“…the Song of Songs…contains exquisite love lyrics…it is very explicit sexually…The Song proclaims an integrated wholeness,…committed, wedded love for a world that seems to specialize in loveless sex.

Christians read the Song on many levels: as the intimacy of marital love between man and woman, God’s deep love for his people, Christ’s Bridegroom love for his church, the Christian’s love for his or her Lord. It is a prism in which all the love of God in all the world, and all the response of those who love and whom God loves, gathers and then separates into individual colors.”

The Message Introduction to Song of Songs

I call Song of Songs the “Honeymoon Book.” It’s a special book that means more when you read it together. Every time you read it will remind of your honeymoon. It gives us encouragement and a warning.

It starts with encouragement in the first chapter. Sex is not the best when we’re young and beautiful. It gets better with age.

Song of Songs 1:5, “I am weathered but still elegant…time-softened like Solomon’s Temple hangings.” The Message

* * * * * * *

Song of Songs 2:3, “As an apricot tree [mature with fruit] stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men…” The Message

Sex is like a roller coaster – without brakes! Once you get on, you can’t get off. If you jump from one roller coaster to another, everyone gets hurt. The thrills on the second roller coaster will never match the thrill of the first. A ride designed for the same two people until death.

That is why it warns twice not to start the ride until we are mature and have made a life-long commitment.

Song of Songs 2:7 and 3:5, “Let me warn you,…Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up, until the time is ripe – and you’re ready.” The Message

Why? Sex takes time – lots of uninterrupted time.

Song of Songs 2:16, 17, “My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, delighting in the flowers until dawn breathes its light and night slips away.” The Message

* * * * * * *

Song of Songs 4:6, “I stay until dawn breathes its light and night slips away….” The Message

After becoming one, being apart is physically painful.

Song of Songs 3:1, “Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover. I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful.” The Message

* * * * * * *

Song of Songs 5:8, “…tell him I want him, that I’m heartsick with love for him.” The Message

We wait for sex out of our fear or reverence for the Lord. How long? As long as it takes.

Psalms 72:5, “Outlast the sun, outlast the moon – age after age after age.” The Message

Waiting builds a firm foundation for your home.

Psalms 127:1, “If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks.” The Message

You say, “I can’t wait! I can’t take the pressure.”

“Remember, it requires eleven tons of pressure on a piano’s strings for it to be tuned.” Streams in the Desert, March 4

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