A Vain, Painful, Despairing Search

Psalm 61:4–5 ESV

4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah 5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

Song of Solomon 5:6–9 ESV

6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. 7 The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls. 8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. 9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?

Introduction

The Shulamite had not responded to her husband’s knock. It was inconvenient for her to do so. Eventual response was too late when she opened the door he had gone.

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1. Vain Search v6b

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Song of Solomon 5:6 ESV

6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

Heavenly Love: The Song of Songs Simply Explained The Inevitable Response

This new crisis takes the woman out of the warmth, intimacy and privacy of the bedroom into the cold, forbidding and public streets.

Song of Solomon 5:6 (ESV)

6 I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

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2. Painful Search v7

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Song of Solomon 5:7 ESV

7 The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.

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3. Despairing Search v8

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Song of Solomon 5:8 ESV

8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.

adjure - to urge or advise earnestly

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4. Searching Question v9

Song of Solomon 5:9 (ESV) — 9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?

We turn now to what we see of Christ’s love for us

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5. Vain Search v6b

Song of Solomon 5:6 (ESV) — 6 I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

a. Seeking

Song of Solomon 5:6 (ESV) — 6 I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

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Jeremiah 2:17 (ESV)

17 Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way?

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Leviticus 26:15–17 ESV

15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.

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Galatians 6:7–8 (ESV)

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

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b. Calling

Song of Solomon 5:6 (ESV) — 6 I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

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Psalm 22:1–2 (ESV)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

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Psalm 28:1 (ESV)

1 To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

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Psalm 80:4 ESV

4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

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Lamentations 3:8 (ESV)

8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

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Zechariah 7:13 ESV

13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts,

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Isaiah 1:15 ESV

15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

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6. Painful Search v7

Song of Solomon 5:7 (ESV) — 7 The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.

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Isaiah 62:6 ESV

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest,

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Hebrews 13:17 ESV

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

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Hebrews 4:12 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

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Acts 20:26–27 (ESV)

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

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7. Despairing Search v8

Song of Solomon 5:8 ESV

8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.

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Psalm 119:81 ESV

81 My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.

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Psalm 42:1–3 ESV

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

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Psalm 77:1–3 ESV

1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. 3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

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8. A Searching Question v9

Song of Solomon 5:9 (ESV) — 9 What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?

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Why do Christians enjoy so little of Christ, compared with all that there is of him for us to enjoy? The root answer from this chapter thus far is that so much of the time we are so greatly taken up with ourselves, and so little taken up with him. The bride paid the price for her indifference towards her husband. Yet she has come to her senses, and realises again that she cannot live without him, and that there is no one else like him in all the world. Richard Brooks

Conclusion

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Isaiah 55:6–7 ESV

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.