May 18
Reading: Song of Solomon 2
1 I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.
At the center of a good love life is marriage. At the heart of a good marriage is communication. For communication to take place you have to say things. Good communication is made up of saying good things. Therefore, to love a person to whom you are married you must learn to say good things.
Therefore, we have the example of the Song of Solomon.
Do not nag. Do not belittle. Do not complain. I have seen 60-year-old marriages where husband and wife have never learned to say good things to their spouse. It is never too late to learn to praise the one whom God has given you. The Lord wants you to do so. It is His command. (Ephesians 5:21-33)
The first six verses of chapter 2 continue the conversation from the first chapter, with the woman speaking verses 3-6 in response to her lover’s words of verse 2. What an image! “His banner over me was love.”
In verses 7-9 the woman describes how her husband awakens love in her. It is his words that do it, followed by his enthusiastic presence. In verses 10-15 the wife is quoting what her husband says about her. In the final two verses she rests in the relationship in which they possess one another.
It is important to notice in this chapter just how powerful a husband’s words are in the life of his wife. His words give her security. They define her. In the best marriage, a wife learns to see herself through the loving eyes of her husband, just as we all learn to see ourselves through the loving eyes of Jesus.
Men, what do you say to your wife? There are a lot of things you can try to do in this world with your time. Most of those things are of only passing value. Why not make your wife feel like the most precious and beautiful person that you’ve ever seen? That lasts forever.