Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
From time to time I get some responses to these devotionals. I am not soliciting responses, but it is good to hear that people are reading them and they are being helped by them. Sometimes I also get those who do not agree with me. In a free country there is room for agreement and there is room for disagreement. The important factor is to be sure you have a Biblical basis for disagreement. So far those who have disagreed have not shown a Biblical basis for their disagreement. People can have opinions however opinions do not supersede Truth.
God tells us that He:
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
In our small town we have a United church and a Catholic church. Both of them teach heresy and their leaders are man chosen and man centred. God chooses pastors who will honour Him. Jesus warned:
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
I John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
The devil does not want the truth known. Bill-C9 is being pushed by our current government to try to silence truth. A country that assumes it can tell God what to do is a very weak and unstable country. There are other countries besides Canada that think they can tell God what is good and they are more restrictive than Canada currently is. However, Canada is headed in the wrong direction.
In our study of the Song of Solomon, God used the illustration of a marriage to speak of the significance of the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not talking about Mormonism which claims to be the truth. Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the Head of His church. When we submit to His Headship, we can begin to know the blessings that He illustrated in our current study.
In verses 2-5 the groom is away and the bride is asleep in bed, but she is awakened by his arrival back home. We see here that the bride is not sleeping very deeply. She hears her groom knocking at the door. He is asking her to open the door to him. He does not have the key. She has the ability to open the door. In the book of the Revelation we read that Jesus was standing at the door of the church of the Laodiceans and knocking to gain entrance. Jesus does not give a shoulder check to the door to break in. He knocks and wants His child/ren to open the door to Him.
John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Jesus knew the disciples were fearful at that time and needed to be comforted. That was a unique situation. Today, true saints might be fearful as well, but we do not need to be. In our text, the issue is not fear, but just separation. The groom has arrived home, he has washed his feet and taken off his coat. It sounds like it was wet outside and he does not want to put his wet coat back on. He wants to come into the warm house and be with his bride.
In verse 5 we see that the bride is not resisting him. She hurried to the door. She was ready to welcome him home. Whatever the occasion, there is no hesitancy on her part to let him in. She is prepared to welcome him home. She is not grumpy because he woke her out of sleep. She is sweet and welcoming. In a godly relationship there is that love between the man and his wife that is encouraging. We can let our emotions run with us, but if we are saved we need to give our emotions to God’s control and then things will work well.
In verses 6-9 we see that for whatever reason the groom was not at the door when the bride opened it to him. Something distracted him and took him away from the door. She was not content to let this lie. She went out to look for him. She longed to have him with her. She went out into the streets looking for him. Because it was nighttime, the watchmen did not recognize her and they assumed she was a strange woman up to no good. They manhandled her and wounded her. In a proper city, there is order. The watchmen seek to keep people safe. There is not the disorder as we are hearing of from Brown University. There is so much disorder there and there also seems to be an effort to hide some of the facts. That area was against law and order prior to this tragic event and they cannot get it together even now. They are trying to tell people it is safe and there is no danger to anyone and yet the killer is still on the loose. How can anyone have confidence in such ineptitude?
In God’s economy there is order. In His church there is order. There is no room for lawlessness. His Word is supreme.
In verse 9 we read that the daughters of Jerusalem wonder why this bride is so taken up with her groom. Was he not just another man? They obviously do not understand the nature of true love. The hearts of the man and the woman are knit together in a true marriage. There is a genuine care for one another. It is not a matter of finding some freedom from the other person. It is a matter of seeking to make every moment together precious and sweet. As in our text, there is an understanding that the groom will need to leave for work, but there is also that anticipation that he will be back in the evening and the evenings and nights will be precious.
In the spiritual sense, we know that Jesus left this earth in Acts 1. The angels promised the disciples:
Acts 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
True saints are mindful of the fact that Jesus Christ is coming back soon. We are not just looking for an escape from the wickedness that is all round us and abounding. We want to be with our loving Saviour and Lord. We groan in that we want to see others come to know God’s peace in these days of grace. However, we are also looking forward to the Lord’s return. Thus we are careful to be ready for His coming, whether that be through death or through the “rapture”. Either way, we are looking forward to His soon return.
If you are not ready to meet the Lord today, you can be. You can turn to God in repentance and know His peace in your heart today. He loves you and wants you to know His peace and blessing. Don’t miss out on the greatest gift man could ever know — eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel
