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The spouse in this verse styles her Lord, "my Beloved," from which it is easy for us to gather that it is of the utmost importance that our heart's affection should be really and truly set upon Christ Jesus, our Lord. We must trust Him, and we must ]ore Him. Christ on the cross saves us when He becomes to us Christ in the heart. If we have reached that stage in our journey heavenwards, it will be well if we go on a step further. Loving our Lord and Saviour in our heart, and being assured of that love in our inmost conscience after earnest heart-searching, it will be well if we have the courage never to hesitate in the avowal of that love. We must not cast our pearls before swine; but, on the other hand, it is so ennobling a passion that we need never blush to own it in any company. If we ever are ashamed of loving Christ, we have good reason to be ashamed of such shameful shame. Loving Jesus, knowing that we love Him, and boldly confessing our love to Him, let us, next, so study His person and His character that we shall be able to give a reason for the love that is in us to any who make the inquiry, "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved?"

I. First, then, the spouse saith, "my Beloved is white and ruddy, and so she sets forth HIS CHARMING COMPLEXION.

1. Our Lord is, first of all, in Himself white; that is, He has immaculate perfection of character. In His Godhead, Jesus Christ is perfection itself. As to His manhood, the term whiteness well describes Him who was born without natural corruption, or taint of hereditary depravity — "that holy thing," the Christ of God, who became incarnate, yet without sin. Doth not this word" white describe Him also in His actual life? There was never any sin in Christ. As to Christ's actions, they are matchless and perfect in every respect; the two great objects of His life were the glory of God and the good of man. There is no spot in Him; He is the Lamb of God without blemish, the perfect Christ, and hence it is that we love Him.

2. But, next, we come to the blood-shedding, the sacrificial character of Christ. This is the chief reason, after all, why Christ's people love Him, because, in His precious blood, they see the pardon of all their sins, they see the lifting of themselves up into the life of God, they see the open way of access unto the Father, they see the gates of heaven opened to all believers.

II. Now notice that the spouse saith of her Beloved that He is "the chiefest among ten thousand." These words set forth His PERSONAL PRECEDENCE. He is the chiefest among ten thousand, and it so happens that this word "chiefest" may mean any one of three or four things.

1. First, take it as it stands "Chiefest," that is to say, Christ is higher, better, lovelier, more excellent than any who are round about Him. If you shall bring ten thousand angels, He is the chiefest Angel, the Messenger of the covenant. If you shall bring ten thousand friends, He is the chiefest Friend, the "Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Christ is the chiefest, the best, the highest of all beings; whatever excellences there may be in others, they are all eclipsed by the surpassing excellences that are found in Him.

2. Christ is the chiefest among ten thousand; that is to say, He is the Head, the Ruler, the Prince, the King, the Lord over all. Let Christ, and Christ alone, wear the crown He bought with His own blood; He alone is King, and let Him ever be so proclaimed-and acknowledged.

3. According to thee Septuagint, the text has another meaning. Our Lord in Scripture is called the chosen One, the elect of God. As the psalmist puts it, speaking by prophecy, "I have exalted One chosen out of the people. Christ is chosen out of ten thousand, as the Mediator to stand between God and men. Whoever else might have been employed by God for this service — and we are not able to think of any other — yet first of all was Christ chosen of God; and to-day we may call Him the chosen One because He is the chosen of His Church.

4. Lastly, according to the margin of our Bible, the text should be thus read, "He is the Standard-bearer among ten thousand." Now, our Lord Jesus Christ has come into this world, and set up a standard because of the truth, and well does He handle it, firmly doth He grasp it. When on the cross, the battle thickened round Him; all the hosts of hell and all the bands of cruel ones on earth sought to smite Him, and to seize the standard, too, but He bore it still aloft through all the dreadful fray! and this day, though He is now in heaven, yet by His blessed Spirit that standard is still unfurled to the breeze.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

WEB: My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand.