Song of Solomon Part 1

The Song of Solomon is called "The Song of Songs." In the temple was the Holy of Holies; Jesus is the King of Kings, and this book is Solomon’s Song of Songs. It is probably the most difficult and controversial book of the Old Testament. God is not mentioned anywhere in this Song. It is never quoted in the rest of the O.T. nor is it ever quoted in the N.T.

Aside from the book of Revelation, no other book in Scripture has so many divergent interpretations. Yet for us, one of them is simplest and clearest. The story is chiefly concerned with a Shulamite shepherdess who has given her heart to a shepherd. They remain true to each other despite the initial opposition of the Shulamite's brothers.

Their love story is complicated by the combined efforts of Solomon and his court women to overawe and win over the Shulamite and by the fact that the Shulamite becomes a virtual prisoner in Solomon's pavilion.

The shepherd in the story pictures Christ Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep. The Shulamite mirrors the church or the individual believer who is devoted to Him. Solomon represents the Prince of this world, and he employs worldly pomp, power and magnificence to advance his cause.

The court women represent those who admire this worldly prince; they look askance at those who turn their backs upon the world and all that it has to offer in favor of an absent and, to them, unknown Beloved.

In the upcoming weeks, we will cover:

Part 1: An Hour of Trouble (1:1-8)

Part 2: An Hour of Temptation (1:9-11)

Part 3: An Hour of Tenderness (1:12-2:7)

Part 4: An Hour of Truth (2:8-3:5)

Part 5: An Hour of Talk (3:6-11)

Part 6: An Hour of Togetherness (4:1-5:1)

Part 7: An Hour of Testimony (5:2-6:3)

Part 8: An Hour of Testing (6:4-8:4)

Part 9: An Hour of Triumph (8:5-14)

Now let’s begin with “An Hour of Trouble” by setting the scene:

The Shulamite was tending her flock when she was suddenly seized and abducted to Solomon’s pavilion. She was naturally very much alarmed. Soon, some of the sophisticated women of Solomon’s court enter the pavilion. They had heard the Shulamite talking to herself about her beloved shepherd and found it amusing.

Song of Songs 1:1-2 “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is better than wine.”

This verse has been rendered, “Oh, for a kiss!” She wasn’t talking about Solomon. She’s not interested. At this point she had not even met him. All she knew was that she was in his stupendous pavilion and that she was in love with the shepherd.

It mattered nothing to her that the women of the court despised her love for the shepherd. His love to her was “better than wine.” For her, the shepherd’s love was fulfilling and exciting.

Here we have a clear picture of Christ and His bride, the church. As the Shulamite found herself imprisoned in the pavilion of the prince of that world, so we find ourselves, for now, in the pavilion of the prince of this world—the devil.

And as the court women mock the Shulamite for loving the shepherd, the children of this world mock us for loving our Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. Our attitude should be what hers was—“I don’t care what you say. His love to me is better than wine!”

It is worth noting here that the word “love” in the original is plural. It reads, His “loves” are better than wine. One experience with him is not enough. I want to know his loves multiplied!

Two things stand out to the Shulamite about her beloved. First, she talks about the magnificence of his presence.

1:3 “Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth;” We could render this, “Sweet is the odor of your ointments,” or, “Rare is the scent of your perfume; the sound of your name is wafted like a fragrance.”

The very name of the beloved conjures for the Shulamite a sense of his presence. His did not need to be physically present. His very name caused her heart to skip a beat.

In the same way, the name “Jesus” brings to the believer the very sense of His presence! If ever there was a name that, “as ointment poured forth,” shed a fragrance over all of human life, it is the name of Jesus!

It is the saving name. “You shall call his name Jesus for He shall save his people from their sins.” It is the sanctifying name. We are to do all things, in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col.3:17). It is the sovereign name. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow (Phil.2:10).

It is the name that “charms our fears and bids our sorrows cease.” As W.C. Martin wrote:

Jesus! Oh how sweet the name!

Jesus! Every day the same!

Jesus! Let all saints proclaim

Thy worthy praise forever.

So the Shulamite talks about the magnificence of his presence. And she talks also about the magnetism of his personality. She knew him well enough to know that he could do three things. First, he could draw others. “Your name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee” (1:4a). Translated, “All the girls are in love with you!” The shepherd’s personality was irresistible.

As the shepherd’s personality was magnetic, so is our Shepherd’s personality. To know him is to want to be with him. One day the disciples said to Jesus, “Everyone is looking for you!” (Mark 1:37)

The second thing the Shulamite knew was that the shepherd could deliver her. She cries out, “Draw me, we will run after thee” (1:4b). Another rendering is, “Draw me to you—let us make haste!”

Then she adds the reason for the urgency in her voice. “The king has brought me into his chambers” (1:4c). She feels herself in peril. The king has abducted her and has brought her into his inner chambers. But the shepherd can save her!

How a simple shepherd could scale the high walls, enter the king’s palace, and rescue her is not told. This is not the language of logic, it is the language of love. And so it is with us. Logic says, “Look at these prison walls I face. Consider these insurmountable obstacles.”

But love and faith say, “My shepherd, Jesus, can do anything he wants.” And that would be absolutely right! Every outward circumstance said it was not possible for the shepherd to rescue the Shulamite. But the end of the story tells us he did. Love found a way!

Her shepherd could draw others and could deliver her. A third thing he can do is delight all. She strikes a threefold chord. The first chord is one of rejoicing. “We will be glad and rejoice in you” (1:4b). Rather than slip into despondency over her circumstances, the Shulamite chooses to rejoice in the shepherd.

The second chord she strikes is one of remembrance. “We will remember your love more than wine” (1:4b). That is the second secret of a victorious life—first rejoicing, then remembering all the good things about the shepherd.

The third chord she strikes is one of righteousness. “…the upright love you” (1:4c). The character of the shepherd was such that upright people loved him. Solomon had no love for the shepherd, nor did the women of the court. They could not see his beauty.

So it is with the world we live in. While the church, the bride of Christ, are enamored with the beauty of Jesus, the world can see nothing in him to desire. A person cannot love this present evil world and also love Jesus. To the Shulamite, Solomon ( a picture of the world) was a conceited, pompous bore!

In verse 5, the Shulamite becomes aware again of the court women. She takes note of their high style and fashion and compares herself to them.

“I am black, but comely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon” (1:5). The skin of the court women was white like porcelain, having seen little of the outside sun. But the Shulamite was a country girl, and her skin was tanned.

“Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun” (1:6a). I got it honestly! she says. I’m suntanned and am not ashamed of my upbringing. But she also knew she was beautiful, like “the curtains of Solomon.”

Like the Shulamite, we should accept ourselves just the way we are. She wasn’t showy like the court women, but fully accepted her natural beauty and felt no need to compete. Genuine beauty is an inside job!

Next we discover that her own family had been against her love for the shepherd. She testifies, “My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards;” (1:6b).

Her own brothers had been against her love for the shepherd and had done all they could to separate them. They had taken her from the fields where she met with him, and had put her in the vineyard to toil.

So it is many times with the Christian. Jesus himself predicted “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matt.10:36). Interestingly, she follows this bit of family information by saying that she had been made so busy in the vineyard that she neglected herself. “…my own vineyard I had to neglect” (1:6b).

Many believe she was talking about her own charms. So busy was she that she couldn’t spend much time in front of the mirror. But it didn’t matter, the Shulamite was beautiful without all that. Admirably, she didn’t worry about it. She was not given to heavy self-criticism or narcissism.

Next, she hearkens back to the freedom she had shared with her beloved shepherd. They were once free to meet and exchange mutual vows of love. She is longing for those days and cries out:

“Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?” (1:7a).

In other words, why can’t I be open with my affection? Why must my feelings be veiled? Why must I hide? I want to roam free and open with you! She wanted the freedom that marriage brings. The freedom that needed no veil.

Jesus came to earth to restore us to perfect freedom. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Satan, on the other hand, wants to bring us into bondage. This is what Solomon had done to the Shulamite. But the Shulamite had tasted of real freedom and wanted it back.

In verse 8 the court women mock her. They say, “If you don’t know, O beautiful woman, then follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds” (1:8).

If you don’t know where he is, they say, then follow the sheep tracks and pasture your kids by the huts of the shepherds! Their words are full of sarcasm. “You don’t seem to understand your current position,” they imply. “Don’t you understand what Solomon is offering you? You can be his favorite!”

Translated, “The world is yours for the taking! If you can’t grasp this opportunity then you deserve to return to the life of a country bumpkin!” Which is exactly what she wanted. What they despised, she prized.

Likewise, the world cannot understand why the believer turns down what it offers. As Peter wrote, “Those who do not know God are surprised you do not join them in the sinful things they do. They laugh at you and say bad things against you” (1 Pet.4:4).

But the Shulamite was no fool, and neither is the Christian. She had tasted real freedom. The women of Solomon’s court knew only the counterfeit freedom of commitment to Solomon and their resulting enslavement to him.