The Importance of Christian Diligence | Puritan Andrew Gray | Song of Solomon 4-5 Chapter 4 1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are `as' doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock `of ewes' that are `newly' shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, `my' bride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, `my' bride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, `my' bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices! 11 Thy lips, O `my' bride, drop `as' the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden shut up is my sister, `my' bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, 14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. 15 `Thou art' a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits. Chapter 5 1 I am come into my garden, my sister, `my' bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 2 I was asleep, but my heart waked: It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, `saying', Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night. 3 I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole `of the door', And my heart was moved for him. 5 I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands droppeth with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt. 6 I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, `and' was gone. My soul had failed me when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 7 The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me. 8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love. 9 What is thy beloved more than `another' beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than `another' beloved, That thou dost so adjure us? 10 My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand. 11 His head is `as' the most fine gold; His locks are bushy, `and' black as a raven. 12 His eyes are like doves beside the water-brooks, Washed with milk, `and' fitly set. 13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, `As' banks of sweet herbs: His lips are `as' lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 14 His hands are `as' rings of gold set with beryl: His body is `as' ivory work overlaid `with' sapphires. 15 His legs are `as' pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16 His mouth is most sweet; Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. #shorts #Jesus A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, by Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones https://amzn.to/2RPKBVA Kindle Oasis - Now with adjustable warm light https://amzn.to/33CRjjX ▶️SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/stack45ny ▶️After subscribing, click on NOTIFICATION BELL to be notified of new uploads. ▶️SUPPORT CHANNEL: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=RB72ANM8DJL2S&lc=US&item_name=stack45ny¤cy_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted ▶️Battle for God and His Truth: http://battleforgodstruth.tumblr.com/ ▶️My WordPress blog: https://sermonsandsongsdotorg.com/ Andrew Gray, by the calculation of his age, and the date of his entry into the ministry, seems to have born about the year 1634; and being early sent to school, he learned so fast, that in a short time he was ripe for the university; where, by the vivacity of his parts and ready genius, he made such proficiency, both in scholastic learning and divinity, that before he was twenty years of age he was found accomplished for entering into the holy office of the ministry. From his very infancy he had studied to be aquainted with the scriptures, and like another young Samson, the Spirit of God began very early to move him; there being such a delightful gravity in his conversation, that what Gregory Nazianzen once said of the great Basil might be applied to him: "He held forth learning beyond his age, and fixedness of manners beyond his learning." No sooner was this young servant of Christ entered into his Master's vineyard, than the people from all quarters flocked to attend his sermons, it being their constant emulation who should be most under the refreshing drops of his ministry. As he and his learned colleague Mr Durham were one time walking together, Durham, observing the multitude thronging into that church where Andrew Gray was to preach, and only a very few going into the church in which he was to preach, said to him, "Brother, I perceive you are to have a throng church to-day." To which he answered, "Truly, brother, they are fools to leave you and come to me." Durham replied, "Not so, dear brother, for none can receive such honour and success in his ministry, except it be given him from heaven. I rejoice that Christ is preached, and that His kingdom and interest is getting ground, for I am content to be anything, or nothing, that Christ may be all in all. It hath been often been said that Mr.Gray many times longed for the twenty second year of his age whenin he expected to rest from his labours, and by a perpetual jubilee to enjoy his blessed Lord and Master. It is certain that in his sermons we often find him longing for his majority, that he might enter into the possession of his heavenly Father's inheritance, prepared for him before the foundations of the world were laid. He escaped death very narrowly when going to Dundee, in company with Robert Fleming, (sometime minister at Cambuslang), which remarkable sea deliverance was a matter of thankfulness to God all his life after. But the time now approached that the Lord was about to accomplish the desire of His servant. He fell sick, and was in a high fever for several days, being much tossed with sore trouble, without any intermission; but all the time continuing in a most sedate frame of mind. It is a loss that his last dying words were neither written nor remembered; only we may guess what his spiritual exercises were from the short but excellent letter sent by him, a little before his death, to Lord Warriston, bearing date February 7, 1656. In this he shows that he not only had a most clear discovery of the toleration then granted by Cromwell, and the evils that would come upon the land for all these things, but also was most sensible of his own case and condition. Thus, in a short time, according to his desire, it was granted to him by death to pass unto the Author of life, his soul taking flight into the arms of his blessed Saviour, whom he had served failthfully in his day and generation, though only about 22 years old. He shone too conspicuously to last long, and burned so intensly that he behoved soon to be extinguished; but he now shines in the kingdom of his father, in a more conspicuous refulgent manner; even as the brightness of the firmament and the stars for ever and ever. He died at Glasgow in Feb. 1656 "of a purple fever, of a few days roving" says Robert Baillie in a letter. Gray had been a short time married. His widow became the wife of Mr. George Hutcheson, minister at Irvine.