Love: Its Power And Value
Opening Prayer
“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens… How priceless is Your unfailing love!… Continue Your love to those who know You” (Psa. 36:5,7,10).
Read SONG OF SONGS 8
If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother’s house—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
She
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Friends
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
She
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
He
13 You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
She
14 Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
True love is like a seal on the heart; it is like a mighty flame that water cannot extinguish (6,7).
The Song of Songs ends with short poems about aspects of love. Verses 1–4 and 8–10 relate to cultural customs. Public display of affection between siblings, lacking erotic associations, was acceptable but not between lovers or spouses. This leads to a repetition (4; 2:7; 3:5) of the charge not to arouse erotic passion thoughtlessly. Brothers assumed proprietorial rights over their sister’s sexual behavior. Here the woman declares her sexual and moral maturity and that she will decide the one to whom she will bring “contentment” (10; maybe echoing
“Shulamite”). It is unclear who speaks in verses 11 and 12, but the point is clear—a true love relationship cannot be bought.
The only place in the Song where love is discussed conceptually is in verses 6 and 7. A seal was a mark of ownership. The woman wants her lover to acknowledge personally (“heart” in Hebrew denotes the whole inner person) and publicly (on his arm) that he is hers alone. In the Bible, “death” is not just an event but a power. Love, says the poet, is an equally strong power. Jealousy is usually something negative, but it has its place in a covenant relationship, like marriage (Exod. 34:14; Deut. 4:23,24; Zech. 8:2; Mal. 2:13,14). Covenant partners should be totally committed to one another. Jealousy is an appropriate response to any threat, a rightful desire to protect the exclusiveness of the relationship. However, it must
not become selfish and lead to treating the partner as a possession. True
love, says the poet, is unquenchable and priceless. These verses about
human love may point us to the love of Christ, from which not even death
can separate us and which we should let govern us (Rom. 8:38,39; 2 Cor. 5:14).
The Song may seem to end in anticlimax, a return to expressions of mutual yearning, but there is always room for further growth in mutual love.
Apply
How would you compare the Song of Songs in its approach to love, sex and marriage with today’s culture?
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the wisdom this book shares on the subject of love and sexuality. The world has its own agenda on the subject, but I pray I can embrace and follow the teaching of Your Word.
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