Love

Submitted by David Miller
I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; Song of Solomon 6:3a

What is significant about Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) is that it is poetry.  The language used guards the privacy of the marriage bed and keeps this book of the Bible from giving explicit details while still encouraging us to freely explore and enjoy our spouse.  Let me remind you that this lovely book is also an allegory of God’s love for his people.  As we look at these points below – remember this is how much God loves you and may we respond to that love in the same way the bride responds to her groom.

Marriage should be the most intimate relationship anybody experiences in life. It should be more intimate than a friendship, a mother-daughter relationship, a father-son relationship, a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, etc. But sadly, many couples often feel distant and alone in marriage.

Scripture has much to say about God’s purpose for marriage. But one book reveals more of the joy, beauty, and sacredness of marriage than any other: the Song of Songs. One of the oldest books in the Bible, the Song vividly and brightly unfolds how the bridegroom and the bride delight in each other.

In the Song of Solomon, God has given us a divine manual on romantic relationships, taking us from the initial attraction between a couple through courtship, deepening intimacy, and marriage. What is God’s desire and plan for husbands and wives? What are God’s love lessons from the Song of Songs? Here are four lessons from this book that reveal God’s heart for marriage.

1. Love Is Mutual
The two-way conversation in this book is between a man and a woman who are deeply in love. Each contributes to the relationship. Each desires the other. Their love is reciprocal.

2. Love Is Exclusive
Sexual intimacy between a husband and wife is a beautiful experience that expresses their oneness and the love they have for one another.

3. Love Is Total
Love is not just physical. Love is a commitment of heart, mind, soul, and body. The Song reminds us that the man and woman become one in every way, not just in the most obvious physical way.  They should be friends.  This friendship, together with the worship of God, is the foundation on which husbands and wives build intimacy.

4. Love Is Beautiful
Song of Songs is a celebration of the beauty of the marriage relationship. The beauty of their relationship does not consist in physical outward beauty, but rather in the inward beauty of character and in the spiritual dimension of their relationship expressed in their commitment to God and His design for marriage. Each sees the other person as a beautiful gift of God.

I would like to invite you and your spouse, or if you are soon to be married, to attend the Wednesday night couples’ bible study on the book of the Song of Solomon called “The Song” beginning September 6^th.  Together we will explore the rich truths this book has to offer us about true intimacy in our marriage.