Saturday, May 3, 2008

A Bed of Spices

Song of Solomon 5:13
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.


Lo, the flowery month is come! March winds and April showers have done their work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty. Come my soul, put on thine holiday attire and go forth to gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou knowest whither to betake thyself, for to thee "the beds of spices" are well known, and thou hast so often smelt the perfume of "the sweet flowers," that thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all loveliness, all joy in Him. That cheek once so rudely smitten with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of sympathy and then defiled with spittle-that cheek as it smiles with mercy is as fragrant aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide Thy face from shame and spitting, O Lord Jesus, and therefore I will find my dearest delight in praising Thee. Those cheeks were furrowed by the plough of grief, and crimsoned with red lines of blood from Thy thorn-crowned temples; such marks of love unbounded cannot but charm my soul far more than "pillars of perfume." If I may not see the whole of His face I would behold His cheeks, for the least glimpse of Him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual sense and yields a variety of delights. In Jesus I find not only fragrance, but a bed of spices; not one flower, but all manner of sweet flowers. He is to me my rose and my lily, my heart's ease and my cluster of camphire. When He is with me it is May all the year round, and my soul goes forth to wash her happy face in the morning-dew of His grace, and to solace herself with the singing of the birds of His promises. Precious Lord Jesus, let me in very deed know the blessedness which dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with Thee. I am a poor worthless one, whose cheek Thou hast deigned to kiss! O let me kiss Thee in return with the kisses of my lips.

Devotional by Charles Spurgeon

9 comments:

Mimi said...

strong and meaningful devotion by Spurgeon
and I love the flowers on your sidebar

Patricia said...

Oh, what a perfect devotion for "A Flower a Day the Month of May"! And I see that you did find a way to put your flowers in the sidebar. I love the clemetis. Perfect! I'm so glad that you've joined me in this challenge, Cathy. Now, let me see if I can make a banner/button for us.

Cathy said...

Thank you, Mimi, The Flower a Day was Patricia's idea.

Thank you, Patricia, You are smart, and I know you can do it. :)

Joyfulsister said...

Hi Cathy, I dropped by to say hello and I'm glad I did I really enjoyed this post and your flowers are beautiful as well as spurgeons devotion. I always enjoy reading his writings thanks for sharing this one with us.
Blessings Lorie

Cathy said...

Thank you, Lorie, I'm glad you dropped by.

Deborah said...

The flowers are beautiful Cathy! Makes me jealous ;o) I can't wait to be able to post some pictures of mine..I'm tired of posting snow pictures..although I could have yesterday morning...yes SNOW again! thankfully it melted right away!

Cathy said...

Bless your heart, Deb, thank you. I am still praying springtime will come soon up there! Last night I noticed Patricia had put some links to her flowers, so I did too. It is not easy, but fun. :) Some of the pictures are from my neighborhood. Yesterday was so gorgeous, I planted a few more flowers in my little garden. :)

Jodi said...

Precious Lord Jesus, let me in very deed know the blessedness which dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with Thee. Amen and amen!

Cathy said...

Thanks for your sweet prayer, Jodi.