Last night I ran across an inspiring blog from a lady in Rhode Island, and she gave me permission to share the link. As I’ve been writing about the Song of Solomon, going through verse by verse, I’ve realized this may not make sense to many people. Lori Stanley Roeleveld wrote an introduction to this paradigm it better than I can. I invite you to check it out!
Category Archives: Song of Songs
My Spikenard: a chief of sinners worships the King
While the king is at his table,
My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
~ Song of Solomon 1:12
I’m here at verse 12 and feel more inadequate than ever to talk about worshiping the glorious King of the Universe. For years I had ebbed and flowed within ecstatic worship, caught up with every fiber of my being into the joy of enjoying God. Anyone who has been there knows there is almost nothing in the universe that would compare to this.
But lately, struggling with headaches and my own dark night of the soul, and staring in the face of all my inadequacies, I confess I’m a very poor specimen of a Jesus lover to be bringing this glorious message. The chief of sinners, as one ancient said, yet here I am.
There was another representative of this message, a woman who brought spikenard for her king. People deemed her a poor specimen too. She snuck into the house of a very important and religious man, then in front of an audience who reclined at dinner, in a most awkward display of adoration and emotion, she spread forth her fragrance. There were tears and there was spikenard, but these were symbols of a more potent fragrance she poured upon her king. She brought a most profound gratitude. She was unnamed and known only by her ‘unrighteous living’ and two other facts that Jesus spoke over her: she was forgiven much and she loved him much.
One of the biggest lies I frequently tell myself is that I don’t have much love to give, and that I’m not a loving person. This isn’t helpful to me, to my family or in my relationship with God. Reciting this lie to myself keeps the focus on me and not where it should be: on the glorious King of Kings.
The next biblical instance of spikenard was just as awkward for nearly everyone in the room. What on earth was taking place in this incredibly awkward and spontaneous ceremony? Mary of Bethany took the most expensive thing she possessed, a pound of spikenard, which may have been her only object of value, and she poured it out on the head of a single man in a room full of men. Even while she was maligned by one of Jesus’ friends, Mary continued to pour out the oil in an act of worship, and an act of preparation for burial. She understood where Jesus was going when his friends didn’t.
What was Jesus’ response to Mary? “She has done a beautiful thing to Me. Wherever My Gospel is preached, tell also what she did.” (My paraphrase of Matthew 26:10-13 )
Her act of worship has her included in His Gospel. As part of His Gospel. That’s intense! Wowsers! What on earth is going on here?
She took Him at His word.
Jesus said He will be coming again.
So I’m going to take Him at His word, especially since He isn’t slow in keeping His promises. I love so much how He doesn’t want a single person to perish.
And while I wait for Him, I’m going to pour out my worship over Him, whether I feel adequate or not, in preparation for His coming.
While the king is at his table,
My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
~ Song of Solomon 1:12
I also want to point out a few things about this table. Psalm 23 says:
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
And from Psalm 36:
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
Eat, O friends and drink! Drink deep, O lovers! ~ Song of Solomon 5:1b
Alambaster Box by Julie Meyer:
The Mare of Kings
Now we come to one of the most exciting passages in the Song of Solomon, even though it doesn’t seem that way on the surface. A young woman longing for love has just asked the shepherd she loves where to find him when he’s resting in the shade at midday. This is the same shepherd who had whispered that she was beautiful. Now, when answering her, he declares his thoughts boldly.
If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
by the tents of the shepherds.
I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.
(Song of Solomon 1:8-11)
Let’s unfold each of these images, and while we’re unfolding them, allow the Lord to speak to you in the secret place.
Every time the Shepherd opens conversation with you, He’s come to tell you first and foremost how beautiful you are. You are beautiful because that’s how the Lord designed you. Your soul is beautiful to Him, as you will see below.
We’re called by Him to graze our goats by the tents of the shepherds. This is a call to be in fellowship with others, even if that’s difficult.
Then, our Shepherd begins to speak the most remarkable words over us: He likens me to one of the mares on the chariots of Pharaoh. As king of Egypt, the Pharaoh owned the very best horses in the ancient Middle East, and the horses harnessed to his chariot were the best of all his horses. These were the ones trained for battle. I may not be a warhorse yet, but sometimes God speaks over me the things that are not as though they are. Here is how God describes the warhorse:
“Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.” (Job 39:19-25)
This speaks of our mind sharpened and attuned to the Lord’s voice and the ways He has trained us. Whenever I think of these verses, I always think of Kevin Prosch’s lyric:
Like horses that are yoked to the chariots of kings
Hook me up to your heart, to your heart, O God,
Never to be free!
Then He speaks of our cheeks. Our cheeks show our emotions, and earrings speak of being a bond servant. Our emotions become beautiful through our unswerving devotion to the Lord.
Our neck speaks of our will. The more we live “Thy will be done,” the more our neck will glitter with jewels. There are many ways in which jewels are spoken of throughout the Bible, but a major way to consider here is this: the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem are layers of jewels. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Gold speaks of the godly character He is working in you by His Holy Spirit. He who began a good work in you WILL carry it on to completion.
Silver speaks of redemption. He’s redeemed so much of our lives! God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His plan.
He will make us into those whose minds, wills and emotions show His character and demonstrate His redemption.
I liken you, my darling, to a mare
among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
We will make you earrings of gold,
studded with silver.
And, in case you were wondering, and in case you have been lied to, He loves your soul. He may not like the current state that my soul is in, but He loves my soul.
I’m going to close lyrics from one of my favorite songs. I wanted to find a video for you, but I couldn’t. If anyone has the music, please share. But I do have the lyrics. These echo words in my own heart:
COME DOWN
(c) Kevin Prosch
Into my hands have come many things
You should be disappointed
For I have wasted most of these
My innocence and youth, I poured them out like water
And to think to you that I am
Still worth saving from the fire, God
Come down and meet with me
You make my day so sweet
Inflame my soul oh God, with a cry for purity
Like horses that are yoked, to the chariots of kings
Hook me up to Your heart, never to be free
Too many compromises to get me through the day
Help me make the choices, sometimes I am afraid
When I’m deaf to everything but the cry of my own pain
Give me the grace to trust You, I cannot walk away
Don’t disappoint me God, not while I am
Not while I am trusting You again
If I fall down in darkness and this weakness comes to me
Hold the scepter out to come banging on Your door
I’m banging on Your door
Come down from the top of that mountain
Rise up from the bottom of the sea
I empty out the pockets of my life
With nothing to bring but my iniquities
I can’t wait to lay my head down on Your breast
I want to see your face, kiss the nail marks in Your hands
People think you’re just an image from a time so long ago
Not the God who I believe in whom re-aranged my world
Because the death and resurrection of Your beloved Son
And the mystery of the cross, and the power of His blood
You changed the things about me I could not change myself
And You loved me in my sin, You’re the God of all my help
And in my darkest hour, if weakness comes to me
Hold the scepter out to come banging on Your door
I’m banging on Your door
Come down from the top of that mountain
Rise up from the bottom of the sea
I empty out the pockets of my life
With nothing to bring but my iniquities
Come down oh Heavenly Father
Rise up on the inside of me
I empty out the pockets of my life
With nothing to bring but my iniquities
Like a Veiled Woman
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?Song of Solomon 1:7
Have you ever wrestled with shame until your arms ached as you gripped the steering wheel all the way to church?
There are few places in this world that I’ve struggled about more than church. High school was one of those places that offered just as much struggle.
I was so curious about life and learning before I reached the crowded halls of high school. I didn’t anticipate anything close to that level of judgmentalness. The way I was judged in high school, one would think I was on trial with death row in the balance. Every day I’d wrestle with shame, not wanting to get up out of bed and face the people who thought that way about me. I had enough of my own demons to fight every day, I didn’t want to fight everyone else’s, especially as ill-equipped as I was. Mostly, I wanted to be in a place where I felt pure and beautiful, not where I stood on the same pedestal as a prostitute.
In ancient times in the Middle East, a woman wore a veil so she could be easily identified as a prostitute, as we see by the actions of Tamar with Judah in Genesis 38. Tamar had to fight not only for her reputation but for her life, and used shrewd and savvy means to do this.
There’s another biblical person altogether who wore a veil: Moses. People were afraid of the glory shining from his face, so he wore a veil.
I felt more like Tamar than like Moses in high school. And throughout my walk with the Lord, I’ve felt more like Tamar than like Moses in church.
I think Jesus warned us against judging one another because we are so prone to doing this. As soon as we meet someone, we form an opinion, and we’ve often been trained to make a strong opinion either positive or negative. Our opinions don’t often leave room for grace.
But we long for grace. I do. I long to lie down in green pasture, and to be led beside still waters. I long for Jesus who always views me through grace-colored lenses. He said He’d be in the midst of two or three gathered in His name. That means being around other human beings.
Tell me, you whom I love,
where you graze your flock
and where you rest your sheep at midday.
How do I get past feeling like a veiled woman in the midst of other human beings? For years, I struggled with deep depression every single Sunday afternoon, except for those Sundays that I stayed home from church. Then I just wrestled with guilt.
My daughter watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time last week, and we’ve watched it almost every day since then. Goodness, gracious me! What a prophetic movie!
Do you remember how the wizard was projected with smoke and mirrors and lots of fear inducing sounds? Sometimes I think the reason we feel shame is because of the way God is projected. Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but I don’t think many people understand this fear of the Lord. I don’t think I understand it very well, even though I’ve asked for this understanding.
But remember toward the end, when the curtain was parted and the wizard was revealed for who he was? Instead of giving the Scarecrow a brain, he affirmed the brain the Scarecrow already had. The same went with the Tinman and the Lion: they were told that they already possessed the very things they sought.
When we encounter the Living God for who He is, without all the smoke and mirrors, we discover that He’s already provided what we seek:
Mark 10:29-30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” New International Version (NIV)
This verse gives us a clue to an answer: we need a God-built tribe around us. I’ve moved many, many times, and have had to let the Lord build this tribe for me again and again. Here’s what I’ve learned from these experiences: Never expect those in your tribe to be more or less perfect than you are, and never expect them to be the same type of person as you. Love them fiercely and give like it’s your love language.
I’m going to leave you with the lyrics of the choral song the Optimistic Voices sang while Dorothy and her friends were skipping away from the field of poppies (temptations) toward the Emerald City (promise):
You’re out of the woods
You’re out of the dark
You’re out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead
For the most glorious place
On the Face of the Earth
Or the skyHold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open!(c)1939
Let God build you a tribe. And may He bless you mightily!
My Own Vineyards
or
Facing the Wall
my thoughts on Song of Solomon 1:6
Okay, I’ll admit it, I was reluctant to write this post, the next in the Song of Solomon series, because the struggles I face on a daily basis are far too close to what I read in this verse. But I’m going to try anyway. This will be less of an unveiling of secrets and more of a plea to walk with me through my brokenness.
Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard I have not kept.Song of Solomon 1:6 (NKJV)
Eight times in one day last week I was confronted by people telling me I wasn’t taking care of myself. That’s not to mention all the other times people have said this to me in the last few months.
Many years ago, my friend Jason, a pastor in CT, told me a story about a man who, in the 1800s, went everywhere preaching the Gospel, but died of sickness at the age of 29. Shortly before he died, he said something like this (and I’ll probably butcher the quote):
“God gave me a horse to use that I may preach his Gospel, but I have killed that horse.”
The horse he referred to was his own body.
God gives us a gift in our bodies, and even goes so far as to say, in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
I don’t sit on a couch all day and chow down on potato chips, but I’ve certainly been neglecting some areas of my life. And taking care of my body was one of those. So I’ve started with baby steps. I’m drinking much more water now than I used to, and I dash a bit of cayenne in the water so the little one doesn’t try to drink it all on me. Don’t worry, I give my daughter her own, cayenne-free water!
I’ve taken time to face the wall. This is one of the most important steps of taking care of “my own vineyard”. Whay I mean by facing the wall is I express my creative worship before an audience of One. This includes playing guitar, having a journal of prayers to and conversations with God, and even drawing pictures no one else but God will see (I’m not a visual artist, so this isn’t my default, but it may be yours).
I can assure you that if you haven’t been taking care of yourself, but you begin to make an effort to do this, you will face opposition. Whether it’s your brothers or your close friends who wonder at the change, their first reactions may sound like anger. Keep going. Care for your body. Face the wall.
In these last five days, as I’ve begun this effort to care for my own vineyard, I’ve shed more private tears than I have in the past year. But all I can say is that in these last five days, as I’ve sauntered down this sometimes frightening road of obedience, the most wonderful mysteries have been revealed to my heart. We are so completely loved. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are more important to Jesus that we’ve dared imagine. When we care for our own vineyards, we’re able to bless others more thoroughly than ever. Because the well we have to draw from is deeper.
The Greatest of Pleasures
Song of Solomon 1:4
Friends:
We rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.
Wine speaks of the height of pleasures of this world.
There is nothing I’ve encountered as pleasurable as the love of God. Nothing. My honeymoon was simply glorious, and I wouldn’t mind living that over about eighty or ninety times, but even that doesn’t come close.
The love God has for me is so great, so vast, so glorious, I could count the droplets of water in the Pacific easier than measure His love for me. But are you ready for the best part? He wants to give us the ability to love Him in return in this way. Imagine loving God the way that God loves God!
He wants us to love that way so much that when He was on earth, Jesus asked the Father for this.
“I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.” John 17:26
There is something so sublime about requited love, something so sublime, so divine. God knows this. Jesus gave his life for it. The God of the universe gave His life so that we can love Him the way that He loves us. It’s better than we can even imagine.
She:
How right they are to adore you!
Tonight I was wrestling with grief. Sometimes it doesn’t come at convenient times. Sometimes it comes when we have many other things to do. I couldn’t stop crying. It slowed me down, but this slow-down was good. It pressed me to open the word, to draw comfort from the most perfect Source. His love poured into my heart with such profound comfort. Such profound comfort. I’m so glad I ran to Him.
How right they are to adore you!
Draw Me
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,
and I will raise them up at the last day.
~ Jesus (Jn 6:44)
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.
~ Jesus (Jn 12:32)
Draw me after you; let us run.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
Song of Solomon 1:4
How I long to be drawn close! Or rather, I should say it this way: I long to be sensitive enough to the Lord’s drawing that I respond.
What ways does the Lord draws us?
Jeremiah 31:3 tells us that it’s with cords of unfailing kindness.
Unfailing kindness. I want to just sit and soak that up for a moment. My kindness is so fleeting and prone to weariness. His is unfailing. And that unfailing kindness is toward me, and toward you.
Hosea 11:4 says He “drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love.”
These are His ways. It’s His kindness that has us turn to Him when we were walking away from Him (Romans 2:4).
His cross is the most profound demonstration of His kindness. His “lifting up” drew many. He drew me.
Once we’re close to him again, then what?
We run. We run with all our might!
Running speaks of partnering with the Lord in ministry.
It also speaks of running, with all our might, into the secret place, the “King’s chambers”.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.~ Psalm 91:1
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
~ Jesus (Matt. 6:6)
His closeness is reward enough! It’s far more rewarding than I even anticipated years ago when I began to yearn for that secret place.
Notice how it says “The king has brought me into his chambers.” There’s more than one chamber. There’s so much He wants to show us.
Do you remember in the movie, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, when Lucy first stepped into the wardrobe and spoke to the faun, Mr. Tumnus? He told her how big Narnia was and her response was, “This is an awfully big wardrobe!” That’s what the secret place with the Lord is like. You step into a closet and end up in a huge world that stretches further than the eye can see.
There are worlds within worlds, each bigger than the last.
Are you ready for the adventure?
Draw me, Lord! Let us run!
Find Precarious Yates’s books here.
No Flies in this Ointment
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
Song of Solomon 1:3
As I pointed out in my last blog post, Jesus “gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2) And because of His sacrifice, He has made us holy and able to receive the Holy Spirit.
Ointments are a picture of the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our lives. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, the Holy Spirit is poured upon us in such measure that it spills over us onto others. Look at this in Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit of promise (John 16:7) as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance in Him (Ephesians 1:13-14). Now, that’s a very interesting phrase from the Greek, that ‘sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.’
The word in Greek for ‘deposit’, is the same that is used for a down payment for a house. Keep in mind that Jesus is the one giving this most holy Down Payment. A down payment means that the transaction has only just begun, it’s not yet complete.
The Greek word for ‘guarantee’ is the word ‘arrabona’, a word that means ‘engagement ring’.
His ointments poured out onto us are just the beginning of an eternity of sweetness.
Let’s look once again at the book that comes before the Song of Songs: Ecclesiastes. Remember how I said that Ecclesiastes was about ‘vanity of vanities’? And the Song of Solomon is the Song of Songs. Here’s what it Ecclesiastes says about ointment:
Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. (10:1)
What a contrast this is to Jesus whose good ointments give off sweet fragrance! Can you imagine someone who gives off no foul odor, no folly, no dishonor?
Let’s see what the Father has to say about Jesus in this respect:
Psalm 45:2, 7 & 8
You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever.You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia…
(For the reason I say this is the Father talking about Jesus, see Hebrews 1:8-9.)
Jesus has been anointed with grace and joy and His garments contain healing (myrrh, aloes and cassia are ancient healing ointments). He came full of grace. There are no flies, no lies in His ointments, in the grace and joy that He brings–there’s only abundance. And what does He do with all this abundance? He gives Himself to purchase us so that we can share in it. So that we can be the virgins who love Him. I long for intimacy like this. You too?
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The Sweetest Fragrance
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
~ Song of Solomon 1:3
I was born with an overactive sense of smell, and as I’ve aged it’s only grown stronger. Working as a nurse assistant for several years and now as a mom, I’ve smelled many an unpleasant smell.
But I’ve also smelled some beautiful smells.
Like when make-overs were given to patients. I loved seeing them smiled while they relished in the beauty treatments and felt dignity restored to them.
Or the smell of my daughter’s hair as she’s falling asleep all curled up in my arms.
The most beautiful smell I ever encountered was during worship when I had a supernatural experience: the Lord allowed me to ‘smell’ the perfume of His ‘fragrance’ being poured forth on people. It was so different from store-bought perfumes that assault my sinuses. It was so different from the scent of some flowers that leave me feeling heady. This scent, something between lily-of-the-valley, myrrh and spikenard, invigorated me, cleared my mind and infused me with visions of heaven.
Jesus was the fragrant offering to God:
Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ~ Ephesians 5:2b
It gets better. Because we are in Christ, we also have this sweet fragrance:
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:14-15
It is the Lord’s anointing over our lives that releases this.
Your anointing releases / Such a pleasing fragrance. / Your very name is “Flowing Oil”— / Poured out over and over. / No wonder the brides-to-be adore You.
~ Simmons, Brian (2011-06-17). The Most Amazing Song of All by King Solomon-
The Passion Translation (Kindle Locations 122-127). 5 Fold Media. Kindle Edition.
Allow yourself to be immersed in the sweetest fragrance. When you are immersed in the fragrance of Christ, this spills onto the lives of those around you.
Let’s admit it, life is happier when it smells better.
What is your favorite smell?
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Longing for Kisses
The Song of Solomon starts out with the cry for kisses. I think I started life that way. Crying to be kissed.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth–for your love is more delightful than wine! (1:2)
If this is about God and humans, what kind of kiss are we talking about?
When the Song talks about the ‘mouth’ it usually refers to the the words that come forth from the mouth. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Word!
Have you ever read something from the Word of God and had it kiss your heart? Have you ever had it soothe your soul the way that a mother’s kisses on a scrape soothe the sting? Have you ever had a kiss heal you? I invite you to ask God for the kisses of His Word. Ask Him to open up to you what this means.
His love is more delightful than wine. Wine speaks of the height of permissible pleasures in this world. His love is far greater than any pleasure this world has to offer.
The human heart is chock full of longings. Maybe yours isn’t, but mine is. Some of these longings are so intense they drive our existence in one direction or another. Here are seven longings that drive the human heart:
1. The longing to be enjoyed.
2. The longing to be fascinated.
3. The longing to be beautiful.
4. The longing to be successful.
5. The longing for intimacy without shame.
6. The longing to be wholehearted and passionate.
7. The longing to make a deep and lasting impact.
I don’t know about you, but when I began to walk with the Lord I looked at these longings with fear and disdain. I tried over and over to repent for having these longing in my heart. I tried to repent of them, but they wouldn’t go away. They’d diminish for a little while, but they wouldn’t go away.
I’m here today to tell you that you CAN’T repent of these longings.
What?
You can’t repent of them because God placed them in our hearts for a reason. The longings themselves are not sinful. The pursuit of them may be sinful, but the longings themselves are not sinful. And every single one of those longings can be satisfied by the Word of God, by pursuit of the Lord, and by holy intimacy with our King in the secret place.
It’s here, within His Word, that I learned that I am ENJOYED by God. God doesn’t just put up with me, He doesn’t just love me, He enjoys me (even in my weakness!).
It’s here in God’s Word that my longing to be wholehearted and passionate is satisfied. I can be given the ability to love Jesus in the same way the Father loves Jesus–Jesus prayed for me to have this (John 17:26). Amazing! I can love God in the way that God loves God–this blows my mind. Talk about wholehearted and passionate.
And I can have intimacy without shame. Shame is baggage I’ve carried all too often in my life. I’ve had more reasons to be ashamed than I care to recall, more reasons to want to cover up and hide away than I thought possible for any one human being. But through the gateway of His wondrous cross, I can stand before Him naked and unashamed (see Gen. 2:25). Heck, I can even stand before another human being that way.
All my longings for kisses are satisfied in Him.
Ask with me:
Lord, would you kiss me with the kisses of your Word? Would you show me how to satisfy these longing in my heart through intimacy with you? Thank you for placing those longing within me, so that I may hunger and thirst for you, your Word and your righteousness!
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