Reflections on Song of Solomon 3

 Song of Solomon 03 (Contemporary English Version)

1. While in bed at night, I reached for the one I love with heart and soul. I looked for him, but he wasn't there.
   
2. So I searched through the town for the one I love. I looked on every street, but he wasn't there.
   
3. I even asked the guards patrolling the town, "Have you seen the one I love so much?"
   
4. Right after that, I found him. I held him and would not let go until I had taken him to the home of my mother.
   
5. Young women of Jerusalem, promise me by the power of deer and gazelles, never to awaken love before it is ready.
   
6. What do we see approaching from the desert like a cloud of smoke? With it comes the sweet smell of spices, including myrrh and frankincense.
   
7. It is King Solomon carried on a throne, surrounded by sixty of Israel's best soldiers.
   
8. Each of them wears a sword. They are experts at fighting, even in the dark.
   
9. The throne is made of trees from Lebanon.
   
10. Its posts are silver, the back is gold, and the seat is covered with purple cloth. You women of Jerusalem have taken great care to furnish the inside.
    
11. Now come and see the crown given to Solomon by his mother on his happy wedding day.

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Possibly from fear of losing her lover, the beloved dreamed that she could not find him and went looking for him. When he was found, she held to him tightly and took him to her family home.

Following this scene, the beloved again reminded the young women of Jerusalem not to stir up love until the appropriate time. Love belongs with marriage and should not be stirred up until marriage is a possibility. For her, that time is approaching.

Suddenly the scene changes again and the beloved looked out across the wilderness to see a column of smoke. It was the smoke of incense being burned as a procession of people, led by her lover, made their way to her home to begin the wedding festivities. The lover, now groom, is identified as Solomon, and he was leading a procession consisting of armed soldiers, making their way to the beloved's home. The king was riding in a sedan chair he had made for himself and his bride. It was made of the best wood and adorned with silver and gold and purple cloth, lovingly prepared by the young women of Jerusalem.