Sharper Iron — God’s Gift of Marriage – Song of Solomon 3:1-4:7: The Bridegroom Comes, Awake!

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The bride is longingly looking for her bridegroom in the night and suddenly finds him to her great delight, in a scene very reminiscent of Mary Magdalene searching for Jesus after His resurrection. The wedding procession begins and includes imagery reminiscent of the LORD’s protection of His people as they journeyed through the wilderness to the Promised Land. As the bridegroom looks upon his bride, he praises her beauty, recognizing his wife as God’s gift to him in marriage.

Rev. Andrew Belt, pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Marshfield, WI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Song of Solomon 3:1-4:7.

To learn more about Christ Lutheran, visit christmarshfield.org.

“God’s Gift of Marriage” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that studies the Song of Solomon and other key texts from the Bible concerning marriage. Although the world is terribly confused concerning what marriage is, God’s Word reveals how good a gift marriage truly is and points us to the relationship between Christ, the Bridegroom, and His Church, the Bride.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Song of Solomon 3:1-4:7

The Bride’s Dream

3 On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

6 What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7 Behold, it is the litter[a] of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage[b]
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty

He

4 Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;[c]
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king

Song of Solomon 3:9 Or sedan chair

Song of Solomon 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain