Song of Solomon 2:8-9

THE YOUNG MAIDEN speaks.

‘The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, Leaping on the mountains, Skipping on the hills. My beloved is like a roe-deer or a young hart, Behold, he stands behind our wall; He looks in at the windows, He glances through the lattice.'

Here we have a beautiful picture of the fervency of love. Her beloved might be a king, but when it comes to love he is like other men. It commences with her hearing his call as he speaks her name. And she pictures him ‘leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills' for all the world like a roe-deer, or a young hart in spring time, his heart full of life, and of thoughts of love (compare Proverbs 5:19).

And then there he is. First standing behind the wall, and then looking in at the window, and glancing though the lattice which protects it (it would have no glass). This is not the behavior of a king but of a heart in love that dares to do anything, and cannot be restrained, and will not be denied.

It was like God's love for Israel. How often He called their name (Isaiah 50:2). How often He sought them and looked for them (Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 35:17). He, as it were, stood behind their wall, and even looked through the lattice. But they kept Him outside. They did not want Him interfering in their daily lives.

We are reminded here also of another Shepherd-King, Who came into the world that He might seek and save the lost. He too loves His true people. And we are reminded here of His persistence when He begins to seek us. One moment we are aware of Him behind the wall of our unbelief, then of Him looking in through the window. We cannot escape Him. He just will not let us go until we are sought and found. For He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4), and loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). In a similar way He had called to Jerusalem but in their case they would not hear Him (Matthew 23:37). For they were not of His sheep (John 10:26).

And once we are His He regularly calls to us and tell us that it is the time for love, a time for renewal. But how often we leave Him standing behind the wall, or looking in through the lattice of the window. We are too busy with other things, and the moment of opportunity passes us by.