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...

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...

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...

Song of Solomon 2:7 (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. This passage in Song chapter 2 is a very important warning for young women. The writer (who in this case is the voice of Solomon's love interest) is warning young girls to keep themselves away from premature sexual expression until the right person arrives.  But the eternal question is this: How do we know the right person? The previous and following verses paint a picture for us.  In the first verse of this chapter, the woman calls herself this: Song of Solomon 2:1 (ESV) I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. But in the next verse, her lover, the king elevates her status: Song of Solomon 2:2 (ESV) As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. Brambles are thorns. While she saw herself as singular among others, he sees her as far better than all others. He esteems her worth more than she does ...

Today we begin a look at one of the most evocative books in the Bible - the Song of Solomon. It's a collection of love poems between a man and his bride. It exults the explicit and singular sexual relationship scripture admonishes - a husband and wife in marriage. There IS no other Biblical definition of marriage than man and wife. And yes, you have the right to disagree but God is the ultimate judge, not me.  How does this book begin? Song of Solomon 1:1–4 (ESV) The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; 3 your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. 4 Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. The woman is already in full response to the husband's love. Here is a pro tip for me. Love your wife into loving your kisses. She lo...

Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 get the headlines in sermons and Christian coffee cups. I understand. The passage is about our future and we are often so worried about it that we need a lot of reinforcement to embrace it. After all, you cannot stop the future from arriving. Some translations say, "he will direct your paths." And I love that too... and we all should do exactly as this verse suggests. But it should be mentioned repeatedly that "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable" to equip us (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). To that end, look at the verses PRECEDING those incredible words from Proverbs 3:5-6: Proverbs 3:1–4 (ESV)  My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not steadfast love and faith...

The idea that Solomon is exceedingly blessed is obvious in the Bible's narrative. One could argue that no one had more advantages and "privilege" in his life than Solomon. Born to the most successful king at the time, raised in the royal court and set apart by God, and then equipped with God's special wisdom would make anyone blessed beyond imagination.  So the question is... why was he so blessed? The answer comes from an outsider.  Sometimes we need an outsider to give us a point of view as to what we are here for and what the point of our life really is. Solomon gets that in 2 Chronicles 9. The queen of Sheba comes to visit him after hearing of his wisdom and riches. She is overwhelmed by his ability to answer all her questions.  2 Chronicles 9:8 (ESV) Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that yo...

David has been rebuked strongly by the prophet Nathan. He has also lost a child knowing full well it was the results of his sin. Though he prayed earnestly and continually for the child's life to be spared, the child died. David then does something we can all learn from: 2 Samuel 12:24–25 (ESV) Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him 25 and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD. It's a small moment at the end of a series of far larger moments. But it's an important moment for our understanding of the life of faith. Faith believes God even when we don't get what we want. We have lost the art of waiting on God for His plans to be fulfilled when they conflict with our desires. Most people want to serve the Lord so long as the life they map out goes according to plan. The name Nathan provides for the chil...

Delilah is the personification of dangerous love. For all my life I've heard about her danger but Tim Keller really brought out for me what the main issue was for Samson concerning this woman who would become his undoing. The whole narrative is bracketed by terms rooted in the concept of infatuated love. Even from the beginning, it says: Judges 16:4 (ESV) After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. Samson just got away with a sexual episode with a prostitute in the capital city of Gaza. But that was just casual sex, Delilah is what Samson considers a loving relationship. You get the feeling that her entrance into his was life primed by the casual encounter in the first place.  Samson needs the love of Delilah.  Judges 16:5 (ESV)   And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we wi...

There is a rare word used of Israel in Moses' blessing found in Deuteronomy 33. It's actually used 2 times. The word is " Jeshurun ." It means "beloved." And this word is translated into the greek and applied to Jesus (Ephesians 1:6) and the Church  (Col. 3:12; 1 Thes. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:3; Jude 1). The point God wants to instill in Israel before they enter the promised land? That He loves them. This will be their NAME. This will be their identity moving forward. How will they fight strong and mighty after Joshua? By understanding their primary identity is the love of God for them and therefore anyone's disapproval of them means very little. Let's look at the passages in Moses' blessing first: Deuteronomy 33:5 (ESV) Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun , when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. Deuteronomy 33:26 (ESV)  “There is none like God, O Jeshurun , who rides through the heavens to your help, thr...

Deuteronomy 10:14–17 (ESV)   Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. This is perhaps one of the most compelling appeals from Moses to Israel in all the Pentateuch. You hear his emotional call to this people known for mindlessly walking in disobedience over the course of 40 years since God saved them. And in this appeal, Moses goes all in on them realizing who God actually is, who they are because of Him and what their response should be.  First they are to understand that the Lord is God and owner of all things. He does not need Israel. He does not c...

Everyone cherry-picks the Bible. That is, everyone picks what they want and rejects what they don't like. If there is a chapter in the Bible that stands as exhibit "A" for those who would use the Bible against itself it is Leviticus 19. Consider the following directives: Leviticus 19:19 (ESV) “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. Leviticus 19:27 (ESV) You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. Leviticus 19:23 (ESV) “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. And of course, 21st Century Evangelical Christianity's most favorite-to-ignore passage: Leviticus 19:28 (ESV) You shall not make any cuts on your body for the...

Why do we think God is so angry? In Exodus 34, we see Moses climb the mountain early in the morning to see the glory of God. He desires to KNOW God's glory. The glory of God is His "weightiness" or "heaviness" in the Universe and in our lives. The heavens declare the glory of God, says Psalm 19. People are made for God's glory, says Isaiah 43. The glory of God is what we are made for. The glory of God is what knowing God is all about. When Moses asks for glory he gets a sermon! Notice how God reveals His GLORY to him: Exodus 34:5–7 (NIV)  Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord . 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming , “The Lord , the Lord , the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their ch...

I can't think of a better way to begin a New Year than with this passage from Exodus. Exodus 3:3–4 (ESV)   And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” I've always been reminded of this little fact in Exodus 3. God shows up in the bush but does not speak to Moses until He sees that Moses turns aside to see what's going on. Moses made a turn that truly changed his world. The word in Hebrew for "turned aside" used twice in this passage means "to depart" and is used of Samson when he did not know the Lord had "departed" from him. It can also be used to infer apostasy which will later happen in Israel's leaders. The evident implication of this word is that of strong and complete redirection of one's attentions and affections. And Moses here redirects his attent...

When Jacob passes away a very touching moment is recorded between him and Joseph. Some notable things do not happen as well. Genesis 50:1–3 (ESV) Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. Genesis 50:10 (ESV) When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. The first 14 verses of Genesis 50 record a very long process of mourning and burial for Jacob. Egypt mourns 70 days! Pharaoh commissions Joseph to carry him to Canaan for burial and there Joseph mourns another seven days. The inhabitants see the mourning and say something particular:  Genesis 50:11 (ESV)  Whe...

Genesis 18:1–8 (ESV)   And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before the...

Genesis 1-6 is often refered to as a microcosm of world history. God creates, man sins, God selects a form of redemption for some, they escape His wrath while the Earth is judged, a new creation mandate is given (to Noah), and life with God is made possible. Here's how the chapter describes the corruption of the Earth which demanded judgment. Genesis 6:1–8 (ESV)   When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of ...

What do you do when you don't desire God. Psalm 63 is wonderful... but is it often our reality? Psalm 63:1 (ESV) O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Can we say the same? If we are honest, we'd say we don't desire God nearly as we should. But here David seems enamored with God. So what do you do when you don't desire God? Psalm 63:2 (ESV) So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary , beholding your power and glory. David went to Church. I think this is an important point for those of us who don't desire God. Go to church anyway and see what happens. When we get in the presence of God and His people, our desires are trained for heaven. (So long as it's a good Gospel-driven church). We need to understand that the desires we have are largely shaped by the things we put in front of our eyes. When I watch a food show late a night, I immedi...

Psalm 30:4–5 (ESV) Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. In the context of the whole Psalm these words come alive. David is rejoicing over God's healing, saving and empowering work in his life. He knows God has done great things for him and he turns it into praise. But there was a time when David encountered the anger of the Lord. It was short, but it was enough. David repented and sought the mercy of God... Psalm 30:8–10 (ESV) To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!” God did hear, and God did save. God turns his life from mourning over sin to gladness in His righteousness. I think we miss...