I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) is written to tell us about the real love between two people, Solomon and his future bride. This is a real love story. Some of the imaginary from the book is, at times, can sound rather R-rated, or at least PG. It almost seems odd that the contents of the book is in the Bible. Yet, the love between two lovers and their passion for each other was actually designed and delivered by God. Why would He not address it in the greatest owners manual of all time: The Bible. God wrote the Bible for mankind to know how to live in holiness with Him and with others. It should not surprise us therefore that this love story is in full bloom, before us. This is why many of the old commentators of the book dismiss that is this real and only that it is a metaphor regarding our spiritual walk with Christ. Solomon, in this interpretation, is Christ and we are in love with Him. This course of interpretation means we don’t have to explain the awkward parts of the book. We just claim they are words pictures of our spiritual walk. The book is poetry, therefore we can just read it as the poem it is and not get too worried about what is said and how it is stated.
This brings us to the above lines. At some point in the story of these lovers, she can’t find him. She is in bed and he is gone. We aren’t given context for this. The verse just prior the above two verses reads:
Song of Songs 3:1 (ESV)
On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
The translators of the ESV Bible place a heading above this section that tells us they believe this is a dream: The Bride’s Dream. That might be true, or they might worry that these two are now sleeping together and she awakes and can’t find him. The struggle being that the official wedding doesn’t take place until later in the book. In which case, theologians do not want to try to deal with the couples pre-martial sexual encounter, assuming she is not dreaming. This, again, is why many want to just leave this as a metaphorical poem. It might be wise to combine all that and realize that, as a poem, things are not written in chronological order. Or, she is dreaming the night before the wedding and feels like her lover is gone. It would not be the first time a future bride gets a panic attack about him not showing up. Lack of context in the story should not be replaced by imaginative context. Let’s just take the story for what it is. This bride is acting in fear and can’t find her lover. She panics and goes out to find him. Whatever the reason, she is eager to find the one she loves. Those who have ever been in love and suddenly can’t find that person, can relate to this moment (poem, metaphor or dream). The text says she sought him and found him not. She then asks the watchmen. This woman is looking to find the one whom my soul loves. That phrase is used four times in this section of the story. When we love someone, we seek them. This might be the better focus of the text. Yes, it is important to understand how to interpret something, but the real focus is on what her heart is like. She desires him whom my soul loves and she inquires of others how to find him. Love propels us to seek. The more we love the more we seek more of that love. Anyone in love can relate to that theme. If we love our spouse we will seek more of our spouse. If this is a metaphor of our relationship with Christ, the same truth is visible. The more we love Christ, the more we will seek after Him. In fact, it is a promise we will find Him in our seeking and be satisfied in Him.
Matthew 5:6 (ESV)
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The only real satisfaction we can find in this world is through and in Christ and our pursuit of the righteousness He provides. David said it this way:
Psalms 42:1 (ESV)
Book Two
Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A MASKIL OF THE SONS OF KORAH.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
Solomon would say it this way, referring to wisdom (who is Christ ... 2 Corinthians 2):
Proverbs 8:11 (ESV)
for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
No matter the interpretative view, the picture here is that Jesus is our sole pursuit and the only one who satisfies. If we seek Him, we will find Him:
Acts 17:27 (ESV)
that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
No comments:
Post a Comment