My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the precipice, Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
The King calls His loved one a dove in the rock face, hidden where no predator can reach. She is safe there — but out of sight and out of hearing, and that is what He will not settle for.
Commentators read the Song on two levels at once. Its first reference is to Israel, and from there it reaches every believer.
In its primary application it is a prophecy of Christ, the Messiah of Israel. He is wooing to Himself the heart of the Jewish remnant, after the Church has been caught up to glory... But the love of the Lord to Israel, His earthly bride, is only a shadow or reflection of His deeper love to His heavenly bride. When we realize this, we find immense profit in applying these beautiful figures to ourselves.
Her shelter from the storm is a Person, not a place.
Even today, while waiting for the Lord, His people have enemies to oppose, and storms to face. But grace has provided a hiding place and a shelter from the storm. As we read, "A Man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isa. 32:1-2). In the cleft of that Rock — the Man Christ Jesus, with the pierced side — how safe from the storm are the Lord's poor people, who are much like a timid dove.
(The ESV renders Isaiah 32:2, "Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm.")
A frightened bird could lose its grip. That worry misreads where the safety lies.
No bird of prey can ever harm her there. All the vultures of hell cannot touch a feather of her wing. She is far above their highest flight. But might she lose her hold some day, in an unguarded moment, and at last fall to those who are seeking to devour her? If her security depended in the least degree on her holding fast, all would be lost in a moment. But, bless God, everything depends on the hold which Jesus has. It is the rock that holds her, not she that holds the rock.
He calls her voice sweet and her face lovely while trial still marks her.
But her voice is sweet to her Beloved, and He loves to hear it. It still sounds like the mournful note of the dove that sits alone, mourning for its mate. Her face is lovely: she is beautiful to Him, however marred by persecution, suffering, and trial. And He seeks to see her — to hear her; oh, deepest, tenderest, kindest love!
Where the ESV has "the crannies of the cliff," older translations read "the secret of the stairs." Stairs go somewhere.
Despite all her obvious shortcomings, the bride appears in the blameless character of the dove. Then as to safety, she is in the clefts of the Rock of Ages. As to approach, she is not in the secret places of the stairs, as the King James Version puts it, but in the secret of the stairs. Stairs are for access to a higher place, and so the bride knows well the way and privilege of access... The literal meaning of the Greek word translated "boldness" is "freedom of speech." How wonderful that the believer should have perfect freedom of speech before One in whose presence, in an earlier age, everyone fell down speechless!
He asks for a voice, not just a cry. The difference shows in what a soul first says to Jesus.
Thank God for the moment when a soul first speaks words to Jesus, words that He loves to hear ("Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet," Song of Solomon 2:14). These are not merely the cry of distress, but words of praise, thanksgiving, and worship from an overwhelming sense of His love and goodness.
The next verse names what gets in the way.
The King has expressed His longing to see the face of His bride, and to hear her voice. But foxes and their young spoil the vineyards as they break into bloom. In the same way, evils of a secret and subtle nature may often be at work, hindering the bride from refreshing the heart of the King.
- Hidden — the dove shelters in the cleft of a rock, and commentators name that Rock as Christ Himself.
- Held — her safety rests on His grip, not hers: it is the rock that holds her, not she that holds the rock.
- Wanted — He will not leave her unseen. He asks for her face and her voice while trial still marks her, and calls them sweet and lovely.
- Heard — the stairs lead upward. He wants more than a cry of distress. He wants words of praise from a heart that has felt His goodness.
- Guarded — the foxes of the next verse are the hidden, subtle evils that stop her from refreshing His heart.
Take us the foxes, The little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in bloom.
Chapter 2 is full of spring: winter is over, the flowers are out, and the Beloved calls His loved one to come away. Then comes a sudden line about small animals in a blossoming vineyard — why is the danger called little, and who has to catch them?
Foxes are not a winter problem. They come when there is something worth ruining.
The fruit is still green and tender. The vines are only beginning to blossom. The vineyard must be guarded. The little foxes have sharp teeth, and though little, they are cunning and do great damage among the vines. During the bleakness and barrenness of winter there is no cover in the vineyards for the fox. The leafless bough offers no attraction. But when spring revives, they find plenty of shelter, and good opportunities to do their damage. Watch, then, my soul, the state of your own heart. Watch especially against the daily cares of this present life, and the thousand things that tend to spoil your fruitfulness. Abide in the true vine, and draw your nourishment from His roots. Then you will bear much fruit to the Father's glory.
The same order shows up in a believer's life. The warning follows the blessing.
John baptised the Lord in the Jordan, and God showed His good pleasure in Him. At once the Lord faced Satan's schemes in the wilderness. In the same way, after seasons of great spiritual refreshment, the Christian will surely be tested. So he must guard against the raids of the little foxes. They will finally rob him of the fruit of the vine — the joy of salvation!
Older translations read "Take us the foxes." The ESV has "Catch the foxes for us." Either way, everything turns on who does the catching.
Notice the gracious way in which the Lord asks us to deal with these sly little foxes that slip in almost unnoticed and spoil our fruitfulness and fellowship with Him. Knowing that we can do nothing in our own strength, He invites us to work with Him in taking these little foxes. "Let us," He says, "take the foxes." He does not say, "Now you see to it that the little foxes don't get in and spoil the vine." That would throw us back on our own responsibility and our own strength and would end in failure. But He says, "Let us take the little foxes," inviting us in our weakness to count on His strength and help.
One writer names them — ordinary faults, small enough to tolerate and quiet enough to miss.
We let some fox — a little one, as nature counts — work unnoticed in the secret of our hearts. Pride, covetousness, lust, unkind and bitter thoughts, complaining and discontent, irritability and impatience, jealousy and envy, or vanity and frivolity, may go unjudged. They hinder our fellowship with Him, and the life becomes unfruitful. We need to keep a sharp watch against the raids of these foxes, and drive them out without mercy if they appear.
The loss is real. So is the limit on it.
While the keeper of the vineyard slept, the fox was doing its work of destruction... the tender grapes were gone... While the vine-grower looked sadly on his ruined vine, the thought crossed his mind — thank God! the root remains. For even the foxes of hell may not dig up the roots of any plant of the Father's planting. But the damage done to his promising vine was such that for a long time to come it would bear little fruit.
Commentators differ on whose voice speaks verse 15. Some hear the Beloved's appeal. Others hear the bride's own conscience. On that reading she sees the problem and still holds back.
Her heart is more taken up with the blessings than with the Blesser, though the blessing is Himself... Conscience tells her that something is hindering the power and fruitfulness of her soul. "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards" (v. 15); but she cannot bring herself to follow Him. It is one thing to have the Saviour, and quite another to follow Him.
Commentators also read the verse forward, to Christ's millennial reign — His thousand-year rule on earth.
The millennial reign will be a time of unmatched blessing and fruitfulness. His sceptre of righteousness will deal with every evil the moment it appears, before it grows into greater harm. The little foxes are taken at once, before they have time to spoil the vine or grow into more destructive agents. Redeemed Israel — especially those who stand firm for Christ through bitter persecution — will share with Him in this righteous government.
- Little. The threat is small. Little things slip in unnoticed and spoil what is tender.
- Timing. Foxes come with the spring, not the winter — the season of blossom and of fresh spiritual joy is the season of raids.
- Partnership. "Catch the foxes for us… our vineyards" — He joins Himself to the work, so it never rests on your own strength.
- Cost. Faults left unjudged stop the fruit and the fellowship. The root survives, but the vine bears little for a long time.
- End. What we watch for now, He will remove in His reign — every evil dealt with the moment it appears.