Yes, He Loves You!

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Scripture

Song 4:9        You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
        you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
        with one jewel of your necklace.
10     How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
        how much better is your love than wine,
        and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!

Observation

Song of Solomon has been read through many different lenses, one of which sees it as an allegory representing God’s love for his bride, the Church. While this takes it into a communal sense, it is the people of God who make up the Church and there is also the potential for an individual representation here for the the believer.

We are invited into a deeply personal and loving relationship with our Lord. It was Jesus who reminded us that we are to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. While we are to love him, that love flows from an intimate relationship with him. Yes, the Lord loves you and me and the love language of this scripture is for us. He passionately loves his bride and wants us to know the depths of that eternal love.

Application

Too often we just skim over, or skip Song of Solomon entirely. However, when we take a few moments and begin to think about the depths of the love story it can be a bit overwhelming. Too often we focus on the flaws that we find in the Church, or in our own lives, and so imagining this type of language from our Lord about us seems quite unbelievable. And yet, that’s what he wants us to hear — he wants us to hear the love song that pours out of God for us, his creation, his humanity, his bride!

The Lord loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine and is constantly reaching out and drawing us toward him. We are the ones who are putting up the barriers to that love, often by ignoring him. He is patiently waiting for us to spend time with him and receive that love from him. He wants us to love him.

We create our own barriers to that love. These barriers include a lack of self-worth which somehow makes us believe that we are not worthy of his love. His love can make us uncomfortable as it awakens feelings and illuminates areas of life which may have been hurt or damaged. But his love will not take advantage, instead it will lovingly embrace and bring a healing balm to the hurt and pain.

Yes, he loves us! His bride has ravished his heart and our love for him brings the Lord great joy. The invitation is to dwell in the joy and peace of that love.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to enjoy the love you have lavished on me and then share it with the surrounding world. Amen.

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