Links for today’s readings:
Mar 26 Read: Song of Songs 2 Listen: (2:15) Read: Psalms 70-71 Listen: (3:29)
Scripture Focus: Song of Songs 2.2-4
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
Reflection: Touches of Eden
By John Tillman
Scriptures often mean more than one thing.
Isaiah’s prophecy about a “virgin” (literally “young woman”) who would give birth to a child as a sign of blessing was both about a normal child, born during the siege of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s lifetime, and about Jesus who would be born centuries later. (Is 7.10-17; Matt 1.20-25)
Jesus’ teaching about the “end of the age” was both about the fall of Jerusalem that would occur in a few decades, and about the time of his second coming which we still await. (Matt 24.15; Mark 13.14; Luke 21.20)
Similarly, Song of Songs is both about physical and emotional love between a royal groom and bride and about God’s love for his people that is best pictured in Jesus.
The lovers in Song of Songs find each other remarkable.
There are other women. But not like her. There are other men. But not like him. Other women are thorns instead of lilies. Other men are fruitless trees like the one Jesus cursed (Mark 11.12-22), instead of fruitful trees that provide both shelter and sustenance.
This comparison is not primarily a romantic exaggeration like saying, “All women are ugly compared to you,” or “All men are monsters, except for you.” They see in one another a spark of Eden.
Outside of Eden, the ground naturally produces thorns, but she, among the thorns, is a beautiful, soft, and pleasing flower. Outside of Eden, food comes by toil and sweat, but he produces fruit in keeping with righteousness and shelter from heat and labor. They find in one another a touch of Eden’s blessings.
Reading this into our human relationships doesn’t mean insulting other people to “compliment” our loved ones. It means seeking and building relationships that bear the fruit of Eden and the blessings of God. This should be true in both our romantic and platonic relationships. We should be soft and beautiful in a world of harshness. We should create space that is safe and nourishing in a world of selfishness.
Reading this into our spiritual lives, we realize that we can only share the fruit of Eden by sitting under the shade of Jesus’ tree, the cross. He transforms the thorns of his crown into lilies. He transforms the toil, sweat, and blood of the cross, a tool of oppression, war, and death, into the true tree of life, blessing, beauty, love, rest, and peace.
His banner over us is love.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; knit my heart to you that I may fear your Name. — Psalm 86.11
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
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Read more: Always the Rock of Refuge
I went to that rock of refuge again and again. And from that continual, enduring, and reliable source of refuge, I found hope.