He answered

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“Take me with you. We will run after you.” The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice for you. We will praise your love more than wine. How right it is for them to love you!  (Songs 1:4) 

 

This verse contains many layers of depth and meaning. In this chapter I’m just going to explain the basic meaning of the symbolism. The following chapters will cover deeper revelation.

 

It’s very important to read individual verses within the greater context. The girl, that was a maiden and a daughter previously, longed for more. She asked for more in verse 1. To truly know Him became her overwhelming desire. As we follow her movements on the stage, we find her at the top of the staircase leading to the palace. Imagine large solid wood double doors with the King standing in the doorway. She requested access to enter.

 

I would like to break this verse open into smaller digestible sections whilst explaining the meaning of the symbolism:

Take me with you

She realises that although she was the first one speaking and requested a closer and deeper relationship, only He can draw her closer. We cannot enter the palace on own accord. He must allow access. It’s all about Him after all. The words ‘draw me’ that are used in the King James translation, means to remove an object from its place. We ask that He will remove us from our routine religion and that He will stretch out His Hand to draw us into the palace – to take us with Him.

We will run after You – not ahead of Him. Not our plan, program and leading. He walks in front.

 

We will run

We find an underlaying haste in this sentence. Something needs to happen speedily. There is not a lot of time left. Growing towards spiritual maturity is a long process. The sooner we can gain entry to the palace, the sooner the journey of a deep relationship, friendship and intimacy can start. There is no more time to postpone. The hour is late.

 

The king has brought me into his rooms.

The rooms, or chambers, in this verse represents the palace of intimacy. Chambers also have other meanings which will be discussed a bit later.

An earnest prayer for more, deeper and closer, will be answered swiftly. The Kings took her hand and led her inside. This is the start of our exciting bridal journey with Him.

While I was writing my first book on Song of Songs, I’ve asked the Lord for a name for the book. I knew that the words Song of Songs must be part of the title, but I needed a fitting caption. The words: ‘the exciting bridal journey’ immediately came to mind. I don’t think there is a more fitting title to describe our journey towards spiritual maturity. It’s exciting, because it’s with Him. Within Him we grow to His full stature.

 

Chambers

There are different depths and meanings regarding chambers. I’m now going to touch on two meanings. Of course there can be many more, but I believe that broadly speaking most variations are included within these two explanations.

Firstly, it refers to a permanent lifestyle of deep friendship (intimacy) with God. The image of the palace explains this layer of meaning. We are no longer satisfied with normal Christianity, we long for deeper and closer and we ask for it. It’s a lifestyle that deepens from this point onwards.

Then it also refers to a time or place of separation and preparation. Think of the time of preparation in the wilderness that David had to go through in order to be a king. Sometimes we ask for deeper and then a time of loneliness comes as an answer to that prayer. In this lonely and desolate place, we get to know His heart.

 

We will be glad and rejoice for you.

At this point she is already inside the palace (the chambers). There are others that have already stepped onto this deeper road with Him. They are rejoicing when someone new also wants to come closer and deeper. They are the ‘we’ in this verse; everyone that forms part of the bride of Jesus. We are inseparable part of each other. We rejoice in the growth, revelation, gifts and victories of each other.

Our vertical relationship with the Lord is directly influenced by our horisontal relationships. Nothing is just about us; it’s about one another. Each individual person that makes up the bride of Christ, delights in each other. We find support and not jealousy. There is love and not rivalry.

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. (1 Joh 4:12) 

How can we get this right? The answer is captured in this verse. We are glad in Him. He is our source of joy. Each person is busy rejoicing and growing vertically in Him. This is the meaning of true unity. When each person abides in Him, we will all be automatically in unity.

 

We will praise your love more than wine.

She was moved to a search for deeper because His love was greater than anything else that gives her pleasure. This passage repeats the same principle, but this time corporately – we.

Together we want to praise Him. Together we want to proclaim that He is better than anything this world can give. Deep, true unity – each one individually focused to bring due joy and honour to the Lord.

Whenever I read this verse, I’m reminded of the parable of the pearl. When we make this declaration of love, we say that Jesus is like a precious pearl that we discovered. Nothing compares to the possession of that pearl for the rest of our lives. We then lay down everything, we leave our old life behind, we sacrifice everything that holds us back, just to obtain that precious pearl. No sacrifice is too great. Paul describes the adding of two items on a scale. On the one side of the scale was gaining Christ and on the other side was everything he has achieved and possessed in his life. He couldn’t even compare it. Gaining Christ completely outweighs everything to the extent that he referred to it as rubbish.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Phil 3:8) 

(By the way, the parable has two meanings, Jesus as our pearl of great price and we as the precious pearl that He paid with His life for.)

 

How right it is for them to love you!

Because of His loveliness, it’s only logical and right for the bride to love Him. This is the basic meaning of this short sentence. He is deserving of our love.

When we study Song of Songs, it’s always good to use different translations as well as dictionaries that gives the meanings of the original words. The King James translation adds an extra dimension to this sentence:

‘the upright love thee’

The word upright speaks of righteousness; to walk straight ahead without taking all kinds of turns and also to be just. Those that walk uprightly, loves righteousness. Sinners and people in the world cannot love Him, because they despise His righteousness and justice.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1 Joh 3:1) 

 

This is an extract from the book: Deep treasures in Song of Songs by Yolandie Mostert.