There are times when we get a sense of distance from God and if you have ever felt this way you know that it isn’t a good feeling at all. We may find that we have lost joy in our Bible reading, have trouble praying, or that our devotionals have become stale and dry. Sometimes our busy schedules get in the way, we have unrepentant sin that lingers in our spirits, and at other times we just seem to lose the fire that we had when we were first saved.
The fifth chapter of the Song of Solomon tells us of the Shulammite Brides separation from her lover and how deeply she misses him when he’s not around her, to the point of going out into the city to search for him. I’m sure many of us have felt the separation from someone close to us that we love very dearly and it’s sad to say that many of us are going through this very thing right now. But as the Shulammite Bride learned about her lover we can learn from God exactly what it is about Him that causes us to love Him so much and that He is larger than our feelings (1 John 3:20). Although we may feel far from Him, He is always closer to us than we can ever think, hope, or imagine.
The Bridegroom)
5 “I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words].
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends;
Drink and drink deeply, O lovers.” (Song of Solomon 5:1)
In this first verse before the dreaded separation between him and his bride Solomon expresses his love and satisfaction for her. God is always satisfied with you. Before the separation from Him you may be feeling He was right there happy with you, just as even now he is right there waiting in hopeful expectation for your return to Him. Did you ever notice that no one ever speaks of God returning to us? That’s because we are the ones who get distracted and fall away. But praise the Lord! Our God is always right there with us.
“Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
The Shulammite Bride)
2
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
A voice [in my dream]! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with the [heavy night] dew;
My hair [is covered] with the dampness of the night.’ (Song of Solomon 5:2)
Sometimes when God is knocking we are not ready to receive Him into our hearts. But when we cry out to Him in the midst of our darkness His light will most assuredly pour in and flood our hearts and spirits with it’s warmth. So even if our hearts don’t seem “right” for Him running towards Him is always the perfect response.
“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,
14
If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;
15
Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.” (Job 11:13-15)
“I had taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I had washed my feet,
How could I get them dirty again?” (Song of Solomon 5:3)
God wants you to be in fellowship with him, to speak to him, to walk near to Him no matter how sinful, how dirty, how hopeless you feel. God is a loving Father, a caring and understanding friend, and a most gracious and compassionate Savior.
15 “Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].” (Hebrews 3:15)
Don’t just come to Him today. Run to your Redeemer for your ransom from sin and death has been paid by Him forever.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
“My beloved extended his hand through the opening [of the door],
And my feelings were aroused for him.
5
“I arose to open for my beloved;
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6
“I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My heart went out to him when he spoke.
I searched for him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.” (Song of Solomon 5:4-6)
When we make the Lord wait for us His presence will seem distant and we are left in frustration and at times may be stirred to anger at God and blame Him for our own impatience. Then He stirs up in us a desperate longing to find out where our Lord has went and what He’s up to.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call on Him [for salvation] while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)
Just as the Shulammite bride has to face the watchmen in the city and be pushed and prodded by them we too have to face the enemy of this world when we are on our search for the living God.
“The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me.
They struck me, they wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took my shawl from me.
8
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you tell him—
[Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him].” (Song of Solomon 5:7-8)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Yet there are still those around us who will ask us why we are searching for our God at all inquiring as the chorus did to the Shulammite bride, what makes Him so special. Sometimes these are even those who had at one time stood in awe of God with us. At at other more prominent times the questions come from those who were never acquainted with God to begin with.
(The Chorus)
9
“What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
That you should so command us to take an oath?” (Song of Solomon 5:9)
Our response to them all should sound with the admiration and praise the Shulammite has for Solomon and even more so because our first love is supernatural, omnipotent, omniscient and infinite: The Living God.
“My beloved is exquisitely handsome and ruddy,
Outstanding among ten thousand.” (Song of Solomon 5:10)
The word describes the Word very well when it says in John 1:14,
The Word Made Flesh
14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).” (John 1:14)
We are alive in Christ and our lips are to sing songs of His praises.
“[They are living memorials] to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises];
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (Psalm 92:15)
Listen to the psalmist as he declares that the Lord is his “rock”. Even if the Lord feels far from you or you feel yourself drifting away remember that God is firm and immovable like a rock and He is the most stable anchor that there is and ever was.
These are some of the responses that we can give and I’m sure if you know the Lord closely you have many examples of your own as to why He is so good, why you love Him, and why you search for Him like you do. Just remember wherever you are in your spiritual walk, that He is very near to you.
If your sense of longing for God isn’t stirred up or if you have never met Him before let me encourage you as to one more reason to draw near to Him and give your whole self to Him today.
15 “He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15)
Be well and live blessed today.
Facing Life In Christ 