September 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Song of Solomon 4:

¹Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
²Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
³Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
⁴Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
⁵Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
⁶Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
⁷Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
⁹Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
¹⁰How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
¹¹Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
¹²A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
¹³Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
¹⁴Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
¹⁵A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
¹⁶Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Devotional:

When we speak of openness in communication about sex we are not speaking of boldness, crudeness, ugliness. In the Song of Solomon we do not find pornography. There is delicacy and restraint.

Nor are we speaking of public display or profession of affection. There is nothing of the theatrical. There is something very intimate about this Song. Lovers thrive on being alone together. This, we can note, is one of the principles that points to the relationship between our Heavenly Bridegroom and His bride; the believer enjoys fellowship with his Saviour away from the world.

We are not speaking, either, as we talk about openness, of the bawdiness, the ugly humor that so often characterizes secular literature and the stage and screen. Sex is not in this Song an object for joking. The delight in sex may have a lightness at times, but the lightness is that of joy and liberty and confidence. It is not the lightness of a thoughtless surface relationship.

Nor is this purely physical communication. The sex act itself is only a part of the whole relationship. Husband and wife are not two animals. They are two human beings, two whole persons, enjoying a total union. They are enjoying a union of body, yes, but a union also of mind and of spirit.

In beautiful poetic imagery the chapter closes with an invitation: 'Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat of its choicest fruits.' The relationship has deepened. We have reached in our Song the threshold of marriage, the consummation of the love which has been growing.

The man and the woman who are in Christ Jesus can and should appropriate the words, the attitudes, the experience of the Shulamite maiden and her Shepherd King Lover. Else why has God given us this book? He does not tease and deceive His children!