This is the third book

SONG of SOLOMON

The Song of Solomon is a book of romance; the writings are to do with the divine love of the Bridegroom for the Bride.Saintly men and women have found the Song of Solomon a source of pure and exquisite delight.The Bridegroom being our Lord Jesus and the Bride is His mystical body, the church of the redeemed.In this record of Scripture this is symbolized by Solomon's love for the Shulamite Woman.As we now travel through just a few verses of the first chapter, may our hearts yes our spiritual emotions, ones mind and spirit be enriched in our understanding of our Father God and His love for us His people and give thanks

An interesting point worthy of note is the matter of 'Solomon's' love for the Shulamite Maiden and it is our heavenly 'Father's' love for us.I am now going to state what is most important, but I will not travel along the avenue of debate regarding the position of different sexes within the family, church or society.Generally speaking it is the man who should take the initiative, it is his responsibility, but I follow on with this in stating quite clearly that the dear women folk have a work to do in life that we men cannot touch.The influence of a woman in life, single ladies whose influence I fully recognize from experience in the whole of society.The importance of a good Godly wife and her support through the years.A God fearing Nan in her care, concern and prayers for her loved ones - no man can fill this roll, I will say no more on this point

Now back to Solomon Trevor, in verse 3 one point it teaches is that as we have our sins forgiven, this can only be through the grace of our Lord Jesus, then we are as 'spiritual virgins' without sin, this through His work on The Cross.But we all need this forgiveness moment by moment of every passing day.As I, as we more fully understand this daily cleansing our love for our dear Lord is continually enriched and deepened

The words of the Shulamite Maiden in v4 are, 'Draw me after thee', now as we apply this principle in the things of our God, it confirms that He takes the initiative.In our position as sons & daughter of the living God, through Christ Jesus our Lord, by His Holy Spirit that He takes the first step, we cannot become Christians on our own merits.In the Garden of Eden experience, this was the 'Dispensation of Innocence', after mankind had disobeyed God, now longer was He able to, 'Walk with them in the garden in the cool of the day'.Our God took the initiate and called to them, 'Where art thou?'Psalm c65, some of the words read, 'Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee'.There are the words of our Lord Jesus Himself as recorded in John's Gospel c6, 'No man can come to Me, except The Father who has sent Me, draw him' also 'Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto Him of My Father'.As we understand our God is holy, that we are men and women of sin, it is a technical impossibility for us to approach the Almighty God in any way by ourselves, for me no further words are necessary

In the verse under consideration we note the words, 'We will make haste', now what can we gain from these four words?To use Biblical language we know before being Christians one, 'Had eyes but we could not see', so it was necessary that our 'spiritual eyes were washed with eye salve' and we had to be 'born again'.Now as this happens to us as individuals our understanding is changed.We grasp the joys of sins forgiven, fellowship with our Father God and that our eternal destiny is secure through the work of our Lord Jesus, yes He is right now preparing a place for us in glory in His 'mansion'.As we understand these things we hurry, we make haste to serve our dear Lord, BUT this must be first of all with the worship of our redeemed hearts

The verse under consideration continues to read, 'The king hath brought me unto his chambers', one of the Biblical understandings of the word 'chambers' is,'A secretplace in the house'.Our dear heavenly Father is the creator God, He desires fellowship, communion with His children, those within His 'household', if not He would not be our 'Father' God and we all as children need the guidance and help of a power beyond ourselves, our loving heavenly Father.As Christians we should be very diligent about our Daily Personal Devotional Life, the, 'Secret place in the house', if this is not in order there are problems.I now understand this point more than ever in my life, if ones fellowship with our Lord vertically is not rich then we cannot be of any use horizontally in our relationships with others.Please just turn to 1 John c1 v7 and meditate upon it.In our own personal testimony the words, 'We cannot lead anyone any further along the Christian pathway than what we have travelled ourselves' are so correct

In the final words of the verse inSong of Solomon it reads, 'We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we remember thy love more than wine', what is the meaning of 'wine' inthis sense in Scripture?Wine is a symbol of earthly joy, the effect of it will only last for a few hours, and we should not need 'earthly' stimulation for our faith.As we gather for worship in a building, the structure is important butonly for the convenience of gathering together, good music is in orderbut not an end in itself and the people we gather with have an influence on us but we must reach beyond all these for stimulation to worship our lovingly heavenly Father in spirit and in truth.As our hearts, mind and spirits our drawn to our Father God, through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Spirit we should respond by the worship of our redeemed hearts, this is our first mission, remember our Lord, 'Seeketh such to worship Him'.Remember the words of Scripture where we are told that first of all our Lord Jesus drew His disciples to Himself.Now for a few moments dwell on three marks of the Nazariteship of Samson.1.No earthly joy (wine).2.All natural dignity surrendered (long hair).3.No defilement (no contact with a dead body)

Finally we have in the writing of this important book in the cannon of Scripture the words of the Shulamite Maiden, in verses 5 to 7 what is being stated?This lady had, as I understand the writings come through some of lifes experiences.The maiden was not 'black' by mature, not of West Indian origin, but she had been 'weathered' by lifes experiences, she had the feelings of her brothers and sisters against her, she had to work hard, forsaking herself, was tired out so turned to Solomon.How often do we feel like this?Tired and weary of what life has to offer us, tasted its 'wine' with no lasting effect, so pass through the experiences of our lives to the One who only has the keys to lifes problems.I am now going to quote what is the attitude of our heavenly Father as we return to Him, this being picked up from the son who was a prodigal

When the lad returned he was given new clothes for protection from the elements,

owned as a son again by the ring,

shoes for the new pathway he was to walk in life

and there was great rejoicing

'

This is the third book