WE WILL PRAISE YOUR LOVE

Song of Songs 1:1-2:7 / Keywords 1:4b

We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!

1:1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.

She[a]

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—

    for your love is more delightful than wine.

3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;

    your name is like perfume poured out.

    No wonder the young women love you!

4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!

    Let the king bring me into his chambers.

Friends

We rejoice and delight in you[b];

    we will praise your love more than wine.

She

How right they are to adore you!

5 Dark am I, yet lovely,

    daughters of Jerusalem,

dark like the tents of Kedar,

    like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]

6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,

    because I am darkened by the sun.

My mother’s sons were angry with me

    and made me take care of the vineyards;

    my own vineyard I had to neglect.

7 Tell me, you whom I love,

    where you graze your flock

    and where you rest your sheep at midday.

Why should I be like a veiled woman

    beside the flocks of your friends?

Friends

8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,

    follow the tracks of the sheep

and graze your young goats

    by the tents of the shepherds.

He

9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare

    among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,

    your neck with strings of jewels.

11 We will make you earrings of gold,

    studded with silver.

She

12 While the king was at his table,

    my perfume spread its fragrance.

13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

    resting between my breasts.

14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

    from the vineyards of En Gedi.

He

15 How beautiful you are, my darling!

    Oh, how beautiful!

    Your eyes are doves.

She

16 How handsome you are, my beloved!

    Oh, how charming!

    And our bed is verdant.

He

17 The beams of our house are cedars;

    our rafters are firs.

She[d]

2:1 I am a rose[e] of Sharon,

    a lily of the valleys.

He

2 Like a lily among thorns

    is my darling among the young women.

She

3 Like an apple[f] tree among the trees of the forest

    is my beloved among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,

    and let his banner over me be love.

5 Strengthen me with raisins,

    refresh me with apples,

    for I am faint with love.

6 His left arm is under my head,

    and his right arm embraces me.

7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you

    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love

    until it so desires.

Footnotes

a. Song of Songs 1:2 The main male and female speakers (identified primarily on the basis of the gender of the relevant Hebrew forms) are indicated by the captions He and She respectively. The words of others are marked Friends. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.

b. Song of Songs 1:4 The Hebrew is masculine singular.

c. Song of Songs 1:5 Or Salma

d. Song of Songs 2:1 Or He

e. Song of Songs 2:1 Probably a member of the crocus family

f. Song of Songs 2:3 Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs

 

1. In his love song with the Shulamite maiden (6:13), Solomon describes the feelings between the king and a young woman who have just fallen in love with each other.

 

2. The woman expresses her overwhelming love for the king and desire to be with him (4,7,2:4). She was an outcast in the family and was put to labor under the hot sun. She knows she may seem less qualified as the king’s lover than the women of Jerusalem (1:5,6, 2:1), yet feels secure in the king’s love. Trusting in his love, she longs to be protected (2:4) and provided by him (2:5). In the chorus of blessings from the people around them (1:4,8), the couple feels delighted in each other’s presence.

 

3. Their relationship is in perfect harmony. We can have such a relationship with Christ when we submit to him fully and recognize his almighty power and protection. Do you want to have that relationship with him? What has been distracting you from having perfect harmony with the Lord? Would you come together in prayer to establish and restore the relationship with the Lord?

 

Prayer Father, thank you for Jesus, my true love and shepherd. I long to be in your presence and hear your words. Please come into my heart and help me to delight in you.

One Word Your love is more delightful…