Seeking

Song of Solomon 3:1-5

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

Psalm 34:1 says, I sought the Lord at all times; thus, will I always praise him. Sometimes it is ok to say, 'Lord, I cannot see you right now or find you but cleanse me.' Finding God is key to all the other relationships of life. For he alone is there when all others are not. So also, when something does go wrong, you can find the Lord quicker. Then when tragedy or hard times come you will be stable because you know your spouse and the Lord of Psalm 34:4. See, the seeking comes before the answering. We see here the little Song missing someone important to her. She looked for him in the night watches and "found him not." So, she sought him in the house and in her bed, but he was not there either. Some terror has startled the Song. If you recall, she began as one espoused to Solomon until the day that God joined them as husband and wife. This is how to be a kept woman even as one betrothed. If you do not yet know the person you married like that, seek the Lord; ask him for help in getting to know them. You may also remember the other enemy of Solomon's told of in 1 Kings 11:23-25. You might be wondering if that is somehow related to Solomon also. Clearly something has happened where Solomon was not there as he had been before. After looking at the text I believe Rezon was more closely tied to Jeroboam's coattails rather than to Solomon's. However, the enemy mentioned prior of Hadad may have fallen within this time of reference. This is why you should always "seek the Lord while he may be found" as in Isaiah 55:6. You never know what day might be your last. These are some troubled times the Song and her Solomon were living in as we do today. I also seem to find it difficult to show what happened when from the text. This is their testimony. Allow God to do his work no matter if it is sooner or later.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

Chasing love is a dangerous pursuit. I remember once I lost someone dear to me in an unthinkable situation. Soon I found myself wandering the city streets and back alleys at nearly midnight looking for the person I lost, praying for something to take me instead. Anything can happen at that point; that is why it is such a dangerous situation to be in. The little Song clearly had some knowledge of her Solomon as deep down as her soul. Soul ties come from physical relationships and are better known. Some of you might be wondering about the lesser-known spiritual ties. The threefold cord not easily broken of Ecclesiastes 4:12 should extend to all parts of your relationship. If it does not, the relationship can be more easily broken, or partners lost. Her Solomon is lost but not to the Lord. How many of you know no matter where you wander, you cannot escape from the Lord. The Song now rose as if to smite someone and prowled about the streets even to the night watchman. In older times, the man traditionally fought for the woman. In times like these, see the woman fighting for her man.

According to Hebrews 11:1, faith might be "the substance of things hoped for," but she did not just lie on her bed. Nor did she cry for him and do nothing as others do. She put some feet to her faith and actions to her words. Even to "the broad ways" she went as if maybe he sinned. This is like some of us going from the gambling dens, the hooker lounges, to the street corners. The Song sought her Solomon everywhere. Remember the cord of three discussed earlier. If she had a spiritual connection with him, she should also know his whereabouts; 1 Corinthians 2:10 says the Spirit himself "searches all things." This is why developing wandering ways is so dangerous not only to you but also to your spouse. The Song went to help and defend him. What if she also was herself taken by the same broad ways as he had been. A spouse which thinks only of themselves puts their lover in a terrible position.

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

Now the night watchman finds her in these ways. In the time of Isaiah 21:11-12, it was customary to call "watchman, what of the night" to the one on the wall; then he would answer letting you know all was safe and sound. Those with some perception that feared the Lord were also considered spiritual watchmen of the people. Their hiding places were known as the watchtowers which lined the city walls. For the watchman to have left his position to find the Song meant he also had been alarmed by the night. Watchmen often could not sleep until the people were safe for it was their job. So also, the Song slept not until her beloved was found. As the men went about the city, they found her on their rounds. My, she is in a bad position indeed. She might be half a breath away from being food for a hungry lion prowling the city; again, she may have been half a breath away from becoming a big mother cat herself. In such a position, she asked the watchmen if they had seen him also. I cannot tell you about the times I have known people in life and death situations who passed away. Later I happen to meet someone out and about and casually speak to them. Soon the person follows me home and seeks out the loved ones of the one that recently passed. With our loved ones if they desired to return, God would make a way for them as in Hebrews 11:15. If these loved ones did return, they might also be changed; but nothing would ever be the same again. Now I am not in the business of teaching doctrinal heresy, so I digress. But there is also a principle of spiritual authority to be seen here according to Matthew 8:9. Being good men, the watchmen would not let this Song nor any under their care be lost no matter their position or place.

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

Now it might not be evident in the middle of the situation. But those that seek in faith will find as in Matthew 7:8. It may not be for what you asked but rather for what you needed. If you recall the attack of the Israelites on Edom from 1 Kings 11 took the form of an encampment and a mass slaughter; this happened until every man was killed. The entire nation took part led by their Captain Joab. There were only a few faithful to David which were lucky to escape with their own lives. In passing from the night watchmen, the Song found her beloved. When she found him, she knew him from her soul and he by hers. This is some spiritual recognition and faith made sight stuff right here. Some of you have not had experiences like this before and it shows. Some of you have, which is why you are so reluctant to let your partners go "for the terror of the night" seen in later texts. It is ok to let your spouse breathe a little. They will not suffocate or die for your many attentions. The Song knows none of this. Here she grabbed him and held him close like a mother cat does her cubs until she had brought him to her mother's house. It is an attitude of 'mommy, look what I have found!' To those who are wounded, people like the Song may feel like a blessing indeed. So, we can well imagine what pains Jesus welcomes us for with open arms. Some of us are like the prodigals of Luke 15:20-21 returning home to the Father's house. Others are like the older son left to tend the fields. Can you imagine her mother's joy as what was lost is found. This is why God's promises of 1 Corinthians 1:20 are always yes "and in him amen." These are as the plans of Jeremiah 29:11 to prosper and not to harm, to give hope "and a future." So, as Psalm 139:7 says, there will never be a place you can go away from the promises of God. From birth to the grave, he is faithful.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

He is sleeping now as one who has had an awful experience. The roes are like the gazelles which run upon the mountains of that place; they also are like those whose feet, in Isaiah 52:7, are swift to bear the Lord. The roes bear a similarity to deer which pant after the fullness of God as in Psalm 42:1. There will soon be justice for them but not yet. The Lord has never forgotten about his people nor fallen asleep in the boat as some think according to Luke 8:23. Sometimes you need some time for rest and healing to occur. But the Lord is always ready to deliver his people. The hinds are as a large group of female deer; they come from out of the potter's fields. Innocent blood has been shed there according to Matthew 27:6 for it is also a place of testing and trial. Without their mates, they are as even the hinds of the field running and scared. How many of you know that there will be nothing lost, missing, or broken in the house of the Lord. Soon he will awaken by the daughters of Jerusalem for what has been done also affects them. Then God himself will arise for his name's sake. The poor and the strangers within their lands were also the people's burden according to their laws of necessity. See, now the people which were not the people are now the people. It takes God some time to set this thing right. Is there any wonder that Solomon still has some issues. It takes time for God to bring beauty out this mess and distress. But as we soon see, he will. Sometimes the answer is in the form of men like Solomon. At other times, there is always the Lord.