The Song of Solomon

 

The following is taken from the first in a series of sermons on the Song of Solomon.  

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“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.”

I want to begin by clearing up a misunderstanding that has ruined the Song of Solomon for many—a misunderstanding that has done great disservice to the Church and proved profoundly dishonouring to the One who is so gloriously pictured in this book.

The Scriptures teach us that there is a greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42), and it is this greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is represented by the person of Solomon in this song. Please do not mistake this for a mere love song between King Solomon and one of his many lovers. I am with Robert Hawker when he says, “I venture to believe that there is not a line in it which hath the smallest reference to Solomon king of Israel…”

The timing of the book makes it impossible that this should be about him and Pharaoh’s daughter, as some have supposed (1 Kings 3:1), but the text itself makes the case for us. Pharaoh’s daughter was never a keeper of vineyards (Song 1:6), never beaten by watchmen (Song 5:7), nor running about in the night in search of Solomon (Song 3:1–2).

And beyond that, the very content of this book would be a stain on Scripture if it were merely about the man Solomon and someone he loved. Ask yourself: is it appropriate for the daughters of Jerusalem to ask, “Where is your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, that we may seek him with you?” (Song 6:1). Is it appropriate that the Shulamite should answer them? And why should she charge the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up or awaken love until it pleases (Song 2:7; 3:5; 8:4)?

There are beautiful, glorious, splendid pictures in this book—but not if we are meant to think of another man’s bride, and certainly not if other women are coveting, or encouraged to covet, the bridegroom.

We have a man, a woman, and a group of women in this song, but they are described in order that we may better understand the love between Christ, the Bridegroom (John 3:29), and the Church, His bride (Ephesians 5:25–27; Revelation 19:7–9).

Charles Spurgeon said, 

“Its music belongs to the higher spiritual life, and has no charm in it for unspiritual ears. The song occupies a sacred enclosure into which none may enter unprepared… The historical books I may compare to the outer courts of the Temple; the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Psalms bring us into the holy place or the Court of the priests; but the Song of Solomon is the most holy place… The Song is a golden casket of which love is the key rather than learning. Those who have not attained unto heights of affection, those who have not been educated by familiar intercourse with Jesus, cannot come near to this mine of treasure…”

He adds in another sermon that the idea that this book is about Solomon and Pharaoh’s daughter is “one of the grossest mistakes that ever was committed. There is nothing about Pharaoh’s daughter in it.”

I am not interested in drawing lessons from this book for married couples. That would be an unnecessary distraction. Perhaps couples will make such connections on their own. But here we have something far better to attend to and learn from—and by God’s grace and with His help, I pray that you will see Christ in this book, that you will find Him more lovely than you have yet imagined Him, and that this song will become your song to Him.

That you will cry out with the Shulamite woman,

“Draw me, we will run after thee… the King hath brought me to his banqueting house, his banner over me is love… His mouth is sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend… I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine…”

Find Christ in this book, and you will soon be saying, “Yes, this is the song of songs (Song 1:1), the song of Him who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20), who redeemed me (Titus 2:14), and who is my Redeemer and my friend (John 15:15).

Commenting on these opening words, James Durham says, “We often mar our own comfort.” In other words, we have reason to sing, voices to sing, and a glorious Redeemer to sing about—but we keep silent.

We fill our minds with earthly troubles and earthly joys and give far too little attention to Christ. We are so foolish.  He said, 

“Right thoughts of Christ will make every condition sweet and a song; nothing will come wrong to a believer; Christ, Christ maketh up all and maketh all excellent; every condition with him is excellent…”   

But our minds are too busy, too occupied, so that instead of being comforted and ravished and thrilled with thoughts of One who is worthy of our attention, comforting to our hearts, and beautiful in all His ways, we settle for less.

And so we are silent when we might sing. 

I often remind my children to put on “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3). How different would your home sound if singing were heard there more often? Have you not often marred your own comfort by your silence? You might have been singing of Jesus—singing comfort and gladness into your own heart—but instead you tucked these things away and stayed quiet.

Why not sing them out? Why not sing with enthusiasm? Why not sing daily, and all the day long? Why should we let the birds out-sing us when we have a subject so worthy of song (Psalm 104:12)?

I have heard people say they like many parts of worship services—just not the singing. They like studies and lectures and sermons, but not praise. They call it a personality thing: “Singing just isn’t for me.”

But that is not a personality problem. It is a heart problem.

You may be a poor singer, but you can still sing (Psalm 100:1–2). The only thing lacking is the desire. When the heart soars, we sing. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

And the solution to a hard or dull heart is not mere exhortation. I can’t get you a tender heart by beating you over the head with conviction. I cannot produce wonder and awe by command. Nor can I make you love Christ simply by telling you that you must.

This is the work of grace—the work of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

So ask Him.

Go to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Ask for a softer heart. Ask for more love to Christ. Ask that He would put a song in your mouth. “He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3). “You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence” (Psalm 21:6).

And then use the means of grace—especially the Word and the preaching of the Word. We are to “sing praises with understanding” (Psalm 47:7).

Where love is lacking, spiritual knowledge is often lacking. Where there is a lack of wonder, delight, and love, there is, at least, a partial blindness to the reality of Christ and a failure to see His true beauty. But when we behold Him, we are transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Seeing Him, we desire Him. And then wonder, awe, and singing come naturally.

Not only are “the statutes of the LORD right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8), but God Himself is wonderful. In His Son we behold His glory (John 1:14).

And so the psalmist testifies:

“LORD, I have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where your glory dwells” (Psalm 26:8).
“One thing have I desired of the LORD… that I may dwell in the house of the LORD… to behold the beauty of the LORD” (Psalm 27:4).
“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You… my lips shall praise You… my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:1–5).
“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD” (Psalm 84:1–2).

Here is the testimony of those who have known God, who have been granted eyes of faith to see the all-surpassing loveliness that is Christ Jesus our Lord. His greatness, His goodness, His worth, His beauty, and His sweetness are all real—our lack is always due to the blindness of unbelief. Outside of Christ we saw no comeliness in Him that we should desire Him, but now we see something—though sadly, too often, it is too little. And this explains so much of our spiritual poverty and apathy and listlessness; it explains our short and heartless prayers; it explains our lifeless worship services; it explains our quiet and sullen homes; it explains our own lack of real gladness and joy.

Just this: that we do not see what a wonder He is. If only we could and did, we would truly love Him. We would all be clapping our hands with joy; we would leap about, bursting with songs. We simply lack faith.

And so the solution isn’t to try to love Him more, but to look to Jesus. Go to the Word, go to the church, praying that you will see Him and be fed by Him. Pray for the pastor, pray for the reading and preaching of the Word, and study to know Him.

What you have to understand about this book is that while there are times when the Shulamite woman—the Church—seems discouraged and despairing because she is not what she ought to be, and while she is sometimes heard longing for the return of her Groom, her longings and cries and pleadings come out of the experience of faith—that she has tasted and seen the goodness of God.

She knows what it is to have been with Him. She is already convinced of His beauty. The Song of Solomon is not a scholarly essay on the existence and attributes of God. This is not merely a piece of literature, or some theological treatise. An unbeliever will do theology poorly, but he can do it. A confession can be read and admired by anyone—you can say a thousand true things about Jesus—but this is different. This is a song between lovers. There is a purity here that is wonderful, and there is a love between them that is deeply experiential.

She loves Him and He loves her. Do you notice what she longs for? What is it she craves? What is the pleading of this woman’s heart and mouth? “Let Him kiss me.”

Why “Him”? Why not name Him? The answer is both simple and profound: her whole heart and mind and soul and life are so taken with Him, so full of Him, that there is no need to say who it is. Like Mary Magdalene in Gospel of John, coming across the Lord Jesus and supposing Him to be the gardener, she said, “tell me where you have laid Him.” Notice there was no mention of His name, because there was no need. Who else could it be? And so, as the bride speaks of her Groom, she speaks simply of Him—because who else could it be?

Reader, is this how it is with you? Are you so taken with this Jesus that you need only say Him and people know who you are talking about? Is this your witness before your neighbours? I’m not asking if you always carry around your Bible, if you only pray, evangelize, and read your Bible. I am asking, as you do all the various things that make up life—work, eat, play, study—is He at the front, at the back, and behind it all? Is He everything? Do they see that your life is full of Him—your thoughts, your words, your every activity? Are you somehow always about Him? Are you so focused, so set on Him, so one-tracked in your mind, that you need only say Him and they know, “Ah, she’s talking about Jesus again”?

That’s how it is with lovers. That’s how it is when a man and woman are falling in love. You’re playing cards and he’s talking about her again. You’re studying and she’s scribbling notes about him all over the paper. You’re working together and he wants to talk about what they did and what she said.

We haven’t been like this with our Lord Jesus, have we? We haven’t loved Him quite like that—but what would it say to our neighbours if we did? What would they think of Him if His followers were that smitten? What a witness it would be! Surely it would accomplish more than mere talk.

But she wants something from Him. What is it? Some money? Help with a chore? A meal? Healing? What do people who are in love want? Kisses. What she wants, in other words, is a manifestation of His love. You see, it’s one thing to read love letters, to hear your spouse say again and again, “I love you”—it’s another thing when they show it with manifestations of affection. And this is the cry of the Church to her Groom:

“Your book says you love me. Your Word is full of promises and glorious descriptions of a love that is first (1 John 4:19). I know and believe that you are good and kind (Psalm 34:8). I know that you love me, and that my love for you is only because of your love for me. I believe it. But, oh God, that you would show me—that you would come to me so that I may know your presence (Exodus 33:15; Psalm 63:1–2)! I do not base my faith on such things; this is not my hope. I have learned to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), to believe that the ground of all my confidence is the work of Jesus, felt or not. But still, I want you to be near. I want fellowship (Psalm 27:4).”

Here is the Christian crying out for “frequent, constant, uninterrupted manifestations of Himself and His love.” This is why it is not just one kiss she wants, but many (Song of Solomon 1:2). Because the Christian, having been awakened to the majesty that is Jesus, wants frequent visits, constant communion, many manifestations of His presence. Don’t you see that Durham was right when he said that this is “the great scope and desire of believers, if they had their choice, it is to have sensible communion with Christ: this is their one thing!”

I have seen people at buffets who seem to have one thing. They go back again and again for plate after plate of clams, or lobster, or whatever it is—and here is the believer, and he could have this and that and the other. He could go out for a drink with his friends, he could spend time tinkering on his car, he could watch some football, he could put in more hours on the job, do some hunting, read a book, take a nap, go for a drive, play a game, and a host of other things. But this is his one thing: to have sensible communion with the Lord Jesus—to come into His presence, to sit at His feet, and to enjoy Him… to have kisses from His mouth (Luke 10:39–42; Psalm 16:11).

I want you to see and recognize that this is not only the note on which this book begins; it is also the note on which it ends, and the very note on which the Bible itself closes: the bride of the Lord Jesus crying out for her Groom, saying, “Come!”—longing for Him above all other things, desiring to have fellowship (Revelation 22:17, 20).

She doesn’t only want letters from His hand, words spoken from His lips; she wants kisses—she wants the very felt sense of the presence of her precious Groom. Why? The answer to that question is very much the theme of this book. But here she gives an answer: she loves Him, and how can she help but love Him? Nowhere do we find her acknowledging that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or that He’s beautiful merely to me, or that this is something special between the two of us. No. She extols Him publicly. She boasts of His beauty. She seems to invite the world to come and see and believe and enjoy Him too, as if to say, “Don’t you realize what you’re missing and what I have?!” (Psalm 34:3, 8).

Reader, do you know anything of this? Won’t you admit that, whatever your case, you have known and craved too little? Perhaps the very weakness of your longings is due to the little that you have known. Those who have had communion with Him, those who have known manifestations of His love, long for more (Psalm 42:1–2). A woman in love cannot help herself—no one tells her how to feel. She just does. And here is the Church with Christ, the one and only, the altogether lovely One who is without peer, who is to be compared to no one (Song of Solomon 5:16). A Christian who has seen a glimpse of His dear glory and walked with Him and fellowshipped with Him doesn’t need anyone to tell them how to feel—they cannot help but love Him and long for more of Him (1 Peter 2:3).

I want to assure you that where our Saviour is known and rightly thought of—as Durham puts it—there will be no equal to Him in the heart. And the consequence will be a longing for Him. Far too often, the people of God have been satisfied with the words from His mouth and the gifts that come from His hand—and we have been content without Him (John 5:39–40). But where there has been any kind of awakening, He Himself has taken first place (Matthew 6:33).

As Samuel Rutherford put it,

“O for eternity’s leisure, to look on Him, to feast upon a sight of His face! O for the long summer day of endless ages to stand beside Him and enjoy Him! O time, O sin, be removed out of the way! O day! O fairest of days, dawn!”

This is why we long for heaven and long for His appearing (Titus 2:13; 2 Timothy 4:8), but this is also why the Covenanters made their way miles over hills and valleys in rain and cold, at risk of their lives and the lives of their children, to sit under three- and four-hour sermons and to pray and worship together—because they believed that here in the church God came down (Matthew 18:20). There were times when He would surprise them with His manifest presence, and they didn’t want to miss it. This is why Rutherford was often at prayer at three in the morning, why John Wesley never prayed less than four hours a day—because they had learned that there God would come down and meet with them, and they knew that He was better (Psalm 84:10).

Normal children don’t choose brussel sprouts when you offer them chocolate sundaes with sprinkles on top… so you give them the brussels sprouts first. I believe many in the Church choose the sprouts because they’ve never tried the sundae—and what’s sad is that we can skip the sprouts… we can go right to fellowship with God. We can enjoy Him if only we want to (Psalm 37:4).

As we continue through the Song of Solomon you will notice there are seasons when He departs, but I want you to see here a pattern for believers to imitate. Here comes the bride, and what are the first words from her lips? “Help with this?” No. “Let Him kiss me” (Song of Solomon 1:2).

Reader, go to your prayer closet this week and pray like this. Begin not only to speak, but to cry out to Him for manifestations of His love, for tokens of His presence. Plead with Him and wrestle with Him (Genesis 32:26; Jeremiah 29:13).

Have you tasted His goodness? Do you know anything at all of what this bride here is crying out for? Could it be that some of you know nothing of this because you have never yet entered into a relationship with Him? You are living a religious life with the form of godliness and none of the power (2 Timothy 3:5). Could it be that some of you deeply desire this very communion that others have enjoyed, but you haven’t?

Great help can be found in simply looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). My hope and prayer as we go through this book is that you will see the Lord Jesus with clearer sight, and that, seeing Him, your hearts will be awakened. But I want to press on you the example of this bride.

Do you believe her to be true and right in longing for Him? Is she right to say that He is better? Is she right to prefer Him? Is she right to long for Him and crave the kisses of His mouth… to want not only to hear Him but to hold Him and never let Him go (Song of Solomon 3:4)? Then never mind your own experience. Don't be discouraged by what you lack. Believing the testimony to be true, believing her to be sound in her judgment, begin to call upon Him. Don’t settle for hobbies… go ahead and enjoy them… but don’t settle for them. Crave Him. Cry out for Him. Plead with Him:

“I hardly know what I am asking, but in faith I am pleading for kisses from Your mouth. You have said that there are few who will rouse themselves to take hold of You (Isaiah 64:7), but here I am, rousing myself to do that. I want to take hold of You. I want You. Come and minister to me. Let me know communion. Let me hold You. Let me have communion with You—I believe You are better. I believe You to be the altogether lovely One. Help me now to enjoy You.”