THE WORTHINESS OF SUCH A LOVE
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 11, 2018 under PM Bible Study |
PM Bible Study Group; April 11, 2018 from Song of Solomon 8:8-14
Theme: The love that the redeemed share with Jesus is wonderfully worthy of pursuing.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Over the past while, we have been studying together from the fascinating Old Testament book of the Song of Solomon. And as we come now to the closing words of this remarkable book, it might be a good time to take a review of all that we have seen so far.
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This book, it seems, reports the story of a ‘fairy-tale’ romance—except that it’s not a mere fairy-tale. It tells the true story of a young woman of Shulam—a farm girl whose family worked as tenant farmers on one of King Solomon’s vineyards. Her father had apparently died; and her elder brothers carried on the work. They also put her out into the hard labors of the field; and as a result, she had not really had a chance to take care of her own appearance. She had become darkened by the sun; and since having a tan in those days was a sign of being a common laborer, she was self-conscious of how she looked. She didn’t feel very pretty; and was ashamed to have people look upon her.
But one day, a very prosperous and handsome shepherd came by. He was immediately taken by this poor, labor-worn girl; and rather than look upon her as she was, he saw in her the beauty that he could give her. He was in love with her—not just for what she was, but for what his love for her could make her to be. They began to spend time with one another; and in time, they became engaged.
Finally, the wedding day came. The groom arrived into her hometown to take his bride. But to the surprise of everyone, he came in a royal caravan amidst much glory and honor—because, you see, the groom was Solomon himself.
The story of their love and marriage is what this remarkable book is all about. We have been likening it to a ‘photo album’ of their love together; and we have been making our way through its different divisions and considering the various ‘snapshots’ those divisions give us of their love and life together.
We had established early on that there are several legitimate ways to look at this book. One way—of course—is as a picture of an actual love relationship between a real man and a real woman. Another way we have looked at it is as a book that illustrates to us something of the nature and beauty of marital love as God has designed it to be. But a third way we have seen it is as a symbolic picture of God’s love for His chosen people Israel. And a fourth way we have seen it—and in a way that has truly been profitable to our souls—has been as a picture of the Lord Jesus’ love for His own bride, the church; and more—as a picture of His love for each one of His redeemed saints.
The story of the Shulamite woman is very much our story. We too have been drawn from out of an unworthy state, been made the recipients of our Lord’s saving grace, and have been made glorious and beautiful in His sight by becoming united to Him in love. He has loved us—unworthy as we are; and has shared all the riches of His glory with us.
Now; so far, we have looked at the following six of the seven divisions of this great ‘photo-album’ of love:
1. The Declaration of Love (1:1-4).
2. The Courtship (1:5-3:5).
3. The Wedding Day (3:6-5:1).
4. The Joys and Challenges of Marriage (5:2-6:12).
5. The Deepening of The Union (6:13-8:4).
6. The Foreverness of Togetherness (8:5-7).
And tonight, we come to the closing division of this album. It shows us …
7. The Worthiness of Such a Love (8:8-14).
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Now that the story has been told to us—and even the struggles and lapses that the Shulamite had along the way have been shared with us—we see her final declaration concerning this love. And symbolically, we see in these closing words how much of a worthy thing it is for us to pursue the love that the Lord Jesus has for us, and to make it our highest priority to rest in His redeeming love and to bask in its delights and joys.
The Shulamite bride is, for the most part, the speaker in these closing words. And the first thing she does is take us back to the days before she met Solomon. She does this to show us that …
I. IT IS A LOVE WORTHY OF HAVING BEEN PRESERVED FOR (vv. 8-10).
You’ll remember that she was under the care—and sometimes harsh supervision—of her brothers. Early on, she told us
Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard I have not kept (1:6).
At that time, she may have been grieved by the stern over-protectiveness of her brothers. Because of it, she had not been able to tend her own ‘vineyard’—that is, her own graciousness and attractiveness. But now, it seems that she is grateful for what had happened. In these closing words, it appears that she quotes the resolve that her brothers had for her when she was a small, undeveloped girl—as they looked ahead to the day when she would be pursued by young men:
We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts
What shall we do for our sister
In the day when she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
We will build upon her
A battlement of silver;
And if she is a door,
We will enclose her
With boards of cedar (vv. 8-9).
I remember having a conversation once with the father of a young teenage girl. She was—to put it mildly—indiscreet. Actually, she was trouble just looking for an opportunity to happen. I took him to this passage; and I told him, “There are some girls who are walls. They are not open and available to every fella that comes by. And then, there are other girls who are doors—always open and available and vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Quite frankly, sir, you need to take some decisive action; because your daughter is a door.”
These brothers of the Shulamite girl may have been harsh with her, but they were also protective of her. They watched her as she grew, and paid careful attention to what kind of a girl she was. And in a fatherly and protective way, they made some resolves. If she was growing up to be a ‘wall’—that is, strong and stable and ‘not available’ to just any guy who might draw her attention—then they would protect and preserve her good character. They would build upon her “a battlement of silver”. They would maintain her stability but also do their best to beautify it. But, on the other hand, if she was proving to be a ‘door’—that is, weak and unstable and ‘open for offers’—then they won’t care about the beauty of the effort. They’ll keep her enclosed in bands of cedar. They’d nail the door shut with 2x4s if they had to.
Their resolve must have eventually had a positive influence on her. Now that she has reached the physical and emotional maturity of virtuous womanhood, she delights to declare,
I am a wall,
And my breasts like towers (v. 10a).
And having thus been protected and preserved, she speaks again of that day when Solomon first saw her and says;
Then I became in his eyes
As one who found peace (v. 10b).
The word “peace” here may be a play on the name of the place from which she came. She is a woman of Shalum; and that is related to the word for “peace”. It would speak of a joyful outcome of her growing-up—a woman delightful to gaze upon. It may be that this was what the daughters of Jerusalem were speaking of when, back in 6:13—in an effort to appeal to the beauty with which Solomon had glorified her—they said, “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return that we may look upon you!”
And this reminds us of how grateful we should be for the experiences of our lives that the Holy Spirit had used to protect us and preserve us and—in due time—providentially guide us to a faith in Jesus Christ. It may have been that we had godly parents or relatives that protected us in the faith as we grew up. Or it may be that we had no such human protection; but that God, in His grace, brought us through struggles and difficulties in our growing up that eventually led to our desire for Christ. Some—such as in my own case—grew up with a profound sense of sin, and became terrified at the destiny of the lake of fire that was ours, and came running to Jesus for salvation as soon as we heard about Him. But however it happened, we are the great love of our Savior; and we should be grateful that we were kept as a “wall” from others and preserved for Him—until we became in His eyes as one who found peace.
Truly, our relationship of love with Jesus will prove throughout eternity to have been a love worth having been preserved for—however it happened.
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Next, the Shulamite bride reflects further upon her relationship of love with Solomon; declaring that …
II. IT IS A LOVE WORTHY OF BEING SUBMITTED TO (vv. 11-12).
She goes back in her mind to that vineyard. She says;
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
He leased the vineyard to keepers;
Everyone was to bring for its fruit
A thousand silver coins (v. 11).
Where this place was—this place called Baal Hamon—is not known for certain to us today. But its name means “place of multitude”; and it may be that it speaks of the great numbers of people that congregated there. It may speak of where the vineyard that the Shulamite’s family worked was to be found. Apparently, the Shulamite recalls that Solomon had leased it out to farmers who kept the vineyards for him, and brought forth its fruit—bringing forth a return of a thousand silver coins. Not a bad yield! Baal-Hamon—“place of multitude”—seems to have been the center of a profitable enterprise.
But whether it was the same vineyard or not, this ‘vineyard’ business of Solomon’s reminded the Shulamite of her own unattended ‘vineyard’. It doesn’t seem that she is speaking of the literal vineyard that she worked, but rather of the ‘vineyard’ that symbolically represented her own beauty and self-care that she neglected in her time of laborious work. Remember that she spoke of this vineyard under her brother’s supervision in 1:6? “They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept” (1:6). Perhaps that was how they had kept her as a ‘wall’. But now, she says,
My own vineyard is before me (v. 12a).
And turning to her husband, she declares,
You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
And those who tend its fruit two hundred (v. 12b).
She is declaring that her beauty—which she had before been embarrassed by; but which now had been glorified by Solomon in love—was now all his. She was returning to him, as it were, the benefits of his investment in her; as if she were one of his treasured vineyards. It may even be that she literally gave him a thousand pieces of silver as a symbolic gesture. And what’s more, she now gives thanks also to her brothers for protecting her and preserving her for that love—perhaps even also literally paying them two hundred pieces of silver as a symbolic act. She was, in other words, fully submitting herself to that love for which she had been protected and preserved; recognizing that she was made into Solomon’s fruitful vineyard, and that he deserves the return for his investment.
This too is a picture of the worthiness of the love relationship we share with our Redeemer. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we ought to show a wholehearted submission to it by celebrating it and giving ourselves over to Him in it.
Paul had a wonderful way of putting it in Romans 12:1-2;
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).
Jesus’ love for us is utterly worthy of our full submission and surrender. What more can we give Him, in our thanks to Him, but our very selves?
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And finally, we see in the closing words how the Shulamite reflects on her love with Solomon and declares that …
III. IT IS A LOVE WORTHY OF BEING EAGER FOR (vv. 13-14).
Different translations try to designate the first words of verse 13 in different ways. But the grammar of the original language suggests that they are words being spoken by Solomon. He says;
You who dwell in the gardens,
The companions listen for your voice—
Let me hear it!
The ‘gardens’, as we have seen several times in this book, seem to speak symbolically of Solomon’s delight in the love he enjoys with his bride. The “you” in the phrase “you who dwell in the gardens” is in the singular. He is speaking to his bride. And it may be that the “companions” who listen for her response are the ever-present ‘daughters of Jerusalem’; who seem so often to speak of and advance her relationship of love with Solomon. He longs to hear her voice in the place of his delight; and invites that it be spoken in the hearing of those who celebrate their love: “Let me hear it!”
We have often considered in this study that the ‘daughters of Jerusalem’ symbolize the Holy Spirit; whose ministry it is to facilitate and advance our love for Jesus, and to shine the spotlight, as it were, on our Redeemer’s delight in us as His own. Could it be that these words reflect the kind of invitation that we find at the end of the Bible? In Revelation 22:17, we find these words:
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).
The Lord Jesus welcomes anyone who takes up His invitation. And for those who do—and whom He redeems with His own blood—He longs to have delightful fellowship in eternal love.
It is then the Shulamite who responds and gives to her husband what he desires. She says to her bridegroom;
Make haste, my beloved,
And be like a gazelle
Or a young stag
On the mountains of spices (v. 14).
The ‘spices’ were, in previous portions of this book, the symbolic representation of her offer to her husband to come and enjoy the delights of her love (see 4:12-16). This, then, is her expression to her husband that she hears his call, lets her voice be heard, and gives herself willingly to his love. Indeed, she gives herself to it eagerly; saying “Hurry! Run like a gazelle or a young stag!”
And again—in closing—could these very last words in this remarkable book be reflective of the very last words of the Bible?1 May our heart cry be that of Revelation 22:20-21
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Revelation 22:20-21).
What a love story this is! What a picture it gives us of the love of Jesus for us as His redeemed people! How worthy this love is of our all!
May we—each one—trust fully in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, enter into His love, bask in the glory which He graciously shares with us, and delight in that love as much as He Himself does!
1Henry M. Morris, The Remarkable Wisdom of Solomon (Green Forest, AR: Master Books Inc, 2001), p. 60.
EA
