Message Theme & Verses: Song of Songs
Memory Verse: Song of Songs 6:3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
Attributed to King Solomon, the title of this book suggests that it is the greatest of all songs. This beautiful poem about love follows a shepherd and a shepherdess on their journey toward marriage and becoming one flesh before our Covenant God.
The man and the woman in the story take great delight in each other, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They understand that love comes with risks, but love is so valuable that it is worth the risks. “Love is as strong as death” proclaims the wife, “many waters cannot quench love.” She is expressing the deep and abiding desire that comes with love and drives lovers to overcome obstacles in pursuing their love.
The lovers are quick to complement and encourage each other with extravagant praise and comparisons to the most excellent things of their kind. The man compares his bride to a lily among the brambles. She is so beautiful of a flower to him that the rest look like something to be thrown away. Spouses can follow this example and cultivate an exclusive love for one another, seeing the best qualities in each other. I only have eyes for you.
This love is pure and redeemed by God, reminding us of love in the garden, ordained by God, before it was tainted by sin. We should not be embarrassed by the explicit and sexual imagery in the Song of Songs as God intended sex to be good and pleasurable within the marriage covenant, according to His plan. This is not shameful lust pursued in darkness, but Solomon is shining light on the beauty of the physical expression of love in a holy relationship.
In the past, some have sought to read this book only as an allegory or symbol, declining to embrace the aspects of physical love. This is not biblically warranted, but is most likely a product of the Greek philosophical idea of Gnosticism, seeing the body and physical pleasure as evil and the soul alone to be good. The Bible teaches that we are whole beings, both spiritual and physical and we are not to be ashamed of what God created and called good.
We are able to see images in the Song of Songs that point to God’s love for His people and more specifically, the love between Christ and His church. God designed the relationship between a husband and wife to mirror His relationship with us.
One role of wisdom literature is to make the path of God attractive for people to follow. Solomon paints a poetic picture of the ideal lovers obeying God’s covenant commands and enjoying the world and relationships He has made for them. We are to honor God in our relationships and demonstrate to the world that living in obedience to God brings genuine delight. We can show the love between Jesus and His bride, the church, by respecting and loving our spouses sacrificially and keeping our sexual lives pure.
Read Song of Songs 1:1-17
Jesus in Song of Songs
Sin has tainted every aspect of human life including intimate relationships. The Song of Songs causes us to long for Jesus to make things right again and restore every aspect of life to its proper godly function. Even the very best marriages contain sin and disappointment. Only Jesus is the perfect groom who makes His bride perfect. Only Jesus can satisfy our thirst for intimacy as He is the living water. We should not look to our spouse for complete satisfaction, but we should pursue romantic love as a gift of God, even when the path is fraught with pain.
Questions
Share your favorite love song. Why do you like it?
What is the best compliment your spouse has ever given you? What compliment do you give them?
What are some things that are worth pursuing even if they are hard or could cause pain?
The bride says “His banner over me is love,” (2:4) showing that the man unashamedly announces his love for the woman. How do public displays of affection work in your culture? Can you express your love for your spouse in public? How do others know you are in love?
What do you like to do with your spouse?
How well do you know your spouse? How can you get to know them better?
How is the marriage relationship like our relationship with God? (God created marriage for companionship, the emotional, spiritual, and physical health of people, for producing and raising children, and perhaps most importantly to display the love between Jesus and His church. This is the most intimate relationship built on love and sacrifice. When a wife respects her husband, loves, and depends on him, she pictures the church prepared for Jesus. When a husband sacrificially loves his wife and puts her needs ahead of his own, he look like Jesus to the world around us. We can honor God by keeping our marriages pure and loving.)
How do people think about sex in your community? How is this different than what the Bible says?
What can you do today to grow your relationship with your spouse?
What can you do today to grow your relationship with God?