Song of Songs 5:2-6:3

 

Read Song of Songs 5:2 - 6:3

Verses chosen for meditation (Song of Songs 5:2-6)

2 I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved is knocking.

“Open to me, my sister, my love,

    my dove, my perfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

    my locks with the drops of the night.”

3 I had put off my garment;

    how could I put it on?

    I had bathed my feet;

    how could I soil them?

4 My beloved put his hand to the latch,

    and my heart was thrilled within me.

5 I arose to open to my beloved,

    and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with liquid myrrh,

    on the handles of the bolt.

6  I opened to my beloved,

    but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he spoke.

I sought him, but found him not;

    I called him, but he gave no answer.

Reflect

What we read from this passage seems to be the dream state of the bride/wife (v2 - I slept but my heart was awake). This seemingly poetic and metaphorical passage portrayed a longing husband who urged his wife to open the door for him, when he has apparently been out long and late (head is wet with dew). But what makes the bride so harsh towards her husband (v3 depicts that she did not even bother to inconvenient herself from her cosy bed to open the door for her beloved), even when her heart longed for him (v4)? But as she finally arose to open the door her beloved has left. She then started to frantically search for her husband. 

Relate

The passage reminds me of our relationship with 1) our spouse and 2) God. No doubt we all love our other half but sometimes our behaviour contradicts with our feeling (just like in the passage where the bride longed for her husband but yet it took great effort to open the door for him). What could be standing in between the relationship? Is it the self-centeredness (like in the case of the bride who finds it hard to forgo her comfort in the bed as she has to dress up and wash her feet after she opens the door)?  Do we (like the bride) put our interests above those of our beloved spouse? Ephesians 5:25-29 says In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church…and this applies both ways. Or is pride the culprit in many relationships? Are we always waiting for our loved ones to make the first move? Does it hurt our pride when we take the initiative to say sorry or apologise (even when we are not at fault)? Love surpasses all reasons and there is no pride in love. In addition, there is no ranking in husband and wife relationship where one is greater than the other. Husbands (or the wives as the case may be) may appear stronger (or may even be the sole breadwinner) but 1 Peter 3:7 says “she may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life”.

Same goes with our relationship with God.  Luke 19:10 - “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost”. Like the groom in the passage, Jesus is knocking at the door asking for us to open our hearts to Him. I believe that the groom has the key to open the door (but he wanted the bride to open it herself with her willing and longing heart). Likewise we have to open that door of our heart ourselves, and we have to let go of our self-centeredness and our pride to embrace Christ, our loving saviour. Revelation 3:20 - “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me”.

In both relationships we do not wish to act or regret only when it has become too late to do so. Our time is limited, so we should take every opportunity to love and cherish our beloved ones. That is only possible if we live a God-centered life, and as we love our spouse, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Rest

Be ye kind one to another,

Tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you

Amen

Alan Wong