Corpus of Latin Ecclesiastical Writers, Vol. LXII: Ambrose's Exposition of Psalm 118

You are not to "enlighten" before you "sow," and not only are you to "sow" first "unto justice," but also "reap," he says, "for the fruit of life," and thus "enlighten the light of knowledge," so that perfection may be approved not only by what is sown but also by the fruits received. In the first psalm also, he kept this order, that he taught first that one must walk in the way and then that one must meditate on the law. For he who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly has certainly not strayed from the way of piety and the path of justice, and deservedly, walking in the way, he is pronounced blessed, and exercising meditation on the law day and night, he possesses the grace of beatitude.

3. Following this instruction, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, in which he expressed the moral place more richly, the natural in Ecclesiastes, and the mystical in the Song of Songs. Although, if you discuss it diligently, you will find many mystical things in Proverbs and the sweetness of morals in the Song of Songs. For it is surely mystical: Wisdom has built herself a house and has set under seven pillars; she has killed her victims, and the rest. This is also in the Song of Songs, although it is as much mystical as it is moral, in which the sweetness of endearments and the affection of the lover is expressed: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, for your breasts are better than wine and the odor of your ointments above all aromatics.

4. Imagine, therefore, a virgin betrothed for a long time and burning with true love, who has learned of the many outstanding deeds of the beloved through the assertion of credible witnesses, with her desires suspended and delaying frequently, already unable to bear the delays, who would have done everything so that she might see the bridegroom, at last having obtained her vows, at the unexpected arrival of the bridegroom, troubled with joy, she does not seek the beginnings of a greeting, she does not...