Roses of Sharon

Song of Solomon 2:1-4

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

This is not a very comforting text at all. It is rather unsettling. I had not planned to go in this direction but look where we are. I have lost track of how often someone says that Scripture calls Jesus the rose of Sharon. I just went looking for that verse today. Believe me, it does not exist. If King Jesus is the rose of Sharon, well I may as well give God's glory to another. How many of you know the sin that brought Satan and the angels down in Isaiah 14:12-13. Isaiah 42:8 makes it clear God will not share his glory with another. So let us look at this again before you run away screaming about errors in the Word. Isaiah 65:10 and Acts 9:35 tell us that Sharon is a place where people who were not the people are now the people and children of God. He loved them because they turned to him out of their mess and distress. Solomon is saying here that he might have been lost once; but now is he found. The lily of the valley is not a sexual reference but rather a spiritual one. Matthew 6:28-33 says that the lilies are clothed through no effort of their own. Even King Solomon would have been dressed in Christ's righteousness had he but turned to him and asked as in Isaiah 61:10. Therefore, in this passage we see Solomon's personal issues with the Lord resolved. When the accuser of the brethren comes and says well what about this or that, you can show him Christ. See, now Solomon wears the righteousness of Christ upon him which covers his rose-of-Sharon-like behaviors and makes him appear as a lily of the valley for little effort. Those toiled nor spun not, but even Solomon was not dressed like one of them. Their glory passes after a little while. But not so with Christ.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

My publisher came to me the other day and said, 'look, no one is reading your books.' Then the devil came and whispered, 'what do you keep writing them for?' And I said, 'you're wasting your time.' Maybe so, but no one is preaching it, and someone must go. How else will they hear without a preacher; then how will the preacher go where he has not been sent as in Romans 10:14-15. How many of you know that like these thorns here, nothing is ever lost, missing, or wasted in the house of God. There is a reason we keep seeing Jesus hanging around in these texts. The reason is not because you are crazy or that the Lord has somehow sinned. At Solomon's birth, God named him Jedidiah according to 2 Samuel 12:25. The name Jedidiah means beloved of God and as such contains his name. Sometimes there is a space between who you are, what your position is, and whose you are. To get to beloved of God you must pass through Solomon with all his imperfection. But does not God see the end from the beginning? He saw you when you were just one of the many daughters of the people as the Song was. He took you home and he called you his. So, when the enemy comes, God will say, 'he's mine now.' As my pastor puts it, he is married to the backslider according to Jeremiah 3:14. Well, when you are in the Lord's house sometimes the backslider is someone else and sometimes it is you. But you know, that is why you are in God's house to begin with.

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Like Nathaniel under the fig tree in John 1:48, God saw you. He called you and now you are his. Now the Song has something to say about all these revelations. Have you ever married someone you thought was one person only to find out that they were someone else? The Song here is having that experience. She seems happier now that she is not worried about the vineyards she tended. However, she worries about something else; that thing is the apple tree versus the trees of the wood. William Shakespeare would know exactly what I am speaking of, but since he is not here let us look closer. The apple tree is a throwback to the Garden of Eden when only one tree was forbidden according to Genesis 2:16-17. The Song says his fruit is hers alone. He might have been like Eve, eating bad fruit, but God is making him a blessing. How many of you know that even in all our mess, God came to clean us up and present us faultless before his throne. This is why to "as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God" in John 1:12. There might be many sons, but there is only one Solomon for this Song. This business of wanting what other people have is frankly demonic. God did not come to give you what other people have; he came to make you free indeed. There is an apple tree mentioned because it was the fruit from a tree of Genesis 3:12 which caused Eve to fall. So also, Solomon's Jewish descent makes him as the apple of God's eye in Zechariah 2:8. See here, even the Song finds Solomon's fruit sweet to her for of all the trees, it is only hers. God has provided it and caused him to flourish; Psalm 1:3 speaks of the tree planted by the rivers of water. There is waiting to be seen sitting in that shadow. Sometimes it takes some time to see Beloved of God. He must bring it out, just as the Song was brought into the banqueting house. In the meantime, some of you should hold onto what he has promised you. God is not done with the situation yet.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Sometimes life can be a series of problems. For those that know the Lord, these usually work out for our good and his glory. The Song has known the duty house, the judgment house, and now she is in the banqueting house. When you know the Lord, there is a feast waiting on that table. Even if it is before your enemies, it is always prepared and ready according to Psalm 23:5. You just need to see it by faith as in Hebrews 11:1. The little Song looked at the table prepared and saw a feast. Sometimes you need to adjust your eyesight, your expectations, and your viewpoint. This is especially true when you have come out of a situation and now are in a large place. These are life issues we are dealing with here. But when you have the love of God it does not matter what you face. How many of you know that he is the best marital counselor in the world. When the sinner repented, like the Prodigal Son from the far country, there was feasting and dancing to be had. Indeed, the glory was already on its' way for these two. Then there was love to be had in that house also. Sure, Solomon and his Song still had issues from time to time; but here God is the glue holding all things together according to Colossians 1:15-17. Sometimes you just need your spouse to turn to you with love in their heart after you both have been through a hard time. For some of you that is the last thing you want to do. You might like to get even or make them pay. But there is not room for yourself too in the house of God. You see, there is a "as Christ loved the church" from Ephesians 5:25 component to this.