The Danger of Love

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 whom my soul loves?”

Love can make you desperate. Love can expose you to danger. Lost love can lead you into the presence of the wrong people!

Good news for her, however. In the next verse, there he is!
Song of Solomon 3:4 (ESV) Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

Notice her utter enrapture with him! She is overjoyed to have him back and she will not let him go until they have filled themselves with love. 

And then having experienced the short time of love lost she refrains:
Song of Solomon 3:5 (ESV) I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

The moment is a solemn warning for us. What are we setting our hearts on? If we put our love out for the wrong person or the wrong thing in life, we cultivate an opportunity for devastation. Luckily for this woman, she has placed her love in the hands of Solomon. He does not leave or forsake her and when she's stressed and desperate, He arrives. On the verge of disaster, He shows up. Why? Because Solomon is the son of David, a picture of Christ who we may at times lose sight of, He will never leave us. He finds us when we are stressed and scared. 

The picture of Solomon in the next passage reminds us that our true Solomon is king, enthroned and coming soon!
Song of Solomon 3:6–7 (ESV) What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? 7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel,

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