Burning for Peace
Father, as I search these Scriptures and allow this love song to be sung over me, I pray that you would banish my blindness. You lavished me with love through the death and resurrection of Your Son, yet I still look to the idols of this world for satisfaction. Let me gasp for Your holy breath and desire You above all. Let me burn for your peace. Amen.
He
15 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.
She
16 How handsome you are, my beloved!
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.
He
17 The beams of our house are cedars;
our rafters are firs.
She
2 I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
[Song of Songs 1:15-2:7, NIV]
As you read through this set of verses, what did you think about it? You could've easily read these words just as I do: mushy, mushy exchanges between a man and a woman.
But, something deeper is at work. In the previous study, we talked about how this is a love story about a man and a woman, which provides insight into Christ's love for His bride.
Each of us was made to be a lover, and this song awakens that desire within us. It's not just a desire for intimacy we crave, but a kind of intimacy that can only be satisfied by a personal relationship with the Almighty God.
I'm still waiting for my heart to absorb what my mind knows. We have a Creator God (big and distant) who came to earth (small and personal) so that we could experience an intimate connection (deep and real). Even as I type this, I don't grasp what I just wrote.
As I began this week's study, I stopped and said, "Lord, you're going to have to help me. This hasn't all sunk in."
Beloved, I'm not writing Song of Songs because I feel worthy of teaching you about it. I'm also not writing it because I've had this incredible revelation of Christ's personal love in my life, and I'm brimming over to tell the story. I'm writing this study because God has asked me to write it. Not because I "get it," but because I know through obedience, the revelation will come. I know He is faithful to reveal to me His character, and He desires me to experience the overwhelming love that He is.
We don't always feel all the feels, do we? We may hear Christ say, "Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold you are beautiful; your eyes are doves," like it reads in Song of Songs 1:15. And, our response is, "Uh, not seeing that right now, Lord."
We say to Him — just like the woman said the man — "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys." Interpretation: I'm plain ol' Jane. Nothing extraordinary here, God.
Christ counters: "As a lily among brambles, so is my love..." Interpretation: Your a rose between thorns. Uncommon. Rare. A breathtaking flower among a thistle patch.
Yet, despite our unbelief of God's Word (what He said) and His sacrifice (what He did), that seed of desire He planted in us still cries out for Him. That desire is inherent in our making, and we see that in these verses:
"As an apple tree among the trees of the forest..." --> We require food.
"With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."—> We require shelter.
"He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."—> We require love.
"Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love."—> We require ongoing provision.
"His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!"—> We require protection and comfort.
The famous theologian and writer, St. Augustine, came to know Christ in his thirties. In one of his writings, Confessions, he wrote:
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.