Song of Solomon 1 Devotional

Love Was God's Idea

“I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.”Song of Solomon 1:5 (BSB)

The Song of Songs opens not with law or history but with longing. A young woman says his love delights her more than wine (1:2) and asks him to take her away with him (1:4). She also asks the women of Jerusalem not to stare at her, because the sun has darkened her skin while her brothers made her work their vineyards (1:5-6). He calls her the fairest of women (1:8), and the two answer each other with words of praise (1:15-16).

It is worth noticing that this book is in the Bible at all. God did not leave romantic love outside of Scripture as something embarrassing or merely worldly. From the beginning, he made man and woman to be joined as one flesh, unashamed before each other (Genesis 2:24-25). The Song celebrates that gift in poetry. Delight, longing, and honest praise between a husband and wife are not rivals to holiness. They were God's idea first, and they can be received from him with gratitude.

To think about: How does it change your view of love and attraction to see them as gifts God designed rather than things to be embarrassed by?