There is one book that I especially like, from a devotional standpoint particularly. It is by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a monk who devoted the last 18 years of his life to a focused and dedicated exposition of the Song. Going verse by verse with his students, he made it to Chapter 3 verse 3 before he died. (He’s a hero to me, as I sometimes think I should be further along!) :-) When I pick this little book up, (i.e. a heavily abridged version) I am filled with spiritual emotions. For different reasons, it’s different. But maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it’s just for me. Who knows.
Either way – in today’s post I thought to publish Bernard’s words about the current verse at hand. (i.e. myrrh between her breasts) With God’s blessing, someone else out there will be blessed by it too.
Enjoy!
“My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts,“ (Song 1:13).
In the previous verse he is king. Here he is lover. He was at his royal table. Now he is between the bride’s breasts. God responds to humility. Reverence changes into friendship. “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near,“ (Ephesians 2:13)
Myrrh is an acrid spice. It represents the unavoidable bitter aspects of Christian service. The bride excepts them graciously. “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name,“ (Acts 5:41). She turns the myrrh into a little sachet. Her great love for him minimizes the difficulty and unpleasantness. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,“ (Romans 8:18). “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all,” (2 Corinthians 4:17) Today’s sachet of myrrh becomes tomorrow’s overwhelming glory. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,“ (Matthew 11:30).
That is not to say that it doesn’t amount to anything. There is nothing lightweight about what happened to Jesus when he was crucified. It is the one who loves him who thinks of it as light. The bride doesn’t say, “My lover is a sachet of myrrh.“ Notice that she says, “My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh.“ Love disregards such suffering, “for love is a strong as death,” (Song 8:6). It is not her own strength that allows her to endure. It is his. He rests between her breasts. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
Her experiences swing between the opposites of good and evil. There are hazards in both. This is why she welcomes the one she loves in between these two breasts. With that little “sachet of myrrh“ at the center, she will not fall victim to pride when things go well, or become sorrowful when they do not.
In my early days as a Christian, I found great value in this “sachet of myrrh.“ I picked it from the difficult experiences in our Lord’s life. It was growing there in the stable where he was born. I found it along the roadside where he walked and preached. It sprang up where he prayed and fasted long hours. His compassionate tears helped it to grow. I found myrrh when he was openly criticized, and when he was betrayed and denied by close supporters. Myrrh litters the ground around the cross. Nicodemus brought myrrh to his grave. I will always remember the love that permeates these events. “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have renewed my life” (Psalm 119:93). “No one will take away my joy,” (John 16:22). It shall rest “beneath my breasts.“
My philosophy is this, “to know… Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). I have no desire to ask, as the bride did, where he rests his “sheep at midday,” (Song 1:7). It is enough for me to clutch this “sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.“ Never let it be on your back or shoulders. Keep it in front of you where you can see it. If you try to carry it without smelling it, it will become a debilitating burden. If you place him in your direct line of sight, his afflictions will make yours easier to bear.
- By Bernard of Clairvaux,
“Talks on the Song of Songs” (edited and modernized by Bernard Bangley)