9 You have captured my heart,
my treasure, my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
with a single jewel of your necklace.
10 Your love delights me,
my treasure, my bride.
Your love is better than wine,
your perfume more fragrant than spices.
11 Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes are scented
like the cedars of Lebanon.
12 You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,
a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
13 Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates
with rare spices—
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
fragrant calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,
and every other lovely spice.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of fresh water
streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.
Young Woman
16 Awake, north wind!
Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
and spread its fragrance all around.
Come into your garden, my love;
taste its finest fruits.
Song of Solomon 5
Young Man
1 I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride!
I gather myrrh with my spices
and eat honeycomb with my honey.
I drink wine with my milk.
Young Women of Jerusalem
Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!
Yes, drink deeply of your love!
Song of Solomon 4:9 – 5:1 (NLT)
The fragrance of the garden wraps around me, like a soft, feather duvet, comforting and sweet. But the scents are not isolated, nor are they all gentle. There is cinnamon and saffron, along with Jasmine and myrrh. I spot a wooden bench, clean and sparkling with a new coat of varnish and stretch upon it, back against the arm rest and legs long and comfy. The gurgle of the little stream, sounding like laughter bubbling forth, causes a smile to touch my lips–a perfect addition, I’m sure, to the contentment resting in my eyes.Taking a long, slow breath through my nose, I let the scents floating on the warm breeze fill me up.
Content, I wait, but not for long. His footsteps upon the path soon reach me and I know the first glimpse of Him will soon follow. My heart skips a beat and I wonder whether I should sit up or just allow Him to find me as I am, relaxed and happy upon the garden throne. Which would be more attractive to Him, my complete peace or my eagerness for Him?
As both emotions play through my soul, a soft chuckle lifts my eyes to Him. He’s sneaked up from behind, coming down an unexpected path. One gentle hand upon my shoulder, He uses the other to lift my hair and the he kisses the back of my neck. “Do you think you could be any more relaxed? I like this view of you–so peaceful, so beautiful. It welcomes me after dealing these many hours with the cares that press upon me.”
Smiling, I slip my legs off the bench and pat the spot beside me.
He fills the space with more Presence that is even part of His physical body. Love emanates from Him and He turns toward me, an intensity in His eyes that causes my breath to stop short. He reaches for me and we drink the sweetness of that kiss. Time passes us by, but it doesn’t matter, because we are here. Alone. Together. In our special garden.
Eventually, He leans back with a low moan. “You don’t know the joy of this time. The sweetness of your surrender. The refreshment of your love. They say a King has no need of anything. And in reality, I don’t. All the wonders of the Universe are at my disposal. But I crave You. Your devoted heart is the one thing that brings me pleasure like no other.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed the times you’ve struggled to give me your heart. I know there is much you want, but instead of demanding it, you first ask for my love and offer your own. There are things I’ve withheld from you, not as a test of love, but because I didn’t want my gifts to become more important than my presence. You do understand this?”
Eyes wide, I nod. Even after all the love and time He has poured over me, I find it impossible to understand how the King of Kings can desire me so. Me with my imperfections, selfish whims, and doubts. I wish I never questioned His methods, but I do–until He mets me here and once again I am overcome by His love.
We sit together. I don’t know for how long. But the sun slips deeper into the horizon, painting it lavender and peach, with brilliant streaks of orange interrupting the softer hues. He brushes the hair from my face. “Do you trust me?” His voice a pained whisper, his eyes compassionate.
“Most of the time.” The words tumble out and my face flushes.
He throws back his head as laughter rumbles forth. “How I delight in your honesty!” His eyes grow serious. “Sweet friend, you trust Me more than you understand. I see all the times You’ve swallowed hard and fought off the doubts and fears that assail you. Yet always you come back to me. You come back and surrender your heart once more.” He stands and paces, then whirls toward me. “Dear one! I promise I will protect that heart so timidly offered. I will not abuse it as others have. Life will not always be easy, but your heart will be full. The love we share will guide and care for it.”
My fingers tremble now and I sit on my hands in an effort to still them.
He joins me, gently pulls one hand from underneath my thigh, and then wraps it in His own. Strength flows. Strength and power and courage. “You know I have something to ask you.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe I would never allow more hardship than you can bear? Believe that all I allow in your life is out of my love for you?”
My voice has disappeared underneath the knot in my throat, but my eyes say yes.
“You are my Bride, my Queen. More and more I come to you and receive refreshment from your love. But, there is training that must happen so you can more fully serve at my side. Our garden times outweigh all other joys, but my desire is for more. I want you to become a warrior princess. Others in the kingdom need to understand how my love sets them free and releases them to become more than they ever dream. I want the scent of who you are because of Me to flow from this garden and draw others into relationship with Me.”
“But this growing into a warrior princess won’t be easy, will it?”
“No.”
“But you will never leave me to face it alone.”
“I will never leave or forsake you.”
“You are King. You could just make me walk this path.”
“But the journey will be easier if you’ve surrendered to it of your own free will.”
My heart is now thumping wildly, like a washing machine out of balance.
He places His hand upon my heart and the crazy pattern steadies. “To become all I know you can be you will need both the bitter north wind of trials and the warm southern breeze of blessing. Do you trust me to direct your life to include both? I will never make it harder than it has to be to reach those deep places inside that I am after. I do this for My glory, but also for your good.”
“So you’re asking permission to bring to bring trial into my life. A harsh north wind.”
“It will purify and you will come forth shining and beautiful, a fragrant sacrifice that many people will eat of. From your sacrifice others will discover My love.”
The flowers around me blur as the fear overpowers me. I don’t answer for a long time. He takes my hand and we walk the garden. He doesn’t push me, but the question stands between us. When He takes His leave, it is still there.
Three days He comes. He doesn’t ask again, just loves me. But always I know what He seeks. Finally, on the third day, I whisper. “Have thy way with me.”
His arms surround me, wrapping me in His security.
*Notes on this particular post:
Funny how human emotion works. Last August I finished the last lesson in Part I of the study of the Song of Songs: The Bride’s Inheritance in Jesus. As you can tell by the links to the right, I’ve been at this study for some time. Years actually. I’m sure I could have stayed focused and finished this study in a few months instead of a few years, but I’m learning to let the Lord guide all things, including my study patterns. Many times when I am just not “getting to” a particular study, it is because the Lord has His timing and the lessons He is teaching me end up coinciding with the study when it happens.
So here we sit in March of 2008 and I just today tackled the blog about the study I did last August. There are reasons for this delay. One is that this study was particularly personal and difficult. Another is that several things happened in my life that went along with this study–much of it difficult to walk through, much less process. I finally felt ready to write about some of it in my January Soul Scents devotionals. For some reason, I was drawn to return to this study today. I can only assume by God’s track record with me, that there is a reason. Maybe it is as simple as releasing me to move onto Chapter 5 in my study time.
This post is a response to the study of the Song of Songs based upon SOS 4:9 – 5:1
“You have ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse; You have ravished My heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. (SOS 4:9)
This Scripture sums up what the Lord was teaching the bride in the previous chapters–that He adores her, that His commitment and love to her makes Him trustworthy. Bickle writes, “The ‘ravished heart of God’ romances her in this strategic season in her journey. This revelation equips her for 100-fold obedience. She made the decision for radical obedience in Song 4:6 and then she walked it out in Song 5:2-8. In Song 4, he is preparing the young Bride for the heart-rending test of Song 5.”
Perhaps as you read this quote from Bickle, you can better understand why I hadn’t yet moved on in my study of SOS 5. You see, my study of SOS 4 was exactly what Bickle talks about–preparation for for trial. God did some interesting things inside of me as I studied SOS 4, asking me to surrender to His way, even if it included hardship that would play a role in shaping me for His glory.
Much of this struggle came from my study of verse 4:16: “Awake O north wind, and come O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out.” In the study, I came to understand that I was Christ’s garden. Through my surrender to Him, He is refreshed and offers refreshment to others. However, for the spices to flow out–the fragrance of grace His people so desperately need–I must surrender to both the north winds of adversity and the south winds of blessing. As you may guess, the south wind is easily embraced and welcomed into my life. The north wind? Not so. But as I worked through this study, I felt the Lord’s strong urging. He wanted me to surrender to the north wind. And in His love and patience for me, He asked permission to send it.
It took me several days before I was able to write this prayer: “Lord, this is a hard one for me. I surrender it to you. Forgive me for fearing and opposing the north wind. Give me a deeper grasp of your love. Reveal Yourself to me that I may totally trust You and Your unconditional love–and surrender to both the north and south winds. Help me to feel sheltered in Your hand even when the north wind blows. Hold me close–tightly–give me deepened trust and comfort. Help me to also delight in the south wind, to be able to enjoy its blessings without fearing the next blast from the north. Let me be renewed and refreshed.”
This short prayer was then followed by some intense times between the Lord and me. He talked to me about a coming hardship. He asked me to entrust my family into His hands and to let Him train them as warriors for Him instead of trying to shelter them beneath my own sword. He talked to me about my future, casting a vision for a ministry that would bring His grace and power to others, but also reminding me that He asks me to be a living sacrifice.
As I work on this post today I’m comforted by a few thoughts. The season of the north wind is a time of nearness to God. The reason He sends the north wind is to clean out the things that stand in the way of His full possession of His bride. It cleans out unperceived pride, ambition, anger, etc. Jesus allows the difficulties to shape us, but promises to protect our heart and keep it from sin.
On this subject Bickle wrote, “There is a combination of both the north and south winds that are necessary and only God knows the intensity of each one for each season of our life. Only God knows our makeup and our destiny, what our emotions are like now and what we can handle and where we’re going. He always gives it to us as easy as possible to reach the deepest place he is after. I don’t think He ever sends the north wind more violently than that which is absolutely necessary to produce the impact He is after.
“Jesus will allow difficulties, but He promises that they will always produce a life rich in love. When He promises us safety and protection, that means He’ll protect us from bondage to sin. He is not promising He won’t allow difficulty to touch our life. The protection is in relation to the fact that He won’t let us get ensnared in sin, bitterness, and hatred.”
After my soul scents devotional on this subject, I had some feedback from people who struggle with the idea of saying “yes” to hardship. Don’t we all struggle with this? I don’t think it is possible without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. However, understanding that surrender in this area is a turning point in our progression of maturity in Christ helps me. I want the Lord to have full ownership of my life. Why? Because He is teaching me He is trustworthy. I’m beginning to glimpse His love for me, and I’m growing in love for Him. I want to be that fragrant garden in SOS 4 that my Lord comes to because He enjoys being there so much. I want to be a garden so fragrant that my scents flows to other believers and helps them on their journey. This is passion of my life–a passion I believe was planted in me by the Lord Himself. A passion that is beyond my human desires (but which often wars with them). But my passion nonetheless.
Before I started writing today, I was praying and journaling. During this process I was reminded of something that happened to me in a prayer session almost a year ago. As a friend prayed for me, she was given a picture of me being like blown glass. The Master Artist was making me stronger and stronger and more and more beautiful. The process involved being placed into a fiery, hot kiln. I was put in the fire, shaped, and then shoved into cold water. Over and over again. My friend said the end result was a huge bowl, full of bright colors, strong, and utilitarian.
Now friends, as I write today I see some beauty in that picture, but that night I mostly just felt afraid. I wasn’t too excited about a life of fire followed by cold water. When the prayer came back to me this morning, I felt myself tense. The idea of walking through fire was unwelcome to put it mildly. But as quickly as the memory of that prayer came, came a picture in my head of the three Hebrews walking in the fire without it ever touching them–and of Jesus right there with them in its midst. And following that, came the words of a song I learned in College from a young man I almost married. It is based upon Scripture, so I rushed to my favorite site, Biblegateway.com, and searched for it. The song was based on the King James Version of the Bible and that is what I leave you with. As you contemplate surrendering to the north wind–the storms, fires, and high waters of life, may this Scripture encourage you as it did me today:
Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God. (Isaiah 43:1b-3a)
(BTW, last I checked, Mike Bickle had updated his Song of Solomon study guide. I have not seen it and don’t know if it is like the one I’m using, but if you want to check it out, I found it here. )