Love Songs
Monday, July 10
Love Songs
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves. How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant. Solomon 1:15-16
If it were possible to analyze every song ever written and categorize them by subject matter, it is highly likely that the most prevalent topic among them would be “love songs.” Throughout the years, love has been a recurring theme in music, encompassing a wide range of emotions and experiences. From love reciprocated to love lost, from the pursuit of love to the joyful celebration of it, numerous songs that grace our airwaves revolve around the central theme of love, capturing its essence in various forms. So, it may come as little surprise that somewhere near the center of the Bible there is a book, which we know as Solomon’s Song of Songs, that is, in essence, a love song!
Throughout the time many scholars have looked into the true meaning of the song, but few would disagree that, at its heart, it is a song expressing the delight of human love in beautiful poetic language.
This is a reminder that God’s Word is all about love. The Genesis creation narrative culminates in the coming together in marriage of Adam and Eve. Then, looking ahead to the book of Revelation, the highpoint of that letter is also seen in a marriage ceremony, as the bridegroom (Jesus) takes his bride (His people) into their new future together.
Whether we are aware of being truly loved by another or not, whether we find ourselves in a current state of being loved or have experienced it in the past only to lose it, or even if we have never experienced such love before, this song suggests that we are all intricately connected to a much larger love story than we may have fully realized. It directs our attention to the love of One who is willing to go to any extent to pursue us, shower us with love, and hold us close, both in the present and for all eternity.
There are two principal characters in the Song of Songs, the Lover and the Beloved. And because God, who John describes as `love` (1 John 4:8), is the ultimate one who loves, we can know ourselves to be the ultimate one who is `beloved`. If that is so, as I believe it is, maybe that is something we might want to sing about too!
Prayer for today: Dear Father, thank You that You are Love. It’s who You are and it’s what You do. Amen.