4:16 Awake, O {i} north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
(i) She desires Christ to comfort her and to pour the graces of his Spirit on her, which is meant by the North and South wind.
4:16 North wind - These winds may signify the several dispensations of God's spirit. My garden - This verse is spoken by the spouse. And he calls the garden both hers and his, because of that oneness which is between them, chap.2:16. May flow - That my graces may be exercised. Let - Let Christ afford his gracious presence to his church. And eat - And let him delight himself in that service which is given him, both by the religious worship, and by the holy conversation of his people.
4:16 The church prays for the influences of the blessed Spirit, to make this garden fruitful. Graces in the soul are as spices in these gardens, that in them which is valuable and useful. The blessed Spirit, in his work upon the soul, is as the wind. There is the north wind of conviction, and the south wind of comfort. He stirs up good affections, and works in us both to will and to do that which is good. The church invites Christ. Let him have the honour of all the garden produces, and let us have the comfort of his acceptance of it. We can invite him to nothing but what is his own already. The believer can have no joy of the fruits, unless they redound some way or other to the glory of Christ. Let us then seek to keep separate from the world, as a garden enclosed, and to avoid conformity thereto.
