Year One, October 23

Come With Me From Lebanon, My Bride1

Our last reading gave us two parts of a delightful Canticle. We will now read the third part, where the King is the main speaker. He happily praises his bride, even as the Lord Jesus rejoices over his church.

  

Song of Solomon 4:8-16; 5:1

The King speaks.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;

come with me from Lebanon.

Depart from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of Senir and Hermon,

from the den of lions,

from the mountain of leopards.

Jesus wants us to look above the highest earthly pleasures and withdraw from all earthly loves for his sake. Will he say, “Come with me,” and will we refuse to follow him? Hear how he directs his love to us and the joy he has over us.

9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;

you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one jewel of your necklace.

Jesus lowers himself to love even lowly us. If he spies out even one good thing about us, he is charmed with it.

10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much better is your love than wine,

and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!

11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;

honey and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

In Jesus’ eyes, the love, the spirit, the words, and the outward conduct of his people are all received with joy.

12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

with all choicest fruits,

henna with nard,

14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

with all trees of frankincense,

myrrh and aloes,

with all chief spices--

15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,

and flowing streams from Lebanon.

Jesus praises his beloved Church, but then he prays for her that the Holy Spirit may visit her, because what would she be without him? Listen to the Redeemer’s prayer.

16 Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my garden,

let its spices flow.

Inspired by the love of her Lord and influenced by the Holy Spirit, the Church begs the Lord to come nearer to her.

Let my beloved come to his garden,

and eat its choicest fruits.

The King lovingly responds.

5:1 I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,

I gathered my myrrh with my spice,

I ate my honeycomb with my honey,

I drank my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

Jesus accepts us and the fruit of the Spirit we bring. Therefore let us rejoice in him and feast on him.2

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¹ Song of Solomon 4:8

² Galatians 5:22-23a “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” John 6:53-58, "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.'"