- Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. Song of Solomon 1:4 – Stepping into this book together, let’s establish its purpose and meaning. While taken many different ways, what is believed the best way to understand it is a literal conversation between two lovers, and young husband and wife (or soon to be). These two are deeply infatuated with each other and are displaying a godly courtship and marriage with these pages. While certainly we want to read scripture as it is written, a secondary way to understand these chapters is through the lens of God and the church. Take our verse above, the maiden is asking her lover to bring her to himself, to draw her close to him. He does, he brings her into his chambers, meaning he has brought her into the most intimate places of his life. While this is great within a marriage (we even see it praised in our verse), how much greater is this when we understand it as God drawing us near. That as we have called on Him, He responded by bringing us into a His home and His life. Allow yourself to see the image being displayed. The church is calling out to the Father to open the doors and bring us close. The Father then opens wide the doors to His most intimate spaces, welcoming us to come as close as we can to Him. As then the passage says, let us run. Through Jesus the doors to the Father are open and He is drawing us near. Run to the Father and find the love you are looking for. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3137
- If you do not know, O most beautiful among women…The Song of Solomon 1:8a – We have in the previous verses the woman doubting herself and the love between her and her beloved. She begins to reason why she isn’t with her lover at this time. Was it because of the way she looked? Was it because of the way her past was? She begins to be filled with this doubt of if the one she loves loves her back. Then comes the beloved reminding her how deeply he loves her over anything else shattering those doubts she once had. How often does our life with God mirror this? We begin to doubt God’s love because of something we did or something we think we are. We think we’ve ruined our chance at love with Him. Yet then He speaks and reassures us how deep His love for us is and how much He desires us over all creation. Church remember God sees you differently than how you see you or how you think your past defines you. God sees you through the lens of Jesus which means you’re and perfect and holy in His sight. If you begin to forget that, just begin to read the Word your Beloved wrote to you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 847
- “I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!” Song of Solomon1:5-6 – While in our days we see a dark tan as something desirable and people pay money to sit in tanning booths to darken their skin, in this time period the view was the opposite. If you had tanned skin that meant you must have been outside working fields rather than inside reclining as the wealthy did. The bride confesses her concern about how the groom will feel when he sees her skin, yet how did the groom react? He called her most beautiful among women. He took her greatest fear and spoke his truth into her story. Today you may be believing a lie about yourself. That God wouldn’t want you because of your past. That God would never forgive something that you’ve done. That God would rather have someone else other than you. You can choose to listen to those lies or you can choose to listen to the truth Jesus is speaking to you. You are seen, loved, and wanted by God. The actions and words of others, the ways you speak to yourself, and the ways our enemy moves is going to tell you the opposite of Jesus’ truth. Whose voice are you going to listen to? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1983
Daily DEVO 