Mike Bickle provides an overview of the Song of Solomon, emphasizing the spiritual journey of the bride as she seeks intimacy with Jesus. He highlights the paradox of grace, where believers are both flawed and lovely in God's eyes, and the importance of understanding one's identity in Christ. The sermon explores the bride's desire for deeper connection and partnership with God, illustrating the challenges and growth that come with pursuing a relationship with Him. Bickle encourages believers to embrace their journey, recognizing that their sincere intentions and struggles are beautiful to God.

We're going to do an overview of the storyline of the Song of Solomon. So you get kind of a snapshot of what's happening as we take the main themes week by week. Now in 12 weeks we can't cover every verse, that's why we're giving the additional notes on the internet. Well we start off in chapter 1, verse 2 to 4, and it's the bride's life vision. And she cries out, she's speaking in the spiritual sense, we're giving the spiritual interpretation of this. And it does have a natural interpretation about the beauty of married love. And that's a very powerful way to interpret this book. But that doesn't exhaust it's complete meaning. There's a higher ultimate meaning which is revealing the heart of Jesus as we said in our last session. Well she cries out, and she's crying out to the father through the New Testament language. Let him, she's speaking to the one that has authority over the king. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his word. And then she gives her cry, her two-fold request, which really is her life vision. Draw me away and we will run after you. Now you'll know that the drawing is singular and the running, we, is plural. So she's asking to be drawn to Jesus in intimacy with God. She wants intimacy, she wants me to draw me to you. There's an individual dimension. But she asks for more than that. She says, she wants to run in ministry. Let us run, we will run together with you. There's a group of us coming hard after you and partnering together with you. As we partner with one another in the grace of God. Paragraph B, as we said last session, the song has two main sessions. The first four chapters focuses on God, on believers receiving our inheritance in God. And a lot of believers, that's all they think about is receiving their inheritance. And that's glorious and we can't emphasize that theme enough. But there's something else in the salvation story. God wants to receive his inheritance from his people. And that's one of the major themes of this book. Well, she begins her journey now. We're going to do just a little snapshot, skip a few of the units or sections. But give you the feel for the storyline. Her journey begins with what I call the paradox of grace. Paragraph A, the paradox of our faith is that we are dark in our own heart. Yet, we're lovely to God. That's the great paradox that a lot of believers never ever settle. We are dark in our own hearts. That's talking about our own fallenness and sinfulness. But because of the grace of God, we're lovely to God. And God actually enjoys his relationship with us, even in our weakness. Beloved, this one truth will change your life radically. You get this established in your heart. You'll run to him and not from him when you discover your weakness and failure. When the devil wants to accuse you and put shame on you, you'll go boldly into the presence of God with confidence. Both truths must be held in tension. She says, I'm dark, but I'm lovely to God. But my own vineyard I've not kept. She goes, I'm acknowledging my own heart because the vineyard, the garden of her heart, is in ruins right now, but I know that I'm lovely before him. Now that's talking about a sincere believer. We're not talking about a believer who is casual with their compromise. That's camping out in just casual attitude towards disobedience. We're talking about a believer like so many of you in this room. You're very serious about pleasing the Lord, but you're seeing the weakness of your life. The vineyard of your heart is not kept. You're dark in your heart, but you're lovely before him. Paragraph B, we are lovely before God. Believers, sincere believers I'm talking about. Even in our weakness for four reasons. Number one, because of God's personality. We're lovely because of who God is. Because of who he is. He's so kind, he's so loving, he's so generous that the one we're relating to, I mean it's a glorious reality because he's so kind. You've heard the statement that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. He sees beauty, therefore we're beautiful, because he's so kind and his emotional makeup is so filled with tenderness. Paragraph two, we're beautiful because we've received the gift of righteousness. Beloved, we cannot exaggerate the power and the glory of that truth. The very righteousness of the magnificent, glorious Son of God is ours. And God sees us through that righteousness. The accuser, he does not want us to land on that truth. Paragraph three, a willing spirit. Now I'm talking about a sincere intention to obey him. A sincere intention. Our love is weak, but our love is still sincere. Again, I'm not talking about a believer who's casual about sin. I'm talking about a person that's troubled by their sin. They're not trying to find ways to get away with sin. They're trying to find ways to get free from it. Jesus told this to Peter. He said, Peter, your spirit's willing. He says, you're going to deny me tonight. There in Matthew 26. And Peter said, no, I'm not. He goes, yeah, you are. But don't worry, Peter, you will recover. And the Lord appeared to him in John 21 and called him. He says, Peter, in essence, part of the message in John 21, when he recovered Peter from his failure, he says, your love is sincere, Peter. And that's another message that we'll look at that in our next session. Look at what Peter says. I mean, he knows so well because he experienced it right there after the crucifixion of Jesus. He talked about the incorruptible beauty of a spirit that's right with God. It's so precious. It's beautiful to God. Beloved, when your spirit is right, when your sincere intentions are there, even in your weakness, even the cry, the desire to obey moves Him. Your victory doesn't begin when you get the full breakthrough. Your victory begins by the very breakthrough of a desire to obey. The intention to obey is powerful in God's sight. It's not of no consequence. It matters to Him. And then number four, because of our eternal destiny. We look at our lives within the time frame of weeks or months, maybe years. He looks at us through the grid of billions of years. He already sees you as somebody for billions of years will walk in perfect love. He knows who you are. He's already relating to you through the gift of righteousness, through the grid of His own heart, through our eternal destiny. Beloved, it's glorious. Paragraph C. She cries out in her struggle. Tell me, O you whom I love. She does love the king. Tell me, where will you feed me? I'm languishing. My vineyard is not being kept. Again, we'll go through these sections in more detail as we unfold this course. Tell me, O you whom I love, where will you feed me? She's languishing in her soul. And He answers in verse 8. He goes, O fairest, which in many translations is the word beautiful. He goes, you're beautiful. I see your love, and it's beautiful. She goes, I see that I'm dark and I'm parched. You see that my love is beautiful, but my love is so weak. Paragraph C. She wants more of God, and He affirms the beauty of her sincere love. He affirms the beauty of her sincere love. Because at this part of the journey, her love is weak. He calls it beautiful. She's parched. She feels barren and starved. He says, yeah, but I see the cry. You do love me. You're not a hopeless hypocrite. Beloved, the enemy wants to come and tell you you're a hopeless hypocrite because your love is weak. Weak love isn't false love. It's just weak love. But it's still love. Top of page 2. Well, she goes to the next season in her journey. She begins to understand her identity in the beauty of God. I mean, I have so much to learn in all this, but I remember some years ago I first began to really grasp this when I started studying the Song of Solomon. It's not the truth of the Song of Solomon. It's the New Testament truths of who we are in Christ. But there's an emotional dimension that touches our heart and God's heart, and that's what the Song of Solomon focuses in on, although there's plenty of that reality in the New Testament as well. But I remember when I began to see my identity as beautiful and sincere in the sight of God instead of a worthless failure, a hopeless hypocrite. I mean, not even worth the effort of going forward because that's how the devil is calculated to try to make you feel. Because a person that feels that way, they don't want to press into God. They want to draw back and quit. That's the point of the accusation. And the devil's got just enough willing vessels, even believers, to vent that accusation from hell upon you through a believer. Well-meaning even. Don't listen to it. Take your identity from the Word of God. Well, she begins this, because this whole section is her identity, but she starts off beginning her, paragraph A, her journey into being fascinated by Jesus' beauty. She begins by being fascinated by Jesus' beauty. Verse 16. We're kind of into this section. We're a few verses into it. She declares, You're beautiful, my beloved. She has that David heart revelation of the beauty of God. David, I believe, as a young man, he locked into this. I mean, he was a broken, sinful man. But he began to get a vision that he could discover and experience the beauty of God, even as a young man. That's one reason he was called the man after God's own heart. I urge you to not be content with a few Bible verses, a few ministry skills, a few leadership skills. I mean, be locked in. I'm going to experience more of the beauty of who Jesus is. It's going to take some time. You're not going to get that on the run. It's going to take time. You're going to have to turn some things off, turn some things away, and spend some time talking to Him with an open Bible. And there's portions of the Bible that are really focused upon the beauty of Jesus. I mean, there's no chapter like Revelation 1, in my opinion. But that's the next session. Okay. Paragraph B. She cries out, I'm the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. Now, some people believe that's a description of Jesus. I believe, and I'll tell you why when we get to that passage. I believe it's the confession of the bride. It dawns on her, she is the prize that He wants. I am the rose that moves your heart. She gains insight into her identity in Christ. She sees her identity in Christ. Then she goes on. That's chapter 2, verse 1, and then chapter 2, verse 3, 4, and 5. She begins to experience the sweetness of His presence. She says in verse 3, I sat down in His shade. And the shade tree that we sit down under is the finished work of the cross. Where we rest from our own labors in trying to motivate God to love us. He loves us. We're wholehearted. We throw all of our strength into the relationship not to earn His love because we know we have it for free. We rest from our own labors in seeking to motivate God to love us. And when we know He loves us, it makes us extravagant in pursuit of Him. Not to gain anything, but to give ourselves fully to Him in gratitude. She goes, I sat down, I'm resting. In that shade tree. There's only one shade tree in history. In the realm of truth, and that's the cross of Jesus. She goes, I rested, I sat down with great delight. Oh, I love the feeling of Your presence. She goes, it was sweet to me. So she's in the early days of her journey. And she has those moments of the sweetness of God's presence. And the Lord wants her to get a vision to never ever be content to live without that. It says in verse 5, she goes, sustain me. Refresh me. Oh, my heart's sick with love. And what that means is the more love I experience, the greater my hunger is to experience more. And that's what this principle of being lovesick is through a New Testament paradigm. It's the more that you and I experience of the love of Jesus, the more hungry we get, the greater our appetite. And the more we demand to have a greater experience. The less we experience, the more easily content we are. The more we experience, the bigger the vision, the less content we are with what we have. I mean, it's just the rich get richer. The poor get poorer. People that never experience His presence, they don't present to God. They just live on the peripheral of the kingdom. I mean, God loves them. They never feel the power of it. And that's their vision. They say, well, if I get involved in a little ministry, have a few friends, you know, money works out okay. You know, a few people like my ministry. And find somebody that I really, really like. And they like me. We get married. Things work out. Hey, I'm in. I'm happy. And the Lord says, I have more for you than that. I have an unveiling of love that will so expand your capacity, your hunger, your vision, you'll never be content without it ever increasing. Roman numeral four. Well, things are going well. I mean, she's under the shade tree. She's sustained with apples. Oh, it's sweet. She loves it. She goes, let's just push save and just end the whole thing right here. Let's not even change anything. And the Lord could whisper. He says, well, there's one problem. You're only at the beginning of your inheritance in me. There's a lot more of your inheritance in me, but I have an inheritance in you that you're not even thinking about. I'm not only something to you. You're something to me. And when you see the glory of it, you'll never be content to live disconnected from it. So he goes, no, we're only in chapter two, honey. We got eight. We got eight chapters. Well, she's enjoying herself. Never happier than suddenly verse eight. He comes the voice of my beloved. He's skipping on. He's leaping on mountains, skipping on hills like a gazelle. I mean, leaping mountains, top to mountaintop. And she looks at him and she goes, wait, I'm laying under the shade tree eating grapes. You're on mountaintops, leaping mountaintops. She goes, I don't like heights. No, no, you come to me here. And he goes, no, you rise up and come with me to mountaintops. She goes, wait, that throws off everything. I don't like heights. I don't like surprises. I don't like risk. No, no, you come to me at the table. He goes, oh, no, I'll be with you at the table, but I want you to come with me in partnership. I want to challenge that comfort zone you're living in because I have more for you. We have more together that you'll never experience except you rise up. I love you all the same, but there's so much you can't experience until you rise up. Paragraph A, he's pictured as effortlessly skipping over mountains or over all the obstacles. The mountains speak of the challenges, the obstacles. It says in verse 10, rise up, come away. She goes, I don't want to leave the shade tree. No, no, no. Well, you'll find out as we break this down later in the upcoming sessions. She tells him no. Verse 17, I mean, it's heartbreaking. She says, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, until the compromise is gone in my life. She goes, no, you turn and go to the mountains yourself. I'm staying here. He's saying, you don't really want that. You don't really want to cultivate a spiritual life where you tell me no and live in spiritual superficiality. You don't want to do that. She says, yeah, I think I do. Turn and you go jump on mountains yourself and give me a report. I'll read all about it. Paragraph B, she'd been enjoying his presence at the table. But, beloved, he wants more than a bride that enjoys his presence. He wants deep partnership. He wants more than you and me to enjoy him. Oh, he loves that. He says, I want more than you enjoying me. I want you and me in deep partnership. There's so many dimensions of life and love that unfold. So he disturbs the comfort zone. He comes as the Jesus, the sovereign king, leaping on mountains, discipling the nations. Come with me out of the safety zone. Paragraph C, initially, because we're only in chapter 2, but things have turned negative here because she was really having a great time. She initially tells him no. Paragraph D, but here's the important thing to understand. Her compromise is due to her immaturity, not her rebellion. She's not rebellious right here. She's not saying no because I want it my way and that's it. She's going no. She goes, I'm afraid. I love you. Please, just let's do it like we've been doing it. I tell you, I get things just in a nice rhythm and things are going well. And then he comes and he gives me a challenge, gives you a challenge and says, believe me for this level of devotion and consecration. Embrace this challenge. What if it doesn't work? He says, yeah, but you've obeyed me. It doesn't matter if it works in the eyes of man. You've obeyed me. That's what matters. You'll be with me. What if it's hard? What if it's hard? What if it doesn't work? What if it's not popular? What if it's not easy? What if it doesn't make money? What if it doesn't bring honor? It might not. But you'll be faithful. We'll be doing it together. I mean, I really do love you, but I mean, why don't you come back later? Let me go through a few more semesters and then come back and I'll let you know if I'm ready for that level of that level of consecration, obedience. I don't even just mean it's a project. It's how to carry a heart in our inner man. It's blessing our enemies. Beloved, if you've never blessed your enemies, if you've never given time and money away that was costly, that's challenging the comfort zone. It's not just going on an adventuresome ministry trip that's a little scary in a place where your parents warned you not to go. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about something far more fundamental than just an adventuresome ministry trip. We're talking about the way we carry our life. I'm determined. The young maid would say, I'm going to obey you. I'm going to have a level of devotion and consecration in the what I do with my eyes, what I do with my words, what I do with my time, what I do with my reputation, how I relate to enemies, how I relate to friends. I'm going to go another way with you and I'm going to the mountaintop with you. The Lord said, that's good. This is different application in every single person's life. Well, Roman numeral five, paragraph A, she experiences God's loving discipline because all of a sudden now he hides his face from her. This is a brand new experience. I mean, she just says, what about the apple tree and what about the feast under that tree? I mean, what happened? Verse one, chapter three, by night on my bed, I sought the one I love. She still loves him. This is not a rebellious believer. This is an immature believer. But I couldn't find him. I love him, but I can't find him. I'm not trying to live in compromise. I am compromising, but I hate my compromise. She goes, okay, okay. I can't live like this. I can't live without that dialogue, that conversation, that sense of your presence I've become accustomed to. I can't live without that dialogue, that interchange. Verse two, okay, you win. I will arise. I'll go. I'll rise. I'll obey. And the Lord's not, he's disciplined. And when the Lord disciplines his people, that's not punishment. He's prying our fingers off of the things that hold us in bondage. I mean, we're fixated on sticking, holding on to something. He goes, you think you want it, but you don't. I love you more than you love you. And I'm going to pry your fingers off, not to teach you a lesson, not to punish you, to exhilarate you with the possibilities of what it's like to live with me at the next level. She goes, okay, I'll rise now. I'll seek the one I love. But when you read the whole passage, she rose and went to the city. I mean, she left the apple tree. I mean, she still keeps that reality in her life. But I'll go to the city. In the city, there's a lot of hustle and bustle. He said, but really, I told you to go to the mountains. I mean, the city is step one. That's good. The city's better than nothing. But I want you on the mountains. So she hasn't fully gone all the way yet. But verse 4, she's still young and immature. I found him. I found him. I've got that dialogue. I connect back. I've got that sense of his presence. And the wounding of her heart, again, was not punishment. It was to awaken her to the possibilities of how to live at a new level with God on the inside. And it has to do with outward things as well. But this is a whole lot more about the way we carry our hearts. Paragraph B, she arises to obey. She's going to leave the comfort zone, but she hasn't gone to the mountain yet. She doesn't go to the mountain until chapter 4 and 5. We're still in chapter 3. But she goes to the city. Top of page 3. Have you found yourself in this song yet? Man, I find myself in stages all the way through it. But I'm in stage 3, 6, and 2 all at the same time. Well, we're not going to go into this now. But chapter 3, verse 6 to 11, Jesus reveals himself as the safe savior. He shows himself. This is a fantastic passage. He shows himself in that poetic language of the love song as the one who is safe to obey. Walking on the water with Jesus is safer than being in the boat without him. I mean, that's a cool preacher statement, but a real different way to live. I mean, I make that statement, and you go, wow. I mean, that's it. You tweet it. You go for it. And I'm thinking, oh. And the Lord says, oh, good. You're really into that. Well, you know, Lord, I went then into it. I'm into it too. It's safer to walk on the water with Jesus when he says, get out of the boat. It's safer to be on the water with him than in the boat without him. But the enemy comes. He goes, if you're that dedicated, you're going to miss out. If you're that dedicated, you're going to lose out on fun. You're going to get too tired, too burnt out. You're going to lose out. You're going to this. You're going to that. You're going to this. And we have this idea that we will actually lose out if we obey the one who is incarnate love and wisdom. It's a complete upside down kingdom. Because our natural thinking says, if we obey him too intense, we're going to lose out. And that's where this whole distorted grace message is contending for people to live shallow as though if they go hard, they're going to lose something. Beloved, we expand our experience in God when we give all of our strength to him. Roman numeral 7, the next section. I call this the prophetic heart of the bridegroom God. Well, she rose to go up to the city. Things are going well, but she still hasn't gone to the mountain yet. And that's what he said. He goes, I want you on the mountains. I don't want you just in the city. Again, in the city, there's that active dynamic of interfacing with many different dynamics that aren't as safe as being under that jade tree, but it's not the mountain yet. But here's the part I want you to get. Before she goes to the mountain, which is in 4 and 5, chapter 4 and 5, before she goes, he looks at her. She's only went to the city. She only has taken a few steps. He says in verse 1, you are beautiful. I mean, it's that little child, you know, they make those first few steps. They say those first syllables, and mom and dad are like, wow, they want to tell the whole world. I mean, they want everybody to see it, and they interrupt you to show you. Look. Amazing. Well, it's not that amazing. Oh, yes, it is. That's what she's doing, and he is absolutely moved. He says, you're beautiful. Your love is beautiful. I love you. I see that it's only a little. You haven't gone there yet, but you're moving there because you love me. In chapter 4, verse 1 to 8, he describes eight different virtues, and he uses the agricultural language of that day because it's a setting of a woman on a farm, but the king comes by and woos. That's the setting because that was so everybody could identify with it in that culture. But he describes eight virtues of her beauty, but she's not even mature yet. There are what I call budding virtues. He calls forth our budding virtues, our desire to love him, our intention to love him, but our love is weak. But he goes, look at your glorious love. Well, it's not that glorious. He goes, it is to me. Look at your commitment to serve. Well, I'm pretty selfish. She goes, yeah, you are, but look. There's a new awakening to serve more. Look at it. Look at you. Look at that hunger for my word. Well, I don't have that much hunger, but it's a lot more than you used to have. It was a long way to go. And he calls forth the budding virtues. He doesn't motivate by shame, but he shares the joy of our progress each step of the way. God defines us by the cry in our heart. He doesn't define us by our struggles. See, we see our struggles, and we go, we're just hopeless hypocrites. He sees the cry in our heart to obey him. He says, I define you by the cry in your heart, by the willing spirit. Now, more than that, the gift of righteousness and the other things we covered, but, beloved, he calls forth things which do not exist as though they did. That's what Paul said in Romans 4. He says, God calls forth things. You can't see them with the natural eye, but God sees them, and he says they're real. And one of my favorite examples is here in Judges 6. Gideon. Gideon is hiding from the enemy. I mean, he's shaking in fear, hiding. The angel appears to him. He says, Gideon, mighty man of valor. He looks around and he goes, angel, Mr. Angel, I'm hiding. I'm not a man of valor. And the Lord could say to him, I see something in you, Gideon, you don't see. And if you believe what I say about you, you'll walk in that destiny. Beloved, you're lovers of God. You're people that love God. You've set your heart. You're not just workers, but you're those that have committed to give your strength to him in love. You love him to obey him. That's who you are. I love what John the Apostle, he called himself the disciple that God loves. Because that's who I am. I'm the one God loves. He said that five times about himself. Could you imagine calling yourself the one God loves? That's one thing. Putting it in the Bible? I mean, when that book of John got canonized, John, yes, forever. It locked in forever. Well, this revelation of the beauty dimension, it moves her in paragraph B. She goes, okay, verse 6, I'll go to the mountain. I will go to the mountain. Here's a dynamic turning point. I'll do it. If you feel that way about me, I mean, I just left the shade tree to the city, but I'm a mountain climber. If you think I am, I am one. He says, I see that in you. Roman numeral 8. Oh, the glorious. I mean, one of the high points of the songs. There's several really high points, and this is one of them. I mean, he looks at her. She hasn't even gone to the mountain. She's only said, I will go to the mountain. She hasn't actually done it yet. She just declared, okay, I'm going all the way. She hasn't packed her bag. She hasn't made any changes, but she's declared the intention. And he says to her in verse 9, you've ravished my heart. And the accuser could stand up and speak, but he hadn't done nothing yet. He goes, she set her heart to go all the way. That moves me deeply. Paragraph A. The king is revealed as a bridegroom with a heart ravished with desire and affection. Beloved, he's ravished. He's moved deeply with desire and affection. He doesn't just stamp your passport. He really, really likes you. He likes you much more than you like you. He really does. He's an infinite, eternal love in expression. He's a man that loves you with all of his heart. Paul said, oh, the length and the width, the depth and the height. Nobody will grasp it all. It's beyond what you think. Even with great revelation, the length and width and height and depth is beyond what we grasp. This revelation of his ravished heart, I mean, this really moves him. I mean, it equips her, moves her. She goes, if you feel that way about me, I'm going all the way. Verse, paragraph C. She says, okay. Then this is the most, I mean, this prayer, how do I want to say it? This is a very intense prayer. I was going to say the most challenging, scariest. No, that's not the right word. But this prayer has it all. She goes, okay, if you feel that way about me and I haven't even done it yet. She goes, I'm fearless. She looks at him and says, well, then let the north winds come. I'm not afraid of them anymore. Let the south winds come. Let them both come. And let the garden of my heart be filled with perfume that moves you. And then she makes, this is the critical statement. Remember, we're at the end of chapter 4. In the next four chapters, the theme is different. Let my beloved come into his garden. She goes, for four chapters, my heart was my garden. From now on, I am your garden. From now on. It's a whole different paradigm shift. She looks at her time, money, her enemies, her opportunities, her strength, her reputation. She looks at it all now through the grid of being his garden, not being her garden. She goes, I am now yours. But look what she says. Awake north winds. The bitter winds of the north. She goes, if the north winds come under your leadership, I'm not afraid of them. The bitter winds of the north. Awake south winds. The refreshing winds of the south. The blessing or the struggle. At the end of the day, the fragrance will increase in my life. And I will be an expression of belonging to you. Wow. I mean, verse 16 is where the whole book changes. Paragraph D. I'll say this all through the course. She wants the king to have his inheritance in her. When that vision touches your mind. For the king to have his inheritance in your life. Yes, I love free forgiveness. I love it. I'll never, ever overcome my joy over free forgiveness. I love being forgiven for nothing. It's fantastic. I love the eternal city. I love God using me in little ways, bigger ways, little ways, bigger ways. It doesn't matter. But I tell you, I want to live as his inheritance. I got something on my mind more than him doing things for me. I want him to do things for me forever. I want ten times more of everything. I don't throw away the blessing of God, but I want more than just receive blessing. I want to be an embodiment of his inheritance. I want to be what he's after in the earth. In my little heart and life. Top of page four. Oh, now it gets really intense. He goes, oh, you want the north winds? Are you sure? Yes. Are you sure that I am now, you are now my garden? Are you sure? Yes. I'm not afraid anymore. He goes, okay. Let's see. This is the most intense passage of the entire book. I call it the ultimate tomb fold test. She's cried out for the north wind. She goes, anything goes. And again, the Lord's not after difficulty for the sake of difficulty. He wants to prove himself to us. And he wants to show ourselves as his in times of testing. And show himself as belonging to us. He comes as the Jesus of Gethsemane. He comes to us as the man of sorrows. Verse 2. There's a whole different, chapter 5, verse 2. It's a different complete look. He's not jumping on the mountains. He's not under the shade tree. He's not the one that's showing himself ravished. He is, but he goes, I'm going to show you something else different here. Verse 2. The voice of my beloved. Okay, now he's coming to answer. Awake, oh north winds. He goes, okay, here I come. He knocks. He goes, open up for me. Open your heart. Respond. And his head is covered with the dew of the night. With the drops of the night. He's the Jesus of the garden of Gethsemane. He's in the dark and lonely night. He goes, meet me in the dark, lonely night. Will you do that? Do you trust me? And this isn't talking about going to some geographic area that's unsafe. That's not what I'm talking about right now. He's saying, will you trust me and be mine when things go dark? When the blessing seems to disappear? When things aren't working right? Are you still mine? Verse 4 in paragraph C. My heart yearned. She instantly rises up. Yes, I'll meet you in the dew of the night. Paragraph D. And the next thing that happens instantly when she arises. She experiences her first test as God withdrew his presence. Now God never withdraws his presence in the true sense. But her discernible feeling of his presence. His presence is always with his people. But sometimes we feel his presence more than others. And those moments, those weeks. Some of you say, weeks? Man, it's been a lot longer than weeks. He tests. The first test, he withdrew his presence. He goes, I opened. Verse 6. Look at it. Chapter 5, verse 6. But my beloved turned. He goes, I did what you said. You said come meet you. I jumped out. My heart yearned. Here I am. He's gone. My heart leapt. But I couldn't find him. Now this isn't a discipline. This isn't because of disobedience. Like some do this, present this chapter that she's in disobedience again. It's another discipline. It's a very, very different thing, I'm convinced. And we'll get to that when we get to it. In a few weeks from now. She's gone. Paragraph E. Her second test. Her ministry was rejected by men. Her ministry was rejected. The watchmen, the elders in the church struck me. They wounded me. The leaders of the city, the leaders of the kingdom. They took my veil, my covering away. I've lost my place. All the leaders are now against me. The presence of God lifted in verse 6. Now the leaders are against me, verse 7. Her ministry's gone. Now, Roman numeral 10. What's she going to do? How's she going to respond? Well, she was lovesick earlier. But right now she could be offended. Here's the second time in the book. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find him, tell him. I'm lovesick. I'm not angry. I meant what I said. North wins. South wins. I'm in it for you. Jesus, you're not just a stepping stone to my ministry agenda. You are the goal. You're not just a means to an end. You are the end. Beloved, something dynamic happens when he becomes the end and not just the means to the end. He's always the means to the end. A billion years from now, he's the means. He's the way we get the blessing. We never graduate from that. But we don't limit our relationship to that. He's not only the means to the end. He is the end. And I don't mean just the fact that he's there. I'm talking about our devotion, our obedience, even in the dark night. She goes, tell him I'm lovesick. The Lord's asking her, paragraph A, will you be mine if I withhold the things you want? Remember what her life vision was. Draw me. I want your manifest presence and let us run. I want to be in ministry. Both of the things she wants now are lifted seemingly. The two things she started out crying for are now gone. Will you be mine when you can't feel my presence? Will you be mine when the disappointing ministry's? When the favor's not there? When you're being charged wrong, accused? When good leaders turn you away for wrong reasons? Jesus said, are you in this for me? Are you in it so I can put you on a platform somewhere or give you a big business or give you the happy family you want? And those things are good. But there's more to the relationship than those things. At the top of page five, the daughters of Jerusalem, they said to him, what is your beloved more than another? Why do you want him? Look what he's done. He's lifted his presence. He's letting you get kicked out of the church. What do you see in him? Right question. Paragraph C. Her answer reveals her love sex. She gave ten descriptions of his beauty, ten descriptions. Oh, this is one of the most magnificent passages in the Bible. I can't wait until next week or the week after the week. These are fantastic truths. She goes, am I offended? Why do I love him? Oh, my beloved is dazzling. Oh, my beloved is chief among 10,000. His head is like finest gold. His locks, his eyes, his cheeks, et cetera. Verse 16, his mouth is most sweet. He's altogether lovely. He's the one I love. That's why I'm not drawing back. I'm in it for him. Paragraph A. After the two-fold test was over, the king broke his silence. The king breaks his silence because he's been quiet. His presence lifted. The elders rose up, the watchmen, and he didn't intervene for a short season. How do you feel? She's lovesick over him. She refuses to draw back. She refuses to be offended, and he breaks the silence. Look at this, verse 4, chapter 6. Oh, my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah. You are lovely. You are as awesome as an army with banners. I was seeing your heart. You cried for the north wind. You said you were mine. Look at you. You're beautiful. You're lovely. That response, you are as awesome as an army with banners. And an army with banners in the ancient world was an army that came back in victory. Beloved, she's defeated the number one enemy of her life. That is her own passion, disappointment, and agenda. She's overcome that. She's his no matter what. She's overcome like an army with banners. Paragraph B, he says, turn your eyes away from me for your eyes have overcome me. Oh, this is one of the high points as well. Now, we don't overcome God in that sense. But Jesus is conquered by the bride's extravagant love. He says, turn your eyes away from me. Beloved, all the armies of hell can't conquer Jesus. All the kings of the nations can't. But the eyes of his beloved that trust him and loves him in difficulties, he says, you've conquered my heart. You've overwhelmed me by the way that you love me when everything is going bad. At the top of page 6, we'll just bring this to an end. Again, we've got a whole course to look through this. Paragraph A, Jesus invites her to receive the seal of fire on her heart. Oh, the great song. I mean the great verse, Song of Solomon 8.6, that he would be the seal of fire on the heart. Paragraph B, this seal of fire refers to walking in the grace to walk in the first commandment. To walk in the first commandment. That seal of fire is that ability to walk in the first commandment. When we walk in the first commandment, we'll always walk in the second commandment. Always. Nobody walks in the first commandment and shuts down their heart in the second. They become energized in love. In paragraph C, at the very end, the king gives his final commission to the bride. And he says in verse 13, chapter 8, he goes, oh you who dwell in the gardens. In other words, she didn't quit. She's still among the people of God. The gardens here, plural, are all the people of God. You didn't draw back and quit. You didn't give up. You didn't give in. You didn't get into self-pity. You didn't get into bitterness. You're still in the midst of the people of God serving. He goes, oh the people, the companions, they want to hear your voice. You've touched their lives. You haven't drawn back. He says, but not only that, I want to hear your voice. She cries out. In essence, the prayer of revelation, come Lord Jesus. Come my beloved as the one that's on the mountain of spices. That's the Song of Solomon version of the spirit of the bride say come. Well, we're going to end with that. And again, we'll break it all down as we go. But what a glorious love song. I'm going to invite you to stand.