Song of Solomon 8

Knowing that a day is coming when you will surely be with your love forever does not take away the longing for him. As that day approaches, does hope's intensity increase? There is no need for despair, but there is a happy and earnest eagerness that is a part of any great expectation.

The good woman of this song of love wants her great man now. Is there some other way to satisfy her intense desire rather than waiting in faith? She considers the possibilities. What if he were to pose as her brother... Then she could have him now. She would find him and kiss him, and no one would think anything of it. They could go off together, she and her “brother.” She could take him to her mother's house nearby... She would give him spiced wine, the fruit that is his, and he would taste and enjoy. That would be delight, his left hand under her head, and his right hand embracing her.

This desire is so strong that it is painful. She has good advice for others, for the daughters of Jerusalem: Do not stir or awaken love prematurely in a young girl. The waiting is difficult. One day love will be pleased to wake up within the heart. Love knows its own time. Don't rush it.

But back to this waiting lovesick woman, love is certainly wide awake within her. Love will not be quiet within her heart. Love calls to her man, and she must face the pain of longing for more of him.

But now suddenly there she is leaning intimately on her beloved, and the two are coming up from the wilderness. Is it her mother watching her daughter coming toward her in the arms of her great man. It was not very long ago that she gave birth to a little baby girl. Now she is a woman, and she has the man of her dreams. The future is ahead of them. The one who gave her birth and all those in that generation have learned a new supportive role of celebrating the good that is to come in the lives of others. They will rejoice in the love of the young, and will help life with whatever wisdom and strength they have learned from their days to the extent that it is wanted. Like those who greet us as we enter heavenly realms, one generation welcomes the next and is happy.

Hear the vow of eternal love: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.”

The flame of the great I AM is eternal love. He has written it as a seal upon His heart and ours. We belong to each other. His love is a fierce love, a jealous love, a love that permits no one else to fatally disrupt the beauty of the glorious fellowship He desires with His bride. Nothing will put out the flame of that love. Nothing is so precious that it could ever induce him to turn away from His woman.

There is a time when you are not ready for this greatest of all loves. Like a little girl who is too young to understand the beauty of deep intimacy, you must grow and mature in your appreciation for your King. The day will come when you will be the one coming over the hill arm in arm with your glorious Husband. He went to the cross for you. He will not forget to come for you on the day of your death, that where He is you also may be. That is His promise.

We see glimpses of the glory of divine love even now. Some get a generous portion in God's gracious gift of a close and wonderful bond of a man and a woman until the sad day when death parts the two that were made one. All who are known to God in His electing love will themselves know the fullness of that love in the life to come. Be patient in hope. The good day is coming for you soon enough. You will testify on that day that you have now come of age, and that in the eyes of your good Man you will be as one who finds a new and full peace.

The one who knows the love of Jesus has a Lover greater than Solomon. Christ paid a very high price to have you forever, since this eternal relationship of love required His humiliation and death. Now He lives above, and is full of power, glory, and honor. He is able to bring you to Himself forever. He is calling to you now. He wants to hear your voice. For our part, we in the church are very eager for Him to come for us, and we are looking for all things to be new in the coming together again of heaven and earth in Him. We join with all those throughout the ages who have eagerly anticipated his coming, and we sing to Him, “Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.” Come soon, Lord Jesus! Amen.