Read | Song of Songs 2:8–3:5
Woman
Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
My love calls to me:
Man
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.
The fig tree ripens its figs;
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
Woman
Catch the foxes for us—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.
Woman
My love is mine and I am his;
he feeds among the lilies.
Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains.
In my bed at night
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but did not find him.
I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
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Pray
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Based on Song of Songs 2:8–3:5 by Rachel Nesse, Pastoral Resident – Leawood Campus
My love calls to me
God, may this ancient love poetry remind me that you are the God in whom all true love originates.
Your perfect love stands at the center of the universe.
And all earthly love, whether romantic, familial, or the love of a friend, is meant to direct our hearts to your final, greater love.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
As I read of the delight between lovers, I am reminded that you created us to experience delight.
You created us to delight in you and delight in one another.
I am created to encounter your beauty and love in the faces of those who bear your image.
May I remember today that my innate desire to know and be known originates from your majestic design which mirrors the divine love which you experience within the triune Godhead.
My love is mine and I am his
God, may I remember that the longing of my soul for love, belonging, security, and satisfaction begins and ends in you.
You made me to need you. And in you alone do I find my deepest needs fulfilled.
My cup overflows because I am yours.
I am loved by you. I find belonging in you. I am secure in you. And I am satisfied in you.
I delight in your love, Father. I delight in your love, Jesus. I delight in your love, Spirit.
Amen.
Going Deeper
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