Today’s Bible Translation
Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 5-6 HCSB
Podcast Introduction
It’s Poetry Thursday. Our reading will be Song of Solomon 5 and 6. I’m calling this episode “Altogether Lovely.“
Summary
As you probably know, this book can be read from at least two levels: As just an account of a bride and groom from the purely human level, or as an allegory of the love of Christ for the church. Both interpretations are beautiful, and both have merit.
Listen to the episode for more!
Support
This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising equals censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and donate here: SUPPORT.
The Team
Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise: Transcript Correction
Michael Haner: Podcasting 2.0 Chapters
Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider: Show Art
Jason Paschall: Show Art
Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney: Newsletter Publisher
Transcript
Transcript not yet corrected.
Steve Webb 0:00
Both interpretations are beautiful, and both have merit.
Steve Webb 0:04
It’s the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. My name is Steve Webb. I’m your OG Godcaster is poetry Thursday, our reading will be Song of Solomon, chapters five and six. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. Then I’ll have contact information in case you want to get in touch with me at the end of the show. Before we read, let’s pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time together. We thank You for Your Word. and we pray that as we read today, you would teach us touch our hearts in our minds. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen. All right, let’s begin.
Steve Webb 0:44
Song of Solomon chapter five. I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride. I gather my myrrh with my spices. I eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk, eat friends, drink, be intoxicated with love. I sleep but my heart is awake. A sound My love is knocking. Open to me my sister My darling My Dove my perfect one. For my head is drenched with do my hair with droplets of the night. I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty? My love thrusts his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him. I rose to open from my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. I was crushed that he had left. I sought him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me. They took my cloak from me. The Guardians of the walls. Young Women of Jerusalem I charge you. If you find my love, tell him that I love sick. What makes the one you love better than another most beautiful of women? What makes him better than another that you would give us this charge? My love is fit and strong. Notable among 10,000 His head is purest gold. His hair is wavy and black is a raven. His eyes are like doves besides streams of water, washed in milk and set like jewels. His cheeks are like beds of spice towers of perfume. His lips are lilies dripping with flowing myrrh. His arms are rods of gold set with Topaz. His body is an ivory panel covered with sapphires. His legs are alabaster pillars set on pedestals of pure gold. His presence is like Lebanon as majestic as the cedars. His mouth is sweetness. He is absolutely desirable. This is my love. and this is my friend Young Women of Jerusalem.
Steve Webb 3:05
Song of Solomon chapter six. Where has your love gone most beautiful of women. Which way has he turned we will seek Him with you. My love has gone down to his garden to beds of spice to feed in the gardens and gather lilies. I and my loves and my love is mine. He feeds among the lilies. You are as beautiful as Tirza my darling lovely as Jerusalem. All inspiring is an army with banners turn your eyes away from me for they captivate me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of us coming up from washing, each one having a twin and not one missing. Behind your veil your brows like a slice of pomegranate. There are 60 Queens and 80 concubines and young women without number. But my dove my virtuous one is unique. She is the favorite of her mother, perfect to the one who gave her birth. Women see her and declare her fortunate queens and concubines also and they sing her praises. Who is this who shines like a dawn as beautiful as the moon bride is the sun. All inspiring is an army with banners. I came down to the Walnut Grove to see the blossoms of the valley to see if the vines were budding and the pomegranates blooming. Before I knew it, my desire put me among the chariots of my noble people. Come back, come back Shulamite come back come back that we may look at you. Why are you looking at the Shulamite as you look at the dance of the two camps.
Steve Webb 4:48
Beloved, as you probably know this book The Song of Solomon can be read from at least two levels. It can be read as an account of a bride and groom from a purely human level or as an ally. Glory of the love of Christ for the church. Both interpretations are beautiful, and both have merit. Now, as I was studying this book again in preparation for how to present it to you, I came upon an interesting fact. In times past, Jewish teachers often advised their young people not to read it until they were 30 years old, because they were afraid that the book would stir up feelings of lust in them. While reading the language with a very different vocabulary today, it’s a bit difficult to imagine it having that effect on us, I suppose. But their fears are understandable, don’t you think? But if we look at the book from the allegorical perspective, we see how much Christ loves His church, and how much we should love him. I ran across the following excerpt from the great 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, he said in reference to a portion of chapter 15, which reads in the King James, yay, he is altogether lovely. These following words, looking at my text, I felt much humbling of spirit, and I hesitated to preach upon it for I said, in my heart, it is high I cannot attain to it. These deep texts show us the shortness of our plumb line. These ocean verses are so exceeding broad, that our skills are apt to be driven far out of sight of land where our timid spirits trembled to spread the sail. Then I comforted myself by the thought that though I could not comprehend this text in a measure, Norway, its mountains in scales, or its hills in a balance, yet it was all mine own by the gift of divine grace, and therefore, I need not fear to enter upon the meditation of it. If I cannot grasp the ocean in my span, yet me I bathe there in with sweet content, if I cannot describe the king and his beauty, yet May I gaze upon him, since the old proverb says, a beggar may look at a prince, though I pretend not to preach from such a heavenly word is that before us as to spread before you all its marrow and fatness. Yet May I gather up a few crumbs which fall from its table, for men are glad of crumbs and crumbs from such a feast are better than loaves from the tables of the world, better to have a glimpse of Jesus, than to see all the glory of the earth all the days of our life. If we fail on this subject, we may do better than if we succeeded upon another. So we will pluck up courage, seek divine help, and draw near to this wondrous text with our shoes from off our feet like Moses when he saw the bush or glow with God. This verse has been translated in another way, he is all desires. and so indeed Jesus is, he was the desire of the ancients. He is the desire of all nations, still, to his own people. He is there all in all, they are complete in Him, they are filled out of his fullness. He is the delight of his servants, and fills their expectations to the full, but we will not dispute about translations. For after all, was such a text so full of unutterable spiritual sweetness. Every man must be his own translator, and into his own soul must the power of the message come by the enforcement of the Holy Spirit. Such a text as this is very like manna which fell in the wilderness which the rabbi’s say it tasted after each man’s liking. If the flavor in a man’s mouth was very sweetness, the angels food which fell around the camp was luscious as any dainty he had conceived, whatever he might be, the manner was to him as he was, so shall this text be to you with low ideas of Christ, the Word shall but glide over your ears and be meaningless. But if your spirit be ravished with a precious love of Jesus, there shall be songs of angels and more than that, the voice of God’s own spirit to your soul. That was from Spurgeon, the treasury of the Old Testament, and I can’t improve on what he wrote. So I’m gonna leave it at that. If you have thoughts or questions I’d like to hear from you. Send to Boostagram or call the Lifespring family hotline or go to the comments page or write an email. I’ll tell you how to do that in just a few moments. Tomorrow will be prophecy Friday and our reading will be Revelation chapters 10 through 17.
Steve Webb 9:33
Well, the time is almost up. This Saturday is the last day to go to Lifespringmedia.com slash Ignite and vote for your favorite podcast for the Spark Media ignite fan awards. This show will be coming to an end in just nine days and you could help put a bow on it by spending about a minute of your time and going to Lifespringmedia.com slashing night and casting your vote. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 10:03
short show today. You’ve probably noticed over the last few days that I’ve got a cold going and I didn’t even go to my laser surgery this morning because I woke up in the cold was just pounding head. and so I called and I cancelled it because I didn’t want to make anybody else sick. So anyway, it’s a short show today. But as always, I do invite your comments and your questions. There are several ways to get in touch with me send to Boostagram using a modern podcast app from podcastapps.com, or call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1951732 at 511. and if you have a praise report or a prayer request, please go to prayer to Lifespringmedia.com and fill out that form you’ll find there. I’ll pray for you and my quiet time and we’ll pray together on the show. If you have a comment or a question, go to comment.lifespringmedia.com or send an email to me at Steve at Lifespring media.com.
Steve Webb 11:09
Thanks to the team, Sister Denise Michael Haner Scott Snider, Jason Paschall and SR Brittaney for their generous donations of time and talent. Jason Paschall did today’s show our beloved thank you for inviting me to be part of your day. I enjoy our time together and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Until then, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve. Bye.
James Cooper 11:36
All the programs in the Lifespringmedia.com family are made possible by the generous gifts of people like you
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
