Our Hidden Life

“A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” Song 4:12. Our heart should be such a hidden garden to this world, which is unable to enter. We can imagine a plain fence that doesn’t catch the eye, but which people cannot see through either. That is why it can be easy to despise such a beautiful but hidden garden.

But just think if you could look into this glorious garden. “Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits . . . spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.” V. 13-14. There was certainly more glory in that garden than it first appeared! That is how it should be in our hearts as well—much better within than it appears on the exterior of our fragile earthen vessels!

You find delicious fruits and “spices” here. Saffron is one of the most valuable spices in the world! How precious it is to have a deep care for others, and to be able to rejoice when they are praised, for example! Just think that we know friends who would rather remain hidden, and love others more than themselves. How great are those who have sacrificed everything and who give their all every day! Let us value such people more than ever before! Just think that we have friends among us who judge themselves, when they see others doing something wrong—for not having done more for them! Such ones whose greatest joy is to bless others—they are truly a delightful garden.

How would we feel if the friends could see our thought life? Would we blush with shame? In any case, many of us no doubt have something to work on in our inner life, so that it can become a more glorious garden. It says in Ch. 7:13, regarding the fruits, that the bride says: “. . . which I have laid up for you.” We should not loudly proclaim what we do, because it is God who has accomplished it! It is written about King Hezekiah, who displayed his treasures—something that displeased God! Isaiah 39.

In our garden—our heart—there is to be a fountain of living water that will refresh both ourselves and others. “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its pleasant fruits.” Song 4:16. (Eng. trans.) This is the bride’s garden, full of the virtues of Christ. The vinedresser has fertilized and pruned the plants to bring forth more fruit! Everything that grows is to the glory of Christ! The fruits are to His glory and His alone! Just think if a garden were to seek its own glory!

Thorns and thistles used to grow in our lives, until the Spirit was poured out into our hearts. Isa. 32:13-15. The bride desires that the Bridegroom should come to his garden and rejoice there! Adversity, the north wind, will reveal what is in our heart. May God help us to have a noble and good heart!