3rd Week of Song Of Songs Study: Song of Songs 1:3

Week 3: Song of songs 1:3

          “And she continues ‘The odor of your ointments is fragrant; your name is like perfume poured out.  Therefore do the maidens love you.” AMP

 

           This week, we pick up where we left off.  The girl has expressed her love towards her beloved.  She has shown us that he is dear and precious to her, far more than anything else she treasures in this world.  And, in this next passage, she begins to show us why she loves him.

“The odor of your ointments is fragrant,” AMP  or “Your oils have a pleasing fragrance,” NISB. 

 

            The girl has seen something in her beloved that many people never see.  She not only desires him or loves him, but delights in him.  

God wants us to desire Him and treasure Him above everything in our life.

          How many people can say that they find God delightful and sweet?  Could you say to God, truthfully, “Your oils have a pleasing fragrance”?   At the moment, you probably can't because you are thinking, "What in the world does that mean?".

           This passage has a lot of strange imagery, but if we move slowly and carefully, I think by the end you will be able to say, with your whole heart, "Therefore do the maidens love you!"

            The oil that is spoken of here refers to oil that cleanses or purifies people.  It isn't some greasy, cooking oil, but a fragrant, perfume, oil that is set aside for certain purifying ceremonies.  Such as the oil that Samuel uses to anoint David. 

This is oil that does something and just like purifying oil, Jesus is always growing this relationship: renewing and cleansing us, from when we first except Christ, to the day we die.

         

“Your name is like perfume poured out,” AMP.  

   

            More oil or perfume, but in this case it is referring directly to an action that this oil is a part of; it is physically being poured out.

            Matthew 26:7-13 talks of a similar action associated with oil or perfume: “a woman came up to Him (Jesus) with an alabaster flask and very precious perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.” AMP (words in parenthesis added)

            This perfume was specifically used to make dead bodies ready for burial.  The woman did this to prepare Jesus for His sacrificial death.  Also, remember the wise men at Jesus’ birth who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Both the woman's perfume and the myrrh from the wise men would be described as oil or perfume that was used in burial, and all these verses speak of the same type of perfume.

           

 She delights in the fact that God is holy and that His mercy has been poured out upon her: “Perfume emptied out- thy name.” YLT

            Notice the separation: “Perfume emptied out- thy name.” YLT.  Jesus was poured out for us through His death and only through Him pouring out His life on us (the perfume of mercy and grace), can we be cleansed and made alive through Him.  The bible mentions that the sacrifice's on the alter gave off a pleasing fragrance to God.  How much more pleasing is the fragrance from Jesus' sacrifice?

“Therefore…”  A word to halt at! “Therefore do the maidens love you.”  

            Because of all of this, God is praised.  When we see all these thing in God and truly experience Him: love naturally responds in our hearts.

           But in this there is a subtle point, because the maidens in this part can also be described as virgins:

             The word “Virgin” is used to describe something pure, unmarred, and unused.  These people that love Him in this verse are His people: the people who have experienced His cleansing blood and have become as pure as a virgin; free from sins stains.

          As you think about this, think back to what I said in the intro about how He wants us to love reaching for Him out of our need.  

           We will naturally reach for what we desire and we will naturally desire what we need, but it is never without love... 

because we desire what we love.

           Therefore, our desire to reach for God is not only caused by our need for Him, but because we love Him.  We love Him because He is delightful and satisfying, which is why we need Him… it is a circle.

            God delights in doing this, because He is glorified through us when we reach towards Him, in this loving way.

            As John Piper says, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him”

 John Piper ‘Desiring God’.

          When we delight in God and in what He has done, His name is glorified through this heartfelt action.

Have you taken the time to truly delight in Jesus and what He has done? Do you struggle with enjoying the way He refines us and shapes us with His purifying oil?  Please feel free to comment below any thoughts or questions.  I really want to hear from you and I respond to every comment.

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Didn't see the earlier posts?  There are two spots where I mentioned them in this post. Just click on those spots and you'll be able to catch up. 

Thanks for reading and God bless!