Would you please turn to the Song of Songs?
For those who may not know, the order is Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and then the Song of Songs. We will read a number of verses to get an overall look and to deal with three things today.
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth;
For Thy love is better than wine.
Thine ointments savor sweetly;
Thy name is as ointment poured forth;
Therefore do the virgins love Thee.
Draw me; we will run after Thee.
—Song of Songs 1:1-4
Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth,
Where Thou feedest Thy flock,
Where Thou makest it to rest at noon;
For why should I be as one veiled
Beside the flocks of Thy companions?If Thou know not, O Thou fairest among women,
Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
—Song of Songs 1:7-8
I am a narcissus of Sharon,
A lily of the valleys.As a lily among thorns,
So is My love among the daughters.As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved among the sons.
In His shadow I delighted greatly, and sat down;
And His fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the house of wine,
And His banner over me was love.
Sustain me with raisin-cakes,
Refresh me with apples;
For I am sick with love.
—Song of Songs 2:1-5
My Beloved is mine, and I am His.
—Song of Songs 2:16
On my bed in the nights
I sought Him Whom my soul loveth:
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
I will rise now, and go about the city;
In the streets and in the broad ways
I will seek Him Whom my soul loveth.
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
The watchmen that go about the city found me:
Have ye seen Him Whom my soul loveth?
Scarcely had I passed from them,
When I found Him Whom my soul loveth:
I held Him, and would not let Him go.
—Song of Songs 3:1-4
How fair is Thy love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is Thy love than wine!
—Song of Songs 4:10
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If ye find my Beloved,
That ye tell Him that I am sick with love.
—Song of Songs 5:8
Yea, He is altogether lovely.
—Song of Songs 5:16
I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.
—Song of Songs 6:3
Return, return, O Shulamite;
Return, return, that we may look upon thee.
—Song of Songs 6:13
I am my Beloved’s,
And His desire is toward me.
—Song of Songs 7:10
There will I give Thee my love.
—Song of Songs 7:12
Make haste, my Beloved,
And be Thou like to a gazelle or to a young hart
Upon the mountains of spices.
—Song of Songs 8:14
Let us pray once again.
Lord, we come to You as we have read Your Word, and our desire is simply that You will open the meaning of this Word to us. We are utterly and completely dependent upon You.
Once again, we say as Peter said, “Lord, to Whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Without Your speaking, we perish. We live by Your Word. Speak, Lord; Thy servant heareth.
We commit back to You what the Holy Spirit has left for us. Above everything else, unveil to us what is meant for us in these pages, that we may be like the one we have read about here. We ask it in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
We will share today, obviously, from the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs, as it is titled, is an often misunderstood, little appreciated, and sometimes seldom-read book of the Bible.
It is a strange thing, because there is such deep meaning in this book, but, oddly enough, to many of us there is no meaning for us here. That is an odd thing. I think you will understand as we go on.
Some have even spoken about the substantial controversy of this book. They say it is one of the few books in the Bible that does not directly mention God, and that is true. Like the book of Esther in the Old Testament, it does not mention God. Yet who can devalue the book of Esther when you read it?
Graham Scroggie said that Esther has been called “the most unchristian book in the whole of the Old Testament.” What a strange comment. He said, unjustly so, because in it God in mystery is revealed.
I think the same thing is true in the Song of Songs. It may not be a book you often turn to. It does not mention God directly, but in it God in mystery is revealed. Not only is God in mystery revealed, but His heart of hearts is revealed. And not only is His heart of hearts revealed, but the purpose of God is fully revealed in the Song of Songs.
So, brothers and sisters, one thing we might say is that, to our peril, we ignore this little, obscure, unnoticed book in the Old Testament. I believe above everything else, it is a book of love. It is a book of the heart.
It is a book in which we see something that is in God’s thought and God’s heart for His people, and we need to pay attention to it. It is an allegory. It is about a king and his love for his bride, and I think you have to see, just in that thought, the comparison to our day in the New Testament.
There are various explanations. I have heard a number. There are at least four; there is a fifth I will not dare mention.
Some have said it speaks of the depth of human love. Well, I think that is true. It speaks of wedded bliss. Well, this is true. I suppose you can make this a good wedding message. That is what some have come to say is the purpose of this book.
Others have said it reveals God’s love for His Old Testament people, Israel. I believe that is true. Turn to Isaiah 54, and I will read a few verses. Perhaps this will help us understand why some have come to that impression.
For thy Maker is thy husband;
the Lord of hosts is His name:
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel;
the God of the whole earth shall He be called.
For the Lord hath called thee as a wife forsaken
and grieved in spirit,
even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee;
but with great mercies will I gather thee.
In overflowing wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment;
but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
—Isaiah 54:5-8
No doubt this book speaks something of the deep love of God for His Old Testament people, Israel.
Others have said it reveals the individual love between a Christian and his Lord. There is no doubt that in these pages there is revealed that calling to love for the individual believer to know in God and in Christ Jesus. There is absolutely no doubt. But that is not all that it reveals.
There are those who have specifically seen something in this book that says it reveals, beyond everything else, Christ’s love for His church. You cannot doubt it. When you see this King coming and sharing all of His love with His bride, and His desire to be with His bride, you cannot help but see the comparison to the New Testament.
When you come to the end of the New Testament, in Revelation 19:7, we see that the bride has made herself ready. We come to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and there, in the conclusion of the whole Bible, we see God’s heart: to unite His beloved Son with His only bride.
The Bible begins with a wedding. You have heard this. You look at Adam and Eve. Out of suffering, from Adam’s side was taken something, and there was fashioned Eve. You know the story. I do not want to stay too long, because we will never get to the Song of Songs. But out of suffering, something was taken, and something was made; and that something that was made was a bride for Adam.
This, in the very beginning, foreshadows God’s heart and purpose. In the opening book of the Bible, it reveals what God is after.
Then you come to the New Testament. The Lord Jesus, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee—His very first sign was done at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. I think you see the Lord’s heart for a wedding.
When you see the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, John the Baptist, some people confuse his message with his mission. I think we do so wrongly. His message, as the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.”
But his mission he stated so clearly in John 3. He said, “I am not the Christ.” He said, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom.” And he said those powerful words: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
That was his mission. He was preparing the way for the King to come, preparing the way for the bridegroom to receive His only bride. I know you caught me on that—I apologize. The bridegroom was to receive His only bride.
To me, that is the whole Bible. Whether you look at Genesis, Revelation, the beginning of the New Testament, or the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, it is all one consistent theme from beginning to end. It is all about the King, the Lord Jesus, our King, finding a bride for Himself. That is what the church is.
So I think those are perhaps the four views. Again, I said there is a fifth I will not dare mention. But as a general rule, when you look at the Old Testament, you need to keep this verse in mind: 1 Corinthians 10:11.
Now these things happened unto them by way of example;
and they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
—1 Corinthians 10:11
The Song of Songs is a book of typology, and it reveals the ultimate in its typology: God’s heart and God’s purpose. I hope you see that.
The title, “Song of Songs,” may remind you of similar phrases in Scripture: “King of kings,” “Lord of lords,” or “Holy of holies.” These speak of absolute things. This song is, in that same emphasis, the Song of Songs. In other words, there is no other song like it in the whole of the Bible.
When you look at 1 Kings 4, you realize God gave Solomon great wisdom. It says he wrote three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs. Many of his proverbs we read preceding this book, but not one of his songs is left but this one.
It is the one song. It is the only song worth remembering. It is the ultimate song. It is the Song of Songs. This, to me, is what the title means.
You know Solomon had seven hundred wives. I do not know about you, but that would be a difficult task. No offense to Linda, but I have trouble keeping up with one. Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines—good grief. He must have known something about love, or at least you cannot fault him for trying.
But this is the one thing he left to say: “This is love. This is love.” This is the love song that he left.
There is a mystic some of you may not know, or may never have heard of: Bernard of Clairvaux, a famous mystic. They say he preached eighty-six sermons on chapters 1 and 2—eighty-six sermons. Think of the depths he must have plumbed and the heights he must have reached as he meditated upon this love song.
We are not going to do eighty-six messages, I can assure you. As a matter of fact, we are going to do one. That is it. I hope that, in looking at one, we will hit a highlight that you can remember.
There are three things I want us to think about, remember, and dwell upon.
First of all, where this song begins is with passionate love. We absolutely need to understand there is a need for passionate love.
Secondly, as you go on in this book, you discover that this maiden, this beloved of the Lord, is all caught up in pursuing love. She is always seeking the Lord, always seeking the King.
Then this book moves from the early stages of love to the end of love. The only way I can put it is that it is about maturing love—indeed, about perfecting love.
In the end, I think God wants to reveal Himself to us in all of His love so that we are arrested and, as the New Testament says, constrained by the love of God. We respond to the love of God. He deals with us as the children of God, works in our lives as the children of God and as the church, transforms us, and in the end perfects love in His people.
That is an outline you can remember: passionate love, pursuing love, and perfected love.
If you lack passionate love, what do you have? Are we, as believers, so passive that we are not going hard after Him? I believe that is a problem in the church today. We want to be spoon-fed. We want to have everything handed to us, and we are not, in the end, pursuing.
Finally, do we allow Him to deal with us in such a way that He can perfect His love in us? That seems to me to be the outline I was burdened for.
We will begin, first of all, with passionate love. When you begin to read the Song of Songs, some of the language is explicit. I have heard that this is one reason people will not read the book. They say the language is illicit. When you read this book and come into the bedchamber, and see those scenes and that language, it can seem almost too much.
But, brothers and sisters, the explanation is simple: the love that the Lord desires to be returned and responded to is to be passionate. There is no other way to put it.
You can be cerebral if you want to, but that will only get you so far with the Lord. We often hear that when we were first born again, we may have had it up here—but is it here? Is it heart-song, or is it head knowledge?
Now, I am not against knowledge. As a matter of fact, I believe we ought to be in the Word, know the Word, search the Scriptures, and discover what the Lord is after in His Word. But in the end, if it does not arrest something in us, capture something in us, and lay hold of us in such a real way that passionate love is produced, then it has not had its intended effect.
To me, that is the first thing we discover in the Song of Songs. I think of that phrase from Charles Wesley’s hymn:
Love divine, all loves excelling.
How can you doubt, imagine, or measure the depth of the love of God? The first thing you need to see is the depth of the love of God.
There are Christians—you have talked to them, I have talked to them, we know them—who are always doubting the love of God.
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
—Romans 8:32
Brothers and sisters, this love of God excels and exceeds every other love. You cannot begin to measure or quantify it.
I have said this before, and I hope it does not put you to sleep or bore you, but it means so much to me that it is worth repeating. I spent a whole career measuring things and quantifying things. Since 1974, I have spent my time thinking how big something is, how broad it is, how high it is, how heavy it is, or how much force it exerts. That is what I do day in and day out: magnitude.
But can you measure the magnitude of the love of God? I think of Ephesians 3. Paul’s prayer to the church at Ephesus speaks of it:
That ye may be strong to apprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
—Ephesians 3:18-19
That is every measurement you can measure: the height, the depth, the breadth, and the length. What is left out? That is the love of God.
I think of another hymn: “The love of God, how measureless and strong.” This is the love expressed in the Song of Songs.
I often use John 17:23 with people who continually stumble at the love of God. This is in the Lord’s high-priestly prayer, when the window is opened into the eternal:
I in them, and Thou in Me,
that they may be perfected into one;
that the world may know that Thou didst send Me,
and lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me.
—John 17:23
When you get up in the morning, would you say that verse? When you go to bed at night, would you say that verse? If you doubt the love of God, the Lord Jesus revealed, when He prayed, “Father, You have loved them as You have loved Me.”
That is not quantifiable, for those of you who like mathematics. That is the depth of His love.
But what the Song of Songs gets to is this: when that love lays hold of us, when that love constrains us, what He is after is a response in love.
It is His love revealed, His love received, and His love responded to. In the Song of Songs, we see His great love, and we see the response of that love. That is what He is after. That is passionate love.
I want to ask a simple question: Do we have passionate love for the Lord, or do we have passive love for the Lord? To me, that is the difference.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.
—Song of Songs 1:2
That is strong language. This is not the kiss of Judas. This is not even the kiss of the father for the son who returned. This is a deeper kiss than that, a more intimate kiss, a fuller kiss.
You know, I even kiss my dog—but it is not the same kiss that I kiss Linda with. Deep affection, deep longing, deep love for the person of the Lord Jesus is first and foremost the need of God’s people—and I might add, the lack of God’s people.
This is what I think the Song of Songs means. I remember when I was first saved. I have told this story before. That night, the world passed away and heaven lit up. I will never forget it.
When the love of God was revealed to me, I could not stop weeping. The love of God so opened to me that I saw He loved me as His very own, that He paid for everything I had done, and that He made me a new creation. In an instant I was transformed.
The joy that overwhelmed me that night—I cannot tell you how deep it was. I remember going home, singing songs I had never heard, or at least I thought so.
I remember the next day. I had quite a bad reputation in college. For those who think I am such a saint, I want to assure you: only in Christ Jesus. My reputation was as one of the most foul-mouthed in all of my class. I was quite a character.
They sent me to the first interview because I was number one in my class. Stories got back that I had cursed out the employer. Thankfully, that was not true, but rumors started, and they were believable because of me.
The next day, I was in the dean’s office. He said, “Give me one reason why I should not kick you out of school right now.” I said, “Because I did not say it.”
But the love of God met me in such a way that I went back to school the next day with my bright orange and yellow “Jesus Saves” pin. I still have it in my attic, in my special little box.
I had my new Bible with “Jesus Is the Way” and “Jesus Is the Truth” stickers on it. The guys thought I was crazy. They thought it was another one of my all-too-often crummy jokes. They said, “What is this Bible, and what is this button you are wearing?”
All I could say was that the love of God arrested me, and I responded in little measure to that love. To me, that is the Song of Songs. That is the whole story. That is the beginning.
Thy love is better than wine.
—Song of Songs 1:2
His love is better than anything the world offers. I knew, at least in an instant in that initial stage of love, that His love was better than wine. It was better than anything I had tasted before, and believe me, I had had my share of wine.
Some people struggle for years for deliverance from certain things, and I think the Lord has His ways of dealing with us. But I was instantly delivered from a foul mouth. I do not know how that happened short of a miracle.
After that point, when I heard classmates and others curse, it was like a dagger through my heart. The love of God, in response—passionate response—is what He is after. I believe that is what is in this book.
I remember an elder brother in this room. I did not altogether know what had really happened to me. I just knew the Lord loved me, and I knew there was some return. That was all I knew.
But I remember this brother describing another old saint who had gone on to be with the Lord. I must have only been a few months old in the Lord. He gave this simple description: “You know, he loves the Lord.”
That was enough for me. It opened my eyes, and I said, “That is the Christian life.” It is a return of love. He loves the Lord.
Whatever can be said about you—and there may be a lot said about you already—if it can be said in the end, “You love the Lord,” that is enough. That is quite a testimony. To me, that explained the whole Christian life.
Here is the problem. The Lord said that at the end of the days, the times will be different. In Matthew 24, the disciples asked, “What shall be the signs? What shall it be like in the end, in the last days?”
Because iniquity shall be multiplied,
the love of the many shall wax cold.
—Matthew 24:12
Here is a real question, a real issue of devotion. I think we need to make an issue of prayer: Has our love grown cold?
It is a frightening prospect. Because lawlessness shall prevail, the love of many shall grow cold.
There is a similar thing in 2 Timothy 3:1-4. It speaks again of the end of the days and what they will be like:
But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money,
without self-control, fierce,
no lovers of good,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
—2 Timothy 3:1-4
Brothers and sisters, I wonder whether we have this passion:
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth;
For Thy love is better than wine.
Thine ointments savor sweetly;
Thy name is as ointment poured forth;
Therefore do the virgins love Thee.
—Song of Songs 1:2-3
This is first love. We know the peril of the loss of first love from the letters to the churches in Revelation. In Revelation 2, much praise is heaped upon the church at Ephesus. They had done much. They had tested those who said they were apostles and were not. They had endured and labored for His name’s sake.
Then comes one word of such large magnitude:
But I have this against thee,
that thou didst leave thy first love.
—Revelation 2:4
I believe this is a key to the Song of Songs.
Out of that first love, the maiden makes her first request:
Draw me; we will run after Thee.
—Song of Songs 1:4
This is her first request. Pay attention to these first things: first love, passionate love, and then the first request—simply two words: “Draw me.”
If we think passionate love is due to our energy, our strength, or our going after Him, we are wrong. We must make this first request above all: “Draw me.”
Then comes this remarkable thing: “And we will run after Thee.” It seems to be a very personal prayer, but it has a corporate effect. “Draw me, and we will run after Thee.”
If you find people with this passionate love, if you find people making this first request, they will have a much larger effect. Like concentric circles from a rock thrown in a pond, it will go out. Others will be caught up in its passion. Others will learn to love the Lord Jesus because one has said to the Lord, at any cost, “Draw me.”
Then we see, in this first chapter, the King’s first instruction. The maiden says:
Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth,
Where Thou feedest Thy flock,
Where Thou makest it to rest at noon.
—Song of Songs 1:7
The King’s first instruction is in Song of Songs 1:8:
Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.
—Song of Songs 1:8
Brothers and sisters, passionate love has to be discovered among God’s people. We often make everything about the individual, and when we do, it is to our peril.
The first instruction of the King was, “Go thy way by the footsteps of the flock.” There are those who interpret this whole book as only applying to the individual. They say it simply means to follow the way of those who have followed the Lord: “Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
But I think it is far more than that. It is in the flock, among the brethren, in the church. After all, you have to remember that the scope of this book is a bride for Himself. It is there that we discover this passionate love.
The Lord spoke to His own and said:
Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
—Luke 12:32
Ralph stood up here and said, “I am glad I can say, ‘I am your brother.’” Are you glad? Can you live without your brothers and sisters?
Your love will be stunted. Your growth will be stunted. You are to discover that the first instruction is to go by the footsteps of the flock. It is there, among God’s own, that, with all of the issues, you will discover and nurture passionate love.
To me, that is the first point. We come to the end and have to ask: Do we have that kind of love?
The second point is pursuing love. Not only is He looking for passionate love, but He is looking for love that pursues Him. Turn to Song of Songs 3.
On my bed in the nights
I sought Him Whom my soul loveth:
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
I will rise now, and go about the city;
In the streets and in the broad ways
I will seek Him Whom my soul loveth.
I sought Him, but I found Him not.
—Song of Songs 3:1-2
The watchmen that go about the city found me:
Have ye seen Him Whom my soul loveth?
Scarcely had I passed from them,
When I found Him Whom my soul loveth:
I held Him, and would not let Him go.
—Song of Songs 3:3-4
Now, that is pursuing love. She could not be disappointed. The Lord shook up her nest. You know, the Lord is in the business of shaking up the nest.
The Lord seemed to withdraw Himself from her. She loved the bedchamber. She loved the bridechamber. She loved the intimacy. But the Lord began to withdraw Himself, and the reason He withdraws Himself is to draw us out—that we might not only experience passionate love, but that we might pursue the Lord Jesus.
It is pursuing love. When she realized He had gone, she said, “I sought Him Whom my soul loveth.” She would not be discouraged. She said, “I did not find Him.” She says it at least twice. Then she went to the watchmen, and her singular question was, “Have you seen Him Whom my soul loveth?”
Then she said, “I found Him Whom my soul loveth. I held Him, and would not let Him go.”
Here is the second question: Do we have a pursuing love for God?
I told you recently that I have been rereading A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. I still remember the early impact of that book upon my Christian life. Brother Tozer said this is the one harbinger, the one hope of revival among the people of God: pursuing love.
He went on to say that this is the one lack in the church of God today.
I was told a story last week about Tozer. Stephen said something that shocked me. I did not think he would ever say it, but he said Tozer was a prophet. I think you said you heard him speak once. That is what she told me. I think that is right.
It was a story about A. W. Tozer and his love, his passion. One night, they went by the church building and saw the lights on. Somebody thought it was a mistake, or perhaps someone had broken in, or something was wrong. So they began to investigate.
When they went into that place, they found this man of God upon his face, in tears, crying out, “Lord, show them Your glory.”
This was how he was preparing for his message on Sunday. Most of us are in the concordance and the commentaries, searching and seeking, looking for the salient points. But this man of God, upon his face in tears, said, “Lord, show Your glory.”
Pursuing love is the secret of the maiden that we need as the people of God.
There is a great promise in the Bible. You all know it. Jeremiah 29:11-14 is often quoted:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you hope in your latter end.
And ye shall call upon Me,
and ye shall go and pray unto Me,
and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me,
when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the Lord.
—Jeremiah 29:11-14
What a powerful promise. When you shall search for Me and seek Me with all your heart, “I will be found of you.”
I believe that is pursuing love.
We shared recently on Paul’s passion in Philippians 3. This was the thing that made and motivated the man. He said:
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect:
but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold
on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 3:12
That was his testimony: “I press on.” And just so we would not miss the singular point, he repeated himself:
Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold:
but one thing I do… I press on.
—Philippians 3:13-14
That was his testimony. Is this our testimony? Pursuing love.
Brother Tozer said this is the one hope for revival in the church of God.
The last point is this: not only is He after love that is passionate, a response to so great a love; not only is He after a people who will pursue Him and let nothing discourage them; but in the end, He wants to perfect our love.
There are three phrases in the Song of Songs that, I think, explain much of what the whole book is about. They show the maturing process in love. They show the growth of the one who, in the early chapters, speaks of passionate love, and then, shortly thereafter, when the dealings begin, speaks of pursuing love.
We begin with Song of Songs 2:16:
My Beloved is mine, and I am His.
—Song of Songs 2:16
There are some people who say initial love is often very selfish. You may not agree with that, but I think it bears out in this book. Brother Nee said, “She herself becomes the center of attraction to herself.”
Think of that. Is that not true of so many Christians? She herself becomes the center of attraction to herself. The first word is “mine.” “My Beloved is mine.” It is mine. It is mine.
Our little granddaughter, Lily, is the most beautiful thing in my eyes. But she has learned a new word, and it is driving us to distraction. Her favorite word is “mine.”
She says it with such intensity. You would not believe that sweet little thing could say it. She will turn her whole body, hold something away from your grasp, and say, “Mine!”
Such an ugly look for such a beautiful thing. Her mother has been trying to get her to stop using that word, but every so often it comes out—what she is really like, in all of her little beautiful selfishness—and she says, “Mine.”
Then she has another favorite word. She puts out those little hands and says, “More.” I do not know how to explain it to her: it is all about Lily.
“My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Of course, it says, “And I am His,” but notice what comes first: “My Beloved is mine.”
The Lord Jesus does not let us stay there. If you set your heart to seek the Lord, He will not let you stay there. He will begin to deal with you.
There are many dealings in the Song of Songs. You see this maiden twice in the wilderness. You see her in the mountains. You see her persecuted by the daughters of Jerusalem. You see her misunderstood for her intense and singular love. There are many dealings, all with a single purpose in view: to mature our love and to perfect our love.
The Lord does not despise initial love. He loves it. I love to hear Lily say some of those things. She has another phrase: “Lily do it.” She is a little self-willed Adam coming out in all of its glory.
But in His mercy, He deals with us. There is nothing that can take care of this absorption with “I” but the cross.
We often spend too much energy dealing with the enemy, thinking the enemy is the whole problem. But in fact, much of the problem Christians deal with is the self-life. It is I. It is me. It is mine. The whole world revolves around me.
I was going down Huguenot Road after a meeting one Sunday morning, and I saw a bumper sticker. I will never forget it. It said, “I am the center of the universe.” I could not believe it. You may have thought that, but you would not put it on your car.
Initial love is often selfish. But God, in His love, will take that initial love and perfect it for His glory.
The second phrase, similar in many ways but beyond the first, is Song of Songs 6:3:
I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.
—Song of Songs 6:3
You may not think there is much difference, but if you look carefully, there is a world of difference. It is no longer, “My Beloved is mine.” The first statement said, “My Beloved is mine.” Here is the great difference: “I am my Beloved’s.”
Brothers and sisters, this is what He is after: those in whom He can mature love; those in whom He can take passionate love and pursuing love, do a work by the cross of Jesus, and make them into something they were not.
They can now say, “I am my Beloved’s.” It is a whole different consciousness. It is a whole different sentiment.
Notice that the second emphasis is not “I” again. The first phrase ended, “And I am His,” almost proud of it. This second phrase says, “And my Beloved is mine.”
The Lord Jesus will take possession of you. This was Paul’s testimony: he had been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. The Lord will take possession of us. He will begin to make us His. He will reveal what He is like, and He will show us His most intimate love as His people.
This is that second step.
Finally, in Song of Songs 7:10, there is the remaining phrase:
I am my Beloved’s,
and His desire is toward me.
—Song of Songs 7:10
What an extraordinary difference. “I am my Beloved’s,” just as before. But look at this difference: “His desire is toward me.”
Did you notice it is His desire? You must notice that. That is the difference. It is a wholly different spirit.
I remember, of course, I have told you before that I was saved through the charismatic movement. We had a favorite verse, Psalm 37:4:
Delight thyself also in the Lord;
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
—Psalm 37:4
Brothers and sisters, I think the emphasis was always on the second part: “He will give me the desires of my heart.” The hyper-prosperity teachers will say that it does not matter what you ask. Delight yourself in the Lord; He owns the cattle on a thousand hills; He will give you anything you want. You want a Cadillac? You want a red Cadillac? You can have a red Cadillac. Just delight yourself in the Lord.
I think that is the wrong emphasis. I think the emphasis is, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” That is love.
Praise the Lord, He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But the difference is this: are we those who now say, “His desire,” or is it our desire? That is perfection. That is maturity.
I believe we should notice that.
Just a few concluding thoughts. This work of perfecting love is through many dealings, as I have already said.
You can believe in the Lord, simply believe in the Lord, and receive eternal life. But you cannot go on to know the Lord and follow the Lord unless you are willing to take up your cross and follow Him.
Many people think the cross is the most negative message in the world. It is the most positive message in the world, because you get delivered from all that you are, from all of this wrong-sided emphasis, into what He is and His desire.
We need to recover the message of the cross in all of its depth and meaning, and see it brought in a living way into our experience.
What happens at the end of Song of Songs 6? You will notice that this lady who has no name—unnamed—is called for the first time by title. In Song of Songs 6:13, she is twice called Shulamite.
Some have said that this word Shulamite is the feminine form of Solomon. There are all kinds of views, but a good way to look at it for us is that this one became transformed to be Solomon-like.
For us, the church of God becomes Christ-like. Do you see the difference? That was all she was known by: no other name.
Romans 8:28-29 says that all things work together for those who love God. We often leave that part of the verse out. When we are counseling and helping people in deep distress, we say, “All things work together for good.”
But it is for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. What He has chosen to do, if you read on, is to conform us to His image. In the end, we will be Christ-like. That is the Song of Solomon: Solomon-like. May we have that title.
Then the last verse in this book, Song of Songs 8:14, says:
Make haste, my Beloved,
And be Thou like to a gazelle or to a young hart
Upon the mountains of spices.
—Song of Songs 8:14
This was her final cry: “Make haste, my Beloved.” Does that not remind you of anything else in Scripture? Does it not sound like Revelation 22:17?
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
—Revelation 22:17
This is the final call. This is the final cry. This is what the Lord is after in perfecting love. May He discover among us, His people, His church, this cry: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
This is the burden on my heart.
First of all, do we have passionate love? Brothers and sisters, we need this. If it is only up here, if it is not real, if it is not from the heart, we will never mature.
Secondly, God will deal with us, and He wants to produce in us a different spirit: one of pursuing love.
Finally, He will perfect that love. There will be many dealings, but praise God, the end is wonderful. At the end, we become Christ-like when we are conformed to His image. That is the purpose of God.
May He find in us that kind of people. May He arrest us with something of the meaning of this book, and may it no longer be something obscure, without meaning and without true impact.
Lord, we always have to turn back to You when we read Your Word and say, “Lord, this is not something we can do.” But this is something that, as the people of God, we want to be.
We praise You that You have made every provision and provided every resource for us. We thank You for Your full salvation.
Would You produce in us that kind of response You are looking for? Lord, may we say with the same passion the maiden said, “O Lord, Your love is better than wine.”
Would You, Lord, capture us and possess us in such a way that we would be like Paul and have one testimony at the end: “I pursue.”
Finally, Lord, we ask You to deal with us as children. We know all of Your dealings are in mercy, and all of Your dealings are in love. Do not leave us in our state now, but perfect us in Christ Jesus.
Do that work in us that You may transform us, and that we may be like Him in the end. This is our request, and we ask it in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.