fall into
the habit of being tardy in obedience, even in the case of a believer:
in the case of the unbeliever the final issue of disobedience is
inexpressibly awful:--

Turn you at My reproof:
Behold, I will pour out My SPIRIT unto you,
I will make known My words unto you.
Because I have called, and ye refused;
I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; . . .
I also will laugh in the day of your calamity. . . .
Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer;
They shall seek Me diligently, but they shall not find Me.

The backsliding of the bride, though painful, was not final; for it was
followed by true repentance. She went forth into the darkness and sought
Him; she called, but He responded not, and the watchmen finding her,
both smote and wounded her. They appear to have appreciated the gravity
of her declension more correctly than she had done. Believers may be
blinded to their own inconsistencies; others, however, note them; and
the higher the position with regard to our LORD the more surely will any
failure be visited with reproach.

Wounded, dishonoured, unsuccessful in her search, and almost in despair,
the bride turns to the daughters of Jerusalem; and recounting the story
of her sorrows, adjures _them_ to tell her Beloved that she is not
unfaithful or unmindful of Him.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my
Beloved,
That ye tell Him, that I am sick of love.

The reply of the daughters of Jerusalem shows very clearly that the
sorrow-stricken bride, wandering in the dark, is not recognized as the
bride of the KING, though her personal beauty does not escape notice.

What is thy Beloved more than another beloved,
O thou fairest among women?
What is thy Beloved more than another beloved,
That thou dost so adjure us?

This question, implying that her Beloved was no more than any other,
stirs her soul to its deepest depths; and, forgetting herself, she pours
out from the fulness of her heart a soul-ravishing description of the
glory and beauty of her LORD.

My Beloved is white and ruddy,
The chiefest among ten thousand.

(see verses 10-16, concluding with)

His mouth is most sweet: yea, He is altogether lovely.
This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend,
O daughters of J