Song of Solomon 3-4

global book to finish it off. I'm going to go ahead and jump on the computer here and make sure that everybody is able to get on live. And so the text message is sending out. Let's go over here and make sure that we're good over there. Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. I am just delighted to have you with me today. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, guess what?
We're almost done with the wisdom literature. Feel free to let me know down in the comments. What would you like to read next? Would you next year like to go through the Pentateuch? Or maybe you'd like to go through the historical books, maybe the prophets or maybe the epistles and the Book of Revelation. Let me know down in the comments. I'm just interested to hear your thoughts, what you might want to have us do. Some of you let me know that yesterday, and that was encouraging. Just let me know as I think through and pray through what next year is going to look like.
Why don't we have some tea? I have tea instead of coffee. You can have coffee if you like. We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word, and we thank you for the expression of love that you have shown to us as our husband, as the one who cares for us and watches over us. Lord, we pray now that as we read your word, that you would comfort our hearts. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.
Well, just as a reminder, there are two schools of interpretation when it comes to the Song of Solomon. One is a literalistic reading that this is nothing more than a love poem between two individuals. And this is just that base level. The other is that this is allegorical or a parable, and that this is speaking of Christ and his church. I think it's both. I think it really does show the love between a lover and her husband. But I also do think that it's also about Christ and the church.
We can't escape that imagery throughout scripture. And so as we read through, it's going to be undoubtedly clear that this is actually speaking of this love between two individuals. But also as we work through it, I want to bring our minds to that idea of how does this show us Jesus's love for his people? So why don't we go ahead and turn into the book of Song of Solomon and we'll read chapters three and four together today.
By night on my bed, I sought the one I love. I sought him, but I did not find him. 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. This is the reality that she goes out and she wakes up and she's looking for her love, but he's not there. He's no longer with her.
And isn't that the case when we often find ourselves in our relationship with Jesus Christ? We desire him and yet we do it slothfully. We do it as if in the dark. We go to him in a lazy way rather than seeking him during the day, rather than giving him the first fruits of our hours. We go to him late at night. We go to him when we have extra time. And why has he gone? Well, It's Matthew Henry says here, it's possible that if this is Christ in his church, that it's a punishment for corruptions or that he's trying to get the bride to see that she needs him. It's an exercise of grace.
And notice how she speaks of him. She doesn't just sit there, though. Once she realizes that her lover is gone, that the one whom her heart adores is no longer with her, she gets up out of bed and she goes and she searches for him. And what does she say?
I will seek the one I love. I will seek the one I love. Maybe you've come into that place in your life where at times it seems like Christ is far from you. Will you seek him? Will you go find him? He's able to be found. But will you go? Will you go to prayer? Will you go to his word? Will you seek out his grace in the sacraments? Will you go to him and find the one whom you love?
Don't wait. I sought him, but I did not find him. The watchman go about the city, found me. I said, have you seen the one I love? Do you hear the affection in her heart for her love? She loves him and she's not afraid to say so. And she's going to tell anyone she comes in contact with. Where is my love? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? And then verse four, 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. She fights hard to find her love. And when she finds him, she doesn't let him go. As I was reading through Matthew Henry's commentary on this, he points out how the longing of Mary Magdalene to go to Jesus, when he's crucified and in the tomb, she goes to try to see him and she won't put up with the gardeners who are there. She wants to find Jesus. Where have they taken my lord? Do you know she goes and she searches out for her love?
But then when she's she's not going to be okay with just the angels there No, she wants to find jesus And when she finally finds jesus, she grabs onto him. She clings his feet She worships him Is that how you see christ do you long for him do you once you have him do you cling to him and not let him go Then in verse 5, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the doves of the field, do not stir up love. Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. Once she's got him and she's back, she brings her back to her home. She doesn't want him to go. She doesn't want him to depart. She doesn't want anybody to wake him up. She wants to enjoy the love of her soul. and then verses six through eight.
Who is this coming out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchants' fragrant powders? Behold, it is Solomon's couch, with sixty valiant men around it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being experts in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night."
She goes, this is a new scene now, and it's a new part of the poem, and she sees Solomon. She sees her lover, she sees her husband, she sees the one who's royal. And it's him who's there, like it says, on his couch. Royal and undignified, and she looks at him and he's surrounded by his ministers who are guarding him with their swords on his side. They have protection.
Do you look at Christ this way as the exalted King surrounded by the armies? That's what's going on in heaven right now as he is the Lord of hosts. But it's also happening here on the earth as well as the ministers bear the sword of the word and are ready in defense always to come to the defense of Christ. To go with the word and to teach and to admonish and to rebuke and to train. She loves her groom. Verses 9 through 11.
Of the wood of Lebanon, Solomon the King made himself a planikin. It's like a royal litter that would be held up on poles above the people as it was being carried through the streets. He made its pillar of silver, its support of gold, its seat of purple, its interior paved with love. by the daughters of Jerusalem.
Go forth, O daughter of Zion, and seek 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." This is the grandness of Solomon and his court, but Solomon was just a type of Christ. Solomon sat upon his litter, but his litter was just of gold. But in heaven, where Jesus Christ sits upon his throne, it's his throne that's there. And around his throne is a sea of glass and there's topaz and there's a rainbow sea around. Go read the book of Revelation and see the throne room of God.
And it is glorious to behold. And that's what we're getting a glimpse at here. That's what this lover sees when she goes and she looks at Solomon. And but notice here, I love this part in verse 10. It's interior paved with love. With love. After talking about the gold and talking about the silver, what's most valuable, what's most important is love. This is the truth that we find out about God, that God is love, that he loves with a perfect love, that he cares with a perfect care, and that she knows that the object of her love is of his love is herself. He loves her and she loves him.
Chapter 4, Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. You have dove's eyes behind your veil. This is a repetition of chapter 1, verse 15, and this is the groom now speaking to his bride. You're beautiful, my love. You are beautiful. You have eyes of doves behind your your veil. It's this idea that she's in his mind, in his eyes. She is gentle and she is lovely and she is humble and she is pure. And all he has is thoughts for her. She is beautiful.
I'm just going to pull this to a human application real quick and ask you, do you speak this way or think this way of your spouse? Husbands, do you look at your spouse and say, you are beautiful, my love, you are beautiful. And wives, do you say of your husband, you are handsome, my love, you are handsome. Do you look at each other and esteem each other as more beautiful than anyone else in this world? And then the groom goes on to describe his bride. Notice he loves every one of her attributes. The groom enjoys his bride.
Your hair is like a flock of goats going down from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which have come up from the washing, every one of which bears twins, and none is barren among them. Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like a piece of pomegranate. Your neck is like the Tower of David built for an armory on which hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which shall feed among the lilies.
He looks at his bride and he adores her. He sees her as beautiful and he doesn't miss any part of her. He notices her and he gives attention to her. How do we understand this? We can get it on the human level. Husbands love your wives. But remember, husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church. And so how does this apply to Christ? Christ has formed his bride, made his bride, cares for his church in such a way that there's no part of his bride which is unseemly.
He loves every member of the body. He does not look at any person in the in the body and go, oh, I love this. Oh, and I love that. Oh, but your part's ugly. No, he loves all of his church from what we might think of as the parts that you might want might want to flaunt to everyone he loves. He loves his bride. He cares for her. In verse 6, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Then in verse 7 and 8, he reiterates again, you are all beautiful, my love.
And there is no spot in you. Oh, if this is not the Christ-like language, I don't know what is. There is no spot in you. There is no blemish in you. God finds no fault in his people. He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. He remembers our sin no more. He has cleansed us with hyssop. Christ has given us his robe of righteousness. And before him, we are pure. All of us are lovely. every single part. There's no stain, no wrinkle, no blemish in the eyes of Christ, but he loves his bride.
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse. With me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Ammanah, from the tops of Sennir and Hermon, from the lion's den, from the mountains of the leopards. Christ invites us to those mountaintop experiences, to go away with him, to spend sweet time with him. Very early, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went to a desolate place. And there he prayed. He often went to the wilderness and to the mountains to commune with his Father. And here he says, come away with me. Come away with me. But it's not just on the mountaintops, but it's also in the lion's den.
See neither height nor depth. nor with, nor even death itself could separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, in Christ. No matter where we are in life, fighting for our lives in a hospital bed or enjoying all the luxuries of this world, if we have Christ, we have everything. verses 9 through 11.
You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one look of your necklace, with one link of your necklace. How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse. How much better than wine is your love and the scent of perfumes and all spices. Your lips, oh my spouse, drip as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. Again, on a human level, this is the husband saying, you've ravished my heart. You have cared for me and in the most intimate way, I love to kiss you, right?
But to move it out of that sphere and into again, how does this apply to Christ and the church? Christ loves his bride. This is not just a fleeting, you know, going away quickly type love, but his heart is ravished with his bride. Wholeheartedly, Jesus loves his bride. He cares for her more than anything else. He is entirely for his people and he loves his bride unreservedly.
How fair, how beautiful is your love? How much better than wine is your love? Jesus isn't just interested in what we bring to him, but who we are. It's not about the sacrament of when we bring wine and bread. but it's about who is partaking of it. He loves the hearts of his people.
And in verse 11 here, this beautiful picture, too, your lips, oh my spouse, drip as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. Our hearts are to be seasoned with praise and our mouths are to be always rejoicing in the Lord. And as our mouths are having the honey of God's word in it, Jesus finds pleasure even in our mouths as we speak, as we have pleasant things to say, as we have a good word to speak always in season and out of season. By the way, just going to say, good reason to kiss your spouse. Verses 12 through 14 or 12 through 15.
A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, fragrant henna with spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living water, and streams of Lebanon. Here he's speaking of his bride being this chaste one, one who is only for him a shut-up garden.
No one else is allowed in. Her heart is reserved for him alone. Is your heart reserved for Christ alone? Just like you promised to love your spouse alone, Do you have a heart for Jesus alone? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? The Lord doesn't want adulterous affairs with other gods, but he is a jealous God. He is zealous for our affection. He desires us to love him. Do you love him? Does he see in you someone who is unabashedly and unreservedly for him and him alone?
Lastly, verse 16. Awake, O north wind, and come, O south, blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.
Do you invite Christ? This is the bride speaking to her husband and she says, bring him on. Bring him here. Do you want Christ with you? Do you cry out to the Spirit that he might bring him to you, that you would be satisfied in him and in him alone? Have you found the one whom you love?
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the joy it is to know that you call us beautiful, that you love your church, that you have made her clean, spotless. and that you have made our hearts to love you and you alone. God, we pray that we would search after you, that we would long for you, that we indeed would love you with every fiber of our being. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May your heart be undividedly for Jesus Christ. And I hope that you have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow as we do chapter five and six. Bye.