Song of Solomon 1-2

Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It's so good to have you today. It's wonderful. Actually, it's wonderful to have you today. Guess what? We are at the last book of the wisdom literature. We are at Song of Solomon. And in the next four days, we're going to finish the wisdom literature. I'm so excited to get into this book with you. It's a wonderful book. Let's go ahead and have some coffee.
We'll pray and then we'll kind of talk about this love poem that the Lord's given us in his word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your great love for us. We thank you that you don't hide this in your word. We thank you for the beautiful picture you've given it to us in marriage. Lord, we pray that as we read your word, both today and for the rest of this week, that you would use it. Father, please use it for your glory in Jesus's name. Amen.
Well, before I get into my preface comments for the book of Song of Solomon, let me ask you, what would you like to study next year as we are about to wrap up? Can you believe that 2022 is just around the corner? What would you like to read together next year? Maybe you'd want to do the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses.
Maybe you'd want to do the prophets. Maybe you'd like to do the pastoral epistles in Revelation. Let me know down in the comments. Feel free to type that up or shoot me an email, brian at sharonrpc.org. Let me know, what do you want to do for coffee and devotions next year?
Well, the book of the Song of Solomon, I believe, is actually written by, guess what? Solomon. Why? Because the first line, the Song of Songs, which is Solomon. It's only until recent literature that people have thought, well, maybe this isn't actually Solomon, but just somebody acting like you, Solomon.
I'm not sure I buy that. But I do want to point out to you just a few things. The genre of this is poetry. It's poetry. This is a book full of images and beautiful language, and we should read it that way. It's not meant to be read in a literal way like you would read, say, the book of Genesis. And so as we read this, It's got more drama to it, and it's got more flowery language. And so there's a commentator who wrote helpfully on this. He said, remain sensitive to the language of imagery and attempt to follow its contours without imposing too much demand of specifics of interpretation. That was Richard Hess who wrote that.
And really, when we come to interpretation of this very odd book. It's not like any other book in the New or Old Testament. When we come to it, we really have to ask ourselves, wrestle with two different schools of interpretation. The first is a school of literal interpretation. We just read it as a love letter from a man to a woman, and it has no other meaning than that. Or there's another school of interpretation that's allegorical, or as Matthew Henry says, it's both allegorical and proverbial, or parabolic, sorry, it uses parables and allegories. I'm not sure I want to draw a distinction between those two. I think it is between a man and a woman. I really do think that.
But yet, if it is about that, then the New Testament is absolutely clear that Jesus is the groom of his church. And so as we read through this passage, as we go through this together, I'm going to stay on the plane of allegory because I think that the literal is easier to understand. But how does this apply to us and Christ? And as we deal with that, I think it will become more and more apparent as we work through the text how it applies to us and our relationship with the person whom we love, our spouse. So, let's go ahead and jump into it today.
We're at Song of Solomon chapter 1 and 2. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. Remember, Solomon was the one who said he had 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. And this is the Song of Songs. This is the cream of the crop. This is the best of the best.
And so here it starts off, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is anointed I'm sorry, your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you. Draw me away. This is the bride speaking to her groom. And what is this? This is speaking. I have a whole bunch of notes here because it's so rich. And so I'm just going to let you know this is going to be a little bit different than normal.
Matthew Henry writes on this, he says, So all gospel grace is summed up in his kissing us. It is a kiss of peace. We desire to have the kiss of Christ upon us. So let me ask you, do you desire to be taken by Christ? Will you follow after him? It says here, because of your fragrance, the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you. Draw me away. Is that the cry of your heart?
Would you speak of Jesus Christ as the one who would draw you away? This is what Revelation chapter 14, 4 is getting at, where the virgins are redeemed by Christ and they're wanting to follow after Him. Do you love Christ so much that you would follow after Him? Is His name an ointment to you? Is He a balm to your soul? Is He the love of your life? Do you want Christ to smile upon you? Do you delight in Jesus Christ?
While we go on after that, draw me away. We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. The bridegroom here is the beloved. And he's asking, as we think about this passage, he's brought me into his chambers. Have you been brought into the house of God? Have you entered into his gracious throne room? Have you found a home for yourself in the place where Jesus Christ sits upon his throne? How much do we rejoice in him or with him? Are we enraptured by God's love? Let's go ahead and keep on going.
Verse five and six, I am dark, but lovely. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, like tents of Kadar, like the curtains of Solomon, do not look upon me because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Sometimes this is how we feel in the face of Christ, isn't it? that we're not the lovely ones. When we're honest about our sins, if we're face-to-face with the reality of who we are, we can look and we can say, I'm not one who's fair of skin, but I've had a hard life. The sun has scorched me. I'm not like those out there who have a perfect life, who seem like they're always smiling. No, indeed. The sun of tribulation has scorched my skin. It's been difficult for me.
Our sins and our sufferings in the church make it seem like we're the unlikely ones to receive Christ's love. Suffering in this life does not make us less beautiful though to Christ. People, the people of God are often hated even by their own kindred. How many, how many Christians were hated by their brothers in communist Russia and were put out where they could not care for their own children, had to kiss their babes goodbye and had to go and work in other people's fields rather than their own. Verse 7 tells us this.
Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? This is this beautiful picture that she longs, she cries out for her love. The bride is saying, I long for you. Where are you? Oh, my love, show me where your flocks are. I don't want to be put on the veil of mourning, not knowing where my love is. Do you long for Christ that way? Has your soul sought after the one whom you love? Can you say he is the one whom you love?
Indeed, Christ is the good shepherd who cares for his sheep. He gives them rest for their souls. He leads them beside still waters. He brings them into green pastures. But sometimes as sheep, we're kind of, we get stuck on the green grass and the cool waters and our shepherd might go and might walk away. Where are we going to find him? Where will he's leading, but have we been so stuck with the things of this world that we forgot our love for our shepherd? Well, verse 8, he responds, If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock and feed your little goats beside the shepherd's tents. I have compared you, my love, to my lily or to my filly among Pharaoh's chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ointments, ornaments, and your neck with chains of gold. If you do not know, O fairest among women, Just listen to that contrast.
She is the one who just said that she's darkened in skin, that she's like one of those who has been tanned by the sun. And he says, oh no, oh no, you're beautiful to me. See, we might think of ourselves as those who are unlovable, those who are, oh God, you can't look at me like this. And he smiles at us. He says, that's not how I think of you. You're beautiful. You're not, you don't be, don't be like that. You're like a mare. This is what the idea of a filly is. I don't actually like that translation here.
It's just Sousa, the female horse amongst all the, the, all the chariot horses of the Pharaoh. You're like one that makes people turn their heads. Other people might not see it, but Christ sees it. He loves his church, he loves his bride, and he sees her as a strong and stable and beautiful mare, one whom he's able to love, one whom he has loved. And what does he say?
Follow in the footsteps of the flock. Go, go follow the old paths. See, the shepherd walks in front of his people, of his sheep, and as the rest of the sheep have gone, this one sheep is still there, and he sees her, and he says, follow the old paths. Go the old way. You know, just look down and see where the saints of old have gone, and you'll find me. I'm amazed by how many people want to come up with new schemes of how to interpret the scripture and turn everything away, and want to re-change the church, and want to do all these different things in the Bride of Christ, when all reality is go look at Christ, go see our Savior, go follow after Him, go love Him.
I have compared you, my love, to the filly among Pharaoh's chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains of gold. We will make ornaments of gold. We will make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver." Jesus makes his bride beautiful. He sees her and he smiles upon her. He calls her beautiful. And then he adorns her with his ordinances. He gives her gifts and talents that make her more beautiful. Verses 12 through 14. While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me that lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a clustered of henna blooms in the vineyard of Engedi."
The bride looks at her groom and she calls him her king. Indeed it is Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he's the one that he invites us into his wedding banquet. This is what the marriage supper of the lamb is about all throughout the scriptures all over the place It is God who is the the husband it is God who is the king and it's his people Who's his bride his covenant people Israel? His church is his bride and he loves his church and his church looks to him and calls him Lord Calls him master calls him our king. I And indeed, there's this reverence for Christ as our King. He sits at the head of the wedding table and is surrounded by tax collectors and sinners whom he has called beautiful.
And here this this desire that's in in her heart verses 13 and 14 He a bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me that lies all night between my breasts crisis Is like the sweet smelling aroma that she wants to her husband is is sweet to her She wants to keep close to her tight to her all night long And then verse 14, my beloved is to me like a cluster of henna blooms in the vineyard of En Gedi. En Gedi is this oasis in the land just to the west and south of the Dead Sea. It's a desertous area as far as the eye can see for miles and miles and miles. But in this one area, it's lush and it's green and there's a vineyard.
She says that's what her husband is like to her. That's what her lover is like to her. And indeed, how many of us find that with Christ? When we see all throughout our life, it seems like nothing but barren desert wasteland. When we find Christ, we find food for our souls, we find satisfaction, we find our thirst quenched. Christ is like the vineyard of Vengeti to us. When we come to him, we have refreshment and nourishment and joy. Verse 15, Behold, you are, the New King James Version says, you're fair.
It's better to just call it beautiful. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. You have dove's eyes. The king notices his bride. Once again, he reassures her, you are beautiful. Again, we can talk about this on a human level here and husbands. I need to encourage you tell your wives. They are beautiful Adore them love them cherish them tell them they are beautiful because Christ tells his bride. She is beautiful Jesus loves his bride. He looks at her and he he says you have eyes of doves you are you are tender and you're trusting and you are beautiful and And then in verse 16 and 17, the bride responds to her lover. Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved. Yes, pleasant. Also, our bed is green. The beams of our houses are cedar and the rafters fir.
Is Christ handsome in your eyes? Is he beautiful to you? Does he do all things? This is one of my favorite passages of the book of Mark when Jesus opens the eyes of the blind and opens the ears of the deaf. The people hear about this and they say he does all things well. Does Jesus do all things well in your estimation? I'm not talking about his physical appearance. We're talking about his personhood. Is he beautiful to you? Do you cherish him? Do you adore him? Do you delight in Christ? Is your relationship with Christ nothing more than a formal relationship or do you actually love Him?
This is a relationship that's pure and it's royal and it's costly. It's this beautiful picture of this couple with this lover's bed that is cedar and green bows and it's this beautiful picture of intimacy that's pure and growing. Do you have a growing relationship with Christ or is it dead? Is it cheap? Is it hollow? Chapter two.
I am the lily of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. I have to mention this because our church is Sharon R.P. Church, but Sharon is this valley just south of Mount Carmel where it gets lots of rain. It's really lush and growing. And it's there that these lilies, an OK word, rose is probably not the right word for it, even though I really love the rose of Sharon language. but it's probably more like a lily or crocus of Sharon. It's this beautiful flower that comes up out of the winter ground and gives this beautiful color as the first sign of hope. The bride is this flower in a fertile valley.
The church is called both beautiful and faithful. And then verse 2, like a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. Jesus is pleasant and Jesus is beautiful, right? But yet there are many who are not. It's just the reality of it that there are many. Jesus might be the lily, but there are thorns around him. There are many people who hurt us, who sting us, even many pastors. I know I've hurt people. But it's Christ who is beautiful. It's Christ who is gracious. It is Christ who is wonderful in every way.
Verse three, like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down in his shade with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Do you delight to sit in the shade of your savior? do you delight to rest in the safety you find there? It's one of the things I love about this verse, like an apple tree among the trees of the woods.
I've never done it before, but I like to walk the creek beds here in Iowa, and I'll walk down to the creek, and there's always trees that grow along the creek bed, but I've never found an apple tree. I find oak trees and I find sycamore trees and there might even be some evergreen trees and mulberry bushes and stuff like that, but I've never found an apple tree. Why? Because they aren't normal there. They weren't normal in Israel either. They weren't native to the land of Palestine. They had to be cultivated.
And here we find Christ as a reprieve, as someone special, different than everyone else. Is this not how you feel about your own spouse? How much more Christ? He is like an apple among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Let me ask you. Maybe you're married and you know what it's like to love your spouse and the sweetness it is to love them. Do you taste and see that the Lord is good? Is his name sweet to your mouth? Is his name a tone to your ears and a savor unto your mouth? Is his word like honey unto your lips?
Verse four and five, he brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am lovestick. I love this one, right? I love all of the songs of Solomon, but when he says here, he brought me to the banqueting house, Again, is this not the picture that Jesus uses? I used to love photographing weddings. It was, I can't imagine having a, well, I can't, I really like being a pastor, but photographing weddings was awesome because every week I was reminded of the gospel because we went and we saw the wedding banquet.
We saw all the guests, we saw the groom, we saw the bride, we saw their love and we saw their commitment and they're going to care for one another and love one another. And here, Christ invites us to his wedding banquet. And he says, come. And there above the wedding table is his banner. And written on that banner is the word love. As one commentator said, the word love is written either in gold or in blood. But it's Christ who secured that love because it is Christ who is love.
This is one of those things though. we might get a little bit uncomfortable with this language. We might be thinking, man, you know, is this really this intense language of Christ and his bride? Well, remember what the book of Revelation says. When Jesus is speaking to the angel of the church in Ephesus, what does he say?
This one thing I have against you. You've forgotten your first love. Has your heart grown cold to your love? You know how this can happen with your spouse, don't you? You can become complacent with them. You can just let your love go from a raging boil on your wedding day. to a lukewarm, maybe a simmer, maybe not. Do you love Christ more today than the day in which you first knew him? Are you lovesick? Do you look at him and do you love him? Do you adore Jesus Christ? Or do you just have a formal relationship with him? Verse 6 and 7, His left hand is under my head and His right hand embraces me.
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. Jesus Christ embraces us. As A.R. Faust said about this, the hand of Jesus Christ pierced by justice for our sin. These are now the hands that support us. It's Christ who embraces us. It's Christ who cares for us. It's God who upholds us and sustains us and no one can ever pluck us from his hands for it is Christ who embraces us. Matthew Henry writing on verse 7 he says, those that experience the sweetness of communion with Christ and the sensible manifestations of his love cannot but desire the continuance of these blessed views.
This is the idea that as Jesus Christ is embracing his bride and his bride looks up and sees him sleeping, she doesn't want anyone to wake him. But she just wants to enjoy being embraced by him. That's one of my favorite things to do with Olivia is on Sunday afternoons, I'll sit there and I'll hold her as she takes a nap. I don't want anybody to wake her. It's this idea that when you're looking at the person you love and they're sleeping, just don't wake them up. It's beautiful. Don't awaken love. Don't stir it up. Let's go ahead and read verses 8 through 13.
The voice of my beloved, behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 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. Behold, my beloved spoke and said to me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. 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. the voice of the beloved.
Behold, he comes. This is the anticipation, right? My loved one is coming. I'll never forget the day I was standing at the front of the church waiting for Olivia to come around the corner, just wanting to see my love. Do you belong to see Christ? The voice of my behold, behold, he comes. She hears his voice and she knows it's him before she even sees him.
He's leaping upon the mountains. He's skipping upon the hills. See, nothing's going to stop Christ. No barrier wall, no fence row, nothing. He's going to leap there. He's going to get there. He's going to come. We live in the middle of Iowa where, well, we don't live in the middle of Iowa, but we live in the middle of nowhere in the southeast corner of Iowa where there's lots of fields around us. And when I see a doe on one side of the field, and I see a buck coming on the other side of the field, I know there's nothing that's going to keep that buck from going and chasing the one that he loves. He's going to go chase her. When he's there, he's there. He's leaping upon the mountains. He's skipping upon the hills.
This is what all Israel was longing to see the day of Jesus Christ. They knew that nothing was going to stop God, but he was going to someday come and fulfill his messianic promises. 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. The Old Testament church was looking through that veil, was looking through the lattice. longing and waiting to see when was the groom finally going to come? When was the king finally going to show up? When was the Christ, when was the Messiah going to show up? Behold, my beloved spoke and said to me." He says this twice, first in verse 10 and then secondly in verse 13. What does the beloved say? Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Christ calls us not to sit on our laurels, but to get up. to follow Him, to go away with Him. Christ does not want us to be of the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom that is from above. He wants us to follow after Him. He wants us to go with Him. He wants us to walk with Him. It is Christ who calls her then again, my love, my fair one. He calls us beautiful. It's the groom who invites us, his bride, to go with him.
And then in verses 11 through 13, he shows us that the winter's over. The spring has come. The fig tree has its green figs on it. The vine is starting to bud. See, in your life, it's not always the winter. The winter goes away and the spring comes and there Christ is saying, the spiritual springtime is here. I'm with you. The fruit is coming.
Will you abide in me? Verse 14, oh 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. The groom says to his bride, like she's a dove hiding in the cleft of rock, and he says, come on out, let me see your face.
Sometimes we do that because of our sins. We hide ourselves in the cleft. We go into the dark places. We're too ashamed for our groom to see us. And Jesus says, no, come here. Come here. You're beautiful to me. I want to see your face. Come here. I want to hear your voice. I want you to enter into my throne room of grace. I want to, I want to hear you. I want to see you. I want to wipe away your tears. I want to rejoice in you.
Verse 15, catch the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. You need to protect the garden of your heart. What is he saying? There are things that want to attack this real relationship going on between the two of them? They're talking about their love as a vineyard and in here our love for Christ is like a vineyard as well And and there are foxes there are charlatans and there are peddlers of the gospel there are people who are just outright false prophets and and just Evil people who will try to come in and and ruin your relationship with Christ and you need to guard the garden of your heart Keep that away Verse 16, my beloved is mine and I am his.
He feeds his flock among the lilies. Love your beloved. Christ is yours and you are Christ's. He leads us to the lilies and we have no need of any worry or anxiety. He feeds us. He clothes us. He cares for us. He's given us his robes of righteousness. and He's always watching for us.
Lastly, verse 17. Until day breaks, the shadow flees away. Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bethlehem. Do we beg for Christ to return again? As a strong warrior, we know He is. Do we long for Him to show again?
I hope that as we go through this, you're going to see, by the way, this is the there's always been this tension between a literal and allegorical reading of this text. Literally, the ancient rabbis struggled with this. Christians throughout the ages have struggled with this.
I hope you see in all of this that it's not just Christ in the church, but it is also the lover and her beloved. But it's also about us and our marriages as well. But be careful because some areas will get you in trouble if you read it too literally. And some areas will get you in trouble if you read it too allegorically. It's a poem and it's meant to be that way.
But it's a beautiful picture when we take it and we see the love that Jesus Christ has for us, the bride of Christ. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for your love. God, I pray that we would not forget our first love, but that we would love you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Thank you that you have adorned us with a white wedding dress, that you have purified your bride, you have cared for your people, and you long to see her face. You smile upon your bride. Father, we thank you for the love that you have shown us in Christ Jesus and it's in his name we pray. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you and comfort your heart as you hear this love poem of God for his people. I'll see you tomorrow for the next two chapters. Bye.