Song of Solomon 2:7

Song of Solomon chapter 2 let me read verses 4 through 7 our focus this morning is on verse of 7 he brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love stay me with flagons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love his left hand is under head his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken my love till he please. May God bless to us his sacred word. The bride here, having been completely overwhelmed by Christ’s love, has swooned and he has grabbed her up. in his arms. It’s hard to imagine a more intimate fellowship with Christ than this. It’s most precious. Our text, however, portrays the bride’s fear of this close fellowship with Christ being disturbed and lost. Now there has been a debate about who’s speaking here, whether it’s Christ or the bride. I believe there are a good reason to understand this is the bride that is speaking. The words are addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem and who are the daughters of Jerusalem but the friends of the bride. They’re very closely related to the bride. You’ll notice she addressed them in chapter 1 and verse 5. I am black but comely, oh ye daughters of Jerusalem. And so it’s definitely her friends that she’s speaking to and she speaks to them throughout the book. In other passages, these kinds of words are repeated that we find in verse 7, but they definitely, if you look at the context in chapter 3, verse 5, and chapter 8, verse 4, you refer to the bride speaking. The language suits the bride best. My love, commonly spoken with regard to Christ, till he please. We have to make so drastic changes, I think, to refer them to refer them to something besides or to refer them to Christ’s words. I think the King James is correct here in its approach and its interpretation. There’s a charge also given, which is more properly suits the bride. Christ’s words come as a command to his people. It is Christ who has the sovereign interrogate to come and go as he pleases. And notice it said, and to just bring this intimate fellowship or withdraw it till he please. That’s in his hands. Christ, the beloved here, is compared to a row or young heart. In verse 9, he’s referred to this, my beloved is like a row or a young heart. Here, in verse 7, we have the similar connection. He’s like these deer, if you would. And so we don’t want to stir him up. He can quickly bound off is the idea. So the context, I think, best suits this interpretation. The bride is in the loving arms of Christ and doesn’t want this desired fellowship to be disturbed by anyone. Now notice the preciousness of an intimate fellowship with Christ. Stir not up nor awaken my love till he please. She’s been snatched up in Christ’s loving embrace, verses 5 and 6, and you find the bride now sleeping in the arms of Christ in the marriage bed, so to speak. And Christ is seen as sleeping or resting with his bride. If you look at chapter 1 in verse 13, a bundle of my well-beloved unto me he shall lie all night between my breast. That closeness of the marriage. Now you as a member of the bride are in the midst here a full enjoyment of your beloved’s presence, my love. Now while Christ sovereignly controls the intimate fellowship with his bride, the bride is concerned, the bride is concerned lest anything would disturb this intimate fellowship and it would be lost. That’s what she’s concerned about. So she wants to prolong it, make as long as possible. And there’s a heightened sense of joy and happiness in your relationship with Christ which soon enough can be lost till he please and he can be gone. We talked about such a close fellowship at times it seems it’s rare. The preciousness of an intimate fellowship with Christ. The second part. In earnest concern about maintaining an intimate fellowship with Christ, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up nor awaken my love. Now, Christ may be disturbed. He may be aroused by the various sins of his people and provoked to depart. It’s not that Christ doesn’t dearly love you. He does as one of his people, but sin disturbs this close, intimate fellowship that he has with us. Notice verse one of next chapter. By night on my bed, I saw him whom my soul loveth, I sawed him, but I found him not. He’s gone. He’s gone. The psalma said, why hide us thou by face from me? Or, as we read in Isaiah 817, the Lord hide his to his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him through your cornality, through your lukewarmness, your ingratitude, your lack of trust, Christ arises, and is gone. So, the least sinful thoughts and stirrings of corruption should immediately be suppressed, lest lest we disturb the intimate fellowship we have with Christ. And we awaken him and lose it. Notice here that young converts are in the greatest need of the warning. Daughters of Jerusalem. Now the daughters of Jerusalem are, it looks to me like individual believers, Christians, often young converts, or babes in Christ, who, like the members of the church at Corinth, are not very mature. And they fall into all sorts of foolish sins and disrupt the peace of the church, whether it be petty divisions, whether it be mistreatment of others, whether it would be being puffed up with pride, being jealous, being carnal, being worldly, unable to digest the meat of the word, whatever the case may be. Young believers are commonly in danger of marring their own fellowship with Christ and the readiness to disturb Christ. Thus, young believers are warned here. They are commanded very solemnly here about disturbing the rest between Christ and his church. I charge you. It comes as a commandant, a solemn entreaty, if you would, an earnest warning. Notice how easily Christ may be disturbed from this intimate fellowship and be lost. By the rose by the hinds of the field. Now this is not an oath. Because that would violate what Christ taught in the summer of the mountain. We’re not supposed to swear by earthly things. And so I don’t think that’s what he means. But it is a command. It’s a solemn morning. Don’t do this. You may act just as cautiously, you must act just as cautiously as a hunter who would be sneaking up on a deer. Wild Rose or small, graceful deer and Heinzer or the female deer. They’re well known to startle easily. You know, one crack of a branch or something, you step on and, they’re looking up, they’re checking things out. And the idea is be extremely careful. Let’s Christ be quickly grave. Break off the intimate fellowship with the church. So be of tender conscience. Watch. carefully. This is an earnest concern then by maintaining fellowship with Christ. Now as we come to the table this morning, briefly let me mention these things. Since when we come to the table, we are seeking fellowship with Christ. Are we not? We’re trying to draw closer to Christ. And he wants us to. Let us be careful than to take heed to the warning here in this clause. this charge. See how easily you can lose fellowship with Christ. What care should be taken to avoid even the least sin? And we ought to carefully confess our sin before we come to the table. How can we draw near to Christ if we’re not willing to confess our sin and try to clear the slate, so to speak, before we even come? Lastly, learn from this verse. how your sin may affect the whole church’s relationship to Christ. It is the daughters of Jerusalem here. The church is the bride is saying, don’t do this lest you disturb my relationship as whole as the church. The whole church can be affected by this. If we’re careless, our sin can impact our family members. And their relationship, with Christ. So here are the things I suggest to you as we come to the table this morning. I hope that will be beneficial to you.