The slights which careless souls put upon Christ are grievous to Him and He suspends the communication of His comfort to those who are remiss and drowsy in His service.
The loss of the sense of His presence is a matter of great grief to the believer.
Song of Solomon 5
1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
2 ¶ I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
9 ¶ What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Song of Solomon 5:1 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 5:2-5 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 5:6 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 5:7 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 5:8-9 – J. Vernon McGee
Song of Solomon 5:10-16 – J. Vernon McGee
Find the missing words then click and drag the letters in the grid below. Click “Start“
6 I ____________ to my beloved; but my ______________ had __________________ himself, and was ________: my soul ____________ when he __________: I ____________ him, but I could not ________ him; I ____________ him, but he gave me no ____________.
10 My beloved is __________ and __________, the ________________ among ten ________________.
Song of Solomon 5:6
Revelation 3:20 describes the state of the Church in coldness toward Christ. He has knocked for entrance, but in their drowsiness and coldness, they have not responded. They find themselves at last deserted by Him.
Song of Solomon 5:9—What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
The daughters of Jerusalem, each of whom had her beloved, could not understand the urgency of this maiden who had lost her beloved. Her anguish at her loss was so extreme, her heart-sickness was so agonizing, her frenzy so bewildering, that they were startled into feeling that he of whom she was bereft was no common lover. There had been times when each of them had been temporarily forlorn; but they knew that they had never suffered like this! The greatness of her pain was the mirror in which they caught a glimpse of the ineffable beauty of the Bridegroom.
Speak of Christ, so that men and women around may be constrained to cry, “Your Beloved excels our beloveds. We cannot speak of them as thou dost of Him. To gain them does not fill us with the same ecstasy, or to lose them with the same woe.”
What are the beloveds that men seek after? There is the beloved of worldly success, of human adulation and applause, of art, science, and war. They intoxicate their admirers, but fail to satisfy. Who can say of them that they are chief, and outshine the gold of Ophir, beryl, sapphires, ivory, and cedar, the rarest products of earth, as synonyms for priceless worth? But all these gathered together are poor and unworthy emblems of the peerless beauty of Emmanuel. White in purity, ruddy with the bloodstain, his bushy locks emblematical of immortal youth, his eyes like water-brooks reflecting the deep azure of the sky and telling of eternal love. Ransack earth for metaphors, and they fall short of the truth. Words fail to express his beauty, his grace, his loveliness: let us try to reflect his glory. —Our Daily Homily