Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
4/27 Reading Portions: Numbers 4; Psalm 38; Song of Solomon 2; Hebrews 2
Listen to the audio devotional above, and/or read the written devotional below.
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Song of Solomon 2:4
LOVE
The Hebrew title for this book is Song of Songs. It is a blessed picture of Christ’s love for His beloved bride, the church. It also presents the church’s response to Christ’s love. The authorship is certainly Solomon’s (Song 1:1). There are varied opinions of who this young woman is who has captured his heart. Yet interpreting this book with a gospel lens, we gather that this was Solomon’s first love, a term Jesus uses of Himself to Ephesus (Rev 2:4); as well as a concept understood of Christ’s love toward His eternal bride (Eph 5:23-32).
The banqueting house is literally “house of wine” in Hebrew. In Scripture, wine represents celebration, commemoration, and communion. Christ has brought us into His banqueting house by salvation through His precious blood. Moreover, as Christ was lifted up on the cross (John 3:14), we have the eternal protection of His banner established by His blood (John 3:15); and that bloody banner is glorious for it is the very love of God (John 3:16).
Let’s consider some of the blessed truths from this chapter. Because of Christ’s eternal love for you and me, we may smell the unique fragrance of His interceding prayers, as Jesus is described as an apple tree in the forest (Song 2:3a). We delight in Christ’s shadow by the shade of the cross, nourished by the fruit of His gospel (Song 2:3b) —fruit which must sustain and refresh us because the magnificence of His love is overwhelming (Song 2:5). Jesus cradles our very thoughts as we rest in His truth, while at the same time, He embraces our hearts with the almighty power of His pierced right hand (Song 2:6). Christ’s truth moves us to earnestly charge (adjure) fellow believers not to force gospel love (Song 2:7); for love to Christ cannot be manipulated or manufactured. True love for Christ, when it comes, is as natural and necessary in the eternal realm as breathing is in the temporal (Song 2:17a, ESV). Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Christ brought us to the house of wine,
Which is filled with fragrant love:
A banner Christ has lifted high,
On the cross by His shed blood.
