September 10 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Song of Solomon 1:

¹The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
³Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
⁴Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
⁸If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.
⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
¹⁰Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
¹¹We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
¹²While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
¹³A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
¹⁴My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.
¹⁶Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.
¹⁷The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Devotional:

The Bible is the Book of books. Christ is the King of kings. This poem is the Song of songs! This is the language of superlatives.

Yet this book was in the early Christian era an embarrassment for both the rabbis and the Christian divines. Probably influenced by notions that associated the body with sin, they were apologetic for its openness in handling the romantic theme and the physical aspects of love. Out of their position they were forced to support Scripture. This book, however, strained their orthodoxy. So in their dilemma they invented fanciful explanations for the Song, according to which the references were said to allude exclusively to the relationship between Christ and the church. In fact, the Authorized Version inserts this interpretation into the chapter headings, which are not part of the original text. We can presume that these chapter headings have been through the years in a large measure responsible for the persistence of this extreme interpretation.

And indeed this purely allegorical interpretation does persist. One of the current commentators compares the two breasts mentioned in chapter 1:13 to the Old and New Testaments and he compares the 'bundle of myrrh' lying between them to Christ. If you picked up this book without previous bias, would you diink of this figure in that light? Does this explanation satisfy you? Does God wish to establish an elite who alone can interpret Scripture to the masses? There are doubtless difficulties in understanding this book, partly because it is not always clear who is speaking. But as you read this chapter, is it not evident that God is saying that sex is good and that manifestations of romantic love are good and acceptable between those who are entitled to them?

God made man and woman to desire each other and enjoy each other physically. We do not apologize for the presence in the Bible of a book which plainly indicates this! Rather we may be glad that He saw fit to reveal to us His approbation of romantic love.

We will read this entire book together. Let us struggle to see what God is saying here for us today, for this husband and this wife!