Song of Solomon 3:9-10

At this point, we need to observe the Lord’s Supper. And to that end, I invite you to turn with me to the book of Song of Solomon. I want to look at chapter 3 in verses 9 and 10. We read here that King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it purple the midst thereof being paid with love for the daughters of Jerusalem and God blessed of us is sacred word here this morning. By way of background, let me mention a couple of things. Scripture relates how Christ conveys his bride out of the wilderness of this world to the promises. land of heaven in verses 7 and 8. He use a portable enclosed chair carried by poles on the shoulders of men, verses 8 to 10. This is a royal chair, covered by beautiful curtains. And it pictures the close fellowship that you enjoy with the Lord Jesus Christ as you travel through this life. it is surrounded by valiant men, brave soldiers for protection. This, of course, portrays the holy angels that provide protection for the people God and relieve their fears. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, keep thee in all thy ways, Psalm 911. Now our text this morning, verses 9 and 10, we see the king who designed this world. conveyance. The song of Solomon is a highly figurative book. It’s an allegory. So Solomon here is to be understood as the great son of David. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon provides a type of Christ. He prefigures our Savior in many ways, the vastnesses of his kingdom, the being a rich and power. King, his great wisdom, and his peaceful reign in the happiness of his people. These are the things that we see. Now, before focusing on the details of this royal carriage, notice how Christ is described with glowing admiration by his bride. The longer she thinks about Christ, she speaks of it. The more esteem she has for him. He’s just Solomon in verse 7. He’s King Solomon in verse 9. He’s King Solomon with the crown in verse 11. The more you contemplate your Savior, your affection for him will increase because he is such a glorious person. He is especially manifest his glory in the salvation of his people. This people have I formed for myself, they shall, in a special manner, show forth my praise. Isaiah chapter 43, verses 7 and 21. Christ has sown his own. own glory and the good of his people together. Thus, he has a great interest in conveying them safely to heaven. So the king who designed this royal conveyance. We see the beauty of the royal conveyance. It’s called a chariot here. This is not the usual word for chariot. In fact, this word is only used here in this text. It’s still referring to what he had called a bed earlier. This is a wheelless chariot. It expresses the idea of being conveyed or carried in through this life until the people of God reach heaven. In its short, it appears to refer to the way of salvation in general, as contrived in the eternal. counsel of God himself. Now, without trying to be too particular here or too specific, there are a lot of different views on what all this means, the description of this chariot. And so I will just try to say a few things that may be helpful to us. Without trying to be. definitive at all. The wood of Lebanon. This is cedar, by the way. It’s an excellent, durable wood used in the building of the temple. The gospel of Jesus Christ, which endureth forever is the means of salvation, and is called the everlasting gospel because it lasts forever. And so we can see that forever. perhaps in this wood that’s mentioned. There’s not a single truth that bears any sign of rot or decay. You can be confident that the way of salvation is never going to change. He’ll never be altered. The third thing here is that he made the pillars thereof of silver. The pillars are the poles which hold up the carton. that surrounds this bed or chariot. I could liken them perhaps to the attributes of God, which support and guarantee the efficiency of the great atonement of Christ beneath which you are sheltered. We could talk maybe about the silver pull of God’s justice. God cannot smite the soul that hides beneath the atonement of Christ it’s a perfect shelter against the storm of God’s raft. If Christ has paid the debt of sin, God will never visit the second time and demand payment again. That is the great blessing we have. There’s also the pillar we could say of God’s power. God’s elect people shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch them, pluck them out of God. Christ’s hands or his fathers. God’s people are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. We have the silver pillar, let’s say, of God’s love. God’s love is eternal and exceedingly strong. No one shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There’s the pillar of God’s immutability. If God changed not, Then, of course, as he says, because I am God, I change not. Therefore, your sons of you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He’s never going to cast aside his blood-bought sons. Then we read about the covering of it of purple. The curtain of conveyance here is said to be purple. Literally, it means the covering of it. of dyed stuff. This is not the usual word for purple. It actually means red purple. And as its root, it is sometimes translated scarlet as it is in the book of Daniel. So you are surrounded by the blood-red covering of Christ’s sacrifice. The precious doctrine of the Atonement secures you as you go through this life. we read about the bottom thereof of gold. May this not represent the eternal purpose and counsel of God. That purpose which he formed in himself, wherever the earth was, gold is precious. It’s holy. It speaks of the wisdom, justice of God. Wonderful to have this as the basis of your hope. This firm decree of God. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. It’s not of him that willeth, nor of him that runeth, but of God that showeth mercy. Everything rests on this eternal purpose. How rich and glorious it is. So we see the beauty of the conveyance here. Finally, we see the love associated with this conveyance. The midst thereof being. paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem. The pavement signifies, I think, the love of God, the Father, in contriving and planning of our salvation before all time. And in sending his son, in the fullness of time, to accomplish what was agreed upon in eternity, the whole plan is paved. with love. How delightful this message is for the daughters of Jerusalem. Remember, the daughters of Jerusalem here are really all the young converts. They behold and they rest upon this truth. Indeed, all of God’s people do. And so do we see the love associated with this conveying. Let me close here with this thought. the work of salvation, bringing sinners out of the wilderness of this world, conveying them to glory, it is of noble design. It is a wonderful, excellent work that God does. And as you come to the Lord’s Supper, let the whole scheme of God’s salvation be fully pondered. And may the Lord’s serve you to appreciate it. and praise of this conveyance that he has provided for us. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us, how you comfort us with these words. While we may not understand all that you have stated, we pray, Lord, that it would be a blessing to us to ponder this work of salvation you granted. Prepare our hearts now to take your supper. and let us rejoice in the work of Christ on our behalf. His name we pray with Thanksgiving. Amen.