Song of Solomon 8 (NIV)
She
1 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother’s house—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
For the love of God is broader
than the measure of our mind,
and the heart of the eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more simple
we should take him at his word,
and our lives would be all sunshine
in the sweetness of our Lord.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
She
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
LOVE IS . . . faithful.
True love is naturally true. Love wants to be faithful. It wants to give all of itself to one, not to disperse and divide itself upon many.
Thus, “my bride is a garden locked, a fountain sealed” (Song 4:12). Love is sealed against intruders: “Set me as a seal upon your heart” (Song 8:6).
It is impossible to give the whole of your self to more than one person. You cannot give the whole of yourself to a group of two or more. If you multiply the recipient, you divide the gift — and the giver. And a divided giver, a divided self, is a terrible thing, like a split personality. Only God can give the whole of himself to more than one, to each one of us, because God is in eternity in full perfection, and his love is without limits.
–from Three Philosophies of Life, by Peter Kreeft
_________________________
Music:
Christ was born to die. And this Christmas carol expresses it so beautifully. HERE is “What Child Is This?” sung by Anna Hawkins. Many performers — indeed, many hymnals — omit the part of verse 2 which refer to nails and spears.
AND/OR
Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
Dr. Rene Clausen is an American composer, conductor of The Concordia Choir and professor of music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. His timeless composition, “Set Me as a Seal,” was performed HERE by The National Lutheran Choir on February 14, 2009 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
There is a story behind this particular piece of music: Dr. Clausen and his wife had been trying for a child over five years’ time and had had four miscarriages. The fifth pregnancy was a success. At around six months a procedure called amniocentesis was done, where amniotic fluid is tested to make sure the child is healthy in a risky pregnancy. The doctor mistakenly hit the umbilical cord, resulting in the death of the baby. His wife had to birth the child — and after the intense labor of their lifeless child, Dr. Clausen wrote this piece. He said it took him only forty-five minutes to write it and he never made a change to it. “Love is strong as death.”
_________________________
Friends
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
She
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
He
13 You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
She
14 Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.
SONNET 116
by William ShakespeareLet me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
_________________________
Do you want to hear the end of this Song?
Revelation 21:1-7 (New Living Translation)
The New Jerusalem
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”
_________________________
New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
Posted by Rebecca 
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
DWELLING in the Word 
