“Beauty Isn't Bad!” – FBC Morning Light (5/30/2024)

Well, good Thursday morning to you. I hope you're keeping on target with the Bible reading plan. If you are, you're not going to be reading in Song of Solomon, but I'm going to be there today and tomorrow just to kind of share some further insights from this wonderful song, poetic song, that's helpful to husbands and wives.

The Honeymoon Is Over in Song of Solomon 5

And in chapter 5, we have an experience that most married couples, I could say all probably married couples understand, and that is that there comes a point when the honeymoon is over. You know what I'm talking about.

So far, even in the Song of Solomon, everything has been very rosy, the couple have been having a wonderful time together, there's nothing but praise and adoration for one another, and so on and so forth.

But then you come to chapter 5, and in verses 2 and 3, there's a little bit of a tiff. And what I mean by that is it's late at night, and it seems that the bride has been neglected. She was waiting up for him, maybe she fixed a nice dinner, candlelit dinner, had everything set on the table, and he didn't show up.

She had gotten herself ready for his return, you see some indications of that, she bathed, perfumed herself, and she was ready for his return, but she got tired of waiting, and finally she just went to bed and fell into a restless sleep, she says in verse 2, I sleep but my heart is awake.

And finally, he comes home. Stayed out late, don't know why, don't know what the deal was, don't have any explanation for that, we just have the big picture scene. Maybe you've experienced that in your relationship, where the husband was supposed to be home at such-and-such a time, and he didn't show up, he didn't call to say he was going to be late, and an hour later, dinner's cold, everybody else has eaten, wife is tiffed, miffed, and he comes walking in and it's like, what?

What? Yeah, well, what? This is the guy, this is the groom here. He comes home, the door's locked, he tries to get in, and she's in no mood to cooperate, verse 3 says. She says, I've taken off my robe, how can I put it on again?

I've washed my feet, how can I defile them? I'm not gonna get up and answer the door, as if she's saying. And well, he ends up turning and going away. He doesn't come, he can't get in. Door's locked, and she won't let him in.

And verse 4 indicates that she has to suppress the yearning that she has for her husband. She says, my beloved put his hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for him, but I didn't let him in.

He wants in, tries to get in, she wants to let him in, but she doesn't. She's just too upset. But then comes the regret in verse 5. She finally gets up to let him in, and she's ready to give him a kiss and welcome him home.

Verse 5 indicates she's reapplied the myrrh, you know, the perfume, but he's not there. Verse 6 says, I opened for my beloved, and my beloved had turned away and was gone. And she experienced, as the honeymoon is over, to use that analogy, she experienced that absence is bitter sorrow.

Absence is bitter sorrow. The feelings of true longing love can't be denied forever. As it says in verse 6, my heart leaped up when he spoke. So true love, true love, after a TIF, desires to reconcile and restore the relationship.

Well, that's her regret. It isn't restored yet, there's some fallout as a result of the TIF and her response to it, and so forth. In the last part of verse 6 through 8, there's pursuit. She goes out trying to find him, but in the process is frustrated.

She says, I sought him, but I could not find him. Frustration, disappointment, which ultimately leads to despair. She says, I called him, but he gave me no answer. Maybe some of you understand that feeling of despair when your husband or your wife hasn't shown up, you expected them, and you don't know where they are, you haven't heard from them, you try to call them on their cell phone, you don't get any answer, it goes right to voicemail, and you're scared.

You start to be worried, what's going on? Even though a few minutes ago you're strumming your fingers, you're a little bit aggravated because the person isn't there, and now you call and there's no answer.

So there's that pursuit that ends in a little bit of despair, and leaves her dangerously vulnerable, because she's out in the city, verse 7 tells us, all by herself, and the watchmen of the city try to take advantage of her.

And that leads her to a desperate enlistment in verse 8. She says, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I'm lovesick. This kind of reminded me of the old Charlie Rich song back in the, I think it was the early 70s, where the song was The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, you remember that one?

It goes something like, hey, have you seen the most beautiful girl that walked out on me? And he says, I woke up this morning, realized what I had done, I felt alone, and the cold gray sun knew I'd lost my morning, the cold gray dawn knew I lost my morning sun, or something to that effect.

And the point is that, in that song, he wakes up in despair because he and his bride had an argument the night before, and she left, and now he can't find her, and so he's enlisting other people's help.

He says, hey, if you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world, tell her I love her. Well, that's what the bride is doing here, what the bride's doing here. Well, that leads these daughters of Jerusalem to ask the question, in verse 9, what is your beloved more than another beloved?

I mean, what's so special about him? Why should we be so eager to look for him for you? What makes him so special? And that leads, in verses 10 through 16, to her to recount what it is about her husband that delights her so much.

He's a distinguished man, he's a dreamboat of a man, she says, he's a strong and powerful man. In verse 16, he's a great lover, so there's much about him that she loves and appreciates. So where does all this lead?

Restoration in Song of Solomon 6

Finally, in chapter 6, verses 1 to 3, they ask again, the maidens do, where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside that we may seek him with you? And verses 2 and 3 don't tell us how it all happened, but she basically said, he's right back where he belongs.

He's back where he belongs. He's made his way home, and she has welcomed him in, and making up is glorious. Verse 2, my beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

A very poetic metaphor for the intimacy of the relationship, which, verse 3 indicates, is restored. She says, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. Yes, there are some very practical applications that can come out of this, aren't there?

Marriage, Selfishness, and Reconciliation

One of them is that, you know, we need to be real. That the bed of roses, that is marriage, it has some thorns. We aren't in the Garden of Eden anymore. But we also need to deny ourselves how easy it is when selfishness takes over, and that is, by the way, probably the root of most marriage problems, conflicts.

I would venture to say all. Somebody, one of the other partner, has gotten selfish. In this particular tiff between the two of them, the husband was selfishly ignoring, communicating to his wife that he was going to be late.

She selfishly grovels in her self-pity, and so forth, and so on. And it's not until she puts herself aside, and stops thinking about herself, that she starts thinking about her husband, and then reconciliation can finally take place.

So, oh, there's much we can learn from this song. Father, I pray that you would bless the married couples who read this book together, realize there's great value in it for our relationships. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Thursday. May the Lord bless you in it.