Song of Solomon 7:13

The happy bride now finds that her heart holds an abundance of precious fruits for the Son of David — such as love, gratitude, praise, and devotion. Indeed, every kind of precious fruit, new and old. There is much depth and beauty in the closing words of her speech, "which I have laid up for you, O my beloved." A completely new kind of feeling has awakened in her soul for the Lord Himself. Such as she has never had, and never could have for anyone else. Her heart, so long desolate and barren, is now filled and fruitful with her own Messiah's love. He has created affections that belong to Him alone. These affections lay stored up, as it were, all through her wanderings, kept for the Lord alone.

There is not only some fruit, but all kinds of fruit. Notice also the motive that drove her activity. It shows in these words: "for you, O my beloved" — "which I have laid up for you, O my beloved." It was all for Him. There was no thought of self-interest. Her whole thought was on Him, that He might have as much as possible. This sustained her. It kept urging her on through the long and often tiring hours of work that must always come before the harvest.

We may win a great name among others for zeal, energy and devotion. We may work hard in every branch of the work. We may come across as great travellers, great preachers, earnest workers in the vineyard, great philanthropists and moral reformers. We may spend a huge fortune on every great Christian cause — and all the while not produce a single cluster of fruit that pleases the Father's heart… God cannot count anything as fruit unless it comes directly from abiding in Christ.

What is needed is not so much that one works for the Lord as that one works with the Lord — to be a fellow worker with Him. It is His work, not ours; He works and we are to work with Him. We must leave all the planning and direction in His hand, because it is His work, not ours… When we are busy with work for the Lord, we tend to do most of the planning ourselves. We keep a record of what we do. And we often become discouraged, because the work does not bear the fruit we expected. But when we work with the Lord we leave the results with Him whose work it is.

In the last verses of chapter seven we have a prophecy of Israel as the bride of Christ on earth. She is busy with Him in His vineyard, which is the nations. There she gathers in much fruit for Him. It is a millennial scene.

In due time Israel's mission will follow, renewed and humble, with her heart going out for the blessing of others. What joy for all families of the earth when the ancient promise to the fathers of the faithful comes true, word for word and in its full extent!