The Song of Solomon is called the ‘Song of songs’ (v1), meaning it is the greatest of all songs. The song pictures the love between a husband and wife. The Rabbis considered it to be the holiest of all Bible books as it pictured the love between God and His people. The Scottish preacher Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843) loved to preach from this book as it pictured the love between Christ and the church.

The book begins with a call from the bride to experience the great love of the king (v2-4). How great is your desire to experience more and more of the love of Christ in your life?

The bride has self-doubts about her beauty as her skin was tanned from doing outdoor work (v5-6). In the middle east non-tanned skin was seen as beautiful. As believers there should be amazement at how the Lord loves us when we’re aware of our sin. Wonderfully Christ loves the unlovable.

The bride looks to find where she can meet with her husband who is also a shepherd (v7-8). The effort is well worth it as the husband expresses his love for her (v8-10; 15) and she responds (v12-14; 16-17).

Is your relationship with Christ very formal or do you rejoice in His great love for you which stirs up a loving response from you?