Song of Solomon 2
v.5
Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
Her solution is not the removal of the desire that torments her. It is more food—raisins and apples—that will intensify that desire.
v.6
His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
v.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.
It would seem that love is the controlling factor. The joys of physical love and the arousal to that ecstasy are not to be toyed with. If the text means anything, it refers to this rather a request not to disturb the couple in their love. Love is such a powerful emotion and carries such enormous power that it must not be misused. The appreciation of love as a gift from God is the traditional theological understanding of this book.
v.14
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
v.16
My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.
Many a heart that has cried “My beloved,” has been wounded even unto death, because it could not come at its choice, but was doomed never to exclaim, “My beloved is mine.” The beloved was longed for, but could not be grasped. This is often so in earthly love, since such love may be unlawful, or unwise, and in every case it is the source of grievous misery. Thank God, this is not the case with the soul enamoured of Christ Jesus; for he freely presents himself in the gospel as the object of our confidence and love. Though he be infinitely above us, yet he delights to be one with all his loving ones, and of his own will he gives himself to us.
Suppose yet once again that, though we loved, and rightly loved, and actually possessed the beloved object, yet our affection was not returned. Ah, misery! to love and not be loved! Blessed be God, we can not only sing, “My Beloved is mine,” but also, “I am his.” He values me, he delights in me, he loves me! It is very wonderful that Jesus should think us worth the having; but since he does so, we find a matchless solace in the fact. Which is the greater miracle— that he should be mine, or that I should be his? Certainly, the second is the surer ground of safety, for I cannot keep my treasures, since I am feebleness itself; but Jesus is able to preserve his own, and none can pluck them out of his hand. The truth that Jesus calls me his is enough to make a man dance and sing all the way between here and heaven. Realize the fact that we are dear to the heart of our incarnate God, and amid the sands of this wilderness a fountain of overflowing joy is open before us. #CharlesSpurgeon sermon link