Reading

• Psalm 127
• Song of Solomon

Devotional

Song of Solomon is a song that focuses entirely upon the subject of love. The song is a series of thoughts and conversations between a young Israelite shepherd man, a young Shulammite woman, the woman’s friends, and Solomon the king. This is likely the least-referred to book in all of the Bible. There are several reasons why this might be the case. First, it is sometimes difficult to know who is speaking the words of the book. Second, the subject discusses physical love between a man and a woman and, in doing so, uses some adult language that keeps it from being discussed in its entirety among children. Third, GOD is not mentioned at all within the book. And fourth, the book can be somewhat difficult to understand.

As we have discussed several times during these devotionals, GOD has given us certain desires. As children begin to transition into teenagers and young adults, there is a natural physical attraction to members of the opposite sex—girls toward boys and boys toward girls. The young man and young woman in Song of Solomon are experiencing these feelings towards each another. They are “in love.” Despite any attempts of King Solomon to woo the Shulammite woman, her heart is towards the shepherd man and she will not change her mind.

Physical love plays an important role in the human story and in each person’s life. In the beginning GOD saw that it was not good for Adam (man) to be alone so He created Eve (woman) to be his companion, his helper. And every generation of men since has been searching for that woman to be his helper and companion. Marriage is a special bond between two people and it must be taken very seriously. It takes a lot of preparation, dedication, learning and love to make a successful marriage. Single people need to think carefully about the character they wish to see in their future spouse and date people who have that character. After all, you will marry someone you date.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD.
(Prov. 21:22 NKJV)

Some of the strongest desires that GOD has placed within us as we become teenagers are not to be fulfilled outside of marriage. Terrible mistakes are made by those who fail to heed this warning and these mistakes often lead to disappointment, sadness, and life-altering changes. As parents, it is important that we maintain open and honest communication with our children about such subjects (at the appropriate age, of course), because if they don’t hear it from us, they will hear it from their friends or some other place we’d rather them not.

True love is both beautiful and dangerous, and should be approached carefully and cautiously.