Verse 15. A fountain of ga'devs, a well of living
waters, and streams from Lebanon. Cheist having commended his church as a well watered garden, and declared her fruitfnlness; she breaks forth in these words, and ascribes it all to him, saying, " O fountain of gardens, and well of living waters," &c., as the words are rendered by some:" though others® take them to be the words of Christ; but rather are the church's. It is true, as if she should say, I am a garden, and a garden enclosed by thy sovereign grace, where the streams and flows of thy grace run and water all ray plants, and make them so fruitful as they are: but I am not the spring, the fountain from whence they flow; it is thou who art the fountain of gardens, from whence I am supplied, and am put into, and kept in the flourishing condition I am; it is not owing to myself, but it is by thy grace I am what 1 am; and therefore I will ascribe all the glory to thee. So that the church here acknowledges Christ,
I. To be " a fountain of gardens."
111. Hisgracctobelike "strearasfrouaLebanon."
Thei'e seems to be a respect to several places, called by these names. There was one called,
" the Fountain of Gardens," which flowed from
Lebanon, sis miles from Tripoli, and watered all the gardens about, whence it had its name, and all the country that lay between those two cciuj. ScluniiU, 1-louiiischins; so the Cabalistic doctors interpret tlie well of living waters, of malcuth, places:? and there was another, called " the Well of living waters," a little mile to the south of Tyre;" it had four fountains, from whence were cut various aqueducts and rivulets, which watered all the plain of Tyre, and all its gardens; which fountains were little more than a bow's cast from the main sea; and in which space six mills were employed:' and there is a rupture in mount Lebanon, as Mr Mauudrelr says, which runs up in seven hours travelling; and which on both sides is steep and high, and clothed with fragrant greens from top to bottom; and every where refreshed with fountains, falling down from the rocks, in pleasant cascades, the ingenious work of nature: and RauwolfF,* who was on this mountain in 1575, relates, "We came, says he, into pleasant groves, by delightful rivulets that arose from springs, that made so sweet a noise as to be admired by king Solomon," Cant. iv. 15.
I. She acknowledges him to be " a fountain of gardens." By gardens may be intended, either particular believers, whose souls are made like watered gardens, whose springs fail not; or rather, particular churches: Christ has more gardens than one; every particular church is a garden; such were the churches at Rome, Corinth, Colosse, Philippi, Thessalonica, and the seven churches of Asia; but though there hare been, and still are many gardens, yet there is but one fountain, from whence they are supplied, and by which they are all watered, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, as the church here owns; in him all fulness of grace dwells, and from thence believers " receive grace for grace;" he is the fountain from whence it all flows: all justifying grace flows from this fountain; in him alone is our justifying righteousness before God; by him are all the elect justified, and that from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses; in doing which abundance of grace is displayed, both in bringing it in and applying it to the ungodfy sinner; all which grace flows from this fountain: all sanctifying grace flows from hence; a holy nature, as well as a justifying righteousness, we have from Christ; he is both our sanctification and our righteousness; to him we must look for, and from him we must receive the one as well as the other: all the streams of pardoning grace take their rise from hence; Christ shed his blood to obtain the pardon of sin, and he has obtained it thereby for all his people; so that now as forgiveness of sin is according to the riches of God's grace, it is also upcn the foot of justice, being founded upon redemption through the blood of Jesus; hence God's justice and faithfulness are concerned in the pardon of sin, as well as his grace and mercy displayed; Christ is
" the fountain opened," to wash in " for sin and for unclean ness;" it is his blood alone which " cleanseth from all sin" whatever. He is the fountain of all the blessings and promises of the everlasting covenant; of all that light and life that we arc made partakers of; of all that strength and wisdom that are given forth to us, to act for him in our several stations of life; and of all that joy, comfort, and peace in believing, which onr souls are at any times possessed of. He is the fountain of all fructifying and persevering grace, by which the plants in his garden become fruitful, and continue to do so: in short, he is the fountain from whence all his churches are supplied not ouly with grace, but with the gifts of the Spirit; he is ascended on high, " that he might fill all things;" he is filled himself as Man and IMediator, with the Spirit, without measure; he has received " the promise of the Father," and plentifully sheds it abroad among his people; he fills his churches with members and officers, and all these with suitable gifts and graces for their respective places; all comes from this " fountain of gardens."
II. Siie declares him to be " a well of living waters:" we read, in Isa. xii. 3, of wells of salvation, in the plural number, which intend the same as here; and are so called to denote the fulness, completeness, and excellency of salvation in Christ. Christ is a well, 1. Large and deep; like that which Isaac called Rehoboth, either from the largeness of it, or the liberty he had then obtained in enjoying it; or like Jacob's well, which was very deep, at which Christ met the woman of Samaria: the fulness of grace in Christ has its heights and depths, its lengths and breadths; it is bottomless and unfathomable, it is immeasurable and incomprehensible. 2. Christ is a full well: we read, 2 Peter ii. 17, of some that are wells without water; but such an one is not Christ; he is a full well, and not full of any thing, of any sort of water, but of living water; he is full of grace and truth. 3. This well was dug by, and filled alone with sovereign grace; it pleased the Father; it was an act of his sovereign grace, that Christ should be the Mediator, and that all fulness of grace should dwell in him as such; when he treasured up in him before the world began: the Lord, says Wisdom, Prov. viii. 22, possessed me; with what? with all fulness of grace; and when did he do this? in the beginning of his way, before his works of old; 0 boundless, sovereign grace! 4. Faith is the grace with which we draw from hence: it may indeed be said to ns, what the woman of Samaria said to Christ, John iv. 11, " Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the weU is deep:" we have nothing of our own to draw with; but Christ, who has opened our eyes, as the Lord did Hagar's, to behold himself, the well of living waters, gives us faitli, whereby we draw out of the wells of salvation, and receive from this overflowing fountain grace for grace. 5. The waters we draw from hence are living ones; such Christ told the woman of Samaria he could, as undoubtedly he afterwards did give nnto her, even living water. Christ is a well, and a well full of living waters; which are so called, (1.) Because grace given forth, from Christ's fulness to dead sinners, makes them alive; these waters are like the waters of the sanctuary, in Ezekiel's vision; which, whenever they come, not ouly keep alive those that are so, but quicken such who are dead in trespasses and sins, and in this respect excel them: we are told, Prov. x. 11, that the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life; certainly Christ's mouth is so, when he says to sinners, whilst in their blood, live; his grace may then be said to be living water. (2.) Grace given forth from Christ's fulaess, I'evives and quickens saints when dull, lifeless, and fainting; it comforts their hearts, and makes them cheerful, lively, and active. (3.) Grace maintains and supports life in believers: we have our life alone from Christ; he is the Author of it, and with him it is hid, secured, and preserved; it is by his mighty grace that our souls are upheld in it,; from his fulness we have all the communications of it; and because he lives, therefore we do, and shall live also. (4.) It is this grace of Christ's that gives saints a right to, prepares them for, and will end in eternal life; justifying grace gives them a right to eternal life; sanctifying grace makes them meet for it, which is in them " a well of water springing up into everlasting life," John iv. 14. (5.) These are called living waters, because they are ever running;' and so opposed to standing waters, which are dried up in the summer season: Christ's grace is perpetual, everlasting, and inexhaustible; like himself, it is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" the fulness of grace in Christ, and the communications of it, are like those living or ever-running waters, mentioned in Zech. xiv. 8, " And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them towards the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea; in summer and in winter shall it be;" that is, at all times and seasons of the year shall these waters flow: the saints before and after the flood, the saints before and under the law; the saints under the Old Testament, and the saints under the New, have all received from this fountain and fulness of grace in Christ; all the grace that angels have, and all that men have or shall have, all comes from hence; and yet it is an over-running, overflowing, and inexhaustible fulness. And this I take to be the principal reason why it is called " living water."
III. The church here acknowledges the grace of Christ to be like streams from Lebanon: mount
Lebanon gave rise to some rivers, as Jordan," Eleutherus, &c., and as these took their rise and streamed from thence, so does grace from Christ, " whose countenance is as Lebanon," chap. v. 15, who is intended here; from this high, goodly, pleasant, fruitful, and fragrant mountain, flow all the streams of divine grace to our souls. Now by tliis expression are intended, 1. The discoveries and breakings forth of grace to those who are the objects of it: the river of God's love ran under ground from eternity; so that those who are interested in it, and are the objects of it, know nothing of it, till it breaks forth in effectual vocation; when it comes pouring in unto them, like streams from Lebanon. 2. This expression may denote the rapidity, force, and power of divine grace: as the streams from Lebanon fall with great rapidity:'*■ grace comes like a mighty torreut, and carries all before it; throws down the strong-holds of Satan, and is a match for the corruptions of nature; for when this works, nothing can let; all mountains become a plain: all obstacles and impediments are removed out of the way; and nothing can stand before it, when the exceeding greatness of its power is exerted; it is irresistible, invincible, and always victorious. 3. This phrase may be expressive of the abundance of grace which flows from Christ: there are aboundings of sin in our nature; but grace, streaming from Christ, abounds over all; where sin abounded, says the apostle, Kom. v. 20, " grace did much more abound;" it flows into, and it overflows in a believer's heart; the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, virepeirXehi/aae, it abounded; yea, it superabounded with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus: there is an abundance of grace given forth to a single believer; how much then must it be that is given forth to them all 1 and how large that fulness which is in Christ 1 4. Though this grace flows in abundance to poor sinners, yet it is in measure; grace is in Christ without measure, but in us in measure; it is in hira as in a fountain, but is given forth to us in streams; and these streams should lead us to the fountain from whence they flow; for though we should rejoice in, and adore grace for the streams, yet we should not rest contented, without often going to the fountain itself. 5. The communications of grace are called streams, and said to be as streams from Lebanon, because they are exceeding grateful and delightful to souls; even as streams of water were in those hot countries: the streams which flow in this river of divine grace make glad the city of God; a spring of water to a thirsty traveller in the Arabian deserts, cannot be more welcome and delightful than the discoveries of grace, those streams from Lebanon, are to a believing soul; and therefore Christ is said to be " as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow cf a great rock in a weary land," Isa. xxxii. 2. 6. It intends the coutiuued supplies of grace to believers: grace is always ruuning, streaming, flowing to them; could the communications of grace be stopped, xvere those streams from Lebanon to cease, they would soon be in an empty, miserable, and wretched state and condition: but this " rixxT of the water of life is proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb;" it ever did, and so it does still, and ever shall; " my God will supply all your need," &c., Phil. iv. 19. 7- It intimates unto us the frceness of it; it is like the streams from Lebanon; it runs freely; whosoever will, may come and take of this w.ater of life freely. The first of these expressions in the text, denotes the fulness of grace in Christ; the second, the perpetuity and inexhaustibleness of it; and this third, the exceeding freeness of it.
Verse 16. Former part. Awake, 0 north rcind, and come thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. —
Christ having taken notice of the fruit.'"ulaes3 of his garden, the church, in verse 12 — 14, and she, in verse 15, having acknowledged that it was all owing to himscF, who is the fountain of gardens; he, in this verse, that nothing may be wanting to continue and increase the fruitfulncss thereof, calls to the north and south winds, the one (o^ awake, and the other to "come and blow upon his garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." The reason why I take these words to be the words of Christ, and not of the church, as some," are, 1. Because the language seems best to suit with him; who has created the winds, and gathered them in his fist, and holds them there; who opens his hand and lets them loose, and can and does recall them of at his pleasure; who has his storehouse and magazines of them, and when he pleases, brings them forth out of his treasures; who, in the days of his flesh, gave a surprising instance of his power over them, in rebuking (he wind and sea, and commauding a calm, when the disci])les, with others, were in imminent danger; wliich occasioned the men to say, ""What manner of man is this, that eveu the wind and the sea obey him 1" he can shut up and let loose the winds, when he thinks fit; he has them at his command, and uses them as he pleases; so that it may be truly said of him, what the Heathen poet^ said of his Jove:
2. It does not appear so agreeable that the church should petition Christ to let loose the north wind upon her; especially, if by it we understand, as I think we must, some rough dispensation of providence, as afflictions, teniptatations, &c., which though Christ knows they are agreeable to the accounts before given of those streams. * Cocceius, Marckius, Michaelis, wholesome and useful to his people, and he makes them so, and therefore iu his wisdom and grace sends them; yet lliey are not desirable to the saints; they do not pray for them. 3. The person here speaking, claims a right and property in this garden, on which the south wind is to blow. Now the church is not her garden, but Christ's, as she in the following part of the verse acknowledges; therefore it appears to be Christ who here speaks, and says, " blow upon my garden." Taking them then to be his words, I shall now consider what he says. And,
I. He calls to the north wind to awake, " Awake, O north wind." Which some^ understand as a command, to remove and be gone, and blow no longer upon his garden: in Psalm evil. 25, we read that God commaudeth, and raiselh the stormy wind; it is in the Hebrew text, lc?n, "and causeth the stormy wiud to stand:" so that the raising of the wind, and continuing of it,iu that language was called a causing it to stand; and perhaps a recalling it was, as here, called an awaking or raising it up, in order to be gone: and there are some reasons which may be alleged why it may be supposed that it was not the design of Christ, that the north wind should blow, but rather that it should not. 1. Because it was now spring time; " the winter was past, the rain was over and gone; the flowers appeared in the earth, the fig-tree put forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes gave a good smell," chap. ii. 11 — 13; and therefore it was time for the north wind to cease blowing. 2. It being a cold and nippiug wind, would be hurtful and injurious to the plants in his garden, mentioned in ver. 13, 14, and therefore it may be supposed that he would not have it blow. 3. The verb 'msn, blow, is in the singular number, and seems to be only in construction with the south wind; and therefore is alone ordered to blow, and not the north wind. 4. Winds diametrically opposite to each other," as the north and south be, cannot blow together under one and the same horizon with a contiuned blast; for if they blow with equal force, they will hinder each other from blowing freely; and if one is more powerful than the other, the weaker will be obliged to join the other, or else subside; though winds contrary may blow together obliquely and side-way; but the more oblique they are, the greater tempest they raise, which can not be supposed to be Christ's design here: and now, when he orders the north wiud to awake, arise, and be gone, he intends every thing that may be noxious, hurtful, and injurious to his garden. Though otliers think the meaning of this phrase, " Awake, O north wiud," is, arise, exert thyself, and blow, together with the south wind, upon my garden; and so the Jewish writers think,'' that both wiuds are designed to blow. The north wiud, thougii a cold and nipping wind, yet Pliny says,'^ tliat it is the most wholesome wind that blows: and the scripture informs us, that though out of the north comes forth the cold; yet also from it proceeds fair weather; Job xxxvii. 9 — 22; aad Solomon tells us, that the uortl -viud drives away lain, Prov. xxv. 23, and then by the north wind, as I hinted before, we may understand rough dispensations of providence, as temptations, afBictions, &c., which Christ is pleased to suffer to come'upon his people, and whicli he brings them under, for their good and his glory: and this shows, (1.) That none of these things come upon the saints without Christ's knowledge, permission, or appoiutment; there is not a wind blows upon them without his will and order: atflictions do not come out of the dust, nor trouble spring out of the ground, bat are sent from heaven to the saints as covenant mercies; no temptation comes upon them, what is common to man; and Christ takes care that they are not tempted above that they are able to bear, and in his own way and time gives them • deliverance from it. (2.) These are all for their good; it is, if need be, they are in heaviness through manifold temptations; all adverse and rough dispensations of providence, all afflictions, work together for their good; they are all in mercy to them, otherwise he that holds the wind in his fist, would not suffer the blustering north wind to blow upon them. (3.) They serve to make the spices flow out; that is, they are useful for the trial, exercise, and increase of grace; tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; that is, tribulation exercises and tries these graces, and makes them to appear more bright and glorious: the manifold temptations the saints are attended with, are suffered to come upon them "that the trial of their faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ," 1 Pet. i. 6, 7.
II. He calls to the south wind, to come and blow Tipon his garden. The church is compared to a garden, in verse 12; and why it is so, has been there shown. Here Christ claims a property in it; and it is his, 1. By choice; he chose this spot of ground, and preferred it to all others, for this purpose and use. 2. By gift: he asked it of his Father, and he gave it to him: " thine they were, and thou gavest them me," John xvii. 6. 3. By purchase; he has bought it, and at a dear rate: not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the invaluable price of his own precious blood. 4. By his powerful and efficacious grace, has dis- tinguished and separated it from the wilderness of this world. 5. He uses it as his own; he purcRased and set it apart for his own use and recreation, and here delights to walk; he is frequently to be found, seen, and heard of here: and this being his own garden, which he himself chose, his Father gave him, which he has purchased with his own blood, distinguished by his grace, and where he delights to take his walks; he therefore calls upon the south wind to blow upon it. And by the south wind, and blowing ol it, I apprehend, is intended the Spirit of God, in his pow'erful operations, and special influences of grace, in and upon the hearts of God's people; and shall now consider how he may be compared,
First. To the wind in general. The Spirit of God bears the same name, and several of the properties thei-efore are applicable to him. 1. The wind, as our Lord says, John iii. 8, bloweth where it listeth; the Spirit of God is a free agent; he works how and where he pleaseth; he acts freely in the first application of grace to a poor sinner; and so he does in all the after actings, operations, and influences of it, as well as in the donation of those gifts, which he bestows upon men for different purposes; for though there " are diversities of gifts, differences of administrations, and diversities of operations, yet all these worketh that one and the self-same spirit; dividing to every one severally as he will," 1 Cor. xii. 4 — 11. 2. The wind blows imperceptibly; thou hearest, as Christ says in the above-mentioned place, " the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; and so is every one that is born of the Spirit:" the workings of the Spirit of God in regeneration are invisible and imperceptible to the natural man; he can no more discern the Spirit's grace, than he can see the wind when it blows; he can no more tell from whence this grace comes, and how it is acted, than he can point at the treasures of wind, and tell from whence they take their rise, and why they blow sometimes one way and sometimes another; why sometimes only in a gentle breeze, and at other times rises to violent storms; why sometimes they drive on in a direct line, and at other times have a circular motion; and as he cannot account for these things, no more can he for the operations of the Spirit; for he neither knows his person nor his grace. 3. It blows powerfully and irresistibly; there is no stopping of it; it blows when, where, and how it listeth, for any thing that man can do; none but he who has created the winds, and gathered them in Lis first, can rule them at pleasure; and, when he lets them loose, and gives them a command they carry all before them; throw down houses, pluck up trees by the roots, rend the mountains, and break the rocks in pieces; for which reason the Spirit of God is compared to a mighty rushing wind. Acts ii. 2, which filled the house in which the disciples were on the day of Penticost, and filled them with extraordinary gifts: the Spirit of God, in his mighty operations of grace upon a sinner's heart, carries all before liim; there is no withstanding his grace and power; he throws down Satan's strong-holds, and demolishes the fortifications of sin; all mountains become a plain before him; and the whole posse of hell, and the corruptions of a man's heart, are not a match for him; for when he works, none can let: he has conquered the hearts of the vilest and most notorious sinners, such as a Manasseh, a Mary Magdalene, and a persecuting Saul; there is no resisting his grace and the power of it, nor holding of his almighty arm. 4. The wind is of a purifying nature, therefore some call it nature's fan; it clears the ait of infections and noxious vapours; we are scarce sensible how much our health is owing to it; for without this, the air would soon be stagnated, and quickly destroy the life both of man and beast: the Spirit of God purifies our hearts by faith: which he does by leading it to the blood of Jesus, which cleanseth from all sin: and by sprinkling it upon our consciences whereby they are purged from dead works; these dead weights and heavy clogs, which hinder us in serving the living God. 5. It is of a piercing and searching nature: it penetrates into every hole and cranny: the Spirit of God searches, not only the deep things of God, but the deep things of man also; what is said, Prov. sx. 27, of the spirit of man, may in a higher sense be said of the Spirit of God, that it is " the candle of the Lord, searching'all the inward parts of the belly;" it penetrates into the utmost recesses of a man's heart, and discovers those hidden swarms of corruptions, which before lay indiscernible; it pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is both a discerner and revealer of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 6. It is of a cooling nature; so is the Spirit of God, in his operations of grace upon a sinner's heart; which is often enflamed with wrath, through the workings of a fiery law, and the injections of Satan's fiery darts; the heat of which he allays, by acting as a comforter, and as the Spirit of promise, bringing home and applying to tlie conscience of the distressed sinner, the exceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel, which cool and refresh, by removing wrath and teiTor from thence. Secondly, lie may be compared to the southwind in particular, 1. Because it blows warmly, brings heat with it, breaks up frosts, and thaws the ice; " when ye see the south-wind blow," says Christ, Luke xii. 55, " ye say there will be heat, and it cometh to pass:" so the Spirit of God brings heat along with him to the cold heart of a sinner, " dead in trespasses and sins;" and by the mighty influence of his grace, thaws and melts his hard and frozen soul; and witli his soul-warming gales, and comfortable discoveries of love, warms, enlivens, comforts, and refreshes the saint, when in a cold, lifeless, and uncomfortable frame. 2. It brings serenity along with it: it is not a blustering and tempestuous wiud, as the north-wind is; but is still, gentle, and quiet; blows soflly, as Elihu said to Job, chap, xxxvii. 17, " Dost thou know — how thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south-wind?" the Spirit of God brings peace unto, and commands quietness in the heart of a distressed sinner, where were nothiug before but storms and tempests: the fruit of the Spirit is peace, a conscience peace, " a peace that passeth all understanding;" which he works in the sinner's heart, by leading him to the persou, blood, and righteousness of Christ. 3. It is very fructifying; by its warmth, together with the sun, it loosens the trees, and causes the sap to flow, which was congealed by the cold, and clothes them with leaves, flowers, and fruit: the Spirit of God, by Iiis mighty gi-ace and special influence, makes souls fruitful in every good word and work. (4). The south-wind usually brings rain, hence it is called nubilus auster;^ and therefore the poet represents it as flying, cum madidis alis, with wet and moistened wings. Pliny^ says, it produces greater floods than others do; which suits well with Junius's version, who renders the next clause thus, " let the waters flow through the spices thereof:"' the Spirit of God blows, and causes the floods of grace to rise; which, running about the several plauts in the garden, makes them fruitful. Thirdly. According to the mind of some Expositors,ff the Spirit of God is intended by both winds, the north and south; and that, 1. On the account of his dilferent operations; for which reason we read of "the seven spirits" of God, Rev. i. 4; not that there are so many distinct spirits personally existing; but by them are intended the variety and perfection of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit of God, who works them in, and bestows them on whom he will. 2. If the Spirit is intended by both winds, it may be expressive of the usual order of the Spirit in his operations: h is first as the north-wind, sharp and nipping; and then as the south-wind, warm and refreshing; he first acts the part of a conviucer, and then that of a comforter; he first kills, and then makes alive; wounds, and then he heals; he humbles souls, and makes them low in their own eyes, and then exalts them: he brings them " into the wilderness," and then " speaks comfortably to them." 3. It may show that Christ's garden stands in need of both winds: that the saints sometimes need the Spirit as a reprover, to bring them to a sense of themselves; as well as a comforter, to relieve them under their distresses: the cold and nipping north-wind, as well as the warm and comfortable south -wmd. 4. Both winds are called upon, and that to cause the spices to flow out, that the odour of them may be spread far and near, that it might be carried from pole to pole, even all the world over. Now when Christ is here represented, saying to the Spirit, " come and blow upon my garden;" it must be understood of him as Mediator, calling unto, and as it were demanding of the Spirit to do his work assigned him in the church; which does not suppose any inferiority in the Spirit to Christ; for all the three persons having jointly agreed in the everlasting council and covenant of peace, to take their several distinct parts in man's salvation; and the Father having distinguished this spot of ground, this garden, by his grace; and Christ having purchased it by his blood; and the Spirit having planted it with precious plants, herbs, and spices; Christ calls upon him, by virtue of this former agreement, to do the remaining part of his work; see John xiv. 16, and xvi. 7; to blow upon his garden, that it may grow and flourish, and the sweet smell of these spices be carried far and near. Which brings me to consider,
III. The reason why he would have the south wind blow upon his garden; and that is, " that the spices may flow out;" might emit a fragrant smell; though Virgil*" represents the south-wind as. hurtful to flowers, so it might be in Italy, where it dried them up, as Severius on the place observes; and yet be useful to them in Palestine, where it blew from the sea, by which the south is sometimes called, Psalm cvii. 3. Now by spices, we must understand the graces of believers; which like spices, are rare, excellent, precious, sweet, and odorous, especially to Christ Jesus, by whom they are preferred to all spices: and the " flowing out" of them intend, either, 1. The exercise of them: grace is not always in exercise, but is like flowers, shut up; or like plants, herbs, and fruits, which seem to be withering; or like coals covered with ashes, that want to be " stirred up,"' or blown upon, as iu 2 Tim. i. 6; but this believers are not capable of doing themselves; for they can no more exercise grace, than they can work it of themselves: Christ knew full well, that this is the Spirit's work; therefore he calls upon him to blow, and thereby open these flowers, revive these plants, and blow off the ashes from these coals, and draw forth grace into exercise upon himself, the proper Object of it. Or, 2. The evidence and showing forth of it to others: Christ would not only have grace in the hearts of his people, but would have it exert and show itself in the life and conversation; he would have these " lights shine before men," and this grace appear, uot only to himself, but to others. Or, 3. The increase of cineribus tectum excitare, sopitam favillam in Uamraam proferre, Aretius in 2 Tim. i. 6.
grace: that these herbs and plants might be fruitful, the spices smell, and the whole garden be in a flourishing condition; iu short, that the Spirit would be ripening and bringing to maturity grace in the souls of believers, and finish what he had begun there. Or else, 4. The diffusive odour of them: that their graces might emit such a sweet odour, both to himself and others, as a garden does, when after a delightful shower of rain, the wind gently blows upon it. Which request, or rather demand of his, no doubt was answered, as appears from the following words.