Evening, May 22, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“How handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant.” — Song of Solomon 1:16

From every point of view our Well-beloved is pleasant. Our various experiences are meant by our heavenly Father to furnish fresh standpoints from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus; how agreeable are our trials when they carry us aloft where we may gain clearer views of Jesus than ordinary life could afford us! We have seen him from the top of Mount Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, and he has shone upon us as the sun in his strength; but we have seen him also “from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards,” and he has lost none of his loveliness. From the suffering of a sick bed, from the borders of the grave, we have turned our eyes to our soul’s spouse, and he has never been anything other than “so pleasant.” Many of his saints have looked upon him from the gloom of dungeons, and from the red flames of the stake, yet have they never uttered an ill word of him, but have died praising his surpassing charms. Oh, noble and pleasant is our occupation to be forever gazing at our sweet Lord Jesus! Is it not unspeakably delightful to view the Savior in all his offices, and to perceive him matchless in each? Or to shift the kaleidoscope, as it were, and to find fresh combinations of his peerless graces? In the manger and in eternity, on the cross and on his throne, in the garden and in his kingdom, among thieves or in the midst of cherubim, he is everywhere “altogether lovely.” Examine carefully every little act of his life, and every trait of his character, and he is as lovely in the microscopic as in the majestic. Judge him as you will, you cannot censure; weigh him as you please, and he will not be found wanting. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our Beloved, but rather, as ages revolve, his hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendor, and his indescribable loveliness shall more and more overwhelm all celestial minds.