In The Word
Read: Song of Solomon 2:8-3:5
The Bride
8 “Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping on the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 The blossoms have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 The fig tree has ripened its fruit,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
The Groom
14 “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the hiding place of the mountain pathway,
Let me see how you look,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is pleasant,
And you look delightful.”
The Chorus
15 “Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom.”
The Bride
16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”
The Bride’s Troubled Dream
3 “On my bed night after night I sought him
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
2 ‘I must arise now and go around in the city;
In the streets and in the public squares
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4 Hardly had I left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”
The Groom
5 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
God created romantic attraction and the desire for physical intimacy. He designed these to be holy and beautiful through purity, in both mind and body, by controlling fleshly desires. Solomon stated three times, “Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases” (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4). He is saying that there is a proper time to allow love to develop, which is when two people are spiritually mature enough to understand that the God-ordained purpose of love is to unite one man and one woman in a lifelong, faithful marriage covenant. It is also important that they have the ability to carry out the physical and financial responsibilities of marriage. Until the marriage is consummated, their mind and bodies are to remain pure.
The world says to satisfy the romantic cravings of the flesh outside of marriage. Thus, people have entered into physical intimacy at the wrong time or have allowed romantic fantasies and lustful imaginations to fill the mind. To satisfy romantic cravings with a non-spouse, with your body or mind, is sin and has the negative, lasting results of spiritual bondage, physical consequences, painful regret, and emotional anguish.
God intended love to enhance our lives, and this only happens when romantic desires are confined to a spouse. Have you awakened love with someone that is not your spouse? If they are meant not to be your spouse, then end the romantic relationship. If they are meant to be, or already are, your spouse, then commit to be pure until the wedding day and beyond.