Consummation: Praising, Wooing and Loving

Text Song of Songs 4 Date 01/03/20 Place Childs Hill Baptist

We are looking at The Song of Solomon. It is a love poem describing the love between Solomon and his Shulamite, the lover and his beloved. We are saying that it is here to teach us about covenant love both on the horizontal and the vertical levels. That is to say, it is both about human love and marriage and about the covenant relationship between God and his people, between Christ and his church. We need help in both these areas.

So far we have looked at the courtship between the two that is described in 1:1-3:5. The second half of Chapter 3 describes the wedding procession of the bridal couple. All the focus there is on the groom, on Solomon in all his glory. This week I want us to look at Chapter 4 where we come to love’s consummation. The word consummation means climax, completion or culmination. We use it chiefly to refer to marriage. After the wedding, and not before, comes the consummation when there is physical union. In fact, I believe I’m right in saying that still in some cases a marriage can be annulled on the basis of non-consummation. You sometimes hear the phrase ‘The marriage was not consummated’. In this chapter the focus turns to the bride. The wedding ceremony is over. All the commotion of the day is complete and at last the bride and groom are alone and we come to love’s consummation.

The focus switches to the Bride, although, paradoxically, nearly every verse of this section is spoken by the Groom. He is in fact more prominent as a speaker here than anywhere else in the book. The wedding ceremony is over. All the commotion of the day is complete. At last the Bride and Groom are alone together. At this point the door would normally close and what happened next would be entirely unobserved by any third party.

The story is told of the fanatical disciple of a certain Jewish Rabbi so keen to learn everything he could from his teacher, that he even wanted firsthand knowledge of how to conduct himself in the marriage bed. He hid himself in his master’s bedroom at a time when he knew the Rabbi and his wife would be retiring for the night. Thankfully, he was discovered before he could gain any knowledge of his teacher’s bedroom technique and was quite rightly thrown out.

Here, we are allowed to follow this special couple into the bridal suite itself and discover at least something of what happens next. So we come at last to love’s consummation.

1. Consider how the bridegroom praises his bride just before love’s consummation

First, we have a song of unrivalled beauty sung by Solomon to his virgin bride. In it he praises her in ways that we might not always appreciate but that are similar to eastern traditions still around today such as the wasf sung at traditional Syrian weddings. One commentator describes being on an aeroplane discussing this description with a friend. His friend thought he would try complimenting one of the stewardesses in this fashion. "Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead" he said. She was not impressed! We need to see then that these metaphors are important for their associations as much as the pictures they evoke.

We should understand it, on the horizontal plane, as a lesson in how a man should appreciate his wife. This whole section also has something to teach us about how to approach wooing and about foreplay within marriage. We can’t go into it here but if you are wise you will see it.

On the vertical level, it speaks of the beauty of the church that is seen already on earth in embryo but that will be fully revealed at the end of time when Christ comes again to take his people to himself.

1. Where he focuses his thoughts. He begins by saying (1a) How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! This is how a man ought to think of his wife. Obviously the attraction will be physical at first but as he gets to know her, if she is what she should be, he will see that she also has inner beauty – the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Where he doesn't see that, he'll do what he can to bring it about. He will love his wife until she is radiant and unblemished in his eyes, caring for her as much as for his own body.

Husbands, are you loving your wives like that? Are they growing more beautiful as you grow in your love for them? Not necessarily outwardly, but inwardly certainly.

Sonnet 104 by Shakespeare “To me, fair friend, you never can be old For as you were when first your eye I eyed Such seems your beauty still." Our model should be Christ and his love for his people.

2. How he describes his bride. Looking at her face, Solomon then goes on to list his bride’s attributes one by one, focusing on seven things. It is all very sensuous. We clarify his meaning first

Her eyes. Your eyes behind your veil he says are doves. At this stage she still has a veil over her face which he is about to remove. He is close enough to see her face, however. He likens her eyes to doves as she had done his. This may be a reference to their whiteness around the pupil or how they dart about. These were gentle, innocent eyes, redolent of her character in general.

Her hair. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead. He looks next at her black hair which is long and perhaps this very moment is being untied so that it can cascade down on to her shoulders. It reminds him of a flock of black goats coming down the mountain in Gilead. Probably we should think of it as seen from a distance, across the valley, with the flock running to left and to right.

Her teeth. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. Someone once asked why missing teeth can look so charming in little children but so ugly on adults. Thanks to modern dentistry we don’t see too many adults with missing teeth. There was a time when it was more common. I believe that is why in early photographs you rarely see people smiling. People weren’t more morose then they just knew that if they smiled it wouldn’t look very nice. This woman has no such problem. She didn’t have crooked teeth either. When she smiled there was perfect symmetry – each tooth on one side is matched by another on the other side. Again using a rustic image he says they are like sheep just shorn and washed clean. The very image is designed to provoke a smile – which on her looked so lovely. It speaks also of the purity and innocence and freshness that characterised her.

Her lips. Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your lips, as some wag put it, are there to stop your mouth fraying. They tend to be redder than the rest of the face and it is generally accepted that their redness and shape can be attractive – hence lipstick, lip gloss, etc. Nobody wants dry, chapped or peeling lips. Their thinning is one of many unwelcome changes that occur as we grow older. Here he says her lips look like a scarlet ribbon. Her mouth looks lovely. It is as red as a scarlet ribbon and as shapely as a beautifully tied bow. No doubt her mouth not only looked lovely but spoke truthfully and honestly too.

The sides of her face Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. By her temples he probably means her cheeks as well. Like other fruits pomegranates are often associated with romance in ancient literature. Here he thinks of one cut in two to reveal a red interior. She is full of colour. Even through the veil he can see that. She has the blush of innocence, the ruddiness of health and the pink bloom of youth.

Her neck. Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. We don’t know exactly where the Tower of David was but it was clearly a tall, straight elegantly built tower where shields would be hung. He compares her neck to it – also long and slender and elegant and decorated with a necklace of silver or gold discs. A double chin, sagging jowls or a ‘chicken neck’ is unappealing. He is thinking of her deportment, her bearing and the way that points to her upright and noble character.

Her cleavage. Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. Below her neck he can see her cleavage, her chest. This is not something we would normally speak about but the two are alone remember and about to consummate their marriage. The description deliberately stops at this point. He does not mean, of course, that her cleavage looked just like two four legged fawns. Rather he is thinking of the gentleness, the softness of baby deer lying with their legs tucked under.

This is how a man should look at his wife. He should love to look at her face. To him she should be beautiful, as we've said. That's right and proper. It's interesting this is where the focus is – on her face not her body. That is right and noble. Of course, it would be superficial to think Solomon's concern is only for outward beauty. Everything else in the Bible warns against such an assumption.

The passage also teaches us how it will be in the world to come and how it is in part now. Paul speaks (Ephesians 5) of Christ giving himself up for the church to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word in order to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless. This is the work that is going on now. The beautifying work in order to prepare us for that great day. He is working to sanctify us so that we are those who are pure and innocent, with a single eye for his glory, mouths that declare his glory, upright and solid yet tender and gentle in his service. We are not there yet but we will be one day and not only will we gaze on Christ’s beauty but he will also gaze on ours.

3. Consider what he desires to do

In verses 6 and 7 he says Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Now is the time for love’s consummation. He pictures himself entering a garden at evening when its aroma is most intense. He comes in, he sees all her beauty.

That is how a wedding night should be. In to many instances young people have been so impatient that there is no such wedding night. They spoil both the anticipation and the consummation. If you are still unmarried do not make the mistake of forcing your way into the garden too soon. Wait! If such an exhortation is too late then we say turn from sin and find forgiveness and a fresh start in Christ.

But to look higher, see here a picture of the glories of heaven to come, love’s consummation there between Christ and his church. If we are those who truly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ then we will know as we are now known, then we will see him as he is and not only that but he will look on us and he will say All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Our beauty is often spotted now. There are many flaws. But not then! Look forward to that glorious day.

2. Consider how the bridegroom woos his bride just before love’s consummation

1. Consider how he calls to her

In verses 8-15 we have a second song from the groom. He begins by calling her to come to him. He pictures her as being far from Jerusalem – up in the mountains of the far north, in places of danger. Come with me he says from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards. @ It reminds us of the trumpet call that will go out on the last day and the way the angels will gather the elect from the four corners of the world. Out of the mountains and caves and holes in the ground they will stream, the saints of God. All wandering and all danger will be over then. There will be no more fear.

2. Consider how enchanted with her he is

Then in verse 9 he says You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. Is there such a thing as love at first sight? It’s an interesting question. Many people believe in it and they will tell you the story of how they met their wife or husband, falling in love with them at first sight. In reality we have to say there is attraction at first sight that can lead very quickly to love – so quickly that we hardly spot the join. For Solomon here it was like that and continued to be like that – one look was enough, even a small thing like a jewel in her necklace meant so much to him.

It’s a good thing for a husband or wife or a potential husband and wife to think about. What affect does my loved one have on me? Am I moved by how they look, what they do? We ought to be affected even by the small things in a way that is not true of anyone else. And if we look we will find it to be so. We ought to encourage such thoughts.

Or to go higher think about this phrase You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. Imagine how the Shulamite felt to hear King Solomon say such things. Why would he be interested in me? How can what I do make such a difference? On the higher plane, think of these words about the bride coming from Christ’s lips! ‘How can it be?’ we think. How can any little thing I do or say make any difference to the King of the Universe? But such a verse shows us that it does make a difference. You know, believer, the Lord can’t take his eyes off you. He loves you. The smallest things mean so much. I’m sure we see that sometimes but too often we forget. We think that our lives are insignificant, unspecial, mundane. But they are not when we know he loves us. Even on the human level, to know someone loves you makes such a difference. Cf Ecclesiastes 4:7-12. How much more is this so when we know that our Creator and God is enthralled by us?

3. Consider how delighted in her he is. 10, 11 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. This is in the same vein. He delights in her. He loves everything about her. The joy she gives is better than wine. Her fragrant perfume is superior to any spice. When she speaks it is as sweet to his ears as wild honey would be to his tongue – milk and honey flow. He clothes also are fragrant with the delights of Lebanon.

So a man should think of his wife. So Christ speaks of the church. How unworthy we are. So often we are not delightful. Our lives lack fragrance. We are not a source of joy. Our lips drop bitterness and poison and venom are under our tongues. How can Christ speak like this? He does so because all our sins are covered by his blood shed on the cross. He will make us perfect.

4. Consider how he thinks of her

12-15 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon. He uses two images to describe here – a garden and a spring or fountain. He finds her a garden locked up and an enclosed or sealed spring or fountain. She is a virgin on her wedding night. The garden has been kept closed, the fountain sealed. It has not been allowed to flow.

The application to all unmarried people is clear. God has given you a lovely garden to look after. Keep it locked until the day of your marriage. The fountain is not to be unsealed until then. As believers we can think in similar terns of our spiritual chastity. We must keep ourselves pure until that day when Christ returns.

He goes on to describe the plants in the garden – all sorts of mellow fruits and aromatic spices. There is no need to try spiritualise these into the various gifts the Spirit gives. We know the various gifts he gives to us. These must all be preserve and kept for Christ’s enjoyment and use. They must not be perverted in any way.

In verses 6 and 7 he says Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Now is the time for love’s consummation. He pictures himself entering a garden at evening when its aroma is most intense. He comes in, he sees all her beauty.

That is how a wedding night should be. In to many instances young people have been so impatient that there is no such wedding night. They spoil both the anticipation and the consummation. If you are still unmarried do not make the mistake of forcing your way into the garden too soon. Wait! If such an exhortation is too late then we say turn from sin and find forgiveness and a fresh start in Christ.

But to look higher, see here a picture of the glories of heaven to come, love’s consummation there between Christ and his church. If we are those who truly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ then we will know as we are now known, then we will see him as he is and not only that but he will look on us and he will say All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Our beauty is often spotted now. There are many flaws. But not then! Look forward to that glorious day.

3. Consider the consummation of their love

1. Realise how to respond to praise

Well, how does one respond to praise like that? When it is genuine like that and when it is given at the appropriate time, as this wedding night was, then the way to respond is in the way that the bride does here. 16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! she says Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits. So taking up the image of the garden she uses two images to beautifully describe the consummation. Wind blowing on the garden and so diffusing its beautiful aroma everywhere and her beloved tasting the choicest fruits of her orchards. The latter image is a common one. People will speak sometimes of adultery as eating forbidden fruit. The other image is very fresh however. Perhaps we lose something of it by having so little experience of the aroma of an eastern garden. I remember a Kazakh Persian lady talking to me about it and saying how poor an English Garden is in contrast. Perhaps it is that we get so little warm breezes here. The image is particularly poignant for Christians when we remember how the Holy Spirit is so often spoken of as a wind (that is what spirit means) – an invisible person affecting us unseen. This is how Christ comes to us in this life. We cannot be fragrant Christians without that work. Of course, the ultimate fulfilment is in heaven in the glory to come. To this we look.

2. Consider love’s consummation

In 5:1 we have the words of the bridegroom again I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. He takes up the image of eating fruit especially and extends it. He enters that garden, locked until now but rightly and willingly opened now, and he picks the flowers as it were and eats and drinks what is there – honey and wine and milk. It is a very sensuous and evocative yet pure and chaste description. We always ought to try and think of such things in these sorts of terms.

He has in mind both the delights of the marriage bed and beyond that the consummation in heaven to come between Christ and his bride the church. What glories lie ahead. As believers pray to the winds to awake and to their lover to come into his garden so one day he will come.

3. Note the encouragement given by others

Finally, hear the words of the friends again Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fil of love. There is no jealousy here and no interference only encouragement. That is how it should be for those of who look on and see others falling in love and entering on the delights of marriage. In eastern weddings there is a tradition of guests remaining around (elsewhere of course) until the consummation. Perhaps that is why we have this chorus. Although this is not done in the west the attitude is clearly to be commended. It reminds us too of the way the angels delight in everything to do with salvation. How they will rejoice with us when Christ returns at the consummation of all things.

Crisis and Ceremony: A lover lost and found, two lovers married

Text Song of Songs 3 Date23/02/20 Place Childs Hill Baptist

We are looking at Solomon’s Song of Songs on Sunday mornings. It is a poem about the love between King Solomon and the Shulamite, the Lover and his Beloved. There is some debate about this but we are seeking to learn from it by seeing how it relates to us both on the horizontal and vertical levels. We believe it has something to teach us about personal human relationships, especially marriage, but it is also a vivid picture of the relationship between God and his people, Christ and his church, which is very often pictured for us in Scripture in terms of a relationship between a man and his wife.

Most commentators are agreed in seeing a break between 3:5 and 3:6. What we read in 1:1 to 3:5 really deals with the courtship between the Beloved and her Lover, the woman and the man. Up until 3:5 it is all anticipation. From 3:6 we are dealing with the wedding day itself and beyond. The wedding day has an important place in the whole story. It's not the day when love began or necessarily the most important day of the marriage but it is a significant day, a day that is noted and a great fuss made. Many rebel against such ideas, especially in our day. Yet from every point of view marriage between a man and a woman makes sense. Simply slipping into a live-in relationship is not a good idea. It often doesn't work. Though the divorce rate is high in this country there are many, many more failures when people simply live together. There is also evidence to say that when a couple live together before getting married, divorce is more likely. Far better, far wiser to follow the biblical pattern and set a specific day when a public meeting takes place, when formally and pointedly the marriage between a man and a woman begins.

What I want us to do then this morning is to look at the whole of Chapter 3. It divides into two obvious parts, one before the wedding and one after. In verses 1-5 we consider a lover lost, then in verses 6-11 we begin to look at two lovers married. This time I want to put full emphasis on the vertical lessons here – our relationship with the Lord. Here we learn very useful things both about the experience of spiritual desertion and about the wedding procession that is the Christian life.

1. A lover lost – experiences to be aware of

There are three consecutive experiences that come out here.

1. Be aware of the distressing experience of a lover lost.

Because the verse begins All night long on my bed (or ‘night after night on my bed’) it is generally agreed that the sequence of verses beginning at 3:1 probably describes a dream or a series of recurring dreams. Our dream life is always a fascinating subject with a certain amount of mystery. For whatever reason, it would seem that whenever we go into a deep sleep, dreaming takes place. Sometimes we remember these dreams, sometimes not. Those who are lighter sleepers tend often to remember their dreams, while heavy sleepers do not. Sometimes we appear to have forgotten a dream when something will happen to trigger the memory and we recall part or all of the dream.

For lovers a great question is often ‘Did you dream about your loved one?’ The idea is that if you are thinking about your loved one every waking hour then it is no surprise that you think about them when you’re asleep too. There are even old wives tales about how you can guarantee that you'll dream about your loved one if you follow certain superstitious procedures. In reality, even the most ardent lovers sometimes find they never dream about their beloved ones or at least they can’t remember the dreams or (perhaps this has happened to you as seems to be the case here at first) they do dream about their beloved one but the dream is rather disturbing and unsatisfying. This can be especially so, as in the case here, where the wedding day is fast approaching and understandably there are nerves and fears. People can have what psychologists call fear-fulfilment dreams – not exactly nightmares but something close to it. Nothing seems to go right. The prospective Bride dreams she turns up in a tatty old dress, the groom dreams of arriving only to be told his bride has not, etc.

Throughout these verses the beloved speaks of the one my heart loves (1, 2 and 3). It is the same as the phrase she uses back in 1:7 translated there you whom I love. She loves to use this potent phrase – the one my heart loves. This raises the question for all of us – who do you love with your heart? Not only on the horizontal level but much more importantly on the vertical level. Does your heart love Jesus? Is your soul devoted to him? That is how it should be if we profess to be Christians. We should have an ardent desire for him. How that affects our dream life is not so important but how it effects our lives when we are awake is very important indeed.

What happens here is that although all night long the Shulamite looks for the one her heart loves she has to say I looked for him but did not find him. Firstly, we note the intensity of her love. She has to find him now. She can't go back to sleep, as it were, and resume her search in the morning. She has to find him immediately. Secondly, her search is fruitless. She longs to see him but she cannot. She searches for him but he is nowhere to be found.

It is probably only a dream but it brings out very vividly what it is to lose one whom you truly love.

On the horizontal level first - we think of broken engagements (never desirable) or worse, families torn apart by divorce or by death. We ought to have the fullest sympathy for anyone in such a position.

But then, on the vertical or spiritual plane, think of what it is like to go through a period of apparent spiritual desertion. Here is a truly converted believer. He reads the Word but it doesn’t seem to come home to him as it once did. He prays but he feels as though his prayers are going no higher than the ceiling. He’s not getting through. Such a person will usually still come to church but there seems to be a deadness on them. It is not like it once was. That sort of experience can come to a believer. It happens for various reasons. It is sometimes referred to as the dark night of the soul. It does not mean that such a person has lost his salvation or is no longer in union with Christ but there is a loss of communion. It produces thoughts such as these.

Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord?

Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still!

But now I feel an aching void, the world can never fill. William Cowper

It is similar to what the psalmist describes in Psalms 42-44 (see especially 42:9-11a and 44:23, 24 for a corporate experience of this). Do you know something of that distressing experience? It happens to believers just as it happened to this woman. Such a passage is here to show us what to do in such a situation.

2. Be aware of the testing experience of seeking for a lover lost.

Because of this situation the Beloved decides to do something. Throughout she is very practical, very earnest. She decides on a very careful, thorough and methodical search for him. (2) I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. She is determined. Cf Psalm 42:11.

The same sort of attitude ought to be there when it comes to the loss of a lover for any of us.

Firstly, on the horizontal level. Now obviously where a situation is beyond repair – eg when a partner dies - this verse can't be applied directly, although there is a lot to be said for remarriage in many cases and may be there is an application there. However, there are many other situations where things may be in the balance. You look like losing the one your heart loves. Well, do not sit back and leave it. Be up and doing what you can to win that person back. Where did things start to go wrong? Are there sins to repent of? Where can things be put right?

Vertically, the same can be said. When we feel deserted by Jesus it’s often because we first deserted him. We need to retrace our steps and consider where things began to go wrong. We need to be determined to meet with Christ and find communion with him afresh. It’s a matter for earnestness, thoroughness, great effort from us until the situation’s resolved. This is true individually and corporately. We must do all we can.

She goes on, however, So I looked for him but did not find him. Again we see the immediacy, the impulsiveness. Yet how frustrating, how distressing. She looks everywhere – the open squares, the back streets and sidestreets but he is nowhere to be found. She hunts high and low but he's not there.

We cannot suppose reconciliation is ever easy. There are no guarantees on the horizontal level.

We must not suppose that Christ is always easily found either. There can be times in a believer’s life when Christ seems very distant and far from us. True union with Christ can never be severed but there may be loss of communion.

She tells us in verse 3 that The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. People are not supposed to be out on the streets at this time of night so the watchmen go to challenge her. Before they can say anything she blurts out her question Have you seen the one my heart loves?

Perhaps we can see how anyone who is in real earnestness to find communion with Christ again will inevitably speak to others about it, especially Christian ministers – those whose work is to keep watch over the City of God. It is perhaps not an easy thing to talk about but if we really love the Lord we will want to.

Something similar could be said on the horizontal level. Sometimes married and courting couples do need counselling. We shouldn’t be ashamed if that is thought necessary. By going to counsellors I don't mean Relate or other professionals necessarily but good Christians who can talk things through with a couple where that's necessary. It can be very helpful especially for a younger couple to talk with an older couple.

3. The happy experience of finding a lover lost.

Finally, in verse 4, we have the denouement as she reveals Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. At last she had discovered him. Here he is! I held him she says and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. She is rewarded with the presence of her lover back in her childhood home. What distress losing her lover had caused her. Now, having found him again she is determined not to let him go. She hugs him. She holds on to him. She is determined that he should accompany her home.

Reconciliations do occur on the horizontal level. We should not automatically assume all is up when things go wrong. Pray for strong marriages in the church, locally and nationally. Pray against all that would undermine it. Do nothing to undermine anyone’s marriage – yours or those of others.

4. A warning conclusion. What heights and depths she had experienced. Even though it was only a dream she had been very involved emotionally – going down to the depths of sadness at her loss and rising to the heights of joy at finding her lover again. One modern writer says ‘Love not only brings a greater experience of joy but a deeper capacity for pain as well.’ This is probably why in verse 5 she repeats the warning previously found in 2:5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Love can be an emotional roller coaster. We need to be prepared for its contrasting highs and lows. That is why, although it often happens, it is not ideal for a young teenager to be pre-occupied with such matters. They are already facing many emotional changes and tests without introducing a further element. If a child can possibly get through those early teen years without awakening or arousing love then that is all to the good. Sadly, many are determined that will not be the case and especially on the Internet and TV are constantly pumping out propaganda to say that if you are not busy falling in love you are not really living the life of a teenager. We can do without such nonsense. A level of emotional maturity is very desirable before we start thinking seriously about love and marriage. That means to say that we will take care both with our own emotions and those of any we consider approaching on this level.

It is good for those who are young Christians or not yet converted to know that there are ups and downs in the Christian walk. It is never perfectly smooth walk to heaven. There are difficulties. We must expect these.

2. Two lovers married - a wedding procession to consider

In 3:6-11 we have a description of the wedding procession into Jerusalem which is followed (in Chapter 4) by festivities at the Royal Palace. Here we need to think of a royal procession rather than a traditional English wedding. It was common in that time and place for brides and grooms together or apart to proceed to the wedding place with great pomp and circumstance. This is unusual anyway. Whereas most often at weddings all eyes are on the bride, here it is quite different. All eyes are on the groom.

1. Consider a wedding procession out of the desert and on to glory.

In 3:6-11 either the woman or a crowd of onlookers speak and describe Solomon and his cortège travelling along the road from the desert (ie open uncultivated country) into Jerusalem. From the walls of the city perhaps we look up and what do we see? 6 Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant? It is not clear at first but it becomes clear that this is the Bride and Groom. A great pillar of smoke is arising at the head of the procession. All sorts of beautiful smelling incense and spices are burning in the air. This was done in processions but this is unique. The pillar of smoke reminds us of the presence of God with his people in the desert. The various perfumes speak of God's glory too. Here we see a picture of Christ bringing his church out of the desert of this world into the glory of heaven and the marriage supper of the Lamb to come. That is how we ought to think of our lives here as Christians, going on from glory to glory in a wedding procession.

2. Consider a wedding procession that focuses on the groom.

Soon it becomes obvious where the focus is. Perhaps it is the Beloved who speaks now. 7, 8 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by 60 warriors, the noblest of Israel, all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night. It is Solomon the King! He is surrounded by his choicest band of warrior soldiers, 60 in all. They wear their swords in a ceremonial way today but they are experienced fighters and no-one dare attack. This is not an empty display of nobility and prowess. These men are well able to protect the King and his bride from every danger, whether it comes by day or by night. They remind us of the angels that we know are at Christ’s command ready to do his will at any time. This reminds us that God’s people are safe as they travel to the Marriage Supper.

As the procession comes nearer, more can be seen and more details are given. In verses 9, 10 we learn more about the carriage, the litter or palanquin. King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem. It is made of the best wood – cedar wood from Lebanon. It has silver posts and a gold base. Inside its seat has been lovingly upholstered in purple with careful inlaid work all around – the work of the daughters of Jerusalem. Here is something more of the glory of the Christian life. In splendour and in comfort God provides for his people. He carries them all the way. They respond in love and lovingly adore him as the daughters of Jerusalem.

3. Consider a wedding procession that culminates in a day of crowning and joy. Finally, the procession arrives in Jerusalem and the shout goes up Come out, and look, you daughters of Zion. Look on King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced. The Bride is not mentioned. Her description comes later. There are horizontal applications here, of course – male headship is clear. The joy of Christian marriage is also evident. However, let’s concentrate on Christ to close. All eyes are on the king here. He wears the royal crown. There was nothing to compare with it. It is fascinating that it is the King’s mother who puts the crown on his head. In Solomon’s life it was Bathsheba who would have done that. What does the term mother point to when we think of Christ? Not Mary but all those who do his will – the church, his people. The crowning day that’s coming by and by is the day when we will crown him as believers. What a day of unmitigated joy it will be. We ought to think often of it. Meanwhile we ought to be looking forward to that day and seeking to give all glory to him. In regard to splendour and to comfort, God amply provides for us. He carries us all the way. The appropriate response is love and adoration.

We who together form Christ’s Bride must obey him now, knowing we will give him all glory in the world to come. ‘The crowning day is coming by and by’ when believers will ‘crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne’. What a day of unalloyed delight that will be. We ought to meditate often on it.