Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out" (S. of Sol. 4:16).
Some of the spices mentioned in this chapter are quite suggestive. The aloe was a bitter spice, and it tells of the sweetness of bitter things, the bitter-sweet, which has its own fine application that only those can understand who have felt it. The myrrh was used to embalm the dead, and it tells of death to something. It is the sweetness which comes to the heart after it has died to its self-will and pride and sin.
Oh, the inexpressible charm that hovers about some Christians simply because they bear upon the chastened countenance and mellow spirit the impress of the cross, the holy evidence of having died to something that was once proud and strong, but is now forever at the feet of Jesus. It is the heavenly charm of a broken spirit and a contrite heart, the music that springs from the minor key, the sweetness that comes from the touch of the frost upon the ripened fruit.
And then the frankincense was a fragrance that came from the touch of the fire. It was the burning powder that rose in clouds of sweetness from the bosom of the flames. It tells of
the heart whose sweetness has been called forth, perhaps by the flames of affliction, until the holy place of the soul is filled with clouds of praise and prayer. Beloved, are we giving out the spices, the perfumes, the sweet odors of the heart? --The Love-Life of Our Lord.
A Persian fable says: One day
A wanderer found a lump of clay
So redolent of sweet perfume
Its odors scented all the room.
What are thou? was his quick demand
Art thou some gem from Samarcand
Or spikenard in this rude disguise
Or other costly merchandise
Nay: I am but a lump of clay.
Then whence this wondrous perfume-say
Friend, if the secret / disclose
I have been dwelling with the rose.
Sweet parable! and will not those
Who love to dwell with Sharon's rose
Distil sweet odors all around
Though low and mean themselves are found
Dear Lord, abide with us that we
May draw our perfume fresh from Thee.