Song of Solomon 5:1
“I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. (To His Friends) Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones!” Jesus celebrates over you. He has invited His friends to come take a look at His beauty, His Masterpiece! Recently a woman called me a list of very bad names. As she was speaking, I thought to myself, “I don’t see myself like that at all.” Then the Lord spoke in my heart. “People can think all kinds of things. What is important is to think what I think.” He said He thought of me as His Masterpiece. He thinks the same of you.
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Song of Solomon, Chapter Four It would be sacrilege to break this chapter into parts because it’s Jesus speaking about us—His dearly beloved. Read this entire chapter while inserting your name into the sentences. Here’s what I mean: —Song of Solomon, chapter four, verse 1-- Behold, Marty, you are fair, my love! Marty, you have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Marty, your hair is like a flock of goats going down from Mount Gilead. The Song of Solomon is a letter of Passion about His loved one, the one He is building into being His Masterpiece. That’s you! His Masterpiece. When He is finished forming you here on earth and taking your hand, leading you into heaven, you will be His Masterpiece, and He wants you to know this right now. See yourself as His Masterpiece.
Song of Solomon 3:9–11
9 Of the wood of Lebanon, Solomon the King made himself a palanquin; 10 He made its pillars of silver, its support of gold, its seat of purple, its interior paved with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go forth oh daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day of the gladness of his heart. I’ve always heard, “Buy the best. If you can’t afford to buy the best, then don’t buy anything at all until you can afford to buy the best.” It sounds like that was Solomon’s motto. His couch on which he was carried about town seems to have been sumptuous! But what was even better was his crown. People were sent out into the streets to get a look at his crown. Plus, his mother, Bathesheba, put that crown on his head when he married. David, his father, had passed into heaven or he would have crowned his son. All was well by the time Solomon wore the crown. Israel lived in the greatest peace and prosperity the world has ever known. I’m sure everybody loved him for bringing all of them into “Shalom.” Song of Solomon 3:6–8
THE SHULAMITE 6 Who is this coming out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchant’s fragrant powders? 7 Behold, it is Solomon’s couch, with sixty valiant men around it, of the valiant of Israel. 8 They all hold swords, being expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night. The Shulamite woman sees the one she loves as being someone magnificent! When was the last time you made your loved ones know that you see them as being magnificent? They are, you know. They are the creation of God, specially made for you. Recently, as I stood behind my book table, a man and his wife stopped in front of me and whispered to each other. His eyes simply flashed with love for her. I couldn’t see her face nor hear what they were saying, but I could tell by her body language that she was receiving every word of love that he was saying. What were they demonstrating? Romance. Where has romance gone? Did we kill it with our NPDA? No Public Display of Affection? What’s the matter with the church? The world goes round and round on the wheels of love! Life is a love story! Song of Solomon 3:1–5
THE SHULEMITE 1 By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him but I did not find him. 2 “I will rise now,” I said, “and go about the city; In the streets and in the squares, I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him. 3 The watchmen who go about the city found me; I said, “Have you seen the one I love?” 4 Scarcely had I passed by them, when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go, Until I had brought him to the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. 5 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. The Shulemite was having one of those restless nights when she couldn’t sleep because all she could think about was the one she loved. That state of mind has landed on most of us. We toss, we turn, and thrust ourselves out of bed to go find the one we love. But there are barriers that prevent us from doing that. The watchmen, for example. Those are probably angels that God sent to turn us back to our beds. But no, we persevere, and we find him or her. Then the Holy Spirit steps in and guides us to a good ending. The Shulemite takes him to her proper mother’s house. Song of Solomon 2:16, 17
16 My beloved is mine, and I am His. He feeds His flock among the lilies. 17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether. The mountains of Bether means “separation.” The Sulemite and the Beloved belong to each other, yet there are times when they must part from one another. Though he is diligent to feed his flocks well, obeying the laws of nature, he must also obey the laws of God. That’s why she warns him not to come around at night, but to wait to see her in the morning light. Night brings too many temptations with it. Song of Solomon 2:1
BROTHERS OF THE SHULAMITE Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines are tender grapes. Oh, how true this is. It’s the little things in life that get us harried, that ruin our peace and stir up strife. Little foxes have very sharp teeth, as do little rumors, or a little gossip, or a little rejection. How often it is when we share some desire or dream, or a plan that would change our lives, and those in our circle of trust turn into little foxes and rip our dreams to shreds. How fortunate the Shulamite is to have brothers who want to protect her. So many people love to jump into my dreams and tell me how it will not work. “So and so tried that, and it ended in catastrophe.” Oh, somebody catch those little foxes for me so that my dream won’t be eaten alive. After all, my dream is like those tender grapes, sweet to the taste yet destroyed by sharp rhetoric. And don’t tell me you are just trying to help by pointing out how things will not work out. You are forgetting one thing: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If my dream needs correcting, He’ll do it. He’ll make it better than I could ever do. Song of Solomon 2:8–14
The Beloved’s Request THE SHULAMITE 8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice. 10 My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! 14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” Desire. I remember my first love. Sixteen—both of us. We would meet halfway between our houses and run to be with one another. We didn’t do anything against God’s laws, but we used our words like these verses recommend. Song of Solomon 2:6, 7
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me. 7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. I’m not quite sure how anyone can read verse 6 without thinking about the foreplay of the sex act. In the Bible?!? Of course. The sex act was God’s idea. Don’t you think He would write about it? Some people have thought over the ages that sex was simply for procreation. Laws were passed against using sex for pleasure. Men were known to wear little cages over their private parts while they slept to protect themselves from having sex dreams. This one verse, in my opinion smashes all those ancient ideas. Obviously, God created us to fit together nicely for an enjoyable time together. Pleasure, the release of stress, etc. was God’s intention, and then, of course, the prize was the arrival of the baby, but God’s first intention was pleasure. Let’s be clear: in His Kingdom, doing things God’s way, sex is to be abstained until the two people are married. Then, two virgins come together and awaken love that pleases. Song of Solomon 2:3-5
THE SHULAMITE 3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. THE SHULAMITE TO THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM 4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am lovesick. Likewise, the Shulamite describes her beloved with wonderful words of visual love. Trees in the woods normally are not flowering trees. An apple tree, usually shorter than trees that make up the forest, would be lost in the shade of the larger, stronger trees, but she sees him as “one in a million,” someone extraordinary, flowering and fruit producing in spite of the circumstances. Wouldn’t our own loved-ones flower and produce fruit if we held the opinion of them that she does of her beloved? |
Marty
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