HIS HEART SONG…Part 2



HIS HEART SONG…Part 2

“The Kisses of His Mouth—the Desire for Intimacy”

• BEFORE WE GET STARTED THIS WEEK: A bit of WOW info that I discovered… We know that in the natural, this is a love story between Solomon and a Shulamite woman…last week we discussed the similarities between Jesus and Solomon…(ie…Jesus/Prince of Peace…Solomon/name means peace…Jesus/Wisdom itself…Solomon/wisest man on earth…Jesus/King of Kings…Solomon/a King of Israel)…and we also talked about how sometimes it is hard for guys to identify with being called the Bride of Christ….but that just as women are considered “sons of God”, menare also considered to be the “bride of Christ”

• THIS IS THE WOW THING…."Shulamite" in Hebrew is the feminine noun for "Solomon."… Whether we are a man or a woman we can all identify with the Shulamite in the way she responds to the lordship of the king,…. Men and women differ physically and emotionally, but not in spirit. …rememeber the verse we read last week that talked about there being “neither male nor female…”….I just thought that was kinda cool how God chose to use a “Shulamite”…

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• In Ecclesiastes, which was written later in his life, most scholars think he wrote it near his death..Solomon only lived to age 52… Solomon writes that he had tried out every possible thing that the world had to offer….but NOTHING satisfied him…..he decided that everything was pointless and useless WITHOUT GOD….

• Solomon called it the “vanity of vanities”….in fact, he used this phrase over 23 times in Ecclesiastes to help get the point across to us that NOTHING matters except the love of God….that life without God is totally USELESS

• If anyone understood this…it would be Solomon!

• John 15:5 God says “Without Me you can do nothing.”

• Nothing of any value happens without God in our lives!

THINK ABOUT HOW WILD THIS IS: God arranged for Solomon to write this Song of Songs…he wrote it early in his life…but Solomon was FAR FROM being a perfect Christian!...Yeah, he did good stuff in his reign as king…in fact, the 40 years he ruled over Israel were the best and most peaceful years…(did you know that he was crowned king when he was only 12 years old!..But his personal life was yuck…and it’s actually his personal life that brought all the peace and prosperity to an end!..!...Even after God told him not to take a bunch of foreign wives…Solomon did it anyway…he had 700 wives and 300 concubines….1 Kings 11:4-5 tells us “ In his old age, his wives turned away Solomon's heart after other gods.”…. he was also warned not to have too many horses, which he did too…Solomon indulged in all kinds of crazy luxuries that all had to be paid for by SLAVE labor….not a good thing

• I don’t think it’s an accident that the Song of Songs is RIGHT AFTER Ecclesiastes in the Bible (even though most scholars believe the Song was written first and Ecclesiastes written after)….it’s like God is saying…LOOK….nothing else matters….this guy, Solomon, the WISEST person ever to walk on the face of this earth figured it out after he made a ton of mistakes….learn from him!!!!

• One of the reasons scholars think Solomon must have written the Song of Songs early in his life… is to look at how many wives and concubines he talked about in the book….it says only “60 queens and 80 concubines”….we know toward the end of his life he had over 700 wives and 300 concubines” according to 1 Kings 11:3

• Solomon wrote over 1,005 songs in his life...according to 1 Kings 4:32 “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.”……BUT….only this ONE remains….there undoubtedly is a MAJOR reason that THIS ONE remains!

• The Song of all Songs …written by the Holy Ghost through Solomon early in his life when he was still tender toward the things of God…He is trying to WARN us that nothing can satisfy us outside of GOD!

• DO YOU SEE HOW WILD THIS IS: God used Solomon…a guy who was really good at sinning, to write the most incredible Love Song to His Bride…..think about it: Paul was a murderer…and he wrote a third of the New Testament…God is REALLY GOOD at redeeming us! None of us has gone “too far” or done “too much” for God to not use us! We are ALL CALLED to have the ultimate, deep intimacy with God that the Song of Songs calls us to!!!!

• The Song of Songs takes us on a journey through our spiritual experience as we pursue God…it describes the stages we go through and it shows us the ULTIMATE stage that we all desire to get to!

• Check out how Solomon ends Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man”…remember that Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s contemplation over his life…

• Then check out how Solomon began the book of Proverbs…most scholars believe that Proverbs was written BEFORE Ecclesiastes…so that would mean that he KNEW this bit of wisdom…..but he just didn’t APPLY it to his life…it’s not enough to KNOW something…you have to DO SOMETHING with what you know!

• Proverbs 1:7 “The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

• …..both of those verses written by Solomon….remember: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon are considered “wisdom literature”…FYI: most agree that Solomon wrote first the Song of Songs, then Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes…

• We are able to “keep His commandments” because we LOVE Him….and we FEAR Him….

• The FEAR of the Lord has to do with “worshipful awe and reverence”

• Proverbs 16:6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the FEAR (Worshipful awe and reverence) of the LORD a man avoids evil.

• Psalm 111:10 “The fear (worshipful awe and reverence) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”

ANOTHER BIT OF HISTORY: Since Solomon took the throne when he was only 12 years old…Solomon realized that he needed wisdom to run the country and so shortly (maybe months, maybe a few years) after he was crowned, he made his now famous request of God…1 Kings 3:7 "I am but a small child ... Give therefore your servant an understanding heart to judge your people..."

• Solomon had figured it out…..relying on temporary things will never leave you fulfilled….you may be OK or satisfied for a little bit…but then that emptiness comes right back…

• We have to long for Him….we have to desire deep intimacy with Him! He will be faithful to satisfy us when we cry out to Him!

• After a person is saved…It’s kinda like, for a while, you are satisfied….but then something happens…the “time span” is different in every believer…the something that happens is a LONGING for MORE OF CHRIST!

• There is never a moment that God is not pouring out His INFINITE LOVE upon every human being on the face of this earth…He IS love…so therefore because HE IS LOVE…He ALWAYS is pouring it out…..the deal is that, we humans have a way of shutting ourselves up and turning our back on God

• I am so thankful He has never given up on me…the more I desire Him, the more He fills me….the more He fills me…the more ‘spiritually hungry” I become!

• HISTORY: Another most incredible thing I have discovered is that the Song of Solomon is read out loud in historical Jewish customs…ONLY during the Passover…it is read on Shabbot…Shabot means “rest”…which is actually what this song is about…the REST that the Lord gives to us when we are totally intimate with Him…..WOW….Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night…Jesus was crucified and died right before this time…

• WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS: Isn’t it just so like God to have the Song of Songs read after His Beloved Son died on the cross for us…right after the ULTIMATE ACT OF LOVE…His Song is sung!......COOL AND WOW!

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• This book describes a person’s pursuit of God AFTER he is saved…it is written to those who already belong to God…yes, when you initially surrender your life to Jesus, you are then UNITED to Him…BUT there is still a WHOLE TON of work that he has to do in us before we are TOTALLY SURRENDERED to Him…we gotta get rid of some JUNK…

• ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT: The word most often used in this book is “LOVE”…

• The first section of this book is when the bride, the Shulamite…begins her initial pursuit of her beloved…

• The book begins with the Bride calling out to her Bridegroom…the Shulamite is seeking a more intimate relationship with Solomon…who she knows at this point only from afar.

• THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THIS: This is just like us, as believers…we find ourselves discontented with just a “basic” or “initial” …what seems to be the common type today…relationship” with Christ…we start to long for a deeper and more intense…more intimate relationship with God

• WHAT DO YOU THINK THE REAL REASON IS FOR OUR DISSATISFACTION?????....the answer is…our UNSURRENDERED WILL…

• Think about it…would your spouse be OK with you if he knew you were DREADING to marry him?.....or if your spouse was rich beyond your wildest dreams…yet, you don’t trust him to take care of you and provide for you?....it wouldn’t make any sense….but this is EXACTLY what we do to Christ…..

• We don’t trust Him enough to totally surrender our WILL over to Him…for some reason we think we are smarter and can do things better than He can….until we are TOTALLY SURRENDERED…we will live life UNSATISFIED

• Everything this believer is saying she wants and saying that she desires from her Beloved will have to be tested until it becomes real….(and that is exactly what will happen in the later chapters)…its like people who give “lip service” to God…but never follow through with anything they tell God they will do, or not do (EX: like the people who seem to have the same hang-ups over and over because they don’t want to change anything in their life to line up with the Word of God…) This believer is gonna find out quickly that there are things in her life that need to GO if she is really gonna get that intimacy that she wants…

Song of Solomon 1:2 “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for your love is better than wine.”

• “LET HIM KISS ME”….in Hebrew lexicon “nashaq” (naw-shak’), “to kiss” means to “equip with weapons”………..wow

• A KISS is a complete spiritual union, a real, permanent, and lasting experience of God’s nature

• The KISS is the union of God’s spirit to your spirit

• “WITH THE KISSES OF HIS MOUTH”…in Hebrew lexicon “peh”…the mouth…”as the means of blowing”

• HANG WITH ME AND CHECK THIS OUT: the Hebrew word behind spirit is ruach, and it means "air in motion." (blowing) …It is the same word for "breath." It also means "life." By resemblance to breath and air in motion, it means "spirit”

• God is called “the Word”…when He kisses you with His MOUTH…it is a revelation of His WORD to you…blowing His Word and his Spirit into you…WOW!

• Just like in the story of the Prodigal Son…the Father (God) ran and kissed the son (us) Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

• Psalm 85:10 “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed”

• Ephesians 2:14 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation”

• Kissing is a sign (or token) of PEACE from the very PRINCE of PEACE!

• SOME HISTORY: for a king to permit his hands, or even garment, to be kissed, was counted a great honor, but that HE should HIMSELF KISS another with HIS MOUTH is the greatest honor…

• Do you see what is happening in verse 2…???....the BRIDE…the church…is longing to be kissed by the BRIDEGROOM HIMSELF….not by a prophet or by someone sent by God…but by GOD HIMSELF!

• Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds”

• The KISS is also the token of the MARRIAGE CONTRACT…

• It is a very personal expression of LOVE….after all…you can only kiss ONE person at a time

• Hosea 2:19-20 “ I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me  In righteousness and justice,  In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.”

• The KISS was considered LEGALLY BINDING…it sealed a contract….it was considered the time when the “swapping of souls between the bride and groom” took place

• The KISS is also a sign of FRIENDSHIP: 1 Samuel 20:41 “As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so.”

• When you receive a kiss from the very Prince of Peace (Jesus)…like the Bride is asking for in verse 2…troubles and disappointments from others melt away…things that used to bother you, suddenly don’t anymore…

• A KISS is a powerful thing….all throughout history things have been “sealed with a kiss”…

• 5 times in the New Testament, we are instructed to “greet each other with a holy KISS”…Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and 1 Peter 5:14 where it says to “greet one another with a KISS of love”

• We find the Bride, in the very beginning of the Song of Solomon surrounded by friends…but not the Bridegroom at first….

• Her friends cannot satisfy her….she CRAVES and WANTS the kisses of her Bridegroom!!!

• THAT is how is has to be with us….you may be surrounded with great Christian people…but those “people” can never satisfy you….

• EX: I know Pastors that want you to cling to their every word…Pastors that want you to almost “worship” them…almost like your very salvation is dependent on THEM…they are the ones who you get your revelation from…THIS IS CRAZINESS…I know of people who “worship” the worship leader, or who “worship” certain bands…..these things CANNOT be our desires…HE MUST BE OUR DESIRE!!!

• Our Bride is surrounded….but not satisfied…listen to what she says again…

Song of Songs 1:2 “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.”

• HE is to be the only object of our love!

• When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus’ empty tomb…she told the man who she thought was the GARDENER…John 20:13 “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

• Mary Magdalene was longing for the one her heart loved

• God actually COMMANDS us to “kiss the Son” in Psalm 2:12 “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him”

• Jesus actually fusses at a Pharisee, named Simon, who had invited Him to dinner at his house …because Simon did not give Him a kiss…but a sinful woman did…in fact, she had not stopped kissing His feet since He reclined at the table…she even broke open a costly jar of perfume and then washed His feet with her tears!!!

• Luke 7:45 “You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet”

• Could Jesus say this about us?.....we “invited Him to dinner”…we give Him lots of “words”…even our energy and time….but have we given Him the one thing He desires from us…a KISS….a kiss…that sign of COMMITMENT

• HOW CAN YOU GET HIS KISS and how do we give Him our Kiss….?...glad you asked!

• It all goes back to what we have been talking about the last couple of weeks…Love God and Love others….

• His PHYSICAL body of His person is not here on earth….but HIS BODY, the CHURCH, is!!!!

• Jesus taught us that anyone who feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, gives drink to the thirsty, or visits the sick and those in prison does it to Him…..that’s a paraphrase of Matthew 25:35-40

• You want kisses from God???.....love on His BODY…love on people…don’t compromise with the world…OBEY Him…stand up for what he stands up for…even in the face of adversity….do what He has asked you to do…

• Once you’ve tasted of His kisses….it won’t matter to you what people say about you and your “radical love for God”…

• Your focus will be just like it is supposed to be…

• Colossians 3:1-3, 12-17 “ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God….Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

• THINK ABOUT THIS: When you are kissed by the One your soul loves…sometimes you are at a loss for words…you are silent before Him…you don’t want to be and you CAN’T BE disturbed by anyone or anything else…cause all you want is to be kissed more and more…

• It reminds me of the Philips, Craig, and Dean song “Pour My Love On You”

I don't know how to say exactly how I feel

And I can't begin to tell you what your love has meant

I'm lost for words

Is there a way to show the passion in my heart

Can I express how truly great I think you are

You're my dearest friend

Lord this is my desire to pour my love on you

CHORUS:

Like oil upon your feet

Like wine for you to drink

Life water from my heart

I pour my love on you

With praises like the perfume

I lavish mine on you

Till every drop is gone

I pour my love on you

Is there a way to show the passion in my heart

Can I express how truly great I think you are,

My dearest friend

Lord this is my desire to pour my love on you

• Let’s go to the next thing the Bride says…

Song of Solomon 1:2b “for your love is more delightful than wine.”

• FYI: There are 200 references to wine in OT and NT…. Wine pictures "earthly joy."…in the original Hebrew…. The maiden recognizes that the joys of more intimate relationship with Jesus far outweigh any fading joy or pleasures the world has to offer………….YES!!!! AND OF COURSE!!!

• HIS LOVE…a forgiving love, a healing love, a providing love, a protecting love, a tender love, a peaceful love, an assuring love, a comforting love, a strengthening love, an overcoming love, a BRIDEGROOM love!

• Only if you are truly surrendered to Him can you say that His love is better than anything else on this earth…

• Lamentations 3:24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Song of Songs 1:3a “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes...”

• WE, the Bride of Christ, are to spread the fragrance of His perfume…

• 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through US spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For WE are TO GOD the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other we are the smell of life.”

Song of Songs 1:3b “…your name is like perfume poured out”

• HIS NAME….the Name above all Names…JESUS…all power is in that Name…

• You say “JESUS” and it’s like pouring out a sweet aroma in the room…

• HISTORY OF PERFUME: Historically most “perfumes” were essential oils… One of the definitions of “essential” is “absolute, undiluted.” So essential oils are the extracts from plants that are concentrated, pure oils that retain the distinctive scent or essence and medicinal (healthful) qualities of that plant…used to make perfumes and flavorings…

• OIL was used on sheep to keep parasites from causing them extreme agony and irritation.

       

• THE HISTORY OF OINTMENT: Ointment was a substance that got its name from what it was originally used for, anointment i.e. "an ointment" became anointment, which in practical terms generally meant the act of applying an oily liquid. In the Bible, specific ointments were used for either holy or common medicinal purposes.

• Jesus is the ANOINTED ONE…The Greek name “Christ” literally means ANOINTED ONE

• The story we have all heard about, and the story the song we just listened to was eluding to…is when Mary poured out the perfume from her alabaster box on the feet of Jesus…In fact…what she did was so important and so special that God COMMANDED that wherever the Gospel is preached, that her story is told…

• Matthew 26:7-13 “a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

• She loved Him no matter what it cost her!

• This lady lived a surrendered life to Christ…she CHOSE to sit at His feet and listen to Him instead of being “busy” for Him as her sister (Martha) was…

• Even when she was chastised …by her sister… to Jesus, for not helping in the kitchen and then when the disciples fussed about what she did… to Jesus…she remained SILENT…

• Look at Song of Solomon 1:3b again…”YOUR NAME is like perfume poured out.”

• Sometimes…just speaking His NAME is all you need to do!

• His Name is SALVATION…Romans 10:9-12 says that whoever calls on HIS NAME will be saved!...at HIS NAME all demons and powers and principalities must bow!

• Immanuel, Messiah, Savior, Lamb of God, Christ, Prince of Peace, my Healer, my Lord, my Wonderful Counselor, my Mighty God, my Everlasting Father…..it’s all in HIS NAME!

• Remember when we talked about the verse: “Perfect LOVE casts out all fear”….????...Mary had no fear about her situation when her sister and the disciples were talking yuck about her to Jesus…because she had SAT at Jesus’ feet……if you read in the Bible about when her brother, Lazarus, died…her sister Martha was all discombobulated and crazy acting…but Mary was totally at peace….why???...because of her time at the feet of Jesus…because of that NAME!

• His NAME is like perfume poured out….

• A "name" [shem] implies authority of the person who bears it. …When we sign our name to a check or to a contract we authorize a transaction in our authority. "

• Acts 4:12 says...”there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

• Oil poured over the head of the king or High Priest signified anointing and empowerment from God for an office.

• Malachi 1:11 "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my NAME is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts."

• So……….back to the Song of Solomon….

Song of Solomon 1:3c “…no wonder the maidens love you!”

• Notice how all the maidens….it literally means “virgins”…other believers…they love Him…although they have not even began to understand how incredible He is…what they have encountered so far makes them LOVE Him and want more…..BUT they are not all necessarily willing to leave from being an immature believer for the deep, intimate journey that this particular believer is about to go on!

• God is not looking for perfect people…just people who really have a desire for Him…little by little your walk with Him will deepen

• You may be thinking…well, I’ve already screwed up too much in my life…I am definitely not a “virgin” anymore in the spiritual sense….GOOD NEWS FOR YOU….. This is what the LORD says to adulteress Israel (after they had committed spiritual adultery with other gods) and this is what He says to us too!...

• Jeremiah 30:17 “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”

• Jeremiah 31:2-4 "… I will come to give rest to Israel." The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.”

• Only our Bridegroom can do something as fabulous as this for us!!!!!!

Song of Solomon 1:4a “Take me away with you—let us hurry…! (NIV)

KJV…“Draw me, we will run after thee…”

• This verse reminds me of a PROMISE in James 4:8 “DRAW NEAR to Me and I will draw near to you.”

• If we take the first steps toward God…He will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS draw near to us

• THIS IS A MAJOR STEP to intimacy with Jesus….He has to draw us FIRST then we have to RESPOND with everything we’ve got…RUNNING AFTER HIM!

• What are you running after? What is your consuming passion?

• When two people are deeply in love…they PURSUE each other with FEVERENCY…..don’t you remember when you were a teenager and the very FIRST SOMEONE that you really, really, really liked… and you wanted to spend every minute with them on the phone or just being in the same room….and you were PASSIONATE about it….even if your parents weren’t so thrilled…or they said that you were spending too much time with that person….you didn’t care…!!!!...THAT’S the type of passion we’re talking about!

• LOVE loves to be pursued and to pursue!!!

• It’s the excitement of FIRST LOVE!!!!! WOO! WOO! ….”take me away with you—let us hurry!”

• And then…you and your beloved touched, or shared a moment, or a look, or a smile….ANYTHING….remember the feeling of sheer ecstasy ????!!! …..THAT’S how Jesus feels when we pursue Him this way…and that’s how WE feel because He pursues us this way too!

• Notice also that the verse mentions RUNNING…

• Hebrews 12:1 says believers are to “RUN with endurance.”…not SITTING and chilling …but in ACTIVE PURSUIT!

• Notice the tense change from singular ”me” to plural “we”….as you RUN..others will run too…..

• King David got this…Psalm 51:12-13 “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. THEN I will teach TRANSGRESSORS Your ways, and SINNERS shall be converted.”

• Reminds me of a song by Misty Edwards….”we will run the race set before us…we will run, we will run, we will run…”

Song of Solomon 1:4b “Let the king bring me into his chambers.”

• The word “chamber” in Hebrew is “chedar” which is literally translated as INNER chamber….can you already see how WOW that it…all she did was ask him to take her away…to “draw her”” and he IMMEDIATELY took her into the INNER chambers…THAT’S how much He loves us and wants us near Him!!!!

• The INNER chamber is the place of intimate communion and fellowship….here the Bride is beginning to experience just how amazing He is…she is experiencing incredible fellowship and revelation of her Bridegroom

• Think a minute about what she is really saying…she is wanting a more intimate walk with Him…do you think she realizes that she will have to give up some things in order to go deeper?...after all…how could someone expect to go into the inner chambers and royal courts of the King and still hang on to the things of the world????

• He has to BE your King…the King of your life…before He will take you into His inner chambers!

• I kinda think that may be what 1 John 2:15-17 may be talking about when it says “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him…”….James even said it in a stronger way….get ready for this!...James 4:4 “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an ENEMY of God.”

• It takes great faith to do this!.....F.A.I.T.H….Forsaking All I Take Him

• It’s just like Psalm 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You!”

Song of Solomon 1:4c “We rejoice and delight in you; WE WILL praise your love more than wine.” The bride says, “How righty they are to adore you.”

• They understand that HIS LOVE is far better than “wine”, better than any gift…is that how we feel about Him?

• Do we seek His HAND or do we seek His FACE????

• Psalm 105:4 “Seek the Lord and His strength; to seek His FACE forevermore.”

• Is GOD Himself more important to you than all the gifts He could give you??

• Can you imagine that scene…lots of others …the “we” in this verse…who have apparently tasted of His love…they are all together talking about how much they adore Him….sounds kinda like a church service to me..where believers have come together to praise and love on Him!

• ADORE=to regard with deep, rapturous (ecstatic) love

Song of Solomon 1:5 “The bride says, “I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

• The original Hebrew uses the word “qedar” which means dark…and “naveh” which means beautiful or comely (as some translations use)

• This is NOT a racial statement saying that dark skin is not attractive…

• DARKNESS is the absence of light…..we are all ‘dark” in our sin…but lovely to God when we turn to Him

• Can you only imagine how the Shulamite woman felt…she had just caught a glimpse of her Beloved and in all His AMAZINGNESS…she looked at herself and realized how plain and ordinary and DARK she is…This DARKNESS has always been there, but this is the first time she is realizing it, and she is only realizing it now because of her time spent with the King!...How could she ever attract someone like Him?...BUT she IS accepted by Him…so in the next breath, she says that she is lovely…

• It’s just like when we get a glimpse of Jesus…we realize just how dark…how sinful we are….How could we ever attract Him????.....then we think of his blood being poured out for us…washing us whiter than snow!.....dark, but lovely!

• She is HUMBLED…

• ...listen to how she goes on about herself…(remember…this is where the Cinderella story comes from….in the natural, remember that we talked about how her father had died and it was her family’s job to tend the King’s vineyards. Her brothers made her do all the hard outside work…therefore, she was very tanned…Cinderella was covered in cinders…ashes…)

• Listen also, how she is passing the blame off to her relatives…and at the same time, she is now understanding and seeing her mistake…her sin…of not keeping her vineyard

Song of Solomon 1:5-6a “Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards…”

• THE TENTS OF KEDAR… Kedar is the second son of Ishmael. Kedar was a nomadic Arabian tribe living in tents made of skins from their herds of black goats….they were big time UGLY…this symbolizes US in our natural sinful state

• TENT CURTAINS OF SOLOMON: Solomon’s palace was some kind of major extravagant…and so was the temple he built for God…art and dazzling jewels all over the curtains…major beautiful stuff…this symbolizes Christ in all His righteousness, covering us

• So these two things were a huge contrast to each other…just like her statement…”I am dark, yet lovely”….just like us, as believers…dark from sin, yet lovely through the Blood of Christ

• 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse is from all unrighteousness.”

• God sees us as LOVELY in the righteousness of Christ!!!

• Notice also that she REVIEWS HER PAST life to explain why she is so tanned…..she is realizing her sin…she is HUMBLING herself before Him…in the LIGHT of Him and her experience with Him, she is now seeing the error of her ways…

•

Song of Solomon 1:6b-7 “…my own vineyard I have neglected. Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze (feed) your flock and where you rest your sheep at MIDDAY. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends.”

• Can’t you just hear her crying out…because she realizes…that she has been so busy with other things that she has lost sight of where her Beloved is and where He goes during the day…

• We have to be careful that we don’t get so “busy” doing even good things…that we neglect “our own vineyard”…our own time in the inner chambers with Jesus…

• Deuteronomy 32:9 declares that WE ARE HIS PORTION!!!!....” For the LORD's portion is his people…”SO…..don’t get so caught up in STUFF…that you don’t give to Him what is HIS!!!

• Just this small encounter with Him has made her realize just how UNFULFILLED her spiritual life has been

• EX: It totally reminds me of how I used to be at another church I served at…I poured myself into the “service” of God…doing all kinds of “good things” to be sure the ministry ran great…BUT, I did not ever spend any time on my PERSONAL relationship (my vineyard) with Him…..not a good thing AT ALL!

• Mark 8:36 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

• She asks him where he “rests his flocks at midday”….midday, or noon…symbolizes the hottest part of the day…that’s when Satan tries to BURN US OUT and DRY US UP spiritually….she knows that only her Lover can really protect her during the MIDDAY…

• Psalm 23:2-3 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me besides the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the ‘paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

• She then says she doesn’t want to wander around the “flocks” of others….she is LONGING for HIM and only HIM!

• She is looking for FOOD and REST….she has realized that “tending the vineyards”…or DOING WORKS that man wants us to do…may not exactly what the Lord is wanting…WE are His portion…He wants to SPEND TIME with US!!!

• Jesus said in John 4:34 that "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”……so THAT is to be our FOOD too…

• How do we know what the WILL OF GOD is for us…? We ASK Him!... Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground”

• SO we see that the Bride doesn’t give up…..she is beginning to wake up!!!!!....She is realizing her SELFISHNESS…she is realizing her UNSURRENDERED WILL…She is asking Him where He is, where He hangs out…cause she wants to be right there with Him

• How is He going to respond to that…after all, He had allowed her to have intimate fellowship with Him…and she got focused on all kinds of other things and didn’t leave much time for Him at all….How would He respond to that????

• The wildness of it all is the fact of how the Beloved responds…

• HE IS JUST SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!

Song of Solomon 1:8a “If you do not know, most beautiful of women…”

• WOW and WOW….Look what He calls her…most beautiful of women”….That means that He sees her as BEAUTIFUL and PURE in His sight….which is exactly how God sees us once we’ve been justified by the blood of His Son!...we may not feel so lovely…but that’s how God see’s us…LOVELY!

• He also didn’t get all bent out of shape because she didn’t know where He was…He is SO OVERJOYED that she wants Him…His eyes are focused on her because she wants him…..

• Do you get it!!!?....THAT is how He sees us…..when we look for Him…when we desire Him…we are MOST BEAUTIFUL to Him….O how He loves us!….Can you imagine what it does to Him when He sees our love for HIM????!!!!!

• Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Song of Solomon 1: 8b“… follow the tracks (footsteps) of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.”

• Do you see how He didn’t give her A DIRECT ANSWER…

• She had asked him where he goes during the day and he tells her to “follow the tracks of the sheep”…

• He wants us to SEEK AFTER HIM…

• Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with ALL your heart.”

• He is saying for her to go find those that have signs of being with Him and she will find Him there too!...can you see how important it is to live the life He wants us to live…..?.....others are to follow us!

• Hebrews 6:12 “Do not become sluggish, but IMITATE those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

• The GOATS or KIDS (as some versions say) are the “immature believers”…..as we are seeking for food and rest…we are not to forget that we have a duty to those who are more immature than we are

• We are to “feed them” near the tents of the shepherds…in other words, stay near to those who truly believe and follow…be AWARE of what’s going on

• SO, for today…..let’s leave our young maiden there….beginning to seek after food and rest….realizing her selfishness and darkness after being with her Beloved… knowing she has neglected her own vineyard and knowing she needs to do something about it. She knows she is loved beyond her wildest dreams…BUT is she willing to surrender her will TOTALLY to be led by the one who loves her soul???? She is still very immature herself…and very caught up in herself…she knows she is to lead others to Him…but will she?

• She knows she has a “vineyard problem”….just as we know that sometimes we have “vineyard problems” too…BUT if we will just SURRENDER our WILL…our Bridegroom has awesome promises for us…

• Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE OF GOD which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

• John 14:27 “PEACE I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. DO not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

• Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”

• THE KISS of PEACE……the kiss of our Bridegroom…the exchanging of our souls…the sealing of the marriage covenant…the equipping us with weapons…the intimacy that we desire…the revelation of The Word and the Spirit…………”let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth”

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