Thy Strong Word – Song of Songs 2. God’s love for the church: The Church is a rose among the thorns.

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Rev. Dr. Nathan Meador, Executive Assistant for Mission and Mercy for the South Wisconsin District in Milwaukee, WI joins host Rev. Brady Finnern to study Song of Songs 2.

Roses, lilies, apple trees, and fig trees. We see a vision of the church, not only as a bride of Christ, but as ones who are battling in a sinful and broken world. The church is like a rose among the thorns, the lily among the brambles, that the church will look beautiful but needs to endure among her enemies. The LORD is like an apple tree: Sturdy, providing shade, and producing fruit for our sustenance. He is our foundation, He provides what we need to live , and provides us the holy food to keep us with Him. “Lord God, sustain us in this life and for the next. Protect us from evil, provide for our needs, and help us to people who look to You for our hope. In Christ, Amen”

Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Song of Songs 2

2 I am a rose[a] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.

He

2 As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.

She

3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,[b]
and his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
7 I adjure you,[c] O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing[d] has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes[e] for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes[f] among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.[g]

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 2:1 Probably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus

Song of Solomon 2:4 Hebrew the house of wine

Song of Solomon 2:7 That is, I put you on oath; so throughout the Song

Song of Solomon 2:12 Or pruning

Song of Solomon 2:15 Or jackals

Song of Solomon 2:16 Or he pastures his flock

Song of Solomon 2:17 Or mountains of Bether

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org