Left Alone

Song of Solomon 5:5-8

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.

The little Song went to open the door and smelled the oils from his hands. Some of you like to set out the sweet-smelling candles and sprinkle the roses when your spouse has not even gotten there yet. You do not know if he or she is even coming home at all. Some of you might be tempted to think the smelly hands are because she dipped her hand in oils; then she may have held them out as though to draw him in. If you remember the foolish virgins of Matthew 25:8-10 did just that and so ran out of oil before the bridegroom ever came. Some of you are holding out your hands to every Tom, Dick, and Harry before making sure your beloved is even in the house. No, the text here says she got the smelling oils from the handles of the lock where he had put his hand. Often, I come home to my husband smelling of old bodies because I work in a healing profession. If he let me come love on him before I got a bath, there would be a disaster. The smell of myrrh tells where Solomon has been and what he is about to do. The myrrh means he came in smelling like the mortuary. If you will recall, myrrh in that time was used to anoint the bodies for burial. The little Song smells it and knows the angel of death is out there taking the firstborn. Note the myrrh is only on the door handle. This is for death is but a locked door into something greater. Many of us know this deep down inside, but for those inside the house it can be quite scary and frightening. For those outside in the garden also, it seems as though the very wolves themselves are howling from the woods beyond. You might wonder, why for all the little Song's dwelling in the secret place of the stairs she did not seek the Lord this time. Something dreadful, that neither time nor weather can account for, has happened to them both. It is enough to make anyone say, 'come by here, Lord.'

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

You might be saying to me, 'why does this passage sound like Jesus?' It does because the Song and Solomon's story runs beside his. What better than to point you to the lover of your soul and to the friend who stays closer than a brother according to Proverbs 18:24. Even his name has changed from Solomon to Jedediah, Beloved of God. Who else would the Song call 'beloved, beloved.' Give God some time. He is bringing beauty from your ashes as in Isaiah 61:3. Oh dear, it seems I have not been very helpful. I wanted to give some advice on making sweet love, attending therapy, or finding your mate. But all the sweet nothings of the world cannot tell you how to find your love again. Only God can lead them to you. When the little Song opens her door, she finds her beloved gone. He withdrew and had gone away into the night. She says her heart was afraid when he spoke. That is because she recognized both his voice and the situation in which they now found themselves. Nothing can tell you what to do when your lover has gone and cannot be found. There are dark creatures of the night outside. Yet out she went to look as she had before. The love of this woman is really something. How many of you when you have gone away like to think of your spouse back home. They cook, they look, and they smell good. But here, Solomon does not even stop to claim his home. He is as one on a mission; not even his little Song left to the elements can sway him. When you are about God's business of Luke 18:28-30, he will take care of those left behind. But when you are on your own mission, may Heaven help you. For then God is on the side of those left alone.

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.

The watchmen guarding the city have changed. Here they are cruel and mean; they care not for the people, even the helpless, defenseless ones. There is no one to pull the little Song back into the house or to bring her beloved to her. No one even cares to find out where she is coming from or where she is going. Immediately, they assume she is a criminal. Could it be that these watchmen also have lost someone dear to them and know it not. They behave as though the Egyptians did before they found their firstborn dead in Exodus 11:4-6. Again Zechariah 12:10 speaks of the final visitation to come; on that day the Israelites will look upon him they pierced and mourn for him as for their own child. In the meantime, the little Song was found and smitten also by these same watchmen. The text says they beat her up and took away her veil. She was washed and dressed by herself until she met these men. Is it any wonder for these people that Jesus had to die. This is a sad situation indeed. To me it is some wonder that God is even still moving in this situation. Some of you might wonder how the watchmen and the keepers of the wall have changed. They only show outside now who they always were inside.

The veil taken is as the purity of a woman before she knows her husband. So also, it is one of the traditional gifts presented to him at marriage. The veil in a spiritual sense is as the curtain separating the holy place from the outer temple of Matthew 27:51. Thus, the veil could be purity, the separating of the soul from spirit, or both. It is important to ask what time the little Song awakened. She might have found herself either in a time of either mercy or judgment. For if she found herself on the other side of the stairs, she will find each man as the keeper of the walls. For in the day of judgment, then were there no walls guarding the city. Besides, how could such men beat up a poor defenseless woman; such a thing seems unnatural. It should be seen that this was done in Solomon's absence. Some of you have found yourselves in situations that you could not help. Had Jesus only been there, that thing would not have died according to John 11:21. It is important not to blame your spouse when they return. For they were not the ones who beat you up and took away the things most important from you. Imagine if these people treated the Song this way, how much worse was Solomon treated.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

Now her concern for the daughters of Jerusalem is going. She is sick of their love for them. She knew her Solomon had a deliverance, judgment, and rescue ministry going for them. But now, she herself is in their position. Notice how she says "if ye find" him at all, for even she does not want him to be found. How many of you know that unlike man, God will always be found of those who seek him in 1 Chronicles 28:9. He does this no matter what you might have done. John 1:12 says that to "as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God." This business of wishing evil on those who have hurt us is not of God. Even if the watchmen have beaten her up, Solomon will still be found when God wants him to be found. As this situation was, so God is to the people. When they find him, they will seek him with their whole heart. For in Christ is a greater one than Solomon in Luke 11:31. Then all our stories will echo his name. It takes the mouth of two witnesses, according to Matthew 18:16, for every word to be established. It does not matter what the devil tells you; God has prepared his table just for you as Psalm 23:5 says.

This situation is like that of the Samaritan woman of Matthew 15:27 which came asking Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus compared his mercies to the children of Israel's bread for is he not "the bread of life." She then said according to the Hebrew law the dogs could claim the crumbs from the table which have fallen to the floor. Nor was her faith wrong, misplaced, or unanswered; indeed, it was answered by Jesus Christ himself. If "the bread of life" from John 6:35 could capture me in these few words here, I will be most content. This little Song of Egypt was made into the people of God by basis of her faith, her need, and who God is. Why are you still hanging around a man waiting for them to wake. Come now with the little Song to the table of communion with the Lord. How much more will not God take that table of the friends and enemies to make it unto you a blessing. You might be saying, 'it doesn't feel like a blessing right now.' That is because right now is Saturday but soon your Sunday is coming. When Jesus rises up, nothing will ever be the same again.