Day 206 - Song of Solomon 1-8 (You Are Loved)
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"The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
I have compared you, my love,
To my filly among Pharaoh's chariots.
Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold."
(Song of Solomon 1:1, 9-10)
Pastor Chuck Smith in his commentary on the book of Song of Solomon said, "Now there are some people who consider the Song of Solomon no more than just an erotic, oriental love song and feel that it has no place in the scriptures. But others have found tremendous inspiration in the Song of Solomon by looking at a spiritual allegory, seeing it as a spiritual allegory. Now to the Jews, it became a spiritual allegory of God's special relationship to the nation Israel. As God is seen in the figure of Solomon the king, and Israel as the favorite choice wife, and as they express their love of each other, so God's expressions of His love for Israel and Israel's expressions of their love for God." (http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_chuck/c2000_Sgs/Sgs_001.cfm?a=672001)
Chuck goes on to say, "To the church, because the church is often seen in the New Testament as the bride of Christ, it became a picture to the church of the bride of the church, her relationship to Jesus Christ, her bridegroom, her coming King who we look forward to. And so the spiritual allegories are then made applicable to Christ and His love for the church and the church's response to His love." (C. Smith)
Surely, a married couple would benefit greatly from reading Song of Solomon with regards to improving their emotional and physical bond for each other and I believe that is the main objective of God in including this book in the Old Testament. The second objective, as I quoted from Chuck above, is just as important if not more important for its readers.
I would imagine that most people, like me, would struggle to accept that God loves us so deeply as the hero of the Song of Solomon loves His beloved wife. It takes great faith for anyone to believe he or she could be an object of such intense love. But that is what Scrupture teaches not just in the Song of Solomon but in all sixty-six books of the Bible.
I can think of no greater picture of God's love for me and for all people than Christ hanging on the cross as my substitute, taking on His body all my sins, past, present and future, so that I can be made sinless before the Father through His sacrifice.
"Lord Jesus, no words can express my gratitude for your deep love for me as your beloved. Please help me to be worthy of your love. Keep me from doing or thinking anything that will grieve You. Help me to love you more than I can possibly do on my own."
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