Song of Solomon 3 THE ONE AND ONLY ONE While we are in this world, there are times of darkness in which our minds and hearts are distracted from our occupation with our Lord. It may be the simple pressures of being “in the world but not of the world.” There may be a sense of loneliness and being forsaken in times of sickness and pain that will not go away. In such times our minds are prone to wander from the path of faith, and we wonder if our sense of failure or inadequacy, has affected our relationship with the One we love.
It is in times like these that we need to stop all activity that has disturbed us, and the mind games that temporarily control our thinking, and get back to where we can focus our whole being on the One whom “my soul loveth.” This is typically the first stage of love in which we are concerned as to how love affects me. There are a lot of “I’s” in the first verses of this chapter and consequently anxiety takes over love for the Beloved. Whenever self is supreme in our thoughts, there will be an urgency as to what I can do, or where I can go to restore what is missing in my relationship with my Lord.
When the lover finally articulated to the watchmen her heart’s desire for the “One I love,” He was there. This may have been a dream, or a time of reflection in the night, but when reality comes, joy comes. “I found Him!” Now the attention of the bride is on her Beloved, and her joy led her to seize Him, claim Him, and not let Him go. How important it is that in our relationship with our Lord Jesus we make Him the Object of our heart’s affection rather than how I feel, or if I am “comfortable” with what seems important to me. When our occupation is on Him and with Him, there is no secrecy or reservation. We can take Him to the “house of my mother” and know that we have nothing to hide in the relationship. The same is true with the true when the true church is in love with the Lord.
There are a lot of things that are learned in the wilderness that will not be learned or experienced in any other place. Our Lord learned “obedience by the things which He suffered.” We learn how weak we are and experience God’s strength in our wilderness-weakness. This is where the church is today and also the chosen earthly people of God, the Jews, are also. The wilderness experience was needed for the Jews to learn who they needed before they could enter the promised land. The same is true of the church of God, the bride, in the world today. There are a lot of professing Christians who find they like being in the wilderness because they are still of the world and they are in the place of their choosing.
The true church, and individual believers in the true church, have learned much by following the “pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day,” during their times in the wilderness. As a result, they are more ready for the joys of holy fellowship with the Lord when He comes. Instead of the bride smelling like smoke when she comes out of the wilderness at the coming of the Lord, she will have the scent of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who came out of the wilderness in victory and glory. The scent of the myrrh perfumes the Person of our Savior with the sweet smell of victory after suffering. The frankincense of holy testimony is upon the bride and the Bridegroom when they both meet. Even the best the merchant of earth has, adds to the beauty and glory as the church triumphant in our day, and the people of Israel in a coming day meet the Beloved and Ruling King. The bride will be dressed in her finest and scented with the most beautiful of perfumes that blend in holy joy with that of the Beloved.
There are the fearless ones who are ready to defend their Lord to the death. Attacks have been made against both His human and divine nature. Others attack His virgin birth, His innocent and sinless life so that He could be our Redeemer. His atoning death and His literal, bodily resurrection from among the dead, have also been attacked, but all of these foes have been, and are being, defended by His faithful servants who lift up His royal banner and declare their unswerving allegiance to Him. We are called upon like those in the past, to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.”
The time is coming when the wilderness scene will be past and the Lord Jesus will claim His own bride, and after that will come to regather His earthly people. Those will be days of gladness and joy. His appearing will be one of splendor and great glory. Like the carriage of Solomon that he made for himself, the Lord’s glory will be obvious to all who see Him. The cedars of Lebanon release fragrance when the wood is cut and by nature that wood itself is durable and long-lasting. The pillars of silver remind us that the redemptive work of our Lord in paying the price of salvation is on strong stable legs that are not able to be moved. The floor of gold testifies to the glory and greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the King eternal. His kingdom will know no end. He is, was and always will be, the Supreme Authority of the whole universe. His royalty is testified to in the seat of purple, and the crown upon His head. The banner over Him is love and the pavement also is love – love above and below!
What a testimony to the holy joy that will be seen when our Lord who “is now rejected, and by the world disowned,” is revealed to the whole world as the Great King, the Bridegroom. His bride will be seated with Him positionally forever. The mother (Israel?) will crown Him before the eyes of the whole watching world. The glories of all earthly kingdoms will be brought under His authority. “The day of gladness of His heart” will have arrived. All the plans of God as they relate to the earth and His earthly people will be fulfilled. The King and His bride will share the holy joy that came to Him at great cost. That joy of sharing eternal life with His own who He has bought with His own blood will bring blessing to those who are the love of His heart, and He will have their affection forever.