Mike Bickle challenges the congregation to step out of their comfort zones and embrace a deeper relationship with God, as illustrated in the Song of Solomon. He emphasizes that knowing about God is not enough; true engagement requires a response to His call for deeper partnership and obedience. Bickle highlights the importance of recognizing God's love and power, encouraging believers to trust Him even when faced with fear and uncertainty. He reassures that God views our hesitations as immaturity rather than rebellion, inviting us to grow in our faith and obedience. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a commitment to rise up and follow God's lead into new challenges and opportunities for spiritual growth.

To a number of you in this room But I want to encourage you not to be content To know the general storyline of how it goes and say well, I know the storyline. I know the key verses I know the key ideas. I got it Because this is not about knowing the key ideas This is about responding to the Lord according to how he describes himself in this passage and And that's different than just knowing how to preach it or say it or be able to underline the right verses You know when you when when you read it your Bible Now as you know just a point of review for those that are new with us tonight The Song of Solomon is the greatest love song in the Bible It's the song of all songs is what the Holy Spirit calls it By the inspiration of the Spirit and this love song is a poem. That's the the nature of a love song and it Speaks to the beauty of married love. It's a natural love song but it also has a application to the relationship between Jesus and his church as a bride because it describes different facets of the natural marriage relationship and and compares it to the spiritual relationship with the Lord now the facets are the deep partnership with the spirit of affirmation It's a deep partnership with a spirit of affection there's this confident affection Affirmation open-heartedness and this giving all of our heart. That's the that's the description This song is wanting to woo the the I mean the Holy Spirit wants to woo the church into there's no Sexual dimensions to this comparison which most 99% of you are clear about that Now this love song is set within the context of an agricultural community And so there's animals there's plants there's flowers but an agricultural setting is actually the Primary setting of human history when you take the six thousand plus years since Adam the vast majority of all of human race That's the setting that they were familiar with actually so it's only in the last hundred years that these this is weird terminology Paragraph B just to remind you of what happened in the last session Because this love song is a story it's a progression there's a an unfolding depth of partnership and confidence and open-heartedness That's happening in the bride's response to the king In the last session in the last section the bride spent much time sitting before the king back in chapter 2 earlier the Lord mandated I want you to sit before me and Enjoy my presence and discover the sweetness of what it means to be before me now many believers don't know the sweetness of Sitting before him and this was a very important season in her life and in verse 7 The Holy Spirit commands the people don't disturb her Until she gets established in this new connection with my heart So she discovers the reality of the sweetness of our interchange with one another Don't disturb her into getting into a hyper busy mode. He says I urge you I charge you don't disturb her Well what happens now room number two this next section He now disturbs her because the time has passed and she's been established in this Foundational reality of this heart connect with him with a right view of his love a right view of his beauty a right view of The way he sees her in his beauty all of these things have been established in that season of sitting before him now We never ever Get to the place where we don't have that sitting before him But there are times when the Lord says that's the primary thing But the norm is to have that as a foundational part of our life while we're partnering together in the work of the kingdom And we're doing assignments with the Lord and we're obeying him and we're going into the deeper places of our relationship with him So the quick snapshot of this next section these verse 8 to verse 17 The King is calling the bride to a deep partnership with himself He's calling her to a deep partnership this passage is about a deep Confident connection with his heart so that we become so confident in the way he feels about us and in his leadership that we're willing to Step outside of the comfort zone the normal boundary lines that we've become accustomed to In this passage, you'll see that he's revealing himself as the king the sovereign King He leaps and skips effortlessly over the all the mountains there's no obstacle too big for him It's effortless for him to bound on the top of the mountains. He has power over everything and she's coming to Understand that not only is he a God of love, but he's a God of power and that nothing can stand in his path And so he calls her he says as the king he goes I want you to come up out of the place where you're only sitting at the table under the shade tree That's the last session. I want you to come with me to the mountaintops She's thinking come with you to the mountaintops You know, I want to be under the shade tree eating apples at the table with you. I don't really like mountaintops that's not really what I'm really into and So what happens in this passage and those of you that familiar with that note? Well, she actually Refuses him she compromises she says no, I can't Because fear rises up in her heart though. She sees his love. She doesn't Fully trust that his power and his love will see her through when he challenges her to a new level of obedience a new Assignment in her life. We have a number of assignments in the course of decades The Lord has times where he gives specific assignments and sometimes those Assignments are challenging. Sometimes they're risky Sometimes I mean last night with Bob Weiner. We heard a bunch of risky assignments that he's Said yes to over the last several decades. I mean they were very Unsettling in the natural to do some of the things the Lord called him to do paragraph B Well, she enters into a spiritual crisis in her life and the crisis is her fear and we all understand this We all wouldn't know we all know what it means to have fear rise up and we go Lord. I love you I mean, I really love you, but I'm not leaving the comfort zone for this new challenge this new dimension of obedience that you're calling me to now the point that I'll probably emphasize a number of times that it her fear is Immaturity not rebellion and the Lord sees her fear as immaturity not rebellion Because the Lord responds to rebellion in a very different way than he responds to immaturity We all have dimensions of immaturity in our spiritual life and when we draw back, but we're seeking to obey We're praying to obey. We're setting our heart to obey We come up short not because we don't want to obey Because in just the weakness of our of our spiritual life and our spiritual immaturity we hesitate and we stumble and the Lord sees the cry of our heart to love him and to obey him and it's not rebellion, he doesn't have a a Negative attitude. There's no rejection in his heart Actually, he has tenderness as he woos us to himself even while we're resisting each step of the way He's wooing us saying I know that you love me and you know that I love you now rise up and come And obey me in this Roman numeral three The bride is seeing the Lord in a whole new way she's seeing the king in a whole new way as the Lord of all the nations as The one that has power over all the mountains The one that fears nothing the one that in which no obstacle can hinder him So she's seeing him not just as the bridegroom At the table at the banqueting table Celebrating love in the sweetness of communion She now sees him as the Lord of all the nations the sovereign king who wants to conquer the mountains of the earth He wants to rule the earth, but he doesn't want to just rule the earth because he already has all power over the earth He wants to partner with us in extending his leadership over all the earth. I Mean he could do it without us. He just doesn't want to So here he comes she's now remember she's at the table under the shade tree enjoying apples saying oh, it's such delight discovering the sweetness and the delightfulness of that place of Communing and talking to the Lord Then suddenly verse 8 the voice of my beloved. It's a new face of the Lord. It's a new message It's not sit and enjoy its rise up and come the voice of my beloved behold He's leaping on mountains Not sitting at a table at a wedding feast leaping on mountains She Looks at him. I Don't like heights. I don't like new challenges. I don't like things That I might fail in I mean what if I fell what if I become afraid? What if things don't work out the way I'm hoping they work out. That's what the mountain represents verse 9 She goes my beloved is like a gazelle young stag this adult Deer like he's like a gazelle or deer leaping Effortlessly nothing could stop if she goes I've never seen this side of you. I've only seen you at the table. I Don't know this relationship with you and She and he tells her I want you to come with me. It's not just I want you to admire my power I want you to actually walk with me in it in new challenges Paragraph B the voice of my beloved the king calls her to a new season a new season in the spirit now She's always going to sit at the table She's never ever going to abandon that dimension of her life, but it's not going to be the only thing that she's focused on she must always stayed focused in that dimension of her relationship because There's many believers. They touch the sweetness Then they get involved in a lot of activity then they lose the sweetness because they're too busy for the Lord That's not what's going to happen with her. He calls her to a new season In her spiritual life. There's a new assignment. There's new levels of obedience new depth of commitment Is the Lord speaking to you right now about a new level of commitment? I'm talking about with your time your money Your service I don't mean just something even daring something even that's just not Comfortable because it might just be difficult it might be boring that might be the problem like I'm afraid if I do that I'll just get lost in the humdrumness of things. I don't want to serve you in that way Lord I'll lose all the The thing I'm aiming for I don't want to obey you by serving in those even out-of-the-way places You know in some faraway mountaintop somewhere But she knows it's the voice of her beloved She recognizes it's the one she loves And all the way through the process He speaks tenderly to her. He's constantly Speaking as the beloved to her not as the coach not as the army general He won't back down he Demands that she get up and go to deeper places with them of obedience and risk But he speaks tenderly always as the beloved paragraph see the mountains He's leaping on mountains. They often speak of the obstacles in the scripture of the mountains often speak of obstacles There are obstacles to our obedience. There are obstacles to our comfort There we're not comfortable Because things might not work out. Well, we may It may be more difficult. It may be a riskier. It may be harder. It may be more More just more costly than we thought top of page 2 verse 9 He calls her to the mountains with him to a new place But this is interesting new dynamic verse 9 he stands behind our wall See she's inside the house or inside the garden at least You know, she's at the table I like to say under the shade tree in the garden in that, you know in the garden house garden and he is outside looking in She goes I've never seen you outside looking in you were always inside with me. This is new. This is different. He stands behind our wall He's looking through the windows He's gazing at her. He's beckoning her by his gaze. Come you can trust me. Come. Oh I don't know. He's he has that look of oh I long that you would come with me beloved. I tell you right now The Lord is looking at every one of us in this room right now saying oh that you would come with me to the next Measure of obedience it might be a financial issue might be a time issue It might be something a service issue. It might be believing him in a certain kind of relational dynamic. That's uncomfortable We're saying no. No, I don't want to go and reconcile with that relationship, but there's too much pain too much bitterness I don't even want to face those issues again And he's looking But he's standing behind our wall. She said he's not on the inside like he I'm familiar with him. He's on the outside I've never seen him on the outside But she notices that it's our wall, it's not her wall we'll get there in a minute Paragraphy Well, he's standing Now in the scripture when Jesus is standing he is showing himself as ready for action He's ready for action mostly The descriptions of Jesus or the father they're sitting they're sitting in confidence. They're sitting in total victory They're sitting in the rest of sovereignty. They're not standing But the times in scripture where Jesus is shown to be standing he is ready for action But it isn't in there. He's ready for us to take action, too When he's standing he's not only saying I'm standing he's saying we're standing together. It's time to rise up paragraph F She says he's behind our wall again He's on the outside behind our wall and she's described it as our wall. It's not her wall, but it's their wall and that's true Because it was a wall of their making Meaning it was the Holy Spirit that had her locked into that season where she was just at the table Discovering his beauty discovering the sweetness of this new interchange with him He's the one that commanded her into that very heightened season of focus He says yeah, I'm the one that put you there now I'm the one that's calling you not to abandon that reality, but to add to it the dimension of The risk of the leaving the comfort zone of the obeying me at a new level It's not just about you enjoying me says the Lord It's about us and partnering together in me enjoying the partnership with you Well, Lord, I love your presence. He goes. I know but I want you to partner with me in my purpose as well he wants us to love his presence and Partner with him in his purpose and we don't need to pick between the two. He wants us to do both of them together Roman numeral 4 paragraph chapter 2 verse 10 My beloved spoke now here he's calling her to Alba comforts. I hear he says rise up Rise up in the last season. You told me to sit down Rise up He says yeah, take action with me come with me Again, leave the comfort zone come from behind the wall of safety Come with me into new areas And it's not just new activities, it's even new responsiveness a new Level of obedience that would be that would invade our life in a greater way that he would have more of our heart But look at the way he talks to her He said I do want you to rise up But you know, it's because you are the one I love. I Want you to rise up because I love you My call to you is based on my desire for greater relationship with you Then he goes on it says my fair one He emphasizes he goes you're beautiful to me and he knows she's going to refuse him Because he knows that because of her immaturity and her fear She's going to draw back, but he still sees that she loves him and she goes I know you're still beautiful to me It's not over because you struggle And that's one of the glorious Messages in this passage is that it's not over because we're in the struggle It's not I love you, and you're beautiful as long as your obedience is mature I love you And you're beautiful when you're reaching to obey me when you're reaching to get bring all of your strength Into the relationship and to believe me. I see that reach in your heart That's a very very powerful truth to know That he doesn't We're not repulsive to him while we're struggling and growing He actually enjoys the relationship of the people that are seeking to do it. She really wants to do it But her fears are still so big, but he goes I'll be with you And I love you, and you're beautiful to me beloved when we see the call to radical obedience I mean whether it's in the area of our time our money or our identity our passions our appetites our strength whatever it is when we obey the call and we see it that he's just like a You know an angry taskmaster the call even the call to obey is pushes us backwards And I've talked to many people over the years and the call to radical obedience They repels them and they don't like it. They don't want it and part of the reason Because they they imagine the tone of the Lord as the taskmaster who's warning them they better do it and the whole prospect of rising up to a new level with somebody that's Angry at them that is pretty convinced. They're going to fail doesn't seem like a Enjoyable or even doable venture forward But he says no no no I love you. I see your merge your budding virtues I see the beauty that you possess in me I know who we are together, and I'm gonna walk you each step of the way through this journey He says rise up Now the interesting thing is this is the very thing she prayed for at the very beginning of the song She said draw me after you let us run together. I want to rise up I want to go do the works of the kingdom with you. I want to obey you and I don't mean just a Ministry trip here or an assignment there or a weekend there I'm talking about a lifestyle of partnering with him not just a three-day deal or three-week deal type thing I'm talking about something that Defines our relationship with him where it's just part of our the way we carry ourselves We're in this with him to serve his people to build up his kingdom to bring the gospel to release the power to speak the words of God to obey him with our time and our money and a Deeper connect with him all of those are connected in this idea of rise up now remember at the beginning of her journey She said draw me near to you, and let's run together. He goes. Okay. It's time to run then Well, I'm so enjoying being drawn with you. I'm so enjoying your purpose your presence I don't know about Getting involved in all this other stuff What areas are the Lord is the Lord speaking to you about right now? Is it a relational area? Is it a bitterness issue that he wants you to really land? Is it a new level of? Obedience in any of the areas of your passion your bodily appetites your time your money your speech what you do with your eyes What you do with your hands the way you serve with or without recognition to get recognition you get criticism You don't get the recognition. You don't get the criticism, but you feel left out So I've talked to people over the years there. They finally get the recognition then they're pained by the criticism Well when they didn't get the recognition they were paying they had no criticism, but they felt completely nobody was paying attention and So I've watched believers go from one extreme to the other in their emotions And I've done a little bit of that myself over the years, so I understand this This is not just a song about them. It's a song about me. It's about us. It's about how we walk with the Lord Paragraph one again. He spoke to her. It's the way that he speaks to her Is this the way you hear him when he says I want greater obedience Do you hear you are my love and you're beautiful or do you hear I'm giving you one more chance? And I'm finished with you. What do you hear when he says rise up God's people are foot well everybody We're far more motivated to obey when we understand The way he feels and the way he sees us. This is not just a Idea this is truth the God of grace. This is what his personality is like When he corrects us he corrects us with a tone of tenderness He corrects us with the invitation for a greater enjoyment of our interaction with him Rise up. He says number two. He called her away from her comfort and security Rise up is the call from her comfort and her security We've said it over and over, but I really want you to catch this passage But not just to understand it, but to actually talk to the Lord this way in your private prayer time with him Paragraph three Jesus challenges us to go with him to the mountains This refers to embracing difficult They're difficult at the beginning areas of obedience Again our time our money our words the way we carry our heart the way we bless the people that aren't blessing us The way we open our heart to people that the risk of being hurt and all of these things It refers to Going to the mountain with him refers to areas of personal obedience, but also our ministry assignments And again, I'm talking about more than a three-day a three-week thing. I'm talking about Those we typically have assignments over a series several years and often the assignments aren't that Fun and they're not that easy and they're pretty costly and they're and they're and they're inconvenient I find that most of the assignments the Lord has given me in the in the 40 years I've been in involved in leadership are That most of them I have are inconvenient and a little bit like huh What can I get a second opinion on that and I like how John Wimbert? Spelled faith. He said faith is spelled R. I ask K That's how you feel that's how you spell faith Paragraph B. Here's the ultimate question. Is it safe? For you to obey Jesus Outside the comfort zone. Is it safe if it's really him calling you For greater dedication to take a risk to open your heart To live at a certain level with him whether again, it's time money words emotions Passions whatever whatever level that is. Is it safe or is it gonna cost more than it's worth? Or is he gonna? Be distant from us and he's not going to be there with us and it's not gonna matter to him The other way to ask the question will we miss out in life if we obey him a hundred percent? Because the great the great lie That comes not just to young people. It's young and old alike You know, it's the 20 year olds But it's the 70 year olds too and everybody in between the lie if you really obey you're gonna miss out I'm gonna miss out on if I'm 20. I'm gonna miss out on fun and opportunities and all these things I'm gonna miss out. What do you get miss out on? I don't know exactly but I will miss out if I'm too deeply engaged with the Lord. I'm gonna miss out Then when they get old, right? I know a bunch on the other end. They want to back up Retire coast because you're gonna miss out on the joy of Doing not hardly anything all day Then the gang in the middle They're so building their empires and trying to increase everything They're so afraid to draw back and obey and take risks because they might miss out on increase So the front end they don't want to miss out on fun the back end They don't want to miss out on rest and in the middle. They don't want to miss out on increase Well, that's a little bit simplistic a lot of exceptions to what I just said In the flesh it seems safer to be in the boat without Jesus than on the water with him You know, Jesus is walking on the water. There is It's Peter right in the middle of strutting storm on the water come out The question of the hour is it safer in the boat without Jesus or on the water in the storm with him Which is the safest place? well, we all know the right answer it's safer on the water, but How many times I don't mean something you do every day. I'm talking about Maybe it's a thing that happens a time or two in a year I'm talking about where you're really challenged and you really go to the next level of dedication May not even happen every year once or twice I'm talking about something a little more rare than just a little the nudgings of the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day Relationship where he calls us to a new place with him It's costly and risky Is it safer? Are we gonna miss out on the fun if we're young? We're gonna miss out on the rest if we're older we're gonna miss out on the increase if we're in between What are we gonna miss out on? Is it better to be on the water in the storm in the risk outside the boat? Or is it better to be in the boat without Jesus in the boat with us? paragraph see the foundational issue before her is Whether she believes that Jesus's leadership is good. That's the number one issue Does she believe that Jesus's leadership is good? top of page three Well now the Lord is going to now reason with her He's gonna come let us reason the scripture says that the Lord says let us talk together. Let me present a case to you Paragraph D. He points to the prophetic sign of soon-coming fruitfulness There's gonna be new fruitfulness Or you could put the word a new breakthrough in your heart in your life a new breakthrough but fruitfulness to where our our heart grows in love and connects with the Lord and and There's what we do with our hands bears more fruit as well a new season of fruitfulness whether it's internal or external fruitfulness So he starts off by first in verse 11 appealing to the past and then he's gonna appeal to the present and What he wants to do is stir up her confidence to obey him. He goes verse 11 He goes hey the winters past the winter time the rains gone He goes remember the cold winter seasons with the cold biting rain He goes I was with you in those seasons. Can't you remember? She was yeah, I do Then he goes in verse 12. He shifts gears now. He's gonna talk about the presence. He goes the present He goes look at all the signs of fruitfulness in front of you again He's talking in the lane that agricultural language of the garden and the farm verse 12 He says look the flowers are appearing now the flowers appear The little flower appears before the apple, you know The flower appears before the fruit or the or before the fruit does I'll just say it that way The time of singing is come In other words the time of singing is the harvest time get they're starting to get the instruments gathered together for the harvest party It were not quite there, but it's it's coming now. The the singing preparations are beginning in other words The harvest is right around the corner This is the voice of the turtle dove. It's heard in the land. Well, the turtle dove was heard just before the harvest The fig tree has the green figs Well what happens after the green figs then the ripe figs come right after the green ones The vineyards have the tender grapes You can have the good smell but the mature grapes are are right there ready to be harvest Harvested there. So he says hey remember the winter time It's gone. I was with you. We are still together. It worked. Remember the difficulties have passed didn't I see you through and look there's all the signs of new fruitfulness there there all the budding signs of fruitfulness But you have to obey me if you're gonna be a part of the new fruitfulness in your life You have to go with me because the fruitfulness will not happen With your involvement in it unless you say yes to me in this you'll you'll be stuck He'll love you the same But you'll be stuck in your relationship with the Lord because when the Lord comes and knocks on the door and invites us forward If we don't go forward The sweetness really does lift and it's not like he doesn't love us But we don't enjoy the connect like we did before because he's constantly increasing the measure of the response he wants from us and The response I gave him 20 years ago was so precious to him, but he goes I want a deeper response then Or you're gonna be stuck. Well Lord, I want to do what I did 20 years ago I just want to leave it there and he goes no you'll be stuck spiritually You won't enjoy the fruitfulness that I have for you So we got to move on either either you're going forward or you're actually going backwards There's no such thing as staying the same place a Lot of believers are just mystified because five years ago. They had this sweetness with the Lord of today It's just so dull they go. I don't know what happened. I'll tell you what happened He said come forward you said no, and you thought you'd stay the same you went backwards Now I'm gonna say it real strong The only way to keep from going backwards spiritually is to go forwards If you're not going forward you are going backwards And what you did two years ago or five years ago in your interchange with the Lord is Sweet and precious to the Lord, but that is not the story of where we are today A lot of people enjoyed the Lord a couple years ago But they don't enjoy him now and they're mystified because they don't know that unless they go forward They will go backwards or say it the other way. The only way from going backwards is to keep going forward Growing in their responsiveness is what I mean to the Lord. He loves you the same But our ability to be fruitful and enjoy the relationship diminishes Paragraph one the past the past he reminds rivers the past winter seasons. It is a Difficult time it speaks about the difficult times when the the winter does it's the difficult times when things grow Outwardly very slowly in the winter things are difficult, and we don't see much growth then we kind of Look at the Lord and say yeah those winter seasons with the cold rains Oh, that was a rough season, but the Lord says well, it's a couple years now looking back Can't you see now the new fruitfulness in you because you were responding to me in the winter seasons For some people in the winter seasons they Quit responding to the Lord and so they don't have the testimony of of that redemptive fruitfulness in those winter times Paragraph two in the present. I've already said it but just to say it again. Yeah, he appeals to four signs To prove the harvest is not far away. He appeals to four signs He talks about the flowers appearing on the earth the voice of the turtledove the fig trees having green figs, etc He says I'm proving that the harvest of your fruitfulness is right around the corner. I'm telling you it's there, but I need your response paragraph F Now he changes directions because he knows We're only on verse 14 verse 13. He says I do love you. I love you so much verse 14 He's gonna really he's gonna speak it strong more more boldly and stronger To her his love for her because we're in 14. He knows in verse 17. She's going to refuse him but he knows he's gonna recover her and She's gonna do something in the next Session a section in her life the next season of her life where she's never gonna go back again She's never gonna be content refusing him ever again. I Tell you some of the seasons where I struggled and stumbled and was not responsive the remembrance of the dynamics of those seasons are A powerful motivation in this in the years ahead and that's a little bit what's happening in her life here He looks at her And he says oh my oh my dove in the cleft of the rock verse 14 paragraph F In the secret place of the cliff or the stairs Some translations say the King James in the secret place of that ascent upwards is what he's talking about He goes I want to see your face. I Want to let me hear your voice. In other words. I want you in worship and prayer right now. I Want to see your face. I want to hear your voice Because you're struggling right now. You're in a crisis moment right now. I Want to hear your voice talk to me worship me and talk to me pray talk to me right now But he goes on with one of the great statements of Scripture He says to this immature young maiden this bride young bride. Your voice is sweet to me and Your face is lovely and I know you're going to draw back, but I want you to know talk to me Don't draw back in shame. Your voice is sweet. I want to hear your prayers. I want to hear your worship Your face is lovely to me when you sit before me, but Lord, I'm struggling. I'm wrestling. I Got fear in my heart. He goes keep talking to me. Keep talking to me. Don't go the other way come near me Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice for your voice is so sweet and your face is so lovely to me Paragraph 1 he calls her my dove. He affirms her sincerity He affirms her sincerity Number two he goes I want to see you in the cleft of the rock in the secret place of the cliff now That's again agricultural language But we're looking for the New Testament truths That we can find in this poem this love poem set in an agricultural language the cleft of the rock speaks of Jesus's work on the cross the work on the cross the cleft of the rock And I have a little bit about that here you can read that on your own but down in paragraph a God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock The cleft of the rock where he it was this This open space in the mountain God hid Moses and put his hand over Moses in the cleft of the rock when the glory of God passed so Moses wouldn't die that's a Bigger it's a great storyline. It's a picture of the salvation of Jesus the God hides us from the impact of his glory until he hides us in the cleft of the rock and to the finished work of what Jesus did you can Read a little bit more on that He says I want you to hide also in the secret place of the cliff or other Translations in the stairway in the steep pathway the the going up a set which speaks of Jesus's resurrection When you think of a cliff you're thinking of looking down. He's thinking of looking up the ascent upwards is the idea here What he's saying is oh my dove in The truth of the cross and the resurrection. I want to hear your voice. I want you to ask me for help I want you to sit before me. I want you to talk to me and I'll give you courage I'll give you strength, but don't do it in your own accomplishments because shame will drive you from my presence do it in the cleft of the rock and in the secret place that Mysterious place where the God-man ascended before God which speaks of the resurrection in this love poem Top of page 4 Jesus wants to see our face He wants to hear our voice in worship. He wants to hear our voice in prayer not corporate or private He wants us to talk to him to sing to him not to draw back in our fear in our Compromise and just settle in he says don't go there. Don't settle in Talk to me. I will be your strength. I will strengthen you I will invigorate you you will be surprised the way I will help you if you will let me hear your voice So he wants to hear our voice paragraph G and worship and prayer. Oh Lord. I just want you to Not be angry at me, I do you see me as a hypocrite he goes hypocrite. No, you're beautiful to me. Talk to me You're not a hopeless hypocrite because you're struggling Some people think their voice is repulsive to God because they're struggling Beloved we run to him and confidence not from him and condemnation. There is no condemnation. There's none We feel shame and condemnation, but it's not coming from the spirit It's coming from our unrenewed mind and it's the voice of the devil is the accuser So paragraph H She goes, okay I'll let you hear my voice. So she prays In verse 15, it's a prayer. She says, okay. I'll pray for help then. I'll pray for deliverance. I'll pray for strength She says catch us the Foxes The little foxes that spoil the vineyard of my heart for our vines have tender grapes are The vine of my heart has such just budding grapes at the very beginning. The maturity is not there yet So she responds to him in prayer. She goes. Okay. I'll let you hear my voice catch the Foxes. Help me catch the Foxes paragraph want The little foxes in the vineyard of our hearts speak of our small compromises The small compromises, what are the little foxes the nickel-and-dime areas one preacher called them? Because it's the small areas They don't keep God from loving us by any means But they keep us from enjoying the fruitfulness and enjoying the love he has for us I mean we still enjoyed a little bit, but it's the little areas. It's the little foxes It's our words. It's what we do with our time our money our eyes. It's the little foxes That come in when no one's looking and destroy the vineyard of our heart those small tender grapes See those areas that are yet budding in our life that need to come to maturity the Foxes come and steal them and destroy them They're cunning little animals. I Have here in paragraph one. They're fast. They're small. They're crafty They're hard to catch do you relate to this? Number two you see she said they'll spoil the vine this river refers to their her heart her spiritual life Her heart her spiritual life Paragraph J. We're just gonna bring this to an end just in the next 90 seconds here paragraph J. She breaks out and says Please help me with the Fox's that's verse 14 verse 15 verse 16 You love me and I love you. I am struggling, but I know you love me and I know that I love you I know that you know, this is where I live I mean what a statement most people in their struggle don't have the courage to say before the Lord. You're mine You're fully accessible to me and I am yours. I am really yours. I am struggling, but I am yours most people when they struggle They don't cry out for help catch the Fox's and they don't have the confidence that I belong to you and you're mine And that's how who we are and that's my position before you beloved. This will change your life to land here Paragraph K the last point She refused The King's command her painful compromise. She refused the King's command Look what she says in verse 17 She says until the day breaks till there's new breakthrough of light till the shadows the gray areas in my life are gone. Oh This is the most painful word turn Go to the mountains without me. Oh I Remember when I first connected with this I went oh no not turn It was very personal. That's why I was having so much passion about it not turn she goes go without me and he does and He goes without her and of course We're the end of this session and there's another session following how he responds and then how she responds to how he responds And it just keeps unfolding little by little Amen, let's stand