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I Charge You By The Gazelles.

             Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. (Song of Solomon 2:7)

The next section of Scripture covered is one that has been controversial. I’ve heard it described as Solomon’s only proper relationship. That doesn’t seem sufficient merit to include it in Scripture, and that is the basis of the debate. God isn’t mentioned, and what is described is a dialogue that is far too intimate for “proper” society. Instead, according to Ellen Davis in Getting Involved With God, what we see is a third comparison of the relationship between God (the King) and man/Israel/The Church (The Shulammite Woman). The first relationship is God, man. The second is Father, child. The third is Husband, wife. This theme is carried forward in the prophets, where Israel is described as an adulterous woman. In the New Testament, the Church is described as the Bride of Christ.

I suspect I’m not the only one who finds this public expression of strong intimacy uncomfortable. We’re like the ad from years ago in which a man shouts, “I love you! I love you! I love you!” in a public square. And the woman steps forward and murmurs, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” And even if we were comfortable with the emotion and its expression, we’re like the Shulammite woman, flawed, forced by our “family” to work out in the vineyards, and somehow, not qualified to associate with, let alone be courted by, our kingly Lover.

The verse above about not arousing or awakening love is repeated in chapter 3, verse 5, and nearly repeated in chapter 8, verse 4. In the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, the idea seems to be that love is like a pleasant sleep, and the Shulammite woman is asking that the women not disturb that love. I don’t know if that works, given the “until it desires” because there’s no reason why such a love would ever desire to be disturbed.  Maybe it’s just a cultural way to put it.

But the challenge that comes to mind is to begin either with this repeated verse or with the phrase “Let His banner over me be love.” Meditate on them, or find a passage in this book in which the Shulammite woman is responding to her lover, and practice it as part of your praise. It’s part of your quiet time. It’s private. Be a little daring.

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