Songs4

This is one of the most poignant and challenging episodes in this Song. She is in her house, sleeping, when her lover comes. Whether this was but a horrible dream or it actually happened is unclear, but the opening words of verse 2 indicate it could have been a dream. If it was a dream she dreams of sleeping and then being awoken by the sounds of her lover coming to the door.

She is suddenly aware of her state: she is hot, perspiring from the warmth of the night; she does not look her best. That is the first thing. Then there comes a slight sense of irritation at being caught in this state. Verse 3 has a sense of irritation about it: oh, I'm going to have to get up, I'm going to have to get dressed! But, as she hears the sound and realises who it is, her love for him beats strongly and so she hastens to get up. She pauses to put of on perfume, to make herself more presentable, more acceptable, but then when she gets downstairs, he is not there, he has gone, she has missed him.

Spiritually the parallels are concerning: the Holy Spirit draws near, Jesus calls to us, and it's not when we are expecting. We hesitate, we almost grumble, and we eventually respond, but then it seems he is no longer there. Have we missed him because of our “self”?

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, please help me to be sensitive to your voice so I don't miss you when you call.

Chapter: SONGS 5

Passage: SONGS 5:6-8

A. Find Out:

1. What had happened? v.6a

2. So what did she do? v.6b

3. Who found her? v.7a

4. What did they do to her? v.7b

5. Who does she appeal to? v.8a

6. What she say to say? v.8b

B. Think:

1. Where did she evidently go looking for her lover?

2. When was it?

3. Why do you think they beat her?

C. Comment:

She has missed her lover when he came, so she gets up, gets dressed and goes out looking for him, but it is night, it's a time when she ought not to be out. The only people who were normally out were the watchmen, whose duty it was to patrol the streets against the unrighteous, and the unrighteous themselves. In her desperation to find him, therefore, she puts herself in a place of risk, a place where she may receive rebuke or worse. Such is the intensity of her desire for him! Is that the sort of desire we have for Jesus? That we don't care what people think about us, we don't care what happen to us because of our devotion to him? Are we willing to put ourselves in a place of seeking after him, of holding onto righteousness, that others (ungodly) might object and even oppose us?

The watchmen beat her, they chastise her, and so she appeals to others who are like her, to tell her lover that she simply desires him. Perhaps for us the equivalent is when we are receiving rough treatment from the world, and we are to call on fellow believers to cry out to the Lord on our behalf, to tell him we are all out for him, but we are finding it difficult to find him in it all. Fellowship in prayer is a vital part of Christian fellowship. Do we use it?

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, I want to seek after you with a whole heart, regardless of what others might be doing.

Chapter: SONGS 5

Passage: SONGS 5:9-16

A. Find Out:

1. What do the friends ask? v.9

2. How does she generally describe him in her reply? v.10

3. How does she describe his head, arms, body and legs? v.11,14,15

4. How does she describe his features? v.11-13

5. How does she finally describe him? v.16b

B. Think:

1. Think who he is. Why are different colours attributed to him?

2. What do the other descriptions of his features tell us?

3. What does her final description of him tell us of their relationship?

C. Comment:

Perhaps it would be better here, to leave some of the details for your personal meditation because there is so much, and simply focus on overall descriptions.

The “chorus” of the friends asks her why they should bother with her lover, what makes him stand out that they should look for him particularly? She replies that he is outstanding among men. Observe the description of his body: gold head and arms and feet, ivory body and marble legs. He was a shepherd, frequently out in the sun. Those parts of his body frequently exposed to the sun were gold. The parts more often covered are ivory or marble. Very obvious, but beautiful descriptions of this young outside worker!

When she describes his hair, his eyes, his cheeks, and his lips, there is almost a brilliant clarity about each of the descriptions. These are the descriptions of one who acutely observes her lover with the heightened awareness of love. Meditate on each description.

Finally she describes him as her lover and friend. How lovely! This indicates far more than just a physical relationship, he is also her friend. To be a friend, you need to share your thoughts, your ideas, and your whole heart. Oh that young people (and older ones too!) would look for friendship in their closest of relationships!

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, all I learn about you stirs my heart, and I just want to tell you that I love you.

Chapter: SONGS 6

Passage: SONGS 6:1-3

A. Find Out:

1. What do the friends now ask? v.1

2. Where does she say he has gone? v.2a

3. What to do? v.2b

4. What does she declare about them? v.3a

B. Think:

1. How has the “chorus” of the friends changed?

2. How has the girl's awareness changed?

3. What are we told about the man here?

C. Comment:

As the Song develops there are some significant changes or developments. The “background chorus” of the friends, who each time seem to act as a means of prompting the girl to speak out in a different way, now ask where the man has gone, with the intent that they also may look for him. In 1:8 they told her where he was, looking after his sheep. In 5:9 they challenged her to say why he was better than others. Now they challenge her to tell them where he is. In each case they show us something of the extent or limitation of the girl's knowledge of her lover.

Now the girl is quite aware of where her lover is. In chapter 1 she didn't know where he took his flock and asked the friends. In chapter 3 she went looking for him herself and quickly found him. In chapter 5 she went looking for him when she had missed her opportunity and was chastised for it. Now she indicates she is quite aware of where he is. She is able to say she is his, and he is hers, and because of this (implied) they share with each other what they are doing. In all this we can see a parallel with our relationship with Jesus. Initially he is a mystery to us, but then as our relationship develops, we seem to be able to find him easily, and then he expects us to learn to be more sensitive to his presence. Finally, as our relationship develops, he shares his heart and intentions with us, what he is doing.

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Lord, thank you that you are mine and I am yours. You are totally for me and, Lord, I want to be totally for you.

Chapter: SONGS 6

Passage: SONGS 6:4-10

A. Find Out:

1. What words does he now use to describe her? v.4

2. What does he ask her to do? v.5a

3. What features does he describe? v.5b-7

4. To whom does he compare her? v.8,9a,b

5. How did others respond to her? v.9c

6. How do the friends describe her? v.10

B. Think:

1. Read again the notes of 4:1-5 and compare v.5b-7.

2. What is the similarity between 2:2 and 6:8,9

3. What difference is there between those verses?

C. Comment:

Are these the musings of the lover as he wanders in the gardens thinking of her? We don't know. In a Song much is left unsaid, they may be said directly to her. He says she is beautiful, lovely and majestic. In this passage there is language that points towards the royal court. In saying she is majestic he says she has a royal aura about her. Later (v.8,9) he compares her with all the wives and concubines in the court of Solomon. Her beauty exceeds all of them. Previously he had said she was outstanding (2:2), as a rose among thorns, but now his comparison is of beauty with beauty, royalty with royalty.

He says turn your eyes away from me for when you look at me my knees are turned to jelly (well that's how we might say it today!). That's the effect of new love. It has that devastating effect. Again he describes her with rural comparisons, just like chapter 4, terms of endearment and intimacy.

How does Jesus view us? As his bride (Rev 19:7,8, Mk 2:19,20). How does he describe us, as his bridge, his church? Your answer to that indicates the depth of your relationship. If you know he describes you as in this passage today, you have come to a place of intimacy with the Son of the King.

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, I find it almost too much to take in to think that you could love me with the passion shown here today, but thank, you do.

Chapter: SONGS 6

Passage: SONGS 6:11-13

A. Find Out:

1. Where had he gone? v.11a

2. What to do? v.11b,c

3. What happened there? v.12

4. What do the friends ask her to do and why? v.13a

5. What is his response to them? v.13b

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise what he was doing in v.11?

2. How would you put in your own words what then happened?

3. What do you think is the point of the following interchange in v.13?

C. Comment:

In these verses commentators agree on only one thing: there are problems of understanding! It starts out simply enough: he went out to inspect his vines and fruit. We know Solomon was involved in horticulture as well as many other things. Verse 11 could be summarised as, “I went off to work”. Then we move into difficulties. Some commentators have said that v.12 is the most obscure in the Song. You will see a note of alternative translations at the bottom of the page in your Bible. Perhaps, trying to put it most simply, it could be put, “While I was working, I suddenly found myself thinking of you and desire for you rose up in me and I needed to run to the chariot park to get a chariot to come to you”. We find here the man's mind wandering to her, even in the midst of work.

The chorus of friends then speak to the girl. Again we are in difficulties as commentators do not know the meaning of the name given here - Shulammite. Some suggest it might be a feminine form of Solomon, thus meaning “Solomon's girl”. Using again the picture of the song being sung on a stage, it is as if they say, come back on stage that we may look at you Solomon's girl. He replies, almost angrily, why should you gaze on her, she's not a dancing girl for the public to look at - she's mine!

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Thank you, Lord, that you are never too busy not to think about me and care for me. Thank you for your wonderful love for me.

RECAP - "Comings and Goings" - Songs 5-6

SUMMARY :

In this fourth group of 6 studies we have seen :

- The girl being slow to respond when he comes at night

- She thus misses him and goes searching at night

- She is beaten by the watchmen

- She is challenged why he is better than any other

- She speaks of how handsome he is, her friend

- She is challenged to say where he is gone

- He's gone to his garden she replies

- He says how she overwhelms him

- He, in his garden, realises his desire and dashes back

COMMENT:

Although the back half of this section is unclear the first part shows that when he comes, she only wants to receive him on her terms, but when she misses him she realises he is worth risking everything and goes in the night searching for him. She is challenged to think what she feels about him and she says he is both lover and friend. But then the chorus ask where he may be found and now she knows, now she has understood his desires are in his garden where, presumably, she meets him and he expresses his love and she goes where he goes.

LESSONS?

The challenge is the depth of our love for God. Is it wholehearted or do we quibble when His demands on us appear inconvenient? Does His absence make us realise how much we want Him? Will we seek Him out on His terms to receive His words of love, to go wherever He goes? A further challenge is to put words to our love and to be expressive.

PRAY:

In as much as you are able commit yourself to the Lord and seek after Him to know Him more and more.

PART 5: "Endearments & Reflections on Love" Ch. 7 & 8

This next Part has the two expressing endearments to one another and then finally some rather uncertain reflections to conclude about maturity and love.