Read
If Only You and I …
She Speaks:
1If you were my brother,
I could kiss you
whenever we happen to meet,
and no one would say
I did wrong.
2I could take you to the home
of my mother,
who taught me all I know.
I would give you delicious wine
and fruit juice as well.
3Put your left hand under my head
and embrace me
with your right arm.
4Young women of Jerusalem,
promise me never to awaken love
before it is ready.
Their Friends Speak:
5Who is this young woman
coming in from the desert
and leaning on the shoulder
of the one she loves?
She Speaks:
I stirred up your passions
under the apple tree
where you were born.
6Always keep me in your heart
and wear this bracelet
to remember me by.
The passion of love
bursting into flame
is more powerful than death,
stronger than the grave.
7Love cannot be drowned
by oceans or floods.
It cannot be bought—
any offer would be scorned
no matter how great.
Their Friends Speak:
8We have a little sister
whose breasts
are not yet formed.
If someone asks to marry her,
what should we do?
9She isn't a wall
that we can defend
behind a silver shield.
Neither is she a room
that we can protect
behind a wooden door.
She Speaks:
10I am a wall around a city,
my breasts are towers,
and just looking at me
brings him great pleasure.
11Solomon has a vineyard
at Baal-Hamon,
which he rents to others
for a thousand pieces
of silver each.
12My vineyard is mine alone!
Solomon can keep his silver
and the others can keep
their share of the profits.
He Speaks:
13You are in the garden
with friends all around.
Let me hear your voice!
She Speaks:
14Hurry to me, my darling!
Run faster than a deer
to mountains of spices.
Reflect
“Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). It is difficult to think of the apostle Paul reading the Song of Songs, and perhaps that is an indication of how little we understand Paul. Surely Paul has something more than theology in mind here.
He prayed for his converts “that from his glorious, unlimited resources [the Father] will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT).
For all of us, how hard it is to believe that God loves us like this. Many of us have scars from our childhood, memories of a human parent who was emotionally distant or abusive. Many of us have been made to feel unlovely, unworthy, just not good enough. We compare ourselves to others, and fall short. Even at their best our parents, siblings, girlfriends, boyfriends can’t love us the way God does. Scarred, we feel ugly. Forgiven, we still feel guilty. God is love. Rejoice!
How should a book like this end? Were you expecting the man and woman to sink into each other’s arms and live happily ever after? While love stories in fiction might have a tidy ending like this, the Song of Solomon, as we saw yesterday, is pointing to something altogether different. We will never know, this side of heaven, complete fulfillment in any relationship. So the book ends, appropriately, with each of them continuing to desire the presence of the other.
“I am his and he is mine” (2:16, 6:3, 7:10, 8:12). If we read this book as a picture of Christ and the church, we need to read “mine” as belonging to the whole church. One day we will see God face to face. For now, we don’t know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us. And loves us all with a love that transforms us.
Respond
“I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice/And it told Thy love to me;/But I long to rise in the arms of faith/And be closer drawn to Thee” (Fanny Crosby). Google the first line for the rest of this hymn. Read or sing it with the whole picture of the Song of Solomon in mind.
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.