Song of Solomon Verse by Verse Exposition

[Jordan Kurecki]

Seeing that I recieved positive feedback from some of my notes on Song of Solomon, I have decided to make this thread where I will periodically post bits and pieces of my verse by verse exposition, I pray that the Lord will use this to encourage you and strengthen you all:

Song of Solomon Commentary

 

Introduction

Song of Solomon is a book that is sadly most often neglected, and one that I have hardly heard preaching or teaching on. I was lead to ask the Lord why he had inspired it. I then set out to do a 6 month study on the book to figure out what it's spiritual value was, and I find Song of Solomon to be a deep well of water, which brings refreshment to the soul. According to Charles Spurgeon the Gospels are like the outer courts of the temple, the Epistles are likened to the inner court, but Song of Solomon is likened to the Holy of Holies. I do very much agree with Spurgeon on this statement, the spiritual minded reader will find a vast revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to his soul. Spurgeon said that the problem with many believers who read the book is that they have a carnal veil over their heart. Song of Solomon does have very vivid and intense imagery, and sadly many miss the great spiritual purpose of the book because of a mind that is not yet renewed and transformed.

The writer of the book is Solomon as seen in the opening verse. The book is a love song showing the dialogue between a woman (The Shulamite) and the Shepherd King (Solomon). It has pleased out Lord to use their dialogue and their love to be a deep picture of the relationship between God and the individual believer, as well as picturing in general Israel and Jehovah, as well as Christ and the Church. When you see “my love” that is the name Solomon uses when addressing the woman, and when you see “my beloved” that is the name the woman uses to address Solomon.

We know in the scriptures that marriage pictures Christ and the Church.

Ephesians 5:22-32 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Chiefly, the theme of Song of Solomon is our union and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Jn 1:3-4 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Through studying and thinking about communion with our Lord, one cannot help but think of the Lord's Supper:

1Co 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup

The Lord's Supper is to be a time where one examines his walk with the Lord, and to evaluate his fellowship with Christ. This is something that the Song of Solomon will help us with. It is my request that the Lord Jesus would use this commentary to draw us into a deeper and closer relationship with him.

 

Song of Solomon 1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

We see here, that this is not only a song, but it is the song OF SONGS. This is similar to idea of the Holy of Holies, or literally in the Hebrew Holiest Holy. What could be a greater song than the song one sings from a heart that has had sin cleansed from it by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ? Consider some other scriptures:

 

Psalm 33:1-3 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

 

Psalm 149:1 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

 

Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

 

What a Song the believer who is in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ has! We have much to sing about as believers: forgiveness of sins! A promised state of future glorification! Access to the throne of grace by prayer! The list could go on and on. As believers we have so much to sing about, and we should be a singing people. I would encourage you to make it a habit of singing hymns to the Lord often. The singing of songs to the Lord is something that every believer has the privilege and command of doing. I cannot tell how many times my own weary heart was lifted to the heavenlies by the singing of some familiar hymn.

 

Ephesians_5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Colossians_3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Contrast the song we as believers have with the songs of the world. This world has nothing to sing about except that which is vain and meaningless. They sing of their lust, and their sensuality, and they seem to have so much enjoyment. It is interesting to note the placement of Song of Solomon in our bibles as being right after Ecclesiastes. Consider Ecclesiastes 2:1-11:

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

See also Psalm 73.

 

The unbelievers live in their idolatry, their fornication, their deceit, and they have their fill of the sinful pleasures of this world, and they sing about it too, but all that they have leaves them empty and unsatisfied, and eventually drags their soul to hell. My friend, you who were once in bondage to sin, with no help in this world, are redeemed! Do you remember that pains of sin? Do you remember the darkness that filled your soul? The anxiety? The fear of hell? You are now saved! Jesus has deliverd you! You are now no longer under condemnation! Surely we who have riches in Christ have a far better reason to sing! So sing to the Lord and worship God in song dear believer!

 

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

 

A kiss is defined by Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary as a token of affection. Surely God daily gives us tokens of his affection. God blessed us with so much. Food to eat, clothes to wear, a place to rest one's head at night, family to love and care for us. Can anyone of us really say that God has not “kissed” us? He has given us his Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and to comfort us. He has given us other believers to fellowship with. He has given us the Holy Scriptures. The list could go on and on. My dear friend has God “kissed” you even today? I'm sure you do not have to take long to think about the blessings God has given you even today.

 

The greatest token of his love was when God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. We who were wicked and ungodly and enemies of God, we who were sinners in rebellion against God, it is we who God sent the perfect spotless lamb of God to die on the cross and pay the penalty for our sin!

What a kiss!

 

The love of our Lord Jesus Christ is here described as being better than wine. The wine here described is not alcoholic wine, but unfermented fruit of the vine, or grape juice. Wine is a picture of joy in the scriptures and the idea is that the love of Jesus Christ is better than any pleasure or joy this world has to offer. Of course we can also apply it to the sinful pleasures of this world, nothing does indeed surpass the Love of Christ, nothing on this earth can satisfy man's heart like the Lord Jesus Christ. Man has a God sized hole in his heart, that he tries to fill with sexual lust, money, materialism, fame, etc. But none of these things can satisfy him. (refer back to Ecclesiastes 2:1-11).

 

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

 

Some ways that the love of Christ is better:

 

1. the Love of Christ is free

 

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3:24 tells us that we are justified freely by his grace. The Love of Christ is FREE. Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin, and his love is a FREE gift. In order to have sins forgiven and to experience the love of Christ, all one has to do is to receive eternal life by believing and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as savior. We are all sinners who owe a great wage of death; We have lied, stolen, lusted, manipulated, hated, gossiped, envied, and a whole list of other things. Jesus Christ chose to die on the cross for our wicked sins. And even though we have committed wicked sins, he still chose to show his love toward us. My friend if you are not saved, please read no further, repent of your sin, and turn to Christ and ask him to forgive you and to save your wretched soul! Then you will truly say “Thy Love is Better than wine”

 

Consider the words of a hymn I wrote based on this verse:

 

“I said in my heat, go after pleasure, I said in my heart, go after wine, I made me great works, I gathered me gold, then I looked on my works and said.. Behold, all is vanity vexing my spirit, all is shallow and leaves me a hole, in my heart I am empty and nothing can fill me, but then I heard him say:

 

Come drink of this water and you'll never thirst, come eat of this bread today, and then you will gladly say.. thy love is better than wine, thy love is better than wine, now I sing for my soul's satisfied,thy love is better than wine.

 

There's pleasure in sin,but only for a season, it might be fun for a while,but it will leave you empty and broken, and will drag your soul to hell.

 

Come drink of this water and you'll never thirst, come eat of this bread today, and then you will gladly say.. thy love is better than wine, thy love is better than wine, now I sing for my soul's satisfied,thy love is better than wine.

 

My Jesus is fair and he is pleasant, his name as ointment poured forth, he is lovely altogether, is my Jesus to me.

 

Come drink of this water and you'll never thirst, come eat of this bread today, and then you will gladly say.. thy love is better than wine, thy love is better than wine, now I sing for my soul's satisfied,thy love is better than wine.

 

Now he who is thirsty come drink of him freely, your sins he will wash them away, and new life he will give you today..for his love is better than wine.

 

Come drink of this water and you'll never thirst, come eat of this bread today, and then you will gladly say.. thy love is better than wine, thy love is better than wine, now I sing for my soul's satisfied,thy love is better than wine”

 

Contrast this with the wine of this world, even now many have lost all they have due to the destructive and consuming nature of alcohol. Many people spend everything they have trying to chase after the pleasures of this world, and eventually it cost them their soul. My friends hell is a real place, burning with real fire, with real people. That is what the cost is for the wine this world offers you. The wages of sins death, and the soul that sinneth shall die. Surely the love of Christ is better than your sin!

 

2. His love can be enjoyed with a clean conscience and without disgust

 

Many today carry a weight of guilty over their choice of pleasures. Some no doubt feel disgust about the lifestyles they live, yet they are powerless to deliver themselves from their sin. The love of Christ will never bring that kind of condemnation and disgust. The love of Christ is pure and rich! One never is sorry for the times he dwells and enjoys the love of Christ!

 

 

 

3. His love will never turn sour.

 

A lifetime of drug use will often result in mental and physical disease. A lifetime of prostitution will lead to disease. Living in fornication often produces unplanned babies and brings untold sorrows. A lifetime of crime often results in prison time. Ultimately sin results in eternal damnation. The scriptures tell us that there is pleasure in sin for a season, and that God is not mocked and that whatever a man sows, he will also reap. How much better he love of Christ! A lifetime of serving Jesus results in everlasting life and eternal rewards!

 

Consider the warning in scripture about this world's wine:

 

Pro 23:29-32 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

 

In scriptures wine is used as picture of healing. The Good Samaritan poured wine into the wound of the traveler. The love of Jesus is greater because it heals out spirit. We who were wicked and cursed by sin, are made whole by the love of Christ through the shedding of his blood. I must note that wine comes from a wine press; grapes were gathered and placed into a large press, where they were then trampled upon by foot, until the precious juice flowed out. Oh what a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ who was mocked, whipped, beated, and nailed to a wooden cross. Our saviour was trampled upon by our sins, but when his body was broken for us, his precious sin cleansing blood flowed freely from his wounds! We are told that it is by this precious blood that we have redemption! My friends his love is better than wine!

 

“ the sweetness to us was when we realized Christ's personal love, when at last we were brought to the foot of the cross, humbly confessing our sins. May I ask you who can do so to go back to that happy moment? There you lay at the foot of the cross, broken in pieces, and you thought there was no hope for you; but you looked up to the crucified Christ, and those blessed wounds of his began to pour out a stream of precious blood upon you, an you saw that he was wounded for your transgressions, that he was bruised for your iniquities, that the chastisement of your peace was upon him, and with his stripes you were healed. That very instant, your sins were all put away; you gave one look of faith to the bleeding Saviour, and every spot and speck and stain of your sin were all removed, and your guilt was forever pardoned.”

 

Song of Solomon 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

 

Here we see the name of Christ pictured as ointment, ointments today are used for healing, and the name of Christ surely brings healing. Luke 24:47 tells us that repentance and remission of should be preached in his name among all nations. The scriptures tell us every knee shall bow at his name.

 

Consider the Song:

 

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, There's just something about that name

Master, Saviour, Jesus, like a fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there's something about that name”

 

“Jesus the mere mention of his name, can calm the storm, heal the broken and raise the dead, at the name of Jesus hatred and bitterness turn to love and forgiveness, arguments cease, at the name of Jesus, I've seen sin hardened men melted, derelicts transformed, the lights of hope put back into the eyes of hopeless child, I've sat at the bed side of dying saint, her body racked with pain, who in those final fleeting seconds, summoned her last ounce of ebbing strength to whisper earth's sweetest name: Jesus.. Emperors have tried to destroy it, philosophies have tried to stamp it out, tyrants have tried to wash it from the face of the earth with the very blood of those who claimed it, yet still it stands, there shall be that final day , that day when ever voice of Adam's race, every voice that has ever uttered a sound shall raise in one great mighty chorus to proclaim the name of Jesus, you see it was not mere coincidence that caused the angel one night long ago, to say to a virgin maiden, his name shall be called Jesus, Jesus, There really is something about that name.” -R.B. Oullette

 

Surely the name of Jesus is something we should cherish.

 

The last phrase of the verse tells us that the virgins love him. This speaks of purity, those who love Jesus are the ones who have been cleansed by his blood, those who Jesus has washed and made clean.

Jesus reproved Simon for his condemning thoughts about Jesus as he let a wicked vile woman wash his feet with her tears and her hair, Jesus had said that whoever is forgiven much, loves much. So it is today, it is those who have been forgiven and cleansed and received the purity and righteousness of Christ reckoned to their account, who love Christ the most. Those who do not love Christ have not been cleansed and forgiven.

 

Song of Solomon 1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

 

Draw me: this should often be the prayer of our hearts, that the Lord Jesus Christ would draw us closer to him, that we would be brought into a more intimate communion with him. The next phrase says “we will run after thee”. One of the chiefest ways to tell whether one has been brought into communion with God and Christ is to look to see if a person is walking in obedience towards God:

 

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

 

The above passage does not teach that following Christ and obeying him saves us, but it teaches us that “faith without works is dead”. One who truly has believed on Christ and been saved will show evidences of it by obeying and following Christ. Many people today claim the Lord Jesus as their savior, yet they still live in sins like fornication, drug use, false religion, etc. Often times many will claim the Lord Jesus as their savior, and then they will argue with you about what the scriptures says about certain activities being sin or not. Many times these people do not “run after” the Lord because they have never been drawn by the Spirit of God and been brought to repentance.

 

“The King hath brought me into his chambers”- What a beautiful picture here we have of what God does in salvation, we who had been separated by our sins, have been reconciled to God the father through the Lord Jesus:

 

Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 

One is reminded of the disease of leprosy, lepers has to be put out of the camp, lest they infect others. The Leper had to cry “Unclean, Unclean!”. What has happened to us who are saved, is that we who were vile sinners, have been brought from the outside of the camp into the Holy of Holies! We have been brought from the condemnation of sin into the close communion and fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. We have been brought into the inner chambers and we now have access to God!

 

Because of this, it is only fitting that we should “Be glad and rejoice in thee”. How can we not be glad and rejoice when God has brought us from such depths of sin and depravity into his glorious light! Praise the Lord and glory to his wonderful name!

We are then told, that “we will remember thy love more than wine”. The love of Jesus is something we must constantly put ourselves in remembrance into. Consider the picture we get from Ezekiel:

 

Ezekiel 16:5-9 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread

my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant

with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

 

Ezekiel 16:22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

 

Sadly oftentimes, we forget the love of Jesus, we leave our first love, and we then begin to commit spiritual adultery against our Lord. May we constantly be reminding ourselves and meditating upon the great love our savior has towards us.

 

The upright love thee- Again we see the idea that those who are pure and who are walking in obedience are the ones who love Christ the most. Jesus said “if ye love me keep my commandments.”

One thinks of the children's song:

 

“Obedience is the very best way, to show that you believe, doing exactly as the Lord commands, doing it happily”

 

Song of Solomon 1:5-6 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

 

We see here the woman proclaiming the darkness of her skin, this pictures greatly the sin nature we have. When Adam sinned in the garden, his nature become corrupted, and that sin nature is passed onto us. This sin nature is described as being at enmity with God, or being an enemy of God. It is this sin nature that causes us to rebel and sin against God, it is why we lie, cheat, steal, fornicate, murder, rape, gossip and a whole multitude of other sins we do not have time to mention. The sun here that looks upon us is a picture of the world the flesh and the devil, after a period of time, the effects of these on our being becomes obvious, and the longer we allow these influence to control us, the worse condition we become.

 

Consider some passages showing our sinfulness:

 

Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

 

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 

Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

 

Rom 3:10-18 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Destruction and misery are in their ways:

And the way of peace have they not known:

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

Sometime as believers, we can become much too focused upon the reality of our sin nature, and Satan

uses that to be a means of causing us to fall into sin. But later on a few chapters later it is said “thou art

all fair, love; there is no spot in thee.” Jesus has cleansed us from our sin, just as Isaiah was cleansed by the coal of the altar, we have been cleansed by Christ; sin has no more dominion over us!

 

We see here a statement about the woman not keeping her own vineyard, this speaks to us of the fact that all have sinned and that there is none who is good. We who are humans often hold others in such high standards, fail if we are to apply those same standards to ourselves. Consider some passages:

 

Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

 

Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

 

We must be careful that we do not focus on the sins of the others, to the point that we excuse or overlook our own. This is not to mean that cannot warn others when they are in sin, but it means that we must have the right attitude and must stay humble. It also speaks of how we cannot be a help to others, while we have known unconfessed sin in our own hearts and lives.

 

Song of Solomon 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

 

Here the bride's desire is for the one “whom my soul loveth”. Truly Jesus Christ is the one whom our souls long after. We know that man is not only a physical being, but he is a spiritual being. God created Adam and breathed into him the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul. The bride here is desiring for her lover, so she asks where he was feeding his sheep. The word “feedest” carries with it the idea of a shepherding one's flock. We know in the scriptures that Christ is the “Good Shepherd”. Let us read Psalm 23:

 

Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

 

Here the woman desires not to be turned aside to the flocks of her lovers companions, she desires his presence. Oh that we would not be content to be turned aside to ministers of Christ, and miss the presence of Christ himself.

 

Son 1:8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

 

Since Christ is a shepherd, it seems only natural that one would find him where there are those doing the work of Shepherding. We know that God has given to the church Pastors, which are the undershepherds of the flock of God which he has purchased with his own blood. It is fitting that if one is to find the one “whom my soul loveth” that among the Church of God, or the Shepherd's tents, one would find him. Jesus said that were two or three are gathered in his name, there he is in the midst of them. It is impossible to have a deep, intimate relationship with Christ while ignoring the fellowship of the saints in the Local church. Often times I have had people try to tell me that they can have a relationship with God and worship him at home apart from the local church. This is error and falsehood! We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together according to Hebrews 10:25! My friend, if you feel the desire in your heart for him whom your soul loves, do not forsake the assembling of God's people together. Often the presence of Christ is manifested in real way in the assembly of God's redeemed people.

 

But notice also that we are to go and feed the kids besides the Shepherd's tent. This means we are to take our part in the ministry, we are to take our part in preaching the gospel to “every creature”. When after Simon Peter stated his love for our Lord after his resurrection, Christ response was to “Feed my Sheep”. One can never know the fullness of the presence of “him whom my soul loveth” without being involved in gospel service. Not all are called to be pastors or missionaries, but ALL are called to the ministry of the gospel. Do YOU labor for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Perhaps God wants you in some sort of ministry, he has laid on your heart some type of service for him, and you have refused. Is it any wonder that you feel yourself so detached from the one who alone can satisfy your hungry soul? Is it any marvel that you find yours life so dull and dreary? Repent at once my dear friend and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents!

 

Son 1:9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

 

It is said of the Horses of Pharaohs chariots that they were well trained and obedient horses. The implication here could possibly be that the woman responded positively to her charge to feed the kids beside the shepherds' tents. The sense here then would be that Christ takes notice of us when we serve him, and it is a wonderful thing to him to see us labor for him. Christ is not quick to forget our labor of love for him

Edited October 11, 2015 by Jordan Kurecki

[Alan]

Thank you for the expostion of the Song of Solomon. We do appreciate your work and labor of love. Please continue.

Alan

[Jordan Kurecki]

 

Song of Solomon 1:10-11 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

Here we see Christ praising the believer for certain outward adornings that are precious. We are reminded here of the work of Christ in the believers life after salvation. A few important verses to consider:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

 

When Christ saves an individual, works are not done for salvation according to Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5, but the believer is saved UNTO good works. Many people cast stones at the doctrine of salvation by faith or in the doctrine of eternal security. But the truth is that when Christ saves someone, he sanctifies them, he changes them from glory to glory. We get the idea from Song of Solomon 1:6 was just a simple vineyard keeper, but her beloved (Picturing Chris) wants to adorn her with gold and silver, picturing royalty. This speaks of our adoption, before we ask Christ to save us, we are in our sins, we are trying to cover ourselves with filthy rags, but when Christ saves us, we adopted into the family of God, truly a royal family indeed! It is the same as the prodigal son, who spent all his father's substance and came to him with nothing, and then the father killed the fatted calf and put the best robe upon him. When we are saved Christ gives us of his Holy Spirit, who works in and us and will continue to perform it until the day of Christ. Our text also speaks of the glories we shall see in heaven, we think of the mansions promised in John 14, we also think of the new bodies we are going to have mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15 at the resurrection. Notice also the “we” of vs 11, We know this is speaking of the Trinity, all three persons of the Godhead are working in us, to produce blessings and adornment on our lives for the glory of God. Praise the Lord for the wonderful truth that Christ is working in our lives. This also leads us to remind ourselves that are only filthy wretched and vile sinners, that we are what we are SOLELY by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have no room to boast, no motive to be proud, no reason to be so strongly condemning of others, we but simply and humbly thank God for the grace he has worked in our hearts, and pray for him to do his work in others. 

Edited October 17, 2015 by Jordan Kurecki

[Alan]

"adornment and blessings."

Thank you very much for your exposition. The work of the Lord Jesus, the Father and the Spirit, in our lives is wonderful and precious.

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

1:12-17

 

Song of Songs 1:12 KJV

[12] While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

 

We know that shortly after our Lord's resurrection, he ascended up to heaven, where the scriptures tell us that he is seated at the right hand of his father, and where he lis now at this time making intercession for us. The scriptures tell us in the book of Ephesians that we are now at this moment seated with Christ in heavenly places. One spiritual application of this text is that our lives should be as spikenard to God, that is we should live lives now on this earth, that would be a precious fragrance in his nostrels. I ask dear child of God, what kind of fragrance is your life at this moment giving to The Lord? Though at times we may fail our Lord, I do believe we can also find consolation in that ultimately we have the righteousness and sweet smelling fragrance of Christ attributed to our account, happy are we who realize that Christ's sacrifice for us was a sweet smelling savor to our God, Praise The Lord that our sins are covered with the perfect holiness of The Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Song of Songs 1:13 KJV

[13] A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

 

To those who are married this verse is more easily understood. 2 things seen in this verse that are both interrelated: the myrrh signifies the pleasures and joys of being in communion and fellowship with The Lord Jesus Christ, the latter phrase "he shall lie all night betwixt my breast" is simply one expressing the intimacy or closeness of the bride to her lover. The picture here is what ought to be a living reality between Christ and us his church. We should find pleasure, joy, and comfort in our relationship with him, and this can only be found through intimacy with him. How close are you my friend to The Lord at this moment? One of the saddest things today amongst Christians is the allowing of worldly and carnal entertainments to draw us away from God. Many a Christian will make excuse and argue to defend their choice of entertainment and engagements.. sadly to the same extend they argue for their worldly comforts, to that same extent do they lose the comfort of the saviour.  

 

Song of Songs 1:14 KJV

[14] My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.

 

Here we see Christ compared to a cluster of camphire, camphire is a plant, the Arabs refer to it as the Henna plant. It is often used for staining the hands and nails as a cosmetic, as well as used to produce perfume. The meaning of the Hebrew word "koper" translated camphire in our verse is most interesting. The word "koper" in the hebrew means a ransom or a bribe. For the spiritually minded student of the scripture this is certainly a "aha" moment as we ponder how the death of our Lord Jesus Christ was exactly that, he paid our "wages of sin" he was our ransom when he shed his blood on the cross. not only that, but we are told in the book of Revelation that we are washed in his blood from our sins, and in we are told elsewhere that we have redemption through his blood. This brings us back to the idea of camphire being used to the stain the hands. Once we are saved, we are permanently stained by the blood of Christ, in the eyes of God our sins are washed away, they are covered by the blood of Christ, just like the stain from the camphire leaves covered the natural color and tone of the fingernails, so the blood of Christ covers our Adamic nature and overshadows this sinful flesh that we have. 

 

Song of Songs 1:15 KJV

[15] Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

 

Note that the same woman who said of herself "look not upon me", is the very same woman Christ says "thou art all fair". It is a great thing to know that the blackness of our heart does not affect Christ's love toward us. While i do reject the modern psychology concept of self-esteem, that being the idea of trying to have self esteem apart from dealing with the reality of sin and reconciling our relationship to God, at the same time it is clear to me that we as the bride of Christ are valuable to him, we do in fact have worth in the sight of God, not that we have any worth in ourselves, but that God himself has chosen to give us value, because of his love for us. Our value is not based on our own goodness or our own graces, but our value is based on the will and character of the sovereign God, we are a creation of God and we have been redeemed by God and the scripture tell us that we are "accepted in the beloved".  I would also like to draw you attention to the phrase "thou hast doves eyes": We know that at the baptism of Jesus the spirit of God descended upon him in the form of a dove. the application here is that Christ is most satisfied when we have spiritual eyes, that is when we are spiritually minded:

 

Colossians 3:1-2 KJV

[1] If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. [2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

 

Matthew 6:19-21 KJV

[19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: [20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: [21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Christ wants us to be spiritually minded, to be focused on the eternal things. Because the spiritual and eternal things are chiefly the things of Christ, Christ is the essence of the spiritual and the eternal. Christ wants our eyes upon him. Many know the great hymn "turn your eyes upon Jesus", Where are your eyes believer" is your focus on Christ? or has the world taken you with it's petty distractions?

 

Song of Songs 1:16 KJV

[16] Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

 

Now the speaker has shifted back to the bride, she calls her beloved fair. and is not Christ the fairest of ten thousand? Will you not take a few moments to now to consider the beauties of The Lord Jesus? The scriptures tell us to "consider him" lest we be wearied and faint in our minds. We then see their bed is proclaimed and called green. The bed chiefly is a place of intimacy and but also a place of conception, the word green refers to something flourishing, as well as to plant growth and life,We can draw a couple applications from these two words "bed" and "green". One how is your fellowship with God? would you say it's green and flourishing, or would you say it's growing stagnant? Are you in intimate fellowship with Christ? or have you long been far away from the marriage bed in your relation with Christ? The other idea is have you been fruitful for Christ? In the marriage bed, the natural fruit from intimacy is conception. When we are in fellowship with Christ, spiritual fruit should be the natural result. Perhaps when I asked how is your fellowship with Christ you're response was "quite well", in response I would ask, what fruit do you have? Do you have peace? Joy? Do you have a passion and burden for reaching and telling lost sinners about the good news that Christ died for their sins? Do you love the word of God and do you make it your constant refuge? Do you spend time praying? How is your fruit?

 

Song of Songs 1:17 KJV

[17] The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

 

We see here that the beams of their house were made of cedar, cedar was considered prime construction material in those times, This speaks of building our lives and our families upon the word of God, rather than exposit, I would like to point to two passages of scripture:

 

Matthew 7:24-27 KJV

[24] Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: [25] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. [26] And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: [27] And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

 

Joshua 24:15 KJV

[15] And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord , choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .

 

Christian friend, are you building your life on the word of God? Are you building your family on the word of God? What kind of emphasis does the word of God hold in your own life?is it simply something you read for 5 minutes in the morning and forget about? or is the word of God truly a part of you? consider:

 

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 KJV

[6] And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: [7] And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. [8] And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. [9] And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

 

How is your "house" doing? Do you really consider your house to be "our house" meaning do you realize that your family, and your life not really yours, but belongs to The Lord as well?