me, he is as a cluster of camphor. I'm going to hold him all night betwixt my breast, nearest to my heart. Because he is this unto me. He is the most valuable thing I can imagine. It's a personal perception. It is similar to Psalm 34, 38. which we put before the children this past Thursday. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. That verse is talking about a personal experience of the goodness of the Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. It is talking about something that is personal to you. That's why it uses the word taste. That's why it's using something that you and I both know. When you taste something, it's a very personal experience to you. And that's what that verse is talking about. And here it is the same. She's saying that He is this unto me. It's personal. It's my perception of the King. Can you say that tonight about the Lord Jesus Christ? Unto me. He is the most valuable thing. It's not about how other people view Him you see. You or I could tell one another about how valuable Christ is. You can go to someone and you can tell them all the wonderful things about Jesus. You can tell them all the wonderful things in the Word of God about redemption and about Christ and His value and His preeminence and His glory as the King of ages. But you see, it comes down to a personal perception of that truth, a personal experience of that truth. You can tell a child everything about the gospel. They can know the ins and outs of doctrine. But they must, just like everyone else, they must actually experience the truths made real to them. by God. And that's what this is dealing with, a personal perception of this great king. When you come to the Lord's Supper, it is the same. It is something we do together, but it is something you do as an individual. You're coming to cast your eyes on the king of redemption. You're coming to cast your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ because unto you He is this precious possession without arrival because of a personal perception. It's like the parable our Lord told regarding the kingdom of heaven. You remember He uses that language in Matthew chapter 13. Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." Christ is that one pearl of great price. And the Christian should be able to say, like the bride here, he is worthy of all that I have and he is without rival for all of my heart. There may be, as it were, other pearls in the world, but none of them compare to this one pearl of great price. And that man the Lord Jesus refers to, he says, I'm going to hang on to this one. It's without rival because of a personal perception. But also, It is without arrival because of his attractive aroma, of his attractive aroma. We must see that. And we must thank God. I should pause here. If you have that personal perception of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because God has opened your eyes, isn't it? To see him in that way. Therefore, give thanks to God. that you would ever view him as the most precious thing. But without a rival because of his attractive aroma. Now this, it must be seen from both of these verses, but we'll focus particularly on verse 13. But a bundle of myrrh, a cluster of camphor, both of these items had a strong aroma about them. They were used in the ancient world to create these ointments or perfumes in this way. And both of them were used, but I say we want to stress myrrh here for a moment. And in Esther, in the book of Esther, we read of this use of the myrrh. In Esther, before she comes to King Ahasuerus in chapter two, Esther 2 and verse 12, you remember that they had to be prepared months ahead of time to come to the king to see if he would choose one of them. Well, note in the language of Esther 2 verse 12 how they were prepared. Now, when every maid's turn was come to go in to King Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of women, for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh. and six months with sweet odors and other things for the purifying of the women." Do you see how myrrh is used there? It was used as a purifying thing, a thing to purify the women before they would come to the king. And it was used there regarding Esther before she would come to King Ahasuerus. And I say then we are using this language of without arrival because of his attractive aroma, Because it is in that sense that Christ is a bundle of myrrh to her, or a cluster of camphor to her. He gives forth a pleasing, an attractive aroma in a spiritual sense. Chapter 3, verse 6 uses it in a similar way. Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness? like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense with all powders of the merchant. You see, she says something similar there. Now, your question may be, well, what do we mean as Christ giving off an attractive aroma? Well, the point simply is not to get bogged down in the earthly reality, as it were, but what it's symbolizing, it's saying that to the believer, to the one who looks to Christ by faith, there is an attraction. There is something that draws you to him and draws you away from others. It is unique to you, it is, as it were, according unto your faith. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. There's this attractive aroma about Christ because he is uniquely the redeemer of sinners. You think of the language used in the New Testament. Christ says, No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. How does the Father draw sinners to Christ? By the preaching of the gospel. By the hearing of the truth. Romans 10, 17. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The Father, by the work of the Holy Spirit. He draws sinners to Jesus. By them hearing about Jesus. Hearing what He's able to do. Hearing who He is. And it's attractive to them. because of the work of the Spirit of God, drawing them to Him. It's, as it were, this attractive aroma that you don't smell, as it were, with anyone else. There are false Christs, false saviors, and anyone whom the Lord is working in, any true believer, They noticed something distinct about Christ that cannot be said or is true about any other one. Without a rival because of his attractive aroma. Myrrh and camphor, they both gave off a pleasing aroma as it were. But without a rival also because of his purifying properties. his purifying properties. I'm going to do my best to try and communicate to you something of Mur and Kemp for here. It is a well-known fact, it is well-established that myrrh in the ancient world, and is even making some of a comeback today, that it was used not only for these aromatic perfumes, but also as a purifier, as something that could give help in terms of healing diseases or curing people of various germs and things of that nature. Of course, they didn't call them germs in that time, but sickness. They would use them in this way. And they were known as a purifying material. And in Exodus chapter 30, we're told something very special about myrrh. Myrrh in Exodus chapter 30 and verse 23. Myrrh was a part of the special holy anointing oil that was used in the tabernacle and in the temple. And in Exodus 30 verse 23 we're told, Take thou also unto thee principal spices of pure myrrh. 500 shekels and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even 250 shekels and of sweet calamus, and so on it goes to describe what they would then use, verse 25, to make it an oil of holy ointment. In other words, it was made that ointment that was to set apart, that was to purify, that was to cleanse, as it were, symbolically. And here, the bride is saying that Christ is unto me a bundle of myrrh. I love him. He is without a rival for all of my heart because of his purifying properties. You remember that myrrh is referred to at least a couple of times in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, namely at his birth. The wise men, they come and what do they bring? They bring gold and frankincense and myrrh. And each of those things was symbolic of something. It was really prophetic of something. And the Myrrh, we can say, was prophetic of what Christ would be. He would be, as it were, the purifier of His people. Because He would shed His blood on the cross for their sins. He would be, as it were, this healing agent. He's the Great Physician, is He not? He's the one who not only heals the body one day in glory, but He's the one who heals the soul. He is a bundle of myrrh unto me. He's valuable to me above everyone and everything else because of His purifying properties. Myrrh was used, it was referred to in Mark chapter 15. It was a numbing agent as well, something that helped deal with pain. Jesus refused to drink of the wine mingled with myrrh in Mark 15 23. He refused to take that wine mingled with myrrh because it was a painkiller. It was something that was intended to numb his ability to feel the agony he was facing and he did not receive it because it would have numbed him to the sufferings he was enduring to be a satisfaction to the justice of God upon the sins of His people. But you see, the point, though, is that Myrrh, as it were, was a pain killer, as it were, we might say. It was something that dealt with disease or pain to some degree in the ancient world. And it's a lovely picture, isn't it? Here the bride is saying, He is a bundle of Myrrh unto me, and I'm going to hold Him all night betwixt my breast. In other words, you hold something that's of the scent of myrrh, as it were, it fills your nostrils, doesn't it? And you're holding it ever so closely to your heart because that's where you want it to be, as it were. And it's a picture of Christ. Holding Him near and dear to your heart because He is the one who is purifying you. The one who has purged you of your sins by the shedding of His blood. 1 John 1.7, The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Jesus, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Do you see this picture of Christ as a bundle of myrrh? I hope it sticks with you. I hope I'm communicating it somewhat helpfully to think of him in this way. It's lovely to see him as valuable to the believer because of his purifying properties. It's not just that he is. It's not just that he has purged our sins and cleansed us by his blood, Just think of your sanctification. And think of this language here, I am going to hold him all night betwixt my breast. In other words, I'm not going to let him go. No matter what's going on around me, I'm going to hold him all night betwixt my breast. That's where I want him nearest to my heart as he can be. Why? Well, we don't want to take the analogy too far, but sometimes we might refer or you might hear someone say of their spouse, I am better when I'm with you. You might hear someone say that. I am better. I'm a better person. I am better when I'm with you. We might use that language. And as I say, I don't want to take the analogy too far, but is that not true for the Christian in relation to Christ? The nearer he is to you and the nearer you are to him, the better you are. I am better when I'm with you. You can say that about Christ. You're not as good as you ought to be, but, oh, praise God, there's a real work of sanctification going on in your heart, going on in your life. And the closer you are to Christ, the more holy, the more devout, the more stable you'll be in the Christian life because of His purifying properties. And the last thing is that He's without a rival. because of His abundant provision in His atoning work. His abundant provision in His atoning work. This latter part of verse 14 is probably the most difficult in terms of difference of opinion as to the plants and in reading things, it's helpful to know that some of the most common disagreement and misunderstanding and confusion in terms of trying to discern what is being referred to in the Bible is in relation to plants. So when you're studying your Bible and you're trying to figure out what's the exact plant or whatever that's being referred to, sometimes that's almost a near impossible task. And I say that's encouraging because that tells you that the point is not so much about the exact reference to the plant. It's about the truth being symbolized. So God has not left us a record of all the botany, as it were, of the ancient period, all the different plants and those things, and there's a bunch of disagreement about what specifically is referred to here in regards to a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. So I say that to encourage you that it's about what it symbolizes, not so much about the plant itself. But I believe we can say, based on how else this word camphor is used, that we can say that there may be an allusion here, and I say may be an allusion here, to an abundant provision in the atoning work of Christ. You notice how in both of these statements, we're told it's not just simply myrrh, like a little bit of myrrh, and it's not simply camphor in terms of a little bit of camphor. It's a bundle and it's a cluster. In other words, there's a lot of it. There's a quantity that is abundant. It's an abundant provision that she has in view in this language that Solomon has in view as he writes this about Christ. A bundle of myrrh, a cluster of camphor. And this word Kempfer is used in a variety of ways, in very interesting ways in your Old Testament. And I just want to look at three of them, and then we will close with this point. In Genesis chapter 6, when the Lord was telling Noah to make an ark, We read there, make thee an ark of gopher wood, rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch, within and without, with pitch. And the word camper is actually the word used there for pitch. And the reason it's translated that way is because this cluster of camphor, some think to be a flower or product of a certain tree or plant that would be used to make something like pitch that Noah would have then plastered onto the ark to help with taking in water and those things. So it was a covering. It was something that protected, something that preserved. You can easily see a connection there to the atoning work of Christ, can't you? In other words, His work on the cross, what Christ has done for the Christian. In His death on the cross and His resurrection, He has supplied something to cover, something to protect, something to preserve. Exodus 30 and verse 12, the word is used there as well. Exodus 30 and verse 12. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. When thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them. And the word is ransom. As I say, there's a variety of translations for this one word, camphor, that same word. It is used here in Exodus 30 as a ransom. And that is what the Lord Jesus Christ does in His atoning work. He provides a ransom. He pays the penalty for the sins of His people on the cross. He provides the ransom, as it were, to deliver us from our sins. And then numbers. Numbers 35 and verse 31. Numbers 35 verse 31. Moreover, you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death. And the word is used there translated as satisfaction. Do you see what I'm getting at in terms of relating this to the atoning work of Christ? We're told it was used as pitch in relation to the ark that Noah was protected in, which is a picture of Christ. The flood of God's wrath comes upon the earth, and all those outside of the ark perish. But those inside the ark are shown to be saved from the wrath that came upon the world due to sin. And Christ is that ark, ultimately. He's the greater ark. And we're told in regards to being a ransom, the word is used. And Christ is the ransom, payment for our sins. And in Numbers 35, 31, we're told regarding satisfaction for the life of a murderer. And Christ, that is what He does. He satisfies justice, the justice of God. upon the sin of man when he dies on the cross, he is our satisfaction. That's what the word atonement is really communicating, a satisfaction of the just wrath of God. And this place, this reference to En Gedi, En-Gedi was a place where this plant flourished and grew abundantly. There was an abundant supply of it in the vineyards of En-Gedi. And Solomon would have had familiarity with this, perhaps personally, but especially from the life of his father. For in 1 Samuel chapter 23 and verse 29, we read of David spending time in En-Gedi. In 1 Samuel 23, And verse 29, and David went up from thence and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi. That was when he was on the run. from Saul. And so here, David spending time at En Gedi and perhaps communicating to Solomon something of what it was like or Solomon finding out later in his life just about it himself. But this plant, it grew there in abundance and it is used in these various places, Genesis 6, 14, Exodus 30, verse 12, and Numbers 35, 31, all to communicate something about redemption. And I'm doing my best to point you from this in a simple way to the atoning work of Christ. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engedi. In other words, he's my provision for what I need before God. He is he's the pitch, as it were. to protect the ark that I'm in. He's the ransom for my soul. He's the satisfaction that I need before God. And through His work, He has abundantly supplied. There's no lack of what I need in Him. He is without a rival for all of my heart. Do you see? That's what she's saying. This is what Christ is to the Christian. what he should be to the Christian, worthy of all that you have and without a rival for all of your heart. And all when we come to the table, let us remember this and let us come with with fresh zeal to to dedicate ourselves to the Lord in this way and all that God would give us more help. To feel this way, not only just to say this, but to truly, sincerely mean it from the very depth of our hearts. What Christ is to the Christian. Let the Lord write these verses upon our hearts. Be with us. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before you. with this heart-stirring passage before us. Lord, we know sometimes these things are removed from us in their language and their descriptions. But Lord, we are grateful for the simplicity of the pictures and how they point us to Christ. Lord, we pray, help us to truly be able to say Christ is worthy of all that I have. And he is without a rival for all of my heart. Evermore, Lord, help thy people to be of this mind. And Lord, we pray for any who may have no idea of the love that we are talking about. Christ is not this unto them personally. Oh, Lord, we pray you'll change that tonight. We pray you'll change the heart. And take away the heart of stone and give the heart of flesh that is full of love for Christ. Lord, be with us as we depart this place. Go with us, Lord. Help us, Lord, in this week to prepare ourselves for thy table. Be with us. In Jesus' precious name.