Pastor Nate continues our study through the Bible in the book of Song of Solomon.
[00:00:01] You are listening to the Through the Bible Studio series with Pastor Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:06] Join us as we continue our study through the Old Testament book, Song of Solomon.
[00:00:12] Here's Nate.
[00:00:14] Well today we turn in our studies to the Old Testament and very unique book of the Song of Solomon.
[00:00:22] It says in Genesis chapter 2 before the fall of mankind
[00:00:28] at the end of Adam and Eve's marriage together that God himself had arranged.
[00:00:34] It says in verse 25 of that chapter,
[00:00:37] And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
[00:00:43] There was an innocence, a beauty, a just health
[00:00:49] in the marital sexual relationship between Adam and Eve.
[00:00:56] And it seems as if once sin entered into the world through Adam and Eve's eventual rebellion against God,
[00:01:06] It just seems as if we really lost our way sexually and meritably and relationally.
[00:01:15] It seems as if there is confusion all around and has seemingly always been confusion, perversion, abuse, neglect
[00:01:24] all around in the areas of relationship, marriage and sexual health inside of a marriage.
[00:01:33] I believe that the Song of Solomon, the Song of All Songs as we'll see in verse 1
[00:01:40] is one of God's ways to help us remember correctly what it is that we lost at that particular moment.
[00:01:50] A way to get the beauty and the intensity and the passion back again
[00:01:57] and to see it applied in its proper context.
[00:02:02] Now, when I was growing up, I am very thankful for the heritage that was handed down to me.
[00:02:10] But this is definitely an area of life that I wish I'd had more direction,
[00:02:15] not just from my parents but from other godly people instructing me, giving me wisdom and help
[00:02:21] to navigate some of the difficult waters that are sure to come in any young person's life.
[00:02:28] And so let's dig into this beautiful book.
[00:02:33] It starts off in verse 1 with simply the title, it's the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
[00:02:41] To call it the Song of Songs means that it's the greatest of all of the songs,
[00:02:46] much like you would say the King of Kings or the Holy of Holies.
[00:02:51] We learn in 1 Kings chapter 4 that Solomon had written 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs
[00:02:59] during his time as king in Israel.
[00:03:02] But apparently this song was the greatest and most popular and most beautiful of all of his songs.
[00:03:12] Now it is interesting to see that it's referred to as one song, not a collection of songs,
[00:03:19] but the song, the song of songs.
[00:03:22] Now, this is a fascinating book of the Bible, not just because of the content
[00:03:28] but also because God really isn't directly mentioned until he's slightly mentioned
[00:03:35] at the very end of the book, chapter 8 verse 6, making this book very similar to the book of Esther,
[00:03:42] where God is not mentioned.
[00:03:44] It's a book that is not quoted in the Old Testament or in the New Testament,
[00:03:48] but God is all over it and Jesus we assume was all about it.
[00:03:53] He affirmed the inerrancy of the Old Testament and he never gave any kind of qualification
[00:03:59] saying, you know, you guys really missed it with that song of Solomon book.
[00:04:03] No, he put his stamp of approval on the entirety of the Old Testament.
[00:04:09] Now there are some issues as to how to understand the book of the Song of Solomon.
[00:04:16] Some people see the entirety of this romantic love song as an allegory of God's love.
[00:04:24] Sometimes as an image of God's love for Israel, sometimes as an image of God's love for the church.
[00:04:32] I'm not going to teach it in that way.
[00:04:35] I do believe that marriage is a picture or can be a picture or a representation of God's love for His bride,
[00:04:45] His people, which is the church, which I think helps us and we learn that from Paul's writing in Ephesians chapter 5,
[00:04:52] but which helps us understand that our marriages, you know, we want them to be passionate and vibrant
[00:04:58] and healthy and strong because the love of Christ for His bride is not an apathetic kind of love at all.
[00:05:04] No, it's very fervent. But I'm not going to teach it from the standpoint that it's an allegory of the love of God.
[00:05:12] Quite frankly, there are some lines within this little song that just would strike me as kind of awkward to say the least
[00:05:22] if this was a picture of the love of God for us as His people. It's a very human love song.
[00:05:28] Some people teach it as a love triangle story that there's Solomon and the woman and then also a shepherd lover that's somewhere within the story.
[00:05:38] That's a difficult theme to maintain. I'm going to teach from the standpoint that is fairly popular,
[00:05:45] that it's simply and straightforwardly and literally a love song between Solomon and his true love,
[00:05:54] a love song between him and his bride and his bride and him,
[00:05:58] and occasionally some comments and chorus remarks from friends that are referred to as the daughters of Jerusalem.
[00:06:07] And the basic flow that seems to be present to me at least is simply that there's a courtship period of their relationship.
[00:06:16] There's the wedding itself and the consummation of their marriage,
[00:06:20] and then there is the marriage and the maturation of the marriage at the end of the book.
[00:06:28] And so it just follows that flow to me. Now obviously to the astute Bible reader,
[00:06:34] there's a little bit of a question here. I mean, we learn that Solomon, who was of course the son of David,
[00:06:40] which made him the third king in Israel, we learned that Solomon in 1 Kings 11 verse 3 had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
[00:06:51] And some people point out that many of Solomon's marriages were simply political arrangements,
[00:06:57] sort of akin to a peace treaty or something like that.
[00:07:01] But to say that he was not engaged in polygamy or gross sexual immorality I think would be ignorance.
[00:07:09] So some people think that Solomon wrote this love song before he entered into all of that sin as a young and hopeful young man.
[00:07:22] Some think that he wrote this as a regretful older man, that he wrote this after his life of sin.
[00:07:31] I don't really know, either way to me. I think that the Spirit of God got a hold of him and he wrote of what could be.
[00:07:41] And I think that this was his experience, whether it was tainted by sin later or had been tainted by sin in his past.
[00:07:49] And he's now confessing that this is what should have been.
[00:07:53] I do not know, all I know is the Holy Spirit is all over this describing really in one sense a beautiful ideal of a man and a woman coming together in marital love that God is celebrating.
[00:08:08] Now if that's the case, I mean just the fact that Solomon wrote this helps us understand that it's one thing to have the wisdom
[00:08:15] and it's another thing entirely to apply the wisdom that you have.
[00:08:21] Now in verse two, we actually get into the song itself and surprisingly it doesn't begin with the words of Solomon but it begins with the words of his lover, his future bride.
[00:08:35] She says this, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
[00:08:41] Now this obviously isn't a word that is directed at Solomon because she doesn't say I want you to kiss me with the kisses of your mouth.
[00:08:51] She says, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. In other words, this is a wish. This is something that she's daydreaming about.
[00:09:00] Her desire is clear. Solomon isn't with her but she knows that this is love that she wants to throw herself into and she longs for him to eventually approach her
[00:09:13] and at the appropriate time let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
[00:09:21] I think it's important to simply state that God extols the physical attraction that happens right here in this moment.
[00:09:30] Physical attraction is part of God's design. In other words, sexual desire and passion for the opposite sex is a good and natural and God given desire.
[00:09:43] She was drawn to Solomon. He was attractive to her and that helps us understand that passion for and attraction to your spouse or your future spouse if you're on that track is a good and important thing.
[00:10:02] We understand as Christians that there is something deeper than the physical desire and the physical attraction but the physical desire and the physical attraction is a good thing that God has created.
[00:10:16] On one hand, he gave it to the human race for our survival, the human species for our survival. If we could say it like this, we exist because there was attraction.
[00:10:26] Somebody was attracted to somebody and they came together and a pregnancy occurred.
[00:10:33] She's just there and she's thinking of her future husband and she is longing for him.
[00:10:40] One of the things that really marks this first section of the song is a little bit of restraint.
[00:10:47] We're going to see that later in the song after the wedding procession. There's going to be an absence of restraint.
[00:10:55] In fact, their sexual relationship is going to become freer and freer throughout the song.
[00:11:01] Here you just have sort of the introductory desires. They're not even exercising them but it's a, oh I want that.
[00:11:10] I know that someday at the right moment, at the right time, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
[00:11:19] Listen, you might admire someone's walk with God. You might admire their priorities and what they stand for but do not ignore just the desire that's there to actually be with them.
[00:11:35] And if that's not present, don't talk yourself into something that you're going to regret.
[00:11:41] The interesting thing here of course is that the desire comes from her.
[00:11:46] In the song, she'll speak 53% of the time, he'll speak 34% of the time and the friends will speak the remaining 13% of the time.
[00:11:56] So really this love song in a lot of ways centers around the bride.
[00:12:01] She goes on to say at the end of verse two about Solomon, she says, your love is better than wine.
[00:12:09] Now in the Bible, wine is held in really high esteem in a lot of ways spoken of as a luxurious thing, a sign of abundance and the merry heart is given to those who have wine.
[00:12:23] Still in the Bible, there's also a lot of rebuke concerning wine because there is the prohibition regarding drunkenness.
[00:12:32] Be he not drunk with wine but filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul would tell the Ephesians church.
[00:12:38] So drunkenness is seen as a negative all throughout scripture. It's absolutely a sin.
[00:12:44] So wine is sometimes exalted, but drunkenness is looked down upon, which kind of helps us understand what the woman is saying here.
[00:12:54] She says your love is better than wine. You know, people might appreciate wine.
[00:12:59] It might be a luxurious, you know, abundant kind of thing.
[00:13:04] But the reality is there's a limit. There's only so far that you're allowed to go.
[00:13:10] But married love can be absolutely delightful.
[00:13:16] I think if we say it like this, married love can be one of the most delightful experiences of the human condition.
[00:13:25] I think it's important for us to remember that we live in a culture that often hesitates to be married.
[00:13:32] People love to cohabitate for years. They love to try out various partners.
[00:13:37] They love to experiment sexually before committing themselves to marriage.
[00:13:42] And marriage is looked upon by so many as something that is dispensable, something that is a negative.
[00:13:51] I mean, we're basically beyond the era of thinking of it like the ball and chain, you know, like it's okay time for me to settle down.
[00:13:59] I think that the culture has moved even beyond that to in one sense despising what marriage is all about and cheapening it.
[00:14:07] But the Bible here is teaching that married love can be exhilarating and refreshing.
[00:14:14] And I think partly because of the safety that's found inside of it.
[00:14:19] And here she announces your love is better than wine.
[00:14:22] It's like we can get drunk on our love together.
[00:14:26] There is no line. There is no prohibition.
[00:14:30] She says to him, your anointing oils are fragrant.
[00:14:34] Your name is oil poured out.
[00:14:37] Therefore, virgins love you.
[00:14:40] She just says to him, listen, your love to me it's like it's associated with the finest tastes and the finest smells.
[00:14:49] I think Solomon was just a man who took care of himself.
[00:14:52] She was attracted to him, but she says your name is oil poured out as much as his love was attractive and he was physically attractive to her.
[00:15:02] His name, his reputation was more attractive to her.
[00:15:08] And we understand in the Bible that people are much more than their physical appearance.
[00:15:15] Proverbs 31 verse 10 tells us an excellent wife who can find.
[00:15:20] She is far more precious than jewels.
[00:15:24] There's something about the character of a woman and the character of a man.
[00:15:30] Is there an excellence about them?
[00:15:33] And one of the biblical goals, of course, is to get past the mere external appearances so that we can consider the more important beauty of the heart.
[00:15:44] Proverbs 6 verse 25, do not desire her beauty in your heart.
[00:15:49] The forbidden woman and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.
[00:15:53] You want to move past that and see Proverbs 31 30 that charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
[00:16:06] So I think it would be wise for any person who's considering marriage to someone to make the assessment of that person's inner character of paramount importance.
[00:16:20] So how do you search that out?
[00:16:23] You ask questions, you make observations.
[00:16:26] How does he or she treat authority?
[00:16:29] Are they rootless?
[00:16:31] In other words, do they have a church that they belong to or are they wandering around from place to place?
[00:16:37] How do they treat money?
[00:16:39] Are they indebted or are they generous?
[00:16:42] Are they selfish and greedy or do they have an open hand?
[00:16:46] How do they spend their time?
[00:16:48] How do they treat others?
[00:16:49] What are their friends like?
[00:16:51] That'll tell you a lot about someone's character.
[00:16:53] I think one of the great ways to unearth someone's character is to let godly people in your life have a go with them.
[00:17:00] You see, a lot of times infatuation will keep us from being able to accurately gauge someone that we're drawn to or attracted to.
[00:17:10] But to let godly people in our lives take a look, I think is such a helpful experience in the Christian life.
[00:17:18] And so she says your name, your character is oil poured out.
[00:17:25] In verse four, she goes on and she says,
[00:17:28] Let me after you, let us run.
[00:17:31] The king has brought me into his chambers.
[00:17:35] She's here making really a request.
[00:17:38] That's the way you should see this.
[00:17:40] She's saying I'm in.
[00:17:42] I want this relationship.
[00:17:44] I'm ready.
[00:17:45] And she's wishfully waiting for the moment that they can come together as one flesh.
[00:17:51] She's longing for the moment that they can consummate their wedded covenantal love.
[00:17:57] And she wants Solomon to lead.
[00:17:59] Draw me after you.
[00:18:01] Now the friends and it's difficult to identify exactly who these people are.
[00:18:06] They're called throughout the scripture or throughout the song, daughters of Jerusalem or daughters of Zion.
[00:18:12] I just refer to them as the friends of the bride.
[00:18:16] But it says in verse five, they say we will exalt and rejoice in you.
[00:18:21] We will extol your love more than wine.
[00:18:25] Rightly do they love you.
[00:18:28] And so this might hint to us that the general populace thought highly of the love between these two.
[00:18:37] And of course, you remember that Solomon was a king.
[00:18:40] And so of course there would be an interest nationally in his relationship.
[00:18:47] Just as we can kind of see that in our modern era,
[00:18:50] there was a national fascination with King Solomon's relationship.
[00:18:54] Now in verse five, the woman goes on and she begins to declare some insecurity from her heart.
[00:19:03] Her insecurity apparently had to do with her physical appearance primarily,
[00:19:09] especially concerning the darkening of her skin, which wasn't a popular thing in that era or in that culture.
[00:19:16] And her skin had been darkened because she'd been working outside.
[00:19:19] This is what she says in verse five.
[00:19:21] She says, I am very dark but lovely.
[00:19:24] Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Keter.
[00:19:28] This would have been black goat skin, like the curtains of Solomon.
[00:19:32] Do not gaze at me because I am dark because the sun has looked upon me.
[00:19:37] My mother's sons were angry with me.
[00:19:40] They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.
[00:19:46] She just basically declares and gives us a little insight into her life
[00:19:52] and declares this insecurity of the darkened skin.
[00:19:57] And she's just feeling embarrassed about her complexion.
[00:20:01] Apparently, this had been acquired because she had to work outside
[00:20:06] and she tells us in verse six that it was her mother's sons who were angry with her
[00:20:11] and forced her to work outside.
[00:20:14] I think this teaches us a couple of beautiful lessons
[00:20:17] or gives us a couple of wonderful insights concerning marriage and relationships.
[00:20:22] But number one, you see here that insecurities are inevitable
[00:20:27] even for this godly woman.
[00:20:31] She's still struggled with her appearance.
[00:20:33] And I believe that insecurities are inevitable between a husband and wife
[00:20:38] because we live in a broken world.
[00:20:40] Nobody comes to a marriage all complete and flawless.
[00:20:44] We come with our flaws.
[00:20:45] We come with our baggage.
[00:20:47] And when you enter into that marriage and that relationship,
[00:20:51] sometimes those insecurities are exposed.
[00:20:55] And we'll see in a moment some of the remedy for that,
[00:20:58] but it's just a good thing to understand.
[00:21:02] That's just a very common and real kind of thing.
[00:21:05] She's very insecure about this.
[00:21:07] I think also it's helpful for us to see that there was an event in her life
[00:21:14] that led to this insecurity welling up within her.
[00:21:19] She says my mother's sons were angry with me.
[00:21:22] They made me keeper of the vineyards.
[00:21:25] So apparently there was this event.
[00:21:27] I don't know how young she was or how old she was,
[00:21:30] but there was this event that caused her this struggle and this pain.
[00:21:36] Now I'm no therapist or anything like that.
[00:21:39] And that's definitely not what I want to be
[00:21:41] or I'm trying to be or anything like that.
[00:21:43] I just know through basic observation that so often what a person has endured
[00:21:50] in their lives and often in their younger years shapes their self-perspective.
[00:21:57] And she had this sort of hostile relationship with her mother's sons
[00:22:01] or was some kind of dysfunction within the family
[00:22:05] and it led her to like a damaged view of even her own self unfortunately.
[00:22:14] And what I want you to see here is that Solomon is going to help her with that insecurity.
[00:22:21] She says my own vineyard I have not kept.
[00:22:26] I just didn't have a chance to pay attention to it.
[00:22:29] Now on the other hand I think that this should be appreciated.
[00:22:33] She's struggling herself with her ability to actually focus on her femininity
[00:22:38] but the reality is as she worked in that field she was becoming a woman of deep character.
[00:22:45] She was learning how to work hard.
[00:22:47] She had a strong track record and I think it's good for a man to appreciate that about a woman.
[00:22:55] Don't just look at the external but see the diligence, the focus, the effort, the work that a woman puts in.
[00:23:04] You know I think of during those years when a mother is bringing up children
[00:23:11] and there are times where there isn't as much of an ability like when she was a single woman perhaps
[00:23:19] to spend time focusing on her femininity
[00:23:24] and not as much of a chance to work out or go to the gym or spend time in front of the mirror
[00:23:30] or go get her hair done or nails done or whatever.
[00:23:34] And there can sometimes be like an insecurity I think that comes from that
[00:23:40] but the man should be attracted to and appreciate all of the effort
[00:23:47] and all of the love and all of the devotion and all of the work that she has put forth
[00:23:53] and apparently Solomon did see that about his bride.
[00:23:57] Now not only that but it says in verse 7,
[00:24:01] she goes on to also say,
[00:24:03] Tell me you whom my soul loves where you pasture your flock
[00:24:07] where you make it lie down at noon
[00:24:10] for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?
[00:24:16] Not only was she feeling insecure with her appearance
[00:24:20] but she was also feeling insecure because she didn't know where Solomon was at this moment.
[00:24:25] He was absent, he was gone from the scene.
[00:24:27] She wanted to be together and I think both of those issues are alive today
[00:24:34] that we can feel insecure about our appearance
[00:24:37] and then when there's distance and space
[00:24:40] there can also be an insecurity that develops.
[00:24:44] Now in verse 8, Solomon speaks for the first time.
[00:24:48] He says, If you do not know almost beautiful among women
[00:24:53] follow in the tracks of the flock and pasture your young goats beside the shepherd's tents.
[00:25:00] This is the first time Solomon speaks
[00:25:02] and with honesty in his heart he speaks to her
[00:25:06] and he says, Oh most beautiful among women.
[00:25:09] I think God is going to use Solomon to help the brokenness that's in her
[00:25:14] just as she will help the brokenness that is in him.
[00:25:18] He lifts her up, you are the most beautiful among women.
[00:25:22] I think Solomon's words were healing words, helpful words, not harsh words.
[00:25:29] They were the words of a husband, a powerful and helpful voice
[00:25:35] and I think that married love can be of great help
[00:25:40] to the individual brokenness that people bring into a marriage.
[00:25:44] Now obviously that brokenness can be exacerbated inside of a marriage
[00:25:49] if there's a brutality, a lack of safety, a lack of gentleness and love
[00:25:53] but if there is gentleness and if there is love
[00:25:56] then the insecurities can slowly but surely be washed away
[00:26:01] as a result of the love that two parties have for one another
[00:26:06] especially the love of a husband for his bride
[00:26:10] as he washes her with his love.
[00:26:13] Now to me Solomon plays a little bit of a game with her
[00:26:17] when he tells her to follow in the tracks of the flock
[00:26:20] and come and pasture her young goats beside the shepherd's tent.
[00:26:25] To me it's a flirtatious kind of thing
[00:26:28] like, oh you want to know where I am?
[00:26:30] Well follow the tracks and come on out
[00:26:33] I don't know maybe I'm stretching it
[00:26:35] but it just seems to me that married people should have a good time together.
[00:26:40] Then he says it for verse 9
[00:26:42] He says, I compare you my love to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots
[00:26:48] Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments
[00:26:50] your neck with strings of jewels
[00:26:52] Now to be a mare among Pharaoh's chariots
[00:26:55] meant that you were the female amongst all of the stallions
[00:27:01] all of the males.
[00:27:03] In other words it was like saying
[00:27:05] you're like the one woman on earth in a world full of men
[00:27:11] You know basically Solomon is saying
[00:27:14] you're the only one for me
[00:27:16] and you're just incredibly desirable
[00:27:20] and this is the message that a woman needs to receive
[00:27:24] You are the only one for me
[00:27:28] and to communicate that with a single eye
[00:27:31] not a wandering eye
[00:27:33] with a lack of impurity within the heart or practically speaking
[00:27:38] but to be able to say with your actions
[00:27:41] and also with your mouth
[00:27:42] you are the only one for me
[00:27:46] and he just keeps the compliments coming
[00:27:48] talking about her cheeks and her neck
[00:27:50] it is interesting because at this point
[00:27:53] the compliments are very appropriate during the courtship period
[00:27:57] this is kind of a neck up compliment that Solomon is going to give
[00:28:01] the gloves will come off after the wedding night
[00:28:04] but here he just gives a compliment concerning her appearance
[00:28:08] and the friends sing
[00:28:11] we will make for you ornaments of gold verse 11
[00:28:14] studded with silver
[00:28:16] it's kind of like they're saying we agree
[00:28:19] and that king's word is final
[00:28:22] what a beautiful way of just seeing the love of these two
[00:28:26] birth here in the first chapter of song of Solomon
[00:28:31] I pray that you and your relationships or future relationships
[00:28:35] would have a revival within your heart
[00:28:39] and discover the beauty of what God could provide to you
[00:28:43] God bless you and amen