How  precious  and  how  wonderful  to  think
of  Jesus  owning  sinners,  as  "the  palace  of  the
King  of  kings  !"— "  Beautiful  as  Tirzah."  "  So
shall  the  King  greatly  desire  thy  beauty, ^^  for  he
it  is  that  worketh  in  us  the  things  which  are
"  well-pleasing  in  his  sight."

"  Comelg  as  lernsalem."

"  Jerusalem"  was  the  residence  of  the  kings
of  Judah,  "  the  place  which  the  Lord  chose  to
put  his  name  there ;"  still  a  royal  residence,  but
in  a  much  higher  sense  than  Tirzah.  was.  So
the  Lord  adds  figure  to  figure,  with  yet  in-
creasing force  and  significance,  to  set  forth  all
that  his  Church  was  to  him.  "  Comely  as
Jerusalem."

This  is  the  cit}^  whose  name  shall  be  '' Jeho-
vah-sham mah," — the  Lord  is  there,  Ezek,  xlviii.
35,  "  whither  the  tribes  "go  up,  the  tribes  of
the  Lord,"  &c.  It  is  "  beautiful  for  situation,
the  joy   of  the  whole  earth,  the  city  of  the


204  THE    SONG    OF    SOLOMON.
great  king,"  Ps.  cxxii.  1,  &c. ;  Ps.  xlviii.  1,
&c.  It  is  surrounded  witli  mountains,  Ps.
cxxv.  1,  2,  encompassed  with,  v/alls,  and  bul-
warks, and  towers,  Ps.  xlviii.  1-3,  and  is
"  builded  as  a  citj  that  is  compact  together,"
Ps.  cxxii.  3.  At  once  setting  forth  the  love-
liness, security,  unity,  and  royalty  of  the
Church  of  Christ,  as  built  upon  "  the  Eock
of  Ages."  And  yet  the  comeliness  of  the
earthly  Jerusalem,  sinks  into  comparative
insignificance  with  "  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,"
unto  which  loe  are  come,  Heb.  xii.  22,  and
Rev.  xxi.
