My text this evening comes from the third chapter of the Song of Solomon, Song of Solomon chapter three. And as we look to this passage, I would like to read the entirety of chapter three. Let us give attention to the reading and the hearing of the word of God, for this is the inspired, the inerrant word of the living God. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the broadways. I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me. To whom, I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little. that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth. I found him and would not let him go until I had brought him in to my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hens of the field, that ye stir not up nor awake my love till he please. Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the merchant? Behold his bed, which is Solomon's. Three score valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being experts in war. Every man has his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple. the midst thereof being paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the gladness of his heart. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, we are thankful that You have revealed unto us all things that we need to know for life and for godliness. And Lord, we would plead this evening that as we hear Your Word preached, that You would give us ears to hear it and hearts to receive it. O Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit, come down and minister to us. Give us insight and understanding, for we ask this in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. There have been many songs and poems written to express romance or love. We just celebrated a holiday that reminds us of the importance of love. Cards express this sentiment of love, but we have very little understanding of love. For in our culture, love has been reduced to an emotion or to a feeling of romance. We oftentimes will say, I love you, if… And so we place conditions upon our love. But here in the Song of Solomon, Solomon expresses the true nature of love. Chapter 1 tells us that this is a song which is of Solomon. in chapter 1 and verse 1. And so these are the words or the songs of Solomon, most likely a number of individual songs, but all of them have the dominant theme expressing love. And so it is a song that is written by Solomon, and historically the book would have celebrated perhaps the marriage of Solomon's daughter. Even later in our passage, there in verse 9, it speaks of Solomon. It speaks of him who has been crowned with glory, who goes forth with the daughters of Zion, who is crowned as king in the day of his espousals. So historically, the book is written about Solomon and the love of the daughters of Zion, particularly his daughter. But there has been great difficulty for the church, particularly in the last century, understanding what does the book of Solomon really say? What is the book all about? And frankly, there have been some very gross and unusual interpretations of Solomon. But I would remind you of what the first chapter of our Westminster Confession of Faith says in our interpretation or understanding of Scripture, that Scripture has one interpretation. that we don't have various interpretations, but all of scripture has a unified theme and speaks of one thing. And I think that because we have not understood this particular book, pastors have often been afraid to preach it. Because some have preached this book celebrating some kind of romantic or erotic love. And that is not the intent of the writer in writing the book of Solomon. Historically, the church has always interpreted this book as an allegory concerning the relationship between Christ and his bride. And Jesus himself said there in the end of Luke that all that is written about him in the Psalms, the prophets, and the writings speak of him. And so as Jesus alludes to that threefold section of the Old Testament, the writings being that contained in these books, particularly the Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, they all speak of Christ. And so we miss the real theme, we miss the real understanding of the passage when we reduce it to a romantic novel between two lovers. For the church has always seen this as an allegory of the relationship of Christ to his bride. When you turn back to Psalm 45, Psalm 45, there's a parallel here, I believe, between the Song of Solomon and Psalm 45. For there in Psalm 45, Again, this is a song of love. And as the writer who penned this psalm, he begins by saying, his heart is overflowing when it speaks about the King. He says that my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. And he speaks of the king. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into your lips. Therefore God has blessed you forever. Speaks in verse 9 of the king's daughters, who are among the honorable women. He speaks of the king in verse 11, who greatly desires the beauty of his daughters. And the church and even the reformer John Calvin understood this psalmist speaking of the relationship to Christ and His church. It speaks of the love. between Christ and His church. It speaks of the marriage relationship between Christ and His church. And if we compare Scripture with Scripture, and we see all of Scripture speaking of Christ, then we would do well to understand that even in the Song of Solomon, it is a picture of Christ expressing His love for the church, His longing for the church. And so, here we have an allegory. The theme of this particular book is the love between Christ and His people. What do we discover here in this passage relating to that love relationship? Well, first of all, we discover that the writer is seeking the one whom he loves. There in verse 1, the psalmist expresses that by night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him. but I found Him not. I will arise and go about the city and the streets and in the broad ways. I will seek Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him not." One of the genres of Scripture is that there are books that are written as poetry. And here, the Song of Solomon, like the previous two books in the writings, the Psalms and the Proverbs, are written as poetry to express a truth. But notice in verses one and two, there is a repeated refrain that is often seen in poetry. I sought him, but I found him not. I sought him, but I found him not. When we sing a piece of music or when we read a piece of poetry that has a repeated refrain, it is there for emphasis to remind us of something. And here, Solomon, as he writes this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes this lover who was seeking the one whom he or she loved and did not find him. This would seem like a very hopeless and desperate situation to seek someone that you love and never to find them. Perhaps we might be pressured into thinking as much of liberal modern scholarship would have us think that the writer is just simply talking about some jilted lover. or perhaps some lover who turned away the affection of the one whom he was seeking. But that is certainly not the case. But when the psalmist expresses that by night on my bed, there's several things that that expresses to us. That at night when you're lying there in your bed and your thoughts are wandering, it could be that in the night seasons, This one who is lying awake is seeking the one whom he loves and cannot find him. That would seem like a hopeless situation. Many commentators, and I think this is correct, believe that the expression, by night on my bed, perhaps speaks of those seasons in our life that the Puritans called the dark day of the soul. I think if every Christian was honest, I think we would have to admit that there are times when we experience the night of the soul. when we feel estranged from God, when we feel like God is so far and distant from us. I think this is the thought of the lover here, that I'm seeking Him whom my soul loves, and I have found Him not. We don't know why particularly, it's not revealed to us here in this passage, why the lover did not find the one whom he loved. But notice in this passage, he is desperately or she is desperately looking for the one whom they love. I am sure any child who has been separated from their parent, if they get lost in a crowd or in a shopping mall, there's a sense of desperation looking for their parent. And there might be those times of desperation in our life. But here, the passage expresses to us that there's a sense of desperation. I'm looking for him, but I cannot find him. And so he arises and goes about the city and the streets, desperately seeking Him whom he loves. There is not an idleness here. He doesn't just say, oh, I'm seeking the One whom I love, and he just sits back in his bed and does nothing. But there's a desperate seeking for the One whom he loves. He goes about the city. He goes in the streets. He goes everywhere seeking for the one whom he loves. This night season or this night of upon the bed indeed speaks of those times in our lives when we feel the distance of God, when we feel like God is silent, And many times we think that God is silent, that He doesn't speak, that He doesn't communicate at us, to us. Perhaps we've felt that desperate situation, that my spiritual life just seems dry, that God is so far distant from us. But what does the psalmist say in Psalm 139? Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know my understanding from afar off. You know my path, my lying down, and are acquainted with all of my ways. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? The psalmist imagines all of those places where God might be distant. If I ascend to the heavens, you are there. If I Take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there your hand leads me and your right hand holds me. Surely the darkness will cover me, but even the night shall be light about me." And then the psalmist concludes that there's no place where I can go where I am apart from your presence. But then the psalmist says, search me and know my heart, try and know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The psalmist here felt estranged, or the writer of the Song of Solomon felt estranged and separated. That there was a season of separation from the presence of God. And he felt alone. He felt lost. He felt as if he would not survive until he found the one whom his soul loves. Friends, there will be times in our spiritual life when we will feel the distance from God. It's not that the all-powerful, almighty God who loves us with an everlasting love has moved away. But there will be those times when we sense that there is an absence from God. Perhaps He doesn't respond to my prayers. Perhaps I feel alone in this and God is not even coming to my aid. But I assure you, God cannot turn away from the very One whom He has sought, the One whom He has drawn unto Himself. We need to be reminded of what the Apostle Paul says there in Romans chapter 2 and chapter 3, that we all have sinned against a holy God, and there is no one who seeks after God, no one who desires Him. And so, for the writer of Song of Solomon to express that I have sought Him whom I loved, How can that be if by nature man cannot seek God? If we by nature as children of Adam are not seekers after God, then how is it that the lover here in chapter 3 can desire to seek God? We have to understand that it is initially that God who seeks after us, for we are estranged from Him. We are separated from a holy God. And so He must pursue us. God is the hound of heaven who goes after us and seeks us until He brings us unto Himself. As the early Father of the Church, Augustine said, Our hearts are like a vacuum, and they're restless, they're empty, until we find our rest in Him. But there will be for the believer times when we feel estranged or separated from God, like He does not hear us. But it is in those times that we must not cower under fear. These are those times that we must not run and hide in all the wrong places, but we must run and hide and flee the refuge of the One who seeks after us. We must seek Him with all of our hearts. Jesus reminds us there in the Gospels If you ask, you shall receive. If you seek, you shall find. If you knock, the door shall be opened to you. How can God turn away His children if they seek Him, if they long for Him? And here, the truth of this first and second verse is that there is a seeking and a longing to find Him whom our soul loves. There's an affection, there's a desire, there is a continual seeking after Him. I think this is a great way to end our time of feasting at the Lord's table, because often for the church, particularly In the early centuries of the Scottish Church, the Song of Solomon was the book they turned to at the conclusion of their observance of the Lord's Supper to remind them of the love of Christ for His people, but in response, our love to Him. And so the only way this lover can seek the one whom he loves is because the Lord himself sought him first, and now he will seek him with fervency and a longing that he might love him more. There's a second thing we understand from this passage, a second truth, and that is once we have sought him, once we seek him, We will not let him go. Here the lover is desperate to find the one whom he loves, and so he goes to the watchman of the city. And note that in the early Hebrew culture that cities oftentimes would be gated communities. We think in some cities that have these what they call gated communities or something new. These ancient cities in Israel and Palestine in the Hebrew culture were guarded cities, and they would have watchmen whose job it was to protect the people of the city. And the watchman here speaks of those who watch over the souls of men. And again, this is an allegory. And so it's speaking of the shepherds over the house, over the city, the city, a picture of the church, because in all of scripture, city, speaks of that habitation, that dwelling of God. The end of the New Testament in the book of Revelation, it concludes with the new city coming down from heaven. And so the city is the place, the dwelling of God. And so these watchmen, these shepherds are within the city, within the house of God, watching over it. And this one who is looking for the one whom my soul loves goes about, goes up to the watchmen of the city and says to them, have you seen the one whom my soul loves? Then in verse four, it was but a little while that I passed from these watchmen and I found him whom my soul loveth. and I held him, and I would not let him go." And here we understand that when the one who is described here as the lover, because there are several characters in this book, there's the watchman, there's the lover, there's the bride, there's the daughters of Jerusalem, but when He speaks to the watchman of the city and asks, have you seen the one whom my soul loves? Notice immediately, a little while later, he finds the one whom his soul loves. Perhaps, and I believe this truth comes clearly from this passage, that the watchman who were watching over the souls of those within the city, led him to find the one whom his soul loves. And certainly that is the function of the shepherd of our souls. That is the function of your elders, your teaching elders, and particularly your ruling elders, that they are the ones who've been entrusted with the work of leading your souls to the one. whom you love. And so as this one who is described as the lover finds the one whom she was seeking, he says, I held him and would not let him go. Those words really should ring truth in our ears, that when we find Him who is the lover of our souls, who is the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, that we hold Him and never let Him go. What an amazing truth that Christ who loves us is the one who we long and we should never let Him go. I held Him tightly and would not let Him go until I brought Him in to my mother's house, the chamber of the one who conceived me." And here the truth is, as truth is born in the book of Ruth. kinsman redeemer that Ruth found, and all of Ruth's family was entrusted with that truth, that the one who is the lover of our souls becomes our lover and the lover of our families. There's a sense here, and it's brought out in the latter part of verse four, that this speaks of a solidarity, speaks of covenantal language, that your God, your lover is my lover. and the one of my mother's house." And so there's a sense in which this one whom she loves is now brought into her mother's house, and there is now a relationship, there's a marriage, there's an espousal between the one who seeks and the one who is sought. And so here, as it is brought out at the end of this passage, that when Solomon is crowned with honor as a king, in the day of his espousals, in the day of the gladness of his heart, we see the glorious picture of Christ being espoused to his people, joining us to himself. But thirdly, finally, we discover from this passage, it's brought out in verse 5, that there's a charge, that there's a command to us, that when we seek Him whom we love and find Him, then we are commanded to love Him fervently. The charge is given, O daughters of Jerusalem. Again, here's one of the other players, the bridesmaids. Daughters of Jerusalem, who live by the rows, who live by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken my love till he please. Perhaps other translations will have a different expression here, but the thought is that there's a charge given to the daughters of Jerusalem, to the bridesmaids, to the one who are engaged to the lover, that they not awaken his love, In other words, do not stir up his love. Do nothing to offend him is really the thought here. Turn over to chapter two, because this same verse is repeated in chapter two, as well as chapter eight. But in chapter two, verse seven, where it describes the lover as the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the lily among thorns. It says there in verse 7, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hens of the field, that ye stir not up nor awake my love, Tilly, please. Then over in chapter 8 in verse 4, And here is some language that perhaps sounds strange to us, but again, this is poetic language where it speaks of the brother sucking from the breasts of the mother and finding a kiss and not being despised And then in verse three, his left hand was under my head, his right hand embraced me, and I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up nor awaken my love until he please. Here, the language, the thought is that he is the one whom we love, And we are not to disturb or to offend Him, but there's a command, there's a charge to love Him with fervency, to love Him with greater intensity and greater depth. The main concern, the main object of the church should always be to never offend her Lord. to never displease him, for he is the one who is the lover of our souls. Certainly as fallen creatures in Adam, we will offend the Lord. Peter offended him. The apostles offended him. Every saint of God in his human weakness has offended him. But the wonderful truth and the wonderful love of our Savior for us is expressed in Jesus there at the end of the Gospel of John, when he asked Peter three times, the one who betrayed him, the one who betrayed him three times, Peter, do you love me? Peter, by the third time, grew very indignant. Well, Lord, why do you keep asking me this? You know that I love you. Feed my sheep. The tender love of Jesus for the one who betrayed him is the thought that is born in the book of Solomon. For he is the one who is the lover of our souls. He is the one who seeks us, who loves us with an everlasting love. Chapter 2, verse 16 says, My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies. What a great way to end our observance and our season of the Lord's Supper. That we be reminded that we can only seek Him who has sought us, for we are estranged from God. We are at times distant from Him, but there should be a continual seeking after Him. That is the focus of this passage. but not only seeking Him out, but seeking Him out for the sole purpose of expressing our love, expressing our devotion to Him. For how could we not love the One? who has saved us. How could we not love the One who poured out His blood for us at Calvary? How could we not love Him who is our intercessor, who is the One who empathizes with our weakness, who knows our frailties, who knows every thought and every intent of the heart? We, even as believers, are oftentimes dull in our hearing. Our minds are often drawn away to other things, and there are times when we just simply forget to become negligent when it comes to our duty to God. But there's a fervency here that should call us to love Christ more. Interestingly, Solomon, who is the author and who predominantly is the theme of this book, but speaks of the greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, Solomon being a type of Christ who is king, who is espoused to the daughters of Zion. Solomon's name means Prince of Peace. That is the name that is given to the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah chapter 9. He is Emmanuel. He is the everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace. One of the characters in Song of Solomon is a Shulamite. That name means one who is whole or complete. And in the book of Solomon, her beauty, which is described in graphic language, can never be separated from the bridegroom. For the Shulamite has received peace and can offer peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace who loves us with an everlasting love. He's invited us to his table. How can we not receive his love? Can you imagine husband saying to his wife, and it does happen in our fallen human condition, that I do not love you. How can we not love the one who loves us greater than any man or woman could ever love? How could we ever turn away the love of Christ? Or even John in his first epistle says, this is love, that God loved us and sent his only begotten son. Love is the very essence of God's nature. It's an unchanging love. It's an eternal love. Christ loves us eternally. Christ loves us unconditionally, infinitely, eternally. And if He so loved us, then we should love Him. Do we love Him? Do we have that fervency to love Him? To love Christ means that our affection, our heart is set on Him. Our love will never be expressed perfectly. We will never reach sinless perfection in this life. But there should be a fervency, there should be a desire to love Him and grow in that love, to grow in that relationship with Him. And I would urge us this evening as we consider this thought from the Book of Solomon, that we have that devotion and that fervency in our love, that we will seek Him, that we will continually seek Him, that we will express greater devotion and service to Him. that we will love him who first loved us. John Newton, the great Puritan, wrote those familiar words, which are beautiful words that he penned, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows. heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Weak is the effort of my heart, and cold my warmest thought, but when I see thee as thou art, I'll praise thee as I ought. Till then, I would thy love proclaim with every fleeting breath, and may the music of thy name refresh my soul in death. The name of Jesus is a sweet name. The name of Jesus is a glorious name. It's a beautiful name, for it is a name that speaks of our Savior's worth. It's a name that speaks of His love for us. And it is a love that should ring in our ears, for as John Newton describes, His name soothes every sorrow, heals every wound, drives away every fear. Saint of God, There are times when our hearts are weak, when the affections of our hearts grow cold toward God, and there will be those times. But in those times, may we seek Him more. May we seek Him and not let Him go, for He will indeed refresh and strengthen us. And I pray that on this Sabbath evening, as we have fed at His table, that He would refresh your soul and that He would draw us to Himself. May we pray. Lord Jesus Christ, no human could ever express the depth of love that is expressed to us under the inspiration of Solomon. As we consider these words, we would plead with you. We would plead with you from heaven that you would enable us to seek you, to have fervency and love toward you, that we would never let you go. We pray that you would draw us unto yourself and that you would cause us to love you more and more till we see you in glory. Lord Jesus Christ, encourage and strengthen our hearts that we might love you, that we might serve you, and that we might fulfill all of our duty to love you to love you in a greater way. Bless your people, encourage and strengthen our hearts, we pray in your glorious and mighty name. Amen. What a wonderful way to conclude our sermon by singing hymn number 184, The words of Psalm 23 expressing the love of our shepherd toward his people. Let us sing as we stand together.