Readings for today: Song of Solomon 1-4, Psalms 11
For centuries, both Jewish and Christian interpreters of the Song of Solomon understood it as an allegorical poem depicting the love God has for His people. A love that is deep and intimate. A love that is stronger than death. Perhaps this is why the Song of Solomon is read during Passover each year. Passover is the celebration of the seminal event in Israel’s history, the deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Because of His steadfast, faithful, covenantal love, God acted within human history to set His people free. We celebrate a similar act of salvation at the Lord’s Table which is why some Christian traditions read the Song of Solomon whenever they eat the bread and drink the cup. They are honoring the God’s eternal, unchangeable, relentless love for His people. A love that will never let us go. A love that holds us together when everything else in this world is tearing us apart.
Yes, I know it sounds strange to our 21st century, post-modern, Western ears. We read the Song of Solomon and almost blush at the graphic imagery. We are uncomfortable with the sexual connotations and struggle to understand how this book could depict anything other than the erotic love a man has for a woman. It feels almost unholy to suggest otherwise. But this attitude only serves to underscore how little we understand about the love of God and the kind of relationship God wants with us. God wants a relationship that is deep and intimate with His people. He wants us to look forward with anticipation to the time we get to spend with Him. He wants us to be filled with longing for His presence in our lives. He wants us to search for Him earnestly until we find Him. Listen again to the words of the poem…
“Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your caresses are more delightful than wine. The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating; your name is perfume poured out. No wonder young women adore you. Take me with you — let’s hurry. Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers.” (Song of Songs 1:2-4 CSB)
“Listen! My love is approaching. Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. See, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. My love calls to me: Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.” (Song of Songs 2:8-10 CSB)
“In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him. I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him. The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?” I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house — to the chamber of the one who conceived me.” (Song of Songs 3:1-4 CSB)
Doesn’t it change how you hear it? How you read it? How you understand it? With this frame of mind, listen to how God describes His beloved. How He describes His people. How He describes you and me.
“I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry, your neck with its necklace…How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Your eyes are doves.” (Song of Songs 1:9-10, 15 CSB)
“Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one. For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away. The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one. My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” (Song of Songs 2:10-14 CSB)
“You are absolutely beautiful, my darling; there is no imperfection in you.” (Song of Songs 4:7 CSB)
Imagine how it would change you if you truly believed these things about yourself. Imagine how it would change you if you truly saw yourself as God sees you. Beautiful. Perfect. Beloved. Can you not see why God desires to have a relationship with you? Why He takes great delight in you? Why He has lavished on you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? God is deeply in love with you. He is eternally committed to you. He will never leave you or forsake you. He has your name graven on His hand and written on His heart and He will not rest until you, His beloved, turns and embraces Him with all your heart.
Readings for tomorrow: Song of Solomon 5-8, Psalms 12