The 'Holy of Holies' of Scripture
(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)
"My Beloved is mine, and I am His!" Song of Solomon 2:16
The Song of Solomon describes the intimate fellowship of love between the Savior and His redeemed people. It is the 'Holy of Holies' of Scripture, where the soul is captivated by the beauty of Jesus.
"Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Ephesians 5:25
The Church is Christ's Bride--purchased with His own blood, loved with an everlasting love, and joined to Him by an eternal and unbreakable covenant.
"You will be like a well-watered garden." Isaiah 58:11
The believer's heart is the garden of the Lord. He walks among its beds of spices, and every grace that blooms there, carries the fragrance of His presence.
"Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth, for Your love is sweeter than wine." Song of Solomon 1:2
When Jesus reveals Himself to His people, it is as though He kisses them with the kisses of His mouth; nothing compares to the sweetness of conscious fellowship with Jesus.
"We love Him--because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
His initial love is the fountain from which all our affection flows. Oh, the height, depth, length, and breadth of that love which surpasses all knowledge!
Jesus does not love His Church for what she is by nature, but for what He makes her through His grace. He did not love her because she was lovely, but that she might become lovely through His love.
"For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7
The Song of Songs is the song of divine love; only the Bride of the Lamb can truly understand its language--for only she has been pursued and won by His grace.
He calls us, His 'beautiful one,' even as we mourn our own sinfulness. For He sees us not in ourselves, but clothed in His own beauty which He has graciously placed upon us.
"I delight to sit in His shadow, and His fruit is sweet to my taste." Song of Solomon 2:3
There is no communion on earth, like fellowship with the Lord Jesus. To rest beneath His shadow with great delight, is the soul's highest joy!
The love of Jesus is a jealous love. He allows no rival in our hearts; He demands our full affection, for He gave Himself completely for us.
When the heart cries, 'Draw me, and I will run after You!' it reveals that grace has begun its work, and that the soul will never rest until it finds its Beloved.
"… the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Every believer is the special object of Christ's love--as if there were no one else in the whole world but that one soul on whom He has set His heart.
The 'kisses of His mouth' are the manifestations of His grace: pardons granted, prayers answered, promises fulfilled, and the Word made sweet by His Spirit.
Oh, that every Christian would live closer to Jesus! The nearer the Bride rests upon her Beloved's heart, the more she shares His fragrance and reflects His beauty.
"Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:39
The love of Jesus is not a passing emotion--it is eternal, unchanging, and divine! Death and Hell cannot extinguish it, and no flood can ever drown it.
When we realize His immeasurable love for us--the treasures of this world lose their attraction, and the sorrows of life are lightened--for His presence brings Heaven into our hearts.
The Church is the Bride of Jesus. Her joy, her crown, her life, her very existence--is found in her Beloved. Without Him, she has no purpose, no peace, no love.
The soul that truly loves Jesus, longs for His return. Love cries out, 'Come quickly, my Beloved!' for separation from Him is the believer's greatest sorrow.
In the Song of Solomon we hear the language of redeemed love: The Church confessing, 'My Beloved is mine, and I am His!' And Jesus replying, 'You are altogether beautiful, My love; there is no flaw in you!'