Week 130, Day 1: Unquenchable Love
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 8:1-14
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
There is much about this chapter that is not clear to me. It is hard to follow all the langauge and topic. But it stands out to me how love is described as unquenchable in verse 7. Our society has a skewed view of what love is. Many often confuse love with concepts that are more descriptive of lust. But on the other hand many do not strive to have love in their marriages. Due to a lack of effort towards the relationship the feelings for each other die out. This is a very sad thing to see. So when it is recorded here how love can be something that is unquenchable I think it is encouraging. Love does not have to fade with time or slowly burn out. Love can endure and increase. But it will not do that without time and attention on our part. If you do not like how your love life is going then ask what are you doing to help it along? How are you acting and giving in the relationship that would encourage and make a place for love to grow and thrive. A relationship is a two way street. It is rarely all someone else’s fault that things “die out”.
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Week 129, Day 5: The need for desire
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 7:1-13
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
I think in chapter 7 we have another exposure to the rekindling of romance in this relationship. The language used by Solomon to romance his love is foreign to us but I think there are some things to note here. First, he speaks about different aspects of her body this time which could indicate how they have grown more accustomed to each other as they have now been married for a period of time. There should be a drawing closer to one another. When we read that a man is to cleave to his wife this isn’t just the thought that they are roomates. Cleaving requires an action on each person’s part. They are to make efforts to draw closer to one another. Solomon’s inclusion of other descriptions here could reflect some of that thought of him being more familiar with her now that they have been married for a while.
The other concept that I want to comment on relates to verse 10. The Shulamite is pleased that her beloved desires her. Men are mostly drawn by the physical. Women however need to feel affection and loved. Men need to express their desire for their wife in more ways than just through physical gratification. That certainly has vital part in the relationship but the wife has to understand that she is more to him than just an object of his desire. He needs to show that his affection for her is more than just a physical attraction. This is something that is a challenge for most men and yet is longed for by the wife. Men need to let the wife feel his affection and love for her.
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Week 129, Day 4: Compliments
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 6:1-13
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
One thing that does seem to help “smooth” things over in any relationship is to compliment someone for the good that they do. In this chapter we have Solomon again praising the Shulamite’s beauty. This seems to point to them getting through some of those difficulties in chapter 5. Whenever a marriage is full of negatives and always where one spouse is harping on the faults of the other then it will be hard to have any sort of pleasant dwelling together. For some people it is harder to look for the good in others. I do think it is good to try to limit the negative comments and try to help stress the positive whenever possible. This can help you spouse feel better about themselves and help them want to do better in other areas at the same time. Compliments shouldn’t be given if not meant but they are a way of verbalizing to your spouse your care and affection. This is especially important for men to do. We tend to be more negative, ungrateful and not as verbal. But the small ways of expressing care go a long way to smoothing over any challenges that do come up along the way.
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Week 129, Day 3: Trials in Marriage
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 5:1-16
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Some of the thoughts in this chapter are difficult to follow exactly but there is one area that I want to focus on. The man comes to the door and knocks on it. The wife is asleep and is therefore groggy when he calls to her. By the time she is persuaded to come to the door to open it he has alread decided to leave. This seems to be one of those examples of difficulties that can arise during marriage. He has traveled all night to be with her and she dismisses him because she is sleepy and already in bed. Married couples face a miriad of trials and challenges. One of them rest in the difference in the way men and women think. It seems that most of the difficulties are rooted in these different mindsets/ emotional ways. In order for any married couple to be happy they need to understand the way the other thinks and have a mindset that they will strive to make the other happy. In this case the husband made an effort to be with the wife because he longed for her. But the wife wasn’t receptive and spurned his advance because of timing. He turned away from her and left because of this. I’m sure there have been many times that married couples have had to deal with challenges surrounding what they want or what their spouse wants. Be careful to give attention to the physical and emotional needs of your spouse, even when you really don’t feel like bothering. The result of not working at such things will be easily felt by your spouse and cause damage to your closeness. This damage could spread bigger cracks and begin the process of destroying the unity in your marriage.
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Week 129, Day 2: Love Language
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 4:1-16
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We often are tickled by the phrases and comparisons used in this chapter. But one thing we need to make sure to note is that this is right after the wedding has taken place. The newly married couple are in the bloom of love and he lavishes praise upon her. One quality that he praises is her chastity. He compares her to a garden that is locked up. And now he is coming into this garden to eat of its fruits. No other has been there and he is the only one who can enter. Marriage is a very blissful things when it is constructed and built upon godly principles. It is sad how many people bring so much bagage and scars into their marriage with them. The purity of the couple helps equip them to face things together. Many unfortunately enter this important relationship with guilt and consequences from past sin.
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Week 129, Day 1: The Wedding
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 3:1-11
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
It seems like this chapter starts off with the troubled sleep of the woman. She is worried about the relationship and loosing her love. It is interesting to see what all love can make you do. Loose sleep, not feel like eating, hard to concentrate, etc. Relationships can have a heavy toll on a person.
But things turn out well in the end. She gets her man. Solomon is pictured coming to get her in the wedding procession. We have in our society the focus at a wedding being on the woman. It appears that their custom could have been to place the focus on the man as he comes in his strength, youth, and prominence to claim her as his wife. It is a glorious procession and one that should not be difficult to picture. Can you imagine how unreal this would all seem to a simple person. The king choosing you to be his bride. Man has always had a fascination with such accounts.
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Week 128, Day 5: Season of Love
Today’s Reading: Song of Solomon 2:1-17
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We can see a lot about the aspects of romance and the differences between men and women in this chapter. Th woman speaks of “his banner over me is love” and about his embrace (v. 4 & 6). While the man speaks about her form being lovely and her voice is sweet (v. 14). Men are more enthralled with appearance and women with emotions such as feeling loved. These are important aspects to appreciate for married people to enjoy their relationship. If a person does not appreciate what the other naturally values in a relationship then one or both sides of the relationship will be lacking. God intends for us to have full and enjoyable relationships. This requires us to learn to fulfill and satisfy the desires of our spouse.
They speak of the winter being past and the rain is over. That the flowers are in bloom so lets go out to a secret place. Spring time is a great time when everything comes alive and it sparks the desire for adventure. These two people are lovesick and want a get away together. I think it is funny how many people talk about once a couple are married the romance goes out the window. Outings and dates are also key for couples to help keep the spark alive and the flames stirred up.
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