He is Overwhelmed by Us

Song of Solomon 6:4–5 ESV

4 You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. 5 Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

Focus: Jesus is absolutely in love with us

Function: For the listeners to be encouraged by the fact that they are absolutely loved and cherished by the Lord. To be strengthened in this identity.

Order of Sermon

Overview and short explanation of the book

Plot of the book

Short exposition of our passage

Personal implications

Overview and explanation of the book

Song of Solomon is a hidden gem.

Not many sermons are preached from this book because of the difficulty of interpretation.

Book is a collection of love poems between a man and a women.

Scholars presume to be between the king Solomon and one of his wives who we only know as a Shulamite women.

Even though the Ancient Middle Eastern words for praise and beauty may be some what difficult to relate to or understand.

One clear thing is that the words that Solomon speaks to the Shulamite woman are words of praise and expressions of love.

Song of Solomon has three dimensions of understanding.

Solomon and the Shulamite woman

Christ and the Church

Christ and an individual person. This is what we will primarily focus on today.

Narration of the book

The book begins with the Shulamite woman and Solomon meeting and falling in love.

Solomon is not in his kingly robe. He is presumed to be dressed like an average shepherd on the field.

Solomon is on something like a vacation to a countryside.

In Ch. 3, Solomon comes back for the Shulamite woman in all his grandeur.

Takes away the Shulamite to his palace and the two is joined by marriage.

Ch. 4, the Shulamite woman is haunted in her sleep.

She is at the palace and finds hundreds of other wives and concubines of Solomon.

Beautiful

Talented

Gifted

Educated

etc.

Then we get to our passage in Ch. 6

Solomon reaffirms his unending love for her and compliments her beauty.

Interpretation of the passage

Song of Solomon 6:4

Song of Solomon 6:4 NASB95

4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, As lovely as Jerusalem, As awesome as an army with banners.

Tirzah

Tirzah was an ancient Canaanite city in Samaria.

The city was known for its natural beauty

Extensive gardens and groves

Abundance of the best water supply in all of Israel.

Jerusalem

In Lamentations 2:15, Jerusalem is called “the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth.”

Awesome as an army with banners

Some translations use the word “terrible”

But the word awesome, I believe, is more suitable.

Meaning awe-inspiring.

Have you even stood before an amazing landscape? Something like the Grand Canyons, Niagara Falls, or even just the starry night? and your only response was, “Wow...”?

This is what that means

The verse may be read as something like this

“My darling, you are as beautiful as the royal city of Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, and totally captivating”

Song of Solomon 6:5

Song of Solomon 6:5 ESV

5 Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me.

The request to turn her eyes away from him isn’t out of anger or discomfort

The Hebrew word for “overwhelm” is rā·hǎḇ

“To excite” … “to bring to a state of eager expectation”

It’s out of overly exciting, the inability to resist or control himself.

Implications

Often times we feel insecure about ourselves.

Many of us, if not all of us, compare ourselves with others. Whether you do it mildly or incessantly.

And most of the time, the ones who hide it the best do it the most and feel it the most.

We are haunted by insecurities such as, “that person doesn’t like me.” “I’m not good enough.” “I will never measure up.” What is worse is that these insecurities can and many times happen within the body of Christ. That family is so Godly, that family is better off financially, that family’s child is so successful, etc. Just like the Shulamite woman feeling insecure from other wives of Solomon.

These insecurities come up SELF-righteousness and SELF-confidence.

When we move from SELF-righteousness and SELF-confidence to CHRIST-righteousness and CHRIST-confidence, we are set free from insecurities.

Not only are we set free, but we are emboldened because to Him, not only are we “good enough” but we are as beautiful Tirzah and lovely as Jerusalem.

And our eyes overwhelm His heart to a point where He cannot contain Himself.

Today is Easter Sunday. We remember and celebrate His resurrection. One of the reasons why Christ carried that cross to Calvary and Isaiah 53:10, the Father was pleased to bruise His Son.

All because the Lord is absolutely overwhelmed by His love for you.

Put it into your prayer life

I reckon the language of this passage, or the entire book is very foreign and unfamiliar.

However, begin incorporating the language in your prayers.

“Lord, You say that I am beautiful as Tirzah and lovely as Jerusalem...”

As you being praying this language, your spirit-man will begin to change and you will begin to see and experience change in your CHRIST-confidence.

This book is one of my personal favorite in the Scripture.

This book is one of my go-to’s especially when I am feeling down and stressed. Because the book reminds me that when Jesus looks at me, He is overwhelmed with love.

Nothing in this world gives me more confidence and freedom from all the things in my life than living from the identity that Christ is absolutely infatuated with me.