Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Together in the Garden of Love She Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.
The chapter has just pictured the bride as a garden full of rare spices. Now a voice calls for wind — first from the north, then from the south — so the fragrance inside does not stay shut in. The verse then turns, and the bride invites her Beloved to come and enjoy what is His.
The wind that stirs the garden
Wind in Scripture can stand for the Spirit of God. The call for it here reads like a prayer that the Spirit would work in His people. The garden lacks nothing; what is already there must be drawn out.
Andrew MillerIn Scripture the word "wind" is sometimes used for the Holy Spirit. This verse is like the Lord praying for the different workings of the Spirit in the hearts of His beloved people. "Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow." There are spices — "chief spices" — in His vineyard, but they need something to make them flow out.
North and south
The two winds stand for two kinds of experience. One is hard, one is pleasant, and the verse calls for both.
Samuel RidoutThe south wind blows softly. It speaks of what is attractive in nature, of prosperity in the world. The north speaks of the dark, cold and cheerless side, of adversity... So we have mixed experiences: comfort on one hand, affliction on the other. But all of it is to make the spices, the fragrance of Christ, flow out in our lives.
Trouble, then His presence
Spice trees give off their scent when they are shaken. God works the same way with us: pressure first, then His nearness.
W. T. P. WolstonHe sends His north wind, bearing its wave of trouble to rouse the careless one. We do not like this; but it is good and wholesome for the spices in His garden. It shakes them out. The wind gets through the branches, and the fragrance is poured forth. Trouble checks us. It casts us on God, and presses out that which is of Christ in us. Then He can change His dealings; the wind changes. He says, "Come, O south wind, and blow upon my garden, let its spices flow." He gives deep enjoyment of Himself. He makes the sun of His presence shine into our souls, and the heart turns to Him and says, "Let my beloved come to his garden."
When nothing stirs
Sometimes the garden goes quiet and nothing stirs. The wind is not random weather. It is in the hand of the One who owns the garden.
Andrew MillerSometimes a death-like stillness comes over the whole plantation... "Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind!" is now the patient farmer's cry, "blow upon my garden."... But, oh, sweet thought! The garden belongs to Him, and He knows every plant in it well. He holds in His hand both the breath that fans and the whirlwind that sweeps. For all His tender, precious plants He measures out the right amount of north wind and south wind.
"My beloved" — but "His garden"
Notice the pronouns in her reply. She claims Him as her own, yet claims nothing of the garden or its fruit for herself.
Andrew MillerThese few are the only words we have from the lips of the bride in this wonderful chapter. But they are happy, blessed words. "My beloved." She is at home and happy in His presence... He is her own beloved Lord and Saviour. But when she speaks of the garden, she calls it "His garden." And of the fruit she says, "His pleasant fruit."
A garden is nothing without its owner
She has heard Him praise the garden; her answer is that the garden means little unless He is in it.
Hamilton SmithThe bride takes up the picture the King used. In effect she says: "If I am a garden, and if the King can see in his garden a paradise of precious fruits, then let my beloved come into his garden and eat its precious fruits." In her eyes the garden would be a poor place without the King present. And we may say, "What would heaven be without the presence of Christ?... And what would a gathering of His people on earth be without Him among them?"
The answer that comes at once
The next verse gives His answer, and shows what He finds when He comes.
Andrew MillerHe does not say, "I may" or "I will," but "I am come." Already, while she is still inviting Him, He is present. His heart is always ready, waiting to attend to the cry of His beloved ones. The fruits of the Spirit are always acceptable to Him. He finds them rich and varied now, and He greatly delights in this banquet of love.
Summary
- Owner — the garden is His, the fruit is His; she says "my beloved," but never "my garden."
- Winds — the cold north first, then the south; He measures out the right amount for each plant.
- Fragrance — the spices are already there; the wind does not create them, it makes them flow out.
- Invitation — the fruit is not for display but for Him; without His presence the garden is a poor place.
- Answer — while she is still asking Him to come, He replies, "I am come."