365 Reflections

The power of love cannot be overstated. Song of Solomon is a book about love between a husband and wife as a picture of God's love for us in Christ and our requisite love for Him. The book is in the Bible because of love's unrelenting power. Studying this short book reminds me that God is fully aware of our reality, our emotions, and our true need to know and love Him as we know His love for us.  Song of Solomon 8:6 (ESV) Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Notice those words in verse 6. "Love is strong as death" and "jealousy as fierce as the grave." Wow. Everyone who has ever loved or lost loved knows this is true. Love can make us do incredible things, and foolish things, and love can be one of the riskiest things we do in life.  Song of Solomon 8:7 (ESV) Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown...

Marriage cannot last when it's about what you GET out of it. Because you will get into it to get and it's not meant for two people to get, it's meant for two people to give. Song of Solomon opens that reality to us in every chapter. The Woman must give her body to her husband. The man must give his love to his wife in physical ways (verbal or otherwise). There has to be this foundation or the house cannot stand.  Coming to the end of chapter seven we see how the woman responds when the man gives her compliments and verbally praises her.  Song of Solomon 7:11–12 (ESV) Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages; 12 let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. What is her response when he gives her the verbal affirmation she needs? She gives him sex.  It's amazing to see this play out in chapter-by-chapter de...

Having talked about how important sex is for a man in the last post you may think the Bible is misogynistic. This is the accusation of many. It is not true. Of course, there were many misogynistic men in the Bible, but the moral truth of the Bible clearly elevates the status and value of women to equal regard with men.  In Song of Solomon 6, Solomon describes the importance of sex for a man and how his wife's giving this to him opens her up to passion as well. But now in chapter 7, he shows us the great gift a man can give his wife in exchange.  What is that gift? Compliments.  But what does he compliment? Song of Solomon 7:1 (ESV) How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. He starts with her feet! The ugliest part of a person is typically found here. But to the husband of this love story, they were beautiful. He works his way up to the legs. And then things get spicy.  Song of Solomon 7:2...

We last left off with the bride of Song of Solomon in search of her lover after having missed the chance to be with him. Fast-forward to chapter 6. When the women ask the Shunammite where her beloved has gone she is ready with an answer: Song of Solomon 6:2–3 (ESV) My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. 3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. What is this talking about? She is the gardener. And the lilies refer to her body. The physical love captured in Song of Solomon is very apparent.  The text teaches us the importance of physical love between husband and wife. Earlier she missed out on this and deeply regretted it. She then sought him out and apparently found him again. What created the distance from before in chapter 5? They missed out on love making that belongs in the marriage bed.  It is very true that sex binds a husband and wife together. It must not be avoided or wit...

In Song of Solomon 5, the other women want to know, what makes this man so special? Song of Solomon 5:9 (ESV)  What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us? The woman has just once again advised the young maidens to make sure he knows how much she longs for him in verse 8 having missed out on the moment he offered but to which she was at first to apathetic to respond. The women, therefore, want to know - why? What's so special? And just as the bridegroom has spent the larger portion of Song of Solomon 4 praising her beauty, she now praises his.  Song of Solomon 5:10–11 (ESV) My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. 11 His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven. Sometimes we forget how beautiful the Lord is because we've grown comfortable with the temporary beauty offered in this world. And perhaps this is why He sometimes wi...

The tendency of our faith is up and down. I'm sure I'm not the only one who experienced that frustration. One day you're hot and ready for the Lord's work, the other day you're cold as ice. I believe part of it is being human. Our flesh does not want the Lord. Our flesh wants our own way, rest, ease, and isolation. But it is then we find ourselves in desperation for the very One who saved us from all of that in the first place.  In Song of Solomon 5, what began as a hot torrid love affair has slid into apathetic coolness. Song of Solomon 5:2 (ESV) I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” The woman hears the knock of her lover calling out to her. What is the response? Song of Solomon 5:3 (ESV) I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? She had gotten comfortable, and ...

The longing for beauty is universal. What person does not want to be seen and noticed? It's inherent in our youth, and in marriage, we can kill a relationship when we no longer notice one another's individual beauty that attracted us to them in the first place. For this reason, the Song of Solomon is filled with edification from lover to lover of the captivating beauty they beheld in each other.  Song of Solomon 4:1 (ESV) Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. The king will not simply tell her she is beautiful, he will describe her beauty in poetic fashion, drawing allusions to the animal kingdom, industry and architecture of their world. The picture is of a bride from Earth loved and seen for all she is. The descriptions may seem funny to us. Some of them seem rude. But all of them are chosen and thought out for the original author. One key elemen...

Song of Solomon 3:1–2 (ESV) On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. 2 I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. The thing about love is that it can be scary. In this case, the woman in Song of Solomon doesn't know where her lover has gone. She is either dreaming or awakening from sleep and he is not there. She goes out to search for him and nothing.  Scary.  That's love.  Love can thrill you and terrify you. I can cause you great joy and great grief. Why? Because love can be lost. And that hurts. Divorce destroys so many families, adultery attacks the soul, and broken relationships take years if not decades to heal in our hearts. This is the story of love.  The woman finds herself with strangers. She beckons for help.  Song of Solomon 3:3 (ESV) The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him w...