Up until recently I had always struggled to completely believe that God fully loved me, unconditionally, and that He can look at me with so much joy. I totally believed that he felt that way about everyone else, but I just never truly believed it about myself. I knew he loved me, but I still felt like I needed to try and earn it, and that if I wasn’t “doing stuff for him” he probably would love me less and not be as bothered about me.
This is such a wrong way of thinking, and after listening to a preach about this very topic I decided to go and read the book in the bible that would help me understand Gods love for me more – Song of Songs.
It’s a book written between a man and a woman, and honestly believe that this book is written for God’s daughters. Don’t get me wrong, I know that men can get wisdom and understanding from it too, but I think God knew us girls weren’t always going to find this whole “being fully loved” thing easy. And you can’t just read this book, you need to study it in order to be able to understand what God is actually saying to you through it. It can come across like a steamy romance novel in some parts, but it’s actually full of poetic illustrations that demonstrate the passion God carries for us.
So I wanted to pick out 3 key revelations from Song of Songs that blew my mind and helped me to understand how loved I truly am.
Chapter 1:6:
“Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mothers sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect.”
In this chapter the woman is embarrassed by her darkened skin because it shows that she has had to be out in the fields working. This is a representation of how we, as women, can feel before God. Ashamed and embarrassed of our appearance both internally and externally, we are so aware of the effect our life has had on us that when we look at ourselves we can only see the bad stuff.
In verses 9–11 we read the mans response to this, or in other words Gods response: “I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaohs Chariot horses. Your cheeks are beautiful earrings , your neck with strings of jewels. We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.”
This is how God sees us!!!!! Don’t get me wrong, it’s probably not the response you were expecting haha, but being compared as a mare among Chariot horses was definitely a compliment in those times. Where we see shame, pride, jealousy, abuse, flaws, humiliation, God sees us covered in jewels! He sees the beauty of us and wants to speak of all the lovely things he has for us!
Chapter 4:8
“Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of leopards.”
Here the man is asking the woman to be vulnerable and intimate with him, to let her guard down. This is a representation of the relationship God wants to have with us. And it’s the standard of of love he expects our husband to have for us too. He wants you to marry a man who can love you with honour, passion and purity the way that He does. When you start to understand how God loves you it’s easier to not be swept off your feet by someone who doesn’t actually know how to love you correctly.
Chapter 7:11-12
“Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages. Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.”
This is the woman speaking, and at the time this was written it would have been unusual for the woman to initiate any sort of contact with her husband (you’ll often read how wives were summoned by their husbands). This shows how free the woman is here in her relationship with the man. This is a reflection of the relationship God wants us to have with Him; that we can be free in our love with Him. He wants us to initiate an intimate relationship with Him and freely come to Him. How amazing is that?! We don’t have to wait to be summoned, we can go to Him whenever we want to feel His love for us.
There are so many more great revelations and bits of wisdom in Song of Songs and I would definitely recommend that you go and study the book for yourself. I used the NLT study bible to help me better understand the context and culture of the time. I also read all the verses in multiple versions on my bible app to broaden my understanding of the language and what each chapter was saying.
Just remember whenever you feel like you doubt God’s love for you, you have stolen His heart with one glance of your eyes. – Chapter 4:9
