This book is unique. Nowhere in its chapters does it ever mention God or religious practices. It is a book of songs, songs about love. It is a welcomed change from the bloodshed of Numbers. It is beautiful and compelling. I invite you to read the text along with me. Maybe you can even pull some of it out and surprise your spouse.
I am using the Lutheran study bible which haas introduction I would like to quote: "Song of Solomon is about the beauty and power of human physical love. It affirms the goodness of creation, human bodies, and sexuality."
And the journey begins.
This chapter begins with a bride yearning for her groom, who says, "you know where to find me." She goes to him in the fields while he is tending to his flock. The groom is a shepherd.
Have you seen the show Sister Wives on TLC? It's a show about a polygamist, his 4 wives and their 17 children. It's weird to see how wives interact with each other because they are all in love with the same man. How can there not be times of jealousy and lonliness? Solomon had 700 wives!
It's hard for me to read this and think that Solomon was a good husband. How could he be to 700 wives?
Instead, I prefer to read this as a love song between God and us.
The church is the bride, calling out and yearning for God. The response from God is simple "come find me in the pasture." In the pasture is where we find the shepherd, it's where we find Jesus. It is where Jesus smiles at us and tells us that we are beautiful just the way we are.
But love is more than just words. It is action.
Love is dying on a cross.
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