THE LORD SPOKE (September 18)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Song of Solomon 6-8

This book does not teach us what true marital love is all about from God’s perspective. If that were the case, why is Solomon the chief character? He’s hardly the pattern of monogamous marriage that we ought to follow!

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 provides the key to understanding the book. To begin with, from the Hebrew language we can determine that the speaker here is a female and she is addressing her lover. It’s probably the Shulamite speaking to a third person in the story - not to Solomon. Though her friends had encouraged her to give in to the king’s offers of love (chapter 3, wouldn’t she have “had it made”?), she returned to her shepherd whom she had courted with affection previously. The love the two had for each other became Solomon’s lesson on love. What his wealth could not purchase nor his power persuade, he was left to observe from a distance. By the Spirit of God, he was able to record these words:

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave
It burns like blazing fire, like the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.

Marital love is meant by God to be:

• intimate - “roused” (vs. 5)
• invincible - “a seal over your heart”
• intense - “love is as strong as death”, “like a blazing fire”
• indestructible - “unyielding as the grave...cannot quench...[or] wash it away”
• ineluctable (Webster: “not to be avoided, changed, or resisted”, from “struggle clear of”)

That last one is an important lesson for the 21st century. Too many today are unwilling or unable to commit. People are getting married much later in life and, even then, many enter it as a contractual relationship, rather than a covenantal relationship. Second marriages will almost invariably struggle in this area. We’re afraid to get burned twice so we hold back. Frankly, on a first marriage you’re afraid to get burned and may tend to hold back there too. But a genuine, God-honoring marriage must be characterized by total openness and trust.

That’s what the Shulamite had with her shepherd and she wasn’t about to give it up, even for the palace of the king. Solomon found out that even “all the wealth of his house” wasn’t enough to buy real love. And so the wisest man on earth had to find out what true marital love is all about from a young maiden on a Judean hillside.


Psalm 3-4

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Ps. 4:8)

What a wonderful gift is sleep. And it is a gift. From God! Scripture tells us that God gives his beloved sleep (Ps. 127:2) but He Himself does not slumber or sleep (Ps. 121:4) because He is watching over us continually.

SLEEP IS A DAILY REMINDER OF OUR FRAILTY. We daily wear out and need to be refreshed and restored by a period of sleep. Our need for sleep catches us up short and reminds us that we are not all-powerful. Our physical tiredness often results in low resistance to both sin and sickness. We become short-tempered and grouchy, or worse. Our body may succumb to germs more easily because our physical guards are weakened. Our need for sleep is a constant reminder that we have limitations.

SLEEP IS A DAILY GIFT FROM GOD. Though you might even manage to go a night or two without sleep, it’s not easy, nor common, nor good for you. God gives us sleep every day to restore our strength, to refresh our mind, to repair our body, and to allow us peace even in turmoil (look up Prov. 3:24). You can ask Him for this! Be aware though. Sleep can be abused. It’s wrong to get too little but it’s also wrong to get too much. Proverbs 6:1-11 give us two cases where it’s wrong to sleep: (1) when you have an unfixed problem, and (2) when you should be getting your work done (c.f. Prov. 10:5; 20:13; 24:33-34). You need to determine your own optimal amount. Do this by going to bed at a decent hour and waking up without an alarm clock over a period of several days. After you’ve gotten over the initial fluctuations, calculate how many hours you normally need. Then start using an alarm to get up every day at that optimal point. Don’t sleep more and don’t sleep less on a regular basis.

SLEEP IS A DAILY OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE OUR HEARTS BEFORE GOD. As you first hit the pillow each night you have a perfect opportunity to review the day just past and to plan for tomorrow. As you do so, speak to God. Confess your sins and commit your way to Him. Nothing on earth will be a better preparation for sleeping than that.

God knows how to give good gifts. He seems to have the perfect gift for every occasion and this is one of His best!