SOS 2:3 – Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Some of the personal letters written by Jonathan Edwards are still in print today. He wrote a letter to an affluent widow in New England shortly after the death of her husband. Some would say that the theology and the God centered message that Edwards preached really was irrelevant in the real world. Many still say that today. I say that the God centered message is especially necessary in the tough times when nothing humans can do can fix the current problems. Edwards’ words to Lady Mary Pepperrell ring true today almost 3 centuries after they were written. Here is an short excerpt from the letter.

“From a letter to Lady Mary Pepperrell:
Having found him who is as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, we may sit under his shadow with great delight and his fruit may be sweet to our taste. Christ told his disciples that in the world [they] should have trouble, but says he, “In me ye shall have peace.” If we are united to him, our souls will be like a tree planted by a river that never dieth. He will be their light in darkness and their morning star that is a bright harbinger of day. And in a little [while], he will arise on our souls as the sun in full glory. And our sun shall no more go down, and there shall be no interposing cloud, no veil on his face or on our hearts, but the Lord shall be our everlasting light and our Redeemer, our glory.”

In the time of Jonathan Edwards the apple was a greatly desired delicacy. Edwards took this concept from the Song of Solomon where the Lord is called an apple tree. What was the point Edwards was making? The grieving heart of Lady Pepperell could never be encouraged or sustained by anything this world could offer her. She had the resources to acquire anything that her soul desired. Edwards was telling her that the sweetness of the Lord was all that her soul needed. He was encouraging her to come to the shadow of this apple tree and find rest there. In this place of rest she could delight herself in the sweetness of the Lord which would heal and satisfy her grieving soul. If you are hurting today the counsel is clear, make your way to the shade of this apple tree, we know Him as Jesus, this is where your soul will find rest and restoration.