Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / June 30 - Song of Solomon 1

Transcript

June 30 - Song of Solomon 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello, friends. It's Shawn.
• 0:13
  Here it is the start of a new week.
• 0:16
  It is the last day of the financial year.
• 0:19
  It's the 30th of June, and it might be the end of the
• 0:22
  financial year, but it is the beginning of something lovely.
• 0:25
  We are going to spend the next two weeks reading through the
• 0:28
  Book of Song of Songs. Now, the book of Song of Songs.
• 0:32
  This is one that has perplexed biblical scholars for, well,
• 0:36
  pretty much forever. And as they've tried to work
• 0:38
  out, how do we interpret this book of love poetry?
• 0:41
  Do we interpret it as allegory? Do we take it as a historical
• 0:45
  document? Do we take it as a critique of
• 0:48
  King Solomon and the way that he ruled?
• 0:51
  Every theologian and biblical scholar has got a different
• 0:54
  approach. So we're not going to wade into
• 0:56
  this quagmire of interpretation. Instead, we're going to read it
• 1:00
  as Christian and Jewish readers have read it for many, many,
• 1:04
  many years, which is to say, this is a love poem.
• 1:09
  This is a poem that celebrates the love between a man and a
• 1:12
  woman. And some have extended this to
• 1:15
  say this is the way that God loves his people.
• 1:18
  But however you would like to interpret it, I'd invite you to
• 1:21
  do that. Now, it would be weird if I sat
• 1:24
  here and I read both the male and female parts.
• 1:27
  That would get very confusing. So with much persuasion, the
• 1:31
  lovely Yvonne, my wonderful wife, has agreed to read the
• 1:35
  female parts. Thanks honey.
• 1:37
  You're welcome. So as we go through, I'm going
• 1:41
  to read the parts for the young man, and Avon is going to read
• 1:45
  both the young woman parts but also the young women of
• 1:48
  Jerusalem. Lucky you're so adaptable,
• 1:51
  honey. All right.
• 1:53
  Why don't you voices? You don't have to do voices.
• 1:56
  You're just going to read some love poetry with me.
• 1:57
  You ready? All right.
• 2:00
  Well then, let's read together Song of Solomon chapter 1.
• 2:14
  This is Solomon's song of songs more wonderful than any other.
• 2:20
  Kiss me and kiss me again, for your love is sweeter than wine.
• 2:25
  How pleasing is your fragrance? Your name is like the spreading
• 2:28
  fragrance of scented oils. No wonder all the young women
• 2:32
  love you. Take me with you.
• 2:34
  Come, let's run. The King has brought me into his
• 2:37
  bedroom. How happy we are for you, O
• 2:41
  King. We praise your love even more
• 2:43
  than wine. How right they are to adore you.
• 2:47
  I am dark but beautiful, O women of Jerusalem.
• 2:51
  Dark as the tents of Kedar, dark as the curtains of Solomon's
• 2:55
  tents. Don't stare at me because I am
• 2:58
  dark. The sun has darkened my skin.
• 3:02
  My brothers were angry with me. They forced me to care for their
• 3:05
  vineyards, so I couldn't care for myself, my own vineyard.
• 3:11
  Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?
• 3:14
  Where will you rest your sheep at noon?
• 3:17
  For why should I wander like a prostitute among your friends in
• 3:20
  their flocks? If you don't know, O most
• 3:24
  beautiful woman, follow the trail of my flock and graze your
• 3:28
  young goats by the shepherd's tents.
• 3:31
  You are as exciting, my darling, as a mare among Pharaoh's
• 3:35
  stallions. How lovely are your cheeks, your
• 3:38
  earrings. Set them afire.
• 3:40
  How lovely is your neck? Enhanced by a string of jewels,
• 3:45
  we will make for you earrings of gold and beads of silver.
• 3:50
  The king is lying on his couch, enchanted by the fragrance of my
• 3:54
  perfume. My lover is like a sachet of Mir
• 3:58
  lying between my breasts. He is like a bouquet of sweet
• 4:02
  henna blossoms from the vineyards of Ingredi.
• 4:06
  How beautiful you are, my darling.
• 4:08
  How beautiful your eyes are like doves.
• 4:13
  You are so handsome, my love, pleasing beyond words.
• 4:17
  The soft grass is our bed, fragrant cedar branches are the
• 4:21
  beams of our house, and pleasant smelling furs are the rafters.
• 4:36
  Ah, Lord, you knew what you were doing, didn't you?
• 4:38
  When you made us male and female, you made us with the
• 4:41
  capacity of love for each other. And Lord, thank you for this
• 4:46
  poetry. Thank you for this expression of
• 4:49
  this particular love between this man and this woman.
• 4:56
  And Lord, not only thank you for the love that you've given us to
• 4:58
  share with each other, but thank you for your perfect love.
• 5:03
  Help us model the way that we love each other on that perfect
• 5:07
  love that you have for us, a love that drove you to sacrifice
• 5:12
  everything for us. We are so grateful for you and
• 5:17
  for everything that you've done for us.
• 5:20
  But most importantly, we are just amazed at your capacity for
• 5:26
  love. Thank you, Lord, that you are
• 5:29
  loved. The very definition of love.
• 5:32
  And we are just so grateful. And we pray all of this in the
• 5:35
  loving, loving name of Jesus. Amen.