WARNING: The following material is intended for mature audiences. While this is a Bible study, the Song of Songs is written with references to sexual themes, intimate textual innuendos, and suggestive figurative language that may not be suitable for some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. It is recommended that you approach this book from God with pure motives and pray that His will in preserving these song lyrics can be a blessing to you. It is advisable that if you have been enjoying this podcast with young ears present that you refrain from doing so at this time. Wait until you are in a private setting to continue. Thank you for taking this word of caution into consideration as we begin today’s episode.
CYCLE ONE - Song #1 In Song of Songs 1:4, we hear “Draw me after you and let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice in you and be glad; We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.”
Upon remembrance of the qualities of her lover, she wants him to come and take her to his private place. She wants to be swept off of her feet as lovers often say. While some assume Solomon to be in mind because of the mention of the king and his chambers, it fits the poetic Song to see this as a literary device to express her feelings about her man. He is the king of her heart and she longs to be in a private place with him. We don’t need castles and upper-class chambers to enjoy royal love. We create our own regal romance by putting our lover on a pedestal. Drawing someone to you introduces the idea of allurement. We are drawn when enticed by someone or something. She has a desire to be carried away and physically taken to a place where they can be alone together. This is the longing of a couple in love. One says to the other, “come away with me!”, and the other replies in full acceptance, “take me away!” The precise location of this event is immaterial in this Song. In these most intimate scenes, it is important to note that we are left to speculate as to what these young lovers are involved in as a textual curtain is drawn over them and no details are given. We will notice how these lovers both like to parade their attraction to each other before the world, but they also enjoy their times of privacy. No one likes loneliness and God created the marriage union to fulfill this longing for togetherness. The courtship stage includes outings to inspire love to be fulfilled. The hard truth is that we will never really get to know the one that we love unless we adventure together. There needs to be a balance between our public outings and our private getaways. We learn much about one another in both settings. This betrothed couple is most likely exploring their emotions for each other that will ultimately lead to the fulfillment of love in their marriage. Due to the security of betrothal in this day, the young man and woman know that they are moving closer to the fruition of their wedding day in marriage and they are kindling the fire of their love and growing more and more intimate in a relationship that can sometimes be undesirable because of a lack of an outlet. We want the day of fulfillment to come sooner than later. The desires are fiery hot! As the passion grows, the pursuit of private ventures become more frequent. It is important to note here that privacy can be a dangerous place for unwed couples that are not firmly convicted on the biblical teachings about remaining pure until marriage. Being secluded with someone we love without this type of determination to sexual purity will make us vulnerable and weak. It must be strictly stated that in our western culture we take engagement (our form of betrothal) lightly and in many cases are taught in society to experiment sexually without building a dedicated friendship and courtship that leads to marriage. These two lovers were not going to violate principles that are to be kept for marriage but are rather reassuring one another of their interest and devotion to each other. We must certainly maintain the sanctity that is to be kept for marriage and we should avoid any embarrassments and or shame that could come from involving ourselves in unlawful and worldly activities outside of marriage. Premarital relations are fornication, which is a sin against God! For those of us who are married, we must keep love awake in the confines of marriage. Some of us can't wait to get married so that we can love intimately and then when we marry we forget to keep intimacy fully alive. The desire to be drawn away into private moments of lovemaking is something that should never cease after we have already entered into marriage. Marriage creates an opportunity for us to explore a whole new list of places that we can go and fulfill our desires with our spouse. I will let you develop this thought from here. In other words, I might be the travel agent, but I am not going on the trip with you. Get excited and get creative. Seeing the pictures of a paradise and hearing stories can never become a substitute for seeing this new terrain firsthand together. When two lovers are attracted to each other, they naturally want to touch each other and feel close to each other. Once you have reached a point of feeling a small degree of passion, the relationship is irreversible as long as this behavior is consistent and exclusively shared only with your lover. It is from this point on that we gain knowledge of how he or she feels for the other, but all fulfillments are to be kept for that day when the marriage is covenanted. In the latter part of verse 4, we find a portion of this Song that is often attributed to a chorus or the daughters of Jerusalem (the high elite of society), while that expedient does not necessarily need to be taken. I believe we have another literary device that allows the girl to bring more praise to her lover. She calls on all the maidens to express his ability to love. She says at the end of the verse, “Rightly do they love you." Since wine is a symbol of the romance shared between two lovers, when the text says that they praise you more than wine, it may have reference to the amount of pleasure her lover can give over the other men that are available. She in essence is praising the one who can bring her such wonderful bliss and she is glad that she has his attention when there are other women available that would be eager to have him as their own. In a marriage, there is no greater feeling than being desired. We need to be grateful if we are in a wholesome fulfilling relationship. When you have an urge to be carried away, express it. When your spouse says, let's get away from it all, take them away with you. I am not talking necessarily about some costly vacation or getaway, but rather, a whole new world can be created in a moment by simply slipping away together to the next room and sharing a moment of passion. Some wonder with the book starting off so physical and emotionally strong, if this girl is caught up in some kind of infatuation. We will not answer this concern now, but we will say that in our culture we will not start a relationship unless there is some physical attraction, which often leads to a failed effort to have true love (we often call it puppy love or fickle love). Remember that these two are betrothed and are growing closer to one another in their relationship. Again, it is critically important to remember that the desire here is not fulfilled activity taking place as we read. These are merely desires being expressed. There is nothing wrong with desire, for it is a God-given unction as we have already covered in this series. Alfred Tennyson once said, “Our spirits rushed together at the touching of our lips.” There is something special about a kiss and lovemaking that seals two hearts with a special togetherness and this is the desire of this young girl with her lover. Desire fully, but remember that fulfillment must be kept for the day when we vow before God to be married for life. So we can learn from these truths that: 1. There is a need to enjoy the love of our life. 2. Sometimes we just need to go together and get away from it all. 3. Go out of your way to make your love feel like royalty SPIRITUAL APPLICATION: We are also drawn away by the Lord through the call of the gospel. In John 6:44, we find, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. In John 6:65, the text continues, “And He was saying, “For this reason, I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” We learn in II Thessalonians 2:13-14 that the gospel is the voice that draws us into this love relationship, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The other option we are faced with is to be drawn away and enticed by the world and its fleshly allurements. In James 1:14, the author explains, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” This is the opposite of being in a loving relationship with the Lord. In this sinful state, we are far away from the presence of the Lord. The Lord is jealous and wants us for His very own. Our cry to Him must always be, "draw me near!" He says if you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. In James 4:8, we learn, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
He is not far from any one of us but we must desire Him and grope for Him and then He will be found by us and can take us away with Him (Acts 17:27) In Isaiah 55:6-7 the advice is given, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Also in Jeremiah 29:13-14 it is written, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your [a]fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’” Other people have given testimony to how great a lover that the Lord is of our souls and our only response can be to desire to fall in love with Him. He promised that one day if we desire to be with Him that He will come after us. We can enter the chambers that the King of Kings has prepared for us and we will be able to share love eternally. In Hosea 11:4, the prophet wrote about the love of the Lord toward His people, “I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws, And I bent down and fed them.” The prophet Jeremiah stated in Jeremiah 31:3, “The Lord appeared to [a]him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” To conclude this spiritual application for today, we will read in John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” When Jesus went to the cross and was lifted up, the greatest act of love from God was demonstrated. Jesus said that He would draw all men to Himself. Come to Jesus and be restored to a right relationship with God.
QUESTIONS: 1. Why do you think that it is important to be desired and what is the significance of expressing our desires? 2. Do you think it is important to get away to a private place? Should this be restricted to marriage or is this also a part of the courting relationship process? What boundaries should be established? 3. What way can we make our lover feel like royalty? What makes you feel like you are royal? Share ideas with your spouse. 4. Do you require an invitation or request from your lover to come and draw them away before you will come to take them away? What balance do you feel is required in a relationship where we take the initiative and when we are invited to love? 5. In our spiritual relationship with the Lord, have you asked Him to take you away? The only way to have the hope that He will come and take you to where He is in heaven, is if you are betrothed to Him? Have you obeyed the gospel, being added to the number of the saved (Acts 2:37-47).
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