Beginning our series today in
Song of Solomon, it's just, it has been for me, for many years,
just a delightful passage of scripture and probably the reason
I've found, one of the reasons I've found it so delightful is
that the men that have gone before
us and the women that have gone before us went to Song of Solomon
again and again. It's hard to read much of people
like Spurgeon and Philpott and Hawker and Huntington to not
find them referring to Song of Solomon again and again. And it's just a beautiful picture
of the love relationship between the Lord Jesus and His Bride. It's all about the Gospel. And of course, it's a song and
it's poetry and it has beautiful metaphors and allegories and
things in it. But the rest of the scriptures
contain those beautiful things as well. If you turn to Psalm
45, they say that Psalm 45 is in miniature what the Song of
Solomon is. It's called A Song of Love, Psalm
45 is overflowing with a good theme. I recite my composition concerning
the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. You are fairer than the sons
of men. Grace is poured upon your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon
your thigh, O mighty one, with your glory and your majesty,
and in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and
righteousness. And your right hand shall teach
you awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the
heart of the king's enemies. People fall under you. Your throne,
O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate
wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has
anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. All your garments are scented
with myrrh and aloes and cassia. Out of the ivory palaces by which
they have made you glad, king's daughters are among your honourable
women, at your right hand stands the Queen, in the gold from over. Listen, O daughter, and incline
your ear. Forget your own people also,
and your father's house, so the King will greatly desire your
beauty. Because he is your Lord, worship
him. The daughter of Tyre will come
with a gift. The rich among the people will
seek your favour. The royal daughter is all glorious
within the palace. Her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the king
in robes of many colours. The virgins, her companions who
follow her, shall be brought to you. With gladness and rejoicing
they shall be brought. They shall enter the king's palace.
Instead of your fathers shall be your sons, whom you shall
make princes in all the earth. I will make your name to be remembered
in all generations. Therefore the people shall praise
you forever and ever. As I said to you, Song of Solomon
has been a book that I have found delightful. And I think its delights
are in many things. I think its delights are in the
way it speaks so beautifully of the Saviour and the way it
speaks so truthfully and beautifully of the Saviour's Bride. And it is remarkable, isn't it,
that it begins in verse 2 with let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. And it finishes in chapter 8,
verse 14 and 13. It says in verse 13 of chapter
8, the companions hearken to thy voice. Cause me to hear it. Again and again, as we see and
go through the Song of Solomon, we'll see that there is a continual
dependence upon God, to come upon God to do something, upon
God to make that love relationship which the Bible speaks so often
of, to make it a reality. companions hearken to thy voice,
cause me to hear it. And the Song of Solomon finishes
as Revelation does. Make haste, my beloved. Make haste. Come, Lord Jesus. The Jews of old from Jesus' time on considered,
and earlier, considered the Song of Solomon to be the Holy of
Holies. It's called, in verse 1, the
Song of Songs. It says in 1 Kings 4.32 that
Solomon had 1,005 songs, but this is the song of songs. This is the best of
the best. This is the heart of the matter.
This is the joy of joy. This is the charm of charms. The delight of delight. Delights. The excellency of all excellencies. In Hebrew, to emphasize something,
something is repeated. Here we have the song of songs. The Bible has many songs in it. But the Holy Spirit designates
this one that's before us as the song of songs, which is Solomon's. And of course, it's a gospel
song. And as we thought a few weeks
ago about what it was like to be on that road to Emmaus as
the Lord Jesus opened the scriptures and opened the understanding
of those men. And their hearts burned within
them. What would He have said out of
song of Solomon if only we knew? But we do, don't we? It's all
about Him. It's all about our Lord Jesus. It's all about our God. And it's all about the communication
of who He is and the revealing of who He is in the intimacy
of relationship. It's wonderful to know the nature
of God. It's wonderful to know that He's
holy, that He's sovereign, that He's predestinating, that He's
working all things for the good of His children. It's wonderful
to know about electing grace. It's wonderful to know God is
revealed in three persons. But it's only when those things
are communicated to us in love as His being is revealed in our
hearts to us, does it have the real impacting and soul-warming
power in our lives. Paul prayed, didn't he, for the
Ephesians. For this reason I bow my knee
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family
in heaven on earth is named. that He would grant you, according
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through
His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded
in love. See, it's a love relationship,
that Having been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and
height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that
you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Song of Solomon while we're in
Ephesians is very much an exposition of what Ephesians 5 is talking
about, isn't it? It seems like it's a command
And it's all about husbands and wives, and that's how the commentators
often reveal it. But it's bigger, it's much more
than that, isn't it? For the husband is the head of
the wife as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the
savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church
is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands
in everything. Husbands, love your wives. just
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Ephesians
5 is about Jesus and the church, that he might sanctify her and
cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present her to himself, a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy. John Newell, holy is what God
is making His people, without blemish, just to make sure we
understand what it means. So husbands ought to love their
own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own flesh
but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the Church. It's about Jesus and the Church. This is the reason, isn't it?
We are members of His body, of His flesh and His bones. For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the Church. We'll talk more about
Solomon in weeks to come. But it is remarkable that the
Shulamite is named only in chapter 6, verse 13. But she could be
called Solomon. She has his name. It's just another marker, as
we've just read in Ephesians, that she, we, bear His name. It's a mark of intimacy. It's a mark of union. The union of the Lord with His
bride. And so this sacred book, this
sacred book written by God the Holy Spirit is a song. It's a gospel song because it's
about the Lord Jesus and his salvation. There are so many
songs in scripture but the songs all emanate from who God is and
what he's doing. In that day, a song, this song,
shall be sung in the land of Judah. What day? Chapter 25 tells us that there
is a great day. The Lord of hosts will make for
all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wine on the
leaves, of fat things, full of marrow, a well-refined wine on
the leaves. And he will destroy on this mountain
the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil
that is spread over all nations. On that day, he will swallow
up death forever, verse eight. And the Lord will wipe away tears
from all faces. the rebuke of his people, he
will take away from all the earth. He will come and deal with his
people in that intimacy we read about at the end of Revelation. This is a song that we're looking
at. It's the song of heaven. It's a song sung about the Lamb. And it's a song sung by the people
of this world, people like us, sinners, made to be the bride
of the Lord Jesus. It's Christ singing over us and
us singing in response. It's Him giving Himself for us
exclusively. It's that love that is powerful,
that love that is intimate, That love that is expressed in us
meeting with the Lord Jesus and being transformed inwardly by
a union with Him and a meeting with Him. It's a song. It's not a historical
narrative. It's not a theological dissertation. It's not just a revealing of
divine truths, and yet it's full of divine glory and truth. It's not a book of prophecy. It's not a display of moral imperatives. It's a song. It's a song that
speaks of that love reunion. and only songs and only poetry
can express it as beautiful as it is. So in verse 2, the one
thing the church wants, the one thing that God's children hunger
for is for the Lord Jesus to manifest His love to our hearts
in sweet and in intimate communion. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. All gospel duty is summed up
in Psalm 2, isn't it? Kiss the Son. All gospel grace
is summed up in the sun kissing us. Just as that father, when
the prodigal returned, he fell upon his neck and he kissed him. It's the kiss of peace, not the
words of the law. And he wants, and she wants,
and we want more than just one. We have been kissed by him in
conversion and regeneration. I want more. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth, because with intimacy with the Lord Jesus, the more
we have, the more we want. and it's the kisses of His mouth. It's that words of promise, those
words of comfort that come from God to us when He knows we need
them best. Where else have we to go? Where else? Who else has the
words of eternal life? It's like Mary sitting at Jesus'
feet. Imagine what was passing in her
soul at that time as she just was there enraptured over her
Saviour and enraptured over the words. No one ever spoke like
this man. David said, how sweet are thy
words to my taste. Yea, they are sweeter than honeycomb
in my mouth. Because at the end of that sentence
it says, the kisses of his mouth, the words of the Lord Jesus,
are speaking of love. Your love is better than wine. She had been speaking of him
and now she speaks to him. Your love is better than wine.
He loves us freely he loves us spontaneously and the cause of
his love is not in us it's in him and it's from everlasting
to everlasting all that we have in time, all that we can look
forward to in eternity, all the mercies of redemption, all the
works of grace and providence, all our hopes of glory, all of
what captivates and holds God's children. It has its beginning That love that began in eternity,
that love that united Him to us before the worlds were made,
that love that drove Him from heaven's glory into this world,
that love that drove Him relentlessly on to the cross. It's that love that stirs everything. in God's
people. What has God done in your life? Can you chart the streams of
grace and mercy? What was it like to think back
and be a God-hating, God-dishonouring rebel? What was it like to be
a religious rebel? What was it like to be someone
who clung to a robe of righteousness that we stitch, spend all day
stitching, and especially in the presence of other people
who are religious, we stitch and stitch and stitch, and it
rots away, and we stitch and stitch, and we put new patches
on it all the time, and we have that robe continually fraying
all around us. And God came. God came personally
into your heart and He revealed Himself by the Gospel. That's what love has done, isn't
it? It's love that drove him, and
it's love that brings all the fruits of who he is and what
he's done into our life. The Holy Spirit takes the things
of Jesus. What are the things of Jesus?
His love for his bride. His love for God's glory. and His love motivates things
in us. So your love is better than wine. Wine, according to Proverbs 31,
is a tonic to the heavy and hard. But wine, as it is, just refreshes
our body and gives us temporary refreshment for a while. but
the love of Jesus reaches our soul. To drink wine in excess
is to dishonor God and to bring upon human beings physical and
emotional troubles of the deepest sort. What happens when you drink
the wine of Jesus' love? The more you drink, the better
it is. The more you drink, the more
you delight to drink. It just gets better. There is no trouble in drinking
deeply of the love of the Lord Jesus. And she goes on to talk about,
in verse 3, the savour, because of the savour, of thy good ointments
thy name is ointment poured forth. The fragrance of his good ointments. The fragrance of the Lord Jesus
was the fragrance that filled that temple. There was that anointing
oil that is revealed to us in the remarkable quantities and
remarkable way it was made and no one else was to make it or
to use it for anything other than holy purposes. You can read
about it in Exodus 30 verses 22 and following. And this anointing
oil is the oil that Christ was anointed with. He was anointed
according to Hebrews 1.9 with the oil of gladness. And the oil of this gladness,
the oil of these good ointments, has its focus in the name of
the Lord Jesus. Charles Simeon said she is altogether
occupied with the Saviour of her beloved's name. We love the
name of the Lord Jesus, not just those letters, but all of what
they mean to us. This name, the perfume of which
makes every other odour worthless. at least, if not nauseous and
offensive. In a word, so entirely does this
beloved object fill her soul, that with him a dungeon would
be heaven, and without him heaven would be a dungeon. Without that
saver, that fragrance, that anointing of the Lord Jesus. Everything
down below here is work and duty. This anointing oil was used to
inaugurate the prophet and the priest and the king into their
offices. The Lord Jesus is our prophet.
He is the one who has all wisdom. He does reveal all saving truth. He does take us from a kingdom
of darkness into a kingdom of light. He takes away ignorance,
ignorance of who God is, ignorance of how God saves His people,
ignorance of who we are until He brings light. We don't know what we are. and his light brings heavenly
knowledge. And he comes as a teacher, and
he teaches his people, and they get the lesson. See, to know
Jesus in these offices, in these ways, is to delight in the savour
of his good omens. He's a high priest. he was anointed
as a priest. And on that altar of the cross,
he was the sin-attaining sacrifice. And like that high priest, he
bears the names of his people, his bride, his church. He bears
them on his shoulders into the Holy of Holies. And he bears
them on his heart as he goes into the Holy of Holies. and
says, by my activities these people are worthy to live, to
enjoy and to delight in the presence of God. And as High Priest he
pours down blessings from the throne of grace. If we knew how
much He blessed us right now in every moment of our days,
we would be astounded at the way He does work all things for
our good. And He's anointed to do the task.
And He is a King. I have set my King on my holy
hill of Zion. He rules as a king over everything
in this universe, an anointed king. And he rules for his people. He rules with everything ordered
and secure in every detail. He rules for us and he rules
in us. And for his bride, it's a sweet
fragrance that wafts over us, the saver of the good ointment
of our Lord Jesus. But it's all about His name. His name is ointment poured forth. The Bible is just has so many
names and all of them are descriptive as if there is this beautiful
jewel called God and each facet is another name which reflects
His beauty and reflects His people as like a mirror in that same
beauty. We call Him and we know Him as
Jehovah. as Elohim, as Adonai, as Emmanuel,
God with us. We know Him as the Lord our righteousness. Isaiah called Him wonderful,
counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the
Shiloh, the Holy One of Israel, the Christ of God. and we know
him as a friend of sinners, my Saviour, my God, my King. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And how is this ointment poured
forth? How is this name, which is both a name and a description
of His character, it's poured forth in the Gospel. It's poured forth freely and
fully and sufficiently and graciously as He is revealed to us. It's all ointment poured forth. And because of what He has done,
He has been poured forth. He poured His life out on that
cross. Because of His good name, because
of His good offices, because of His good work, that ointment
is revealed and God's children breathe it in like a fragrance
and are anointed with it. like an anointing oil. Therefore,
do the virgins love thee? The response of Jesus' love is
to bring love out of those he calls virgins. They are pure
virgins by Christ. Paul says of the Corinthians,
who seem to us as anything like pure virgins when you read of
the things that went on in that Corinthian church. Yet he speaks
in the most extraordinary ways about them. He says, I'm jealous
over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one
husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Paul was well aware that that
was God's work to do. But that was the longing, wasn't
he? That the people of God would be chaste in life, in conversation,
in doctrine, in fellowship, and they would have an eye, a single
eye to the Redeemer's glory. He presented the Lord Jesus in
as much glory as God would give him the grace to do so. the Redeemer's
glory, the glory of His person. You cannot read the scriptures
and not be astounded. There is never a man that lived
like that man. There's never a man who taught
like that man. Glory in His person, glory in
His name, the glory He has in His people, the glory in His
word. The glory in these beautiful
ordinances he's left with us. The glory in all that belongs
to him. Is he precious? Peter says, unto
them that believe, he is precious. Is he precious to you? Is he precious? It's precious to those who believe. And in verse 4, as we'll see
in many places throughout the song, there is, because there
has been this remarkable love relationship, there has been
this intimacy of the Lord Jesus coming personally and speaking
personally to your heart. There is, when there's an absence
of it, there's a hunger and a thirst, and there's an acknowledgement
that in ourselves, in our flesh, we are continually running away,
like Hosea's wife, Gona, We run down to the red light district
and we find our peace and our comfort in things that are not
of God. And we call out to the one person,
the one source where this longing desire to be in intimate union
with the Lord Jesus, it's gotta come from Him. And she acknowledges
that. She says, draw me, draw me. If you come and draw me, I'll
be drawn. Not only will I be drawn, if
you come, we will run after you. Jeremiah 31.3, it's often quoted,
isn't it? I have loved you with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. Jesus said
to that crowd in John 6, no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me draw him. And when I am lifted up from
the earth, I will draw all. The correct translation is all
to me. He won't draw all people to himself.
He never intended to draw all people to himself. He will draw
all his own. He will draw us. When she says,
as we, I trust, say, draw me, we're acknowledging that there
is a distance. There's a distance between us
and our Saviour which brings discomfort, a distance, a desire
for that distance to be brought close together, a desire for
Him to come and dwell in us as He's promised and to dwell with
us as He's promised. We will run. If He draws, we
will run. No service will be too demanding. No sacrifice will be too great. And the obstacles that seem like
huge obstacles to coming to Him, if He draws us those obstacles,
we'll fade away and disappear. I will heal their backsliding,
says Hosea. I will love them Why does he
love us freely? The next part of that verse says,
my anger is turned away from them. All that he has left between
us and him is love. He'll make his people willing
on the day of his power. And notice how quickly the prayer
is answered. The king, only a king can do
the drawing. someone who has the power that
we don't have. The King has brought me into
His chambers, into that place where there is intimate union
and communion with Him. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear Him, says Isaiah, and He will show them His covenant. He'll take them into a private
place, a place where He lives. You see, in His chambers is where
He manifests Himself. "'He who loves Me,' says Jesus
in John 14, "'will be loved by My Father. "'I will love him
and manifest Myself to him.'" draw me." It's a great prayer,
isn't it? Turn me and I'll be turned. Draw me and I'll be drawn. And the believer's response is
there at the end of verse four. It's thankfulness. We will be
glad and rejoice in you. A day in his courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere. How much better is it to have
an hour in his chamber with him? We will rejoice. God's children
will be glad. They'll be glad that he is their
husband. He is their King, He is their
Priest, He is their Saviour. God's children are rejoicing
children because of who He is and the way He reveals Himself. And then God's children will
remember, will remember your love more than wine. God's visits to us personally
and intimately are there as markers like our Ebenezers that we can
set up in our lives. Not that we put our faith in
things, but we put our trust in Him. And then we remember
how He has loved us. We remember how He has spoken
to us in His Word. We remember that it's love language
that this Bible is full of. It's love that's more than wine,
that's better than wine. It's a love that's the intimacy
of a personal union. It's in fellowship, and it's
expressed in fellowship. You see, God was not intending
that His work in the lives of His people be something that
we take into our closets for our own good. If God has done
something in your life, it is for all of us. We actually meet
with God and we remember God and we remember those good ointments
of His name and we are drawn and we run together because we're
in fellowship, we're in communion. It's not meant to be something
that leads to isolation and asceticism. God's children are gifted. We need each other. God has done amazing things in
your lives and given you gifts that I cannot survive in Christian
life without. God has so ordained it. will remember your love more
than wine." If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanses us from all sin. The upright. Those made upright by Jesus alone. They love him. They just love
him. We love his name. We love his person. We love the
things that he's doing. And we find it abhorrent that
both our flesh and the world we live in spurns this one who
has loved our soul with such intimacy. May he draw you. May he draw all of us. This is what revival is. God's
children calling him to draw us, that we might run after him. Let's pray and then Cole will
hand out the elements.