Rev. Jeremy Klaustermeier of St. John Lutheran Church in Warrenton, MO joins host Rev. Brady Finnern to study Song of Songs 3.
The Shulamite woman had a dream, which is more like a nightmare, where she could not find her groom. The anxiety and fear of losing someone you love, even for a moment, is one of the worst nightmares we can imagine. Yet, the king does not stay far away, but comes in glory for the marriage feast to present his bride without blemish. The creation of his carriage for his wedding was a labor of love to prepare for his marriage. In the same way, the LORD has prepared a place for us in His home. He tells us to Go and look upon the King and wait for the day of gladness when the King returns. “Lord God, we wait trusting in You. As we wait, take our fears and fill us with Your love as we go and serve in Your name. In Christ, Amen”
Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.
Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.
Song of Songs 3
The Bride’s Dream
3 On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6 What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7 Behold, it is the litter[a] of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage[b]
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king
- Song of Solomon 3:9 Or sedan chair
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org