I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Song of Solomon 3:5
Explanation:
Here you see the audience of the poem that started in 3:1-4. The women of Jerusalem are told of her dream. The idea here is that she is expressing to them her need for accountability in remaining sexually pure. She longs for her future husband but must be restrained before the wedding. All of the expressions of physical intimacy have been veiled up until this point.
In verses 3:6 the setting changes to that of a married couple. The verses following in the poem changes to the expressions of a now married couple. After this point the expressions of intimacy are more explicit. Once they are married they speak more openly to each other, as it should be with a married couple.
Application:
Clearly, it is important for her not to awaken love until the time is right. It is not good to feed cravings that cannot be righteously satisfied.
Accountability is so important when it comes to doing the right thing. When you know that you will answer for what you are doing the chances of you doing the wrong thing goes down and doing the right thing goes up.
Response:
• When it comes to your purity do you have someone for which you are accountable?
• Are there any cravings that you are nurturing that cannot be righteously satisfied? Stop and repent!
