Tag: Song of Solomon

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Accountability- Proverbs- Week 12- Day 5

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

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!

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Restraint- Proverbs- Session 12- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

By night on my bed 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: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

Song of Solomon 3:1-4

Explanation:
In today’s text the maiden has a dream. In her dream she cannot find her beloved. She is going about the city streets looking to no avail. She asks for others to help her and they do not know about where her beloved one is. Finally she finds him. Notice the passion in her search, and in her finding him. She describes him as “him whom my soul loveth.” She is describing her love as the innermost love that someone can have as it comes from her soul. She says that she “held him” and “would not let him go.” This is a very passionate description.
But even with this much passion in her description, notice where she takes him in the dream. She does not take him to her bedroom. She takes him to her mother’s house and her mother’s room. This demonstrates restraint on her part. She does not yet give herself physically to him. She is anticipating their marriage to each other, but is restraining herself from getting involved sexually before the wedding day.

Application:
So many people tend to think of freedom as a lack of restraint. But the truth of the matter is that true freedom comes from discipline. Restraint and discipline bring freedom. God’s design for sex and intimacy is to restrain it to marriage. Marriage relationships are based on trust. Would you trust a spouse more who was restrained and committed to you before their marriage or one who was unrestrained? Who would you be able to trust more, and therefore be more intimate with? Certainly the one who had been trustworthy before marriage.

Response:
• Is there any area of your life that is unrestrained when it comes to God’s will?
• Where do you need more discipline in your life?

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Timing- Song of Solomon- Week 12- Day 3

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Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

Song of Solomon 2:17

Explanation:
There are times as an interpreter of God’s Word where you are confident in your interpretation, and other times where multiple interpretations may seem to be plausible. I readily admit to you that I am not convictional about the exact interpretation of this verse. Rather, I am giving you a plausible interpretation based on the context of the passage.

The word translated “until” is also translated “when” in other parts of the Old Testament. I believe that this is in keeping with this passage. You can tell the anticipation that the maiden has for the coming wedding with her beloved. When they are married there will be a “day break” and the “shadows” will “flee away.” She tells him to “turn” and “be like a roe or a young hart.” She has already alluded to him as a deer, and she does here again. These animals are known for being fast and playful. She asks him to be like these animals “upon the mountains of Bether.” There are no geographical mountains known as the mountains of “Bether.” The word “Bether” means “split”, “divided”, or “cut.” Many commentators see this as a subtle way of the maiden speaking of her own body. This is a poetic way for the maiden to tell her beloved that when they are married, she is ready to give herself fully to him.

Application:
There is a timing that is morally correct and honoring to God when it comes to our sexual lives. The Biblical teaching on sex is that God has made the man for woman and the woman for man. God’s plan for sex is for it to be for one man and one woman for a lifetime. Once a man and woman have committed to each other in marriage, they can and should fully give themselves to their mate physically. The two shall be one flesh.

There is an old saying that sex is like fire. In its proper place in the home, the fireplace, it can pleasantly warm the house. If it is anywhere else in the home it can burn the house down.

Like the maiden here, we must be careful to keep our sexual selves only for our spouse and only in the context of marriage.

Response:
• Is there any part of your life where you are practicing sexuality outside of the marriage relationship?
• If you are married, are you being selfless in your expression of intimacy with your spouse?

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Exclusivity- Song of Solomon- Week 12- Day 2

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My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 2:16

Explanation:
We see here another attribute of a healthy courtship or marriage relationship- the attribute of exclusivity. The young maiden says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” This speaks to a sort of possession. They belong to each other. There is an understanding that they now have boundaries wherein they act. This is not a bad thing. By saying yes to each other, they are saying no to others. There is an exclusion of having the same kind of relationship with other people.

She also says, “he feedeth among the lilies.” This continues a metaphor begun earlier that compares her beloved to a gazelle or a deer (v.9) and will again in the next verse (v.17). The imagery here is of a deer eating. The idea is that he is getting his romantic sustenance exclusively from her.

Application:
Courting and Marriage relationships only work when they are exclusive. This is God’s design for marriage. Even in dating we must be careful with the heart and allegiance of another person. Fidelity is of utmost importance. Again, relationships are grounded in trust, and trust is directly connected to integrity.

Response:
• How should the exclusive attribute of a healthy marriage relationship look?
• How should the exclusive attribute of a healthy dating relationship look?