June 9, 2014

Reading for today: Song of Solomon or Song of Songs

Well, quite an interesting reading for today. I am not even sure where to begin. There is much that can be said about the Song of Solomon. My first reaction is, “What is this doing in the Bible? seriously?” It doesn’t seem very Biblical (I’m trying to picture a puritan minister of the 17th century reading this in church on a Sunday morning – Ch 7:1-3) but then I asked myself, if all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16) then there has to be a good reason for it to be here.

So I read it literally (no underlying meaning) and I found it to be a celebration of love, love that is made complete within the sanctity of marriage. Then there is the spiritual aspect (Old Testament) – we see the relationship between God and Israel and (New Testament) Christ and the Church, or on a personal level, the love between an individual and Jesus.

What speaks to me though (after I get through all the similes and metaphors), is that how the God of love, teaches us how we should love. Yesterday’s message on abuse left me hurting for those who have been or are in abusive relationships and live daily with negative, hurtful talk, and then to be given this book of the Bible to read for today, well, just reaffirms that God, who IS love, can teach us how to love; purely and honestly and faithfully. What a great God we serve!