Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of understanding God's love through the lens of the Song of Solomon, encouraging believers to seek intimacy with God as a cherished bride. He explains that the 'kisses of His mouth' symbolize the Word of God, which brings us closer to His heart and allows us to return love to Him. Bickle highlights the need for the Holy Spirit to help us feel and reciprocate God's love, asserting that true success in life is measured by the size of our hearts rather than our ministries. He challenges the congregation to pursue a deeper relationship with Jesus, moving beyond mere blessings to a partnership in His work. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a church that prioritizes loving God above all else, reflecting on the transformative journey of faith.

I've been here almost. Let's look at top of page 29. Father, we ask you by the Holy Spirit to touch our heart. Oh, we long to love you more. This is our great reward. The ability to love you with all of our heart. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, this is our second teaching in this series. We'll be looking at session notes number three and session notes number four. Roman numeral one, introduction. We use the term here in IHOP, we say the bridal paradigm. And the word paradigm means perspective. It's the lens or the set of glasses we look through to view the world. And so when the Lord spoke to me back in July 1988, He called me to understand His heart through the Song of Solomon. He wanted me to change my paradigm of the kingdom. To change my perspective of the kingdom. He wanted me to begin a journey of seeing the kingdom through the eyes of a cherished bride. And I began to see Jesus in a new way. I didn't let go of the things that I knew about Him. But I added more. So it's never an issue of releasing the truth that the Spirit gave us earlier. But a broadening our understanding. Top of page 30. The bride says, Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. That is really the main theme of the entire love song. And it's important that we understand this concept. Because the eight chapter love song unfolds the implications of this one prayer. What are the kisses of His mouth? Paragraph C. I believe it's the Word of God. Because the rabbis would talk about that the kisses of His mouth were the kisses of the Torah or the kisses of the Word. This was how the rabbis interpreted this verse for several thousand years. Even today, if you would talk to one, they would say this is the kisses of the Word of the Torah. Jesus said we would live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Paragraph D. The divine kiss is a metaphor for intimacy with God. It's also in the Song of Solomon. The divine embrace and the seal of fire speaks of the same thing. It's poetic language, meaning our heart is touched by the grace of God. To where we receive the understanding of the love of God. So we could even feel it. Just a little bit, but to feel that God loves us. But more than that, to return love back to Him. That is what intimacy with God is about. Receiving how He feels about us, and then returning wholehearted love back. Now, it takes the work of the Spirit to do that, to do both of those. Without the Holy Spirit's help, I can't feel or understand the love of Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit's help, I can't return it back. I use this phrase many times. It takes God to love God. It takes the power of God for us to love God back. And from the New Testament point of view, she is really asking for the ability by the Holy Spirit to feel the love of God and return it back. And I only interpret the Song of Solomon with truths that are established in the New Testament. Somebody says, what if somebody gets way off in their interpretation? I said, if we are committed to only interpreting it through the truths in the New Testament, then we will be safe. I said, if we are committed to only interpreting it through the truths in the New Testament, then we will be safe. So, I teach everyone at IHOP, that when we sing this great prayer, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Every time at IHOP, so we don't confuse the people that are visiting, we always say the kisses of your Word. And I encourage you to do the same thing. God, kiss me with the kisses of your Word. And there could be no confusion then. Paragraph D, I picture God's hand touching my heart. One man came to us, and he said to me, I don't want Jesus kissing me on the mouth. And I smiled, and I said, I know you're not supposed to do that. That's good. He was kind of mad. He said, I heard that one singer singing about kissing God on the mouth. That's, that's blasphemy. They heard someone singing it. It was actually at a conference. It wasn't an IHOP singer. And I said, yeah, I understand your confusion, but it's the kiss of God's Word touching your heart. He said, well, in that case, I want it. So, I thought it was kind of funny. But the person singing the song was kind of confusing the people of the congregation. Because, at this conference, they didn't really understand the song of Solomon, but the girl singing did. So, there was a confusion. So, from the very beginning of IHOP, 12 years ago, we always made the policy, say the kisses of His Word. And, uh, we never interpret this song with a sensual overtone in our relationship with Jesus. Now, that is obvious to 99% of the body of Christ. That when we interpret this, we're not talking about physical romance. But it's always important to say it at least one time. 99% of the people, this is very obvious, Jesus is not our boyfriend. We don't go on dates with Jesus. Like one, uh, young woman, she said, I'm going on my date with Jesus tonight. And so, she got along with the Lord, and she lit her candles up, and put on love songs, and went on a date with Jesus. Jesus was her lover, her boyfriend. And I said, no, no, that's a very wrong idea. He's not your boyfriend. You don't go on dates with Him. And you don't kiss Him by the Spirit on the mouth. But if you like the candles, keep them. That's okay. I don't do candles, but candles are okay. She was very upset at me. Because I told her, I said, Jesus is not married to you more than to everybody in the body of Christ throughout all of history. It means He wants a deep heart connect with us like He had with King David. But far more, because now we're in the new covenant. And so, whatever being the bride of Christ means, it works for men and women both. It has nothing to do with sexuality at all. Women are called sons of God. Men are called the bride of Christ. As sons of God, God is not calling women to be masculine. But it speaks of a position of privilege to experience the power of God. As the bride of Christ, God is not calling men to be feminine. But it's a position of privilege to connect with the heart of God. As sons of God, we connect with His throne or His power. As the bride of Christ, we connect with His heart or His emotions. Both men and women have both of these positions of privilege. So men do not worry. You don't have to put a dress on. And you don't have to kiss Jesus on the mouth. That's not what we're talking about. And so that's important. Okay, page 32. Solomon is the one writing this 8 chapter love song. And when he writes, let him kiss me with the kisses of his word. He is describing the bride asking somebody greater than the king for the king's kisses. The bride is not speaking to the king, kiss me with the kisses of your mouth. But she's speaking to someone over the king. Let him kiss me. And so from the New Testament point of view, she's praying, Father, release the kisses of His mouth to touch my heart. The kisses of His word. Now this is reminiscent of an experience that Solomon had with the Lord when he first became king. In 2 Chronicles 1, verse 7, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. And he said, Solomon, you can ask for anything you want. I mean, what a great opportunity. Anything you want, ask me and I'll give it to you. Verse 10, Solomon said, I want wisdom that I could lead your people in a better way. Verse 11, the Lord said, that's good, Solomon. You could have asked for riches and wealth. You could have asked for honor that you would be famous in the sight of men. Or you could have asked for other things. But he said, you asked me for wisdom that you could help my people in a better way. So the Lord, in essence, told Solomon, that's a very good thing, Solomon. Now what was happening? God was testing Solomon. He was really going to give Solomon whatever he wanted. But it was a test. Paragraph C, I believe that the Father is allowing us to ask anything we want of Him. Matthew 21, verse 22, Jesus said, whatever thing you ask, anything, believing, you will receive it. This is commonly referred to as the prayer of faith. But if the Lord would appear before you in a dream like He did to Solomon, and if the Lord said, ask anything you want, what would you ask for? I believe we have the answer here in verse 2. That the supreme request of our heart, more than riches, more than honor, more than a powerful ministry, we want the anointing to connect with your heart, Jesus. It's on the page 33. Paragraph D, I believe that the Lord is still testing the body of Christ. And the way that He tested Solomon. And I believe that the Lord is offering, the Word of God teaches about the prayer of faith. What do we want if we can have anything? Yes, I do want the Lord's blessing on my finances and upon my ministry. Yes, I do want His favor on my circumstances. But I want something even more than that. I want the kisses of His Word. Father, let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Word. I believe God is raising up a church across the earth. The supreme desire of their heart is for the anointing to receive and return the love of God. Yes, we want the secondary blessings. Because they come from Him. But they do not replace the focus of our heart to pursue the primary blessing. I believe the greatest cry we can give to God is for the anointing to walk in the first commandment. That we can love you with all of our heart and strength. That we can understand that you love us with all of your heart and all of your strength. Can you imagine this? He loves you with all of His heart and all of His strength. All of His mind, He loves you. The only reason He asked us to love with all of our heart and strength and mind because that's how He first loves us. The anointing to walk in that truth is the greatest request that we can offer. Roman numeral four. I believe this is the great prophetic cry in this hour. It expresses where the Spirit is leading the church this hour of history. The Holy Spirit is going to restore the first commandment to first place. You know why it's called the first commandment? Because it's the first priority to God. B, I believe it's the great philosophical cry. The cry to experience the love of God and to love Him back. It answers why we exist. It not only answers where we're going prophetically, but it answers why we exist philosophically. Beloved, the great purpose of your life is that you would receive love and then return it back. This is the most important definition of success in the Bible. You can have the largest ministry in the world. You can have the largest marketplace assignment in the world. Have a kingdom business that makes billions of dollars. But if the first commandment is not first place in your life, you're still blessed, but you're not fully successful because that's the definition of success. Many people, when they talk about success, they talk about how big your ministry or how big your money is. We need to talk about success, how big our heart is. Because we can have a little ministry and a big heart and be successful. You can have a big ministry and a little heart and you're not so successful from God's point of view. Men may applaud you, but I want the applause of heaven. When I stand before the Lord one day, He's not going to ask me how big my conferences were at IHOP. He's not going to ask me how big my television ministry is. He's going to ask me how big my heart is. And then I will be evaluated by the size of my heart, not by the size of my ministry. Yes, the cry for the kisses of His Word answers the great reason why we exist as humans. See? Top of page 34, paragraph C, it's also the great psychological cry. It answers how your heart functions. So it answers where we're going prophetically. It answers why we exist philosophically. And it answers how our heart functions. It answers the mystery of how the human heart is satisfied. Many people think their heart will be satisfied through riches, honor, and long life. Many believers have riches, honor, and long life, but their heart is still empty as believers. But the human heart was created to be abandoned in love for God. So many believers, they're born-again believers, but they're living spiritually bored and burnt out. Beloved, we don't become burnt out because we work hard. We get burnt out because we work with the wrong spirit. Long hours is not what burns us out. Oh, it might with a few people. But mostly it's because they work disconnected from love. They work hard to earn love instead of working hard because they are loved. And that will fill you with anxiety and rejection and competition. Let's turn to page 37. We're going to look at session notes 4. I'm going to give just the briefest overview of the storyline of Song of Solomon. We won't even cover all of these session notes. But my idea is to give you the big picture of the storyline. And you can read this more on your own if it interests you. And I find it's helpful to know where the story's going. So that I can understand who's talking in which chapter and what's going on. And there's several different ways you could present this. But this is the one that I am most comfortable with. It's not the only one that's accurate. There's other versions of this that God has given people. Paragraph A. The theme of the entire 8 chapter love song is given right here in verses 2 to 4. She starts off. She said, Let Jesus kiss me with the kisses of His Word. And then she says why she wants the kisses of His Word. She says, Because your love touches me more than everything else. And then in verse 4, she gives her life vision. There's two dimensions of her life vision. She says, Jesus, draw me after you. I want to connect with your heart. But that's not all I want. I want to run in ministry with other people behind your leadership. So she says, I want to know the kisses of your Word. To energize and sustain my heart. Then verse 4, I want to be drawn close to your heart, intimacy. And I want to run together with other people to affect people in ministry. Notice, draw me away, that's singular. We will run is plural. Intimacy is individual, it's singular. Ministry is always plural. We work together under Jesus' leadership to impact others. I have much more on this in later sessions. But Roman numeral 2, her journey begins in chapter 1, verse 5. Now the story begins. She set forth her life vision in the theme of the song. Now she starts. She says, I'm dark, but I'm lovely. My own vineyard I've not kept. We all understand this beginning. I call it the paradox of grace. She understands that she's dark in her heart because of her failure. But she's lovely to God because of the grace of God. Both of these truths must be held in tension. If we are to understand how God sees us, many groups emphasize how sinful we are, we're dark in heart. Other groups emphasize how the grace of God and how lovely we are in the grace of God. But the truth must be both, must hold both of these in tension. Top of page 38, I give four reasons why we are lovely in God, in the grace of God. We'll cover this in other sessions, but I just wanted to put it there briefly. Paragraph C, so she's saying, I'm dark of heart, I'm failing, I'm lovely to God, and now verse 7, she says to Jesus, tell me, oh you who I love, where do you feed your flock? She's saying, I'm hungry for you to feed my heart. I have stumbled, and my heart is hungry for you. And I want you to touch my heart like you did in the early days. I want to know the kisses of your word. I want to be drawn near to you. But as I began my journey, I discovered my own failure in sinfulness. This is a very significant passage we'll develop in the other sessions. She's only at the beginning of her journey. We all know what it means to set our heart, I'm going all the way for your heart, Jesus. And then before the day is over, we see the darkness of our heart, our own sinfulness. And we get busy, and we get distracted. And then we cry, oh you who I love, help me, feed my heart, touch me. Paragraph D, verse 8, Jesus speaks so tenderly to her. He goes, oh most beautiful. Beloved, in her journey, she's very young and very new, and she's stumbling. But he says, you're beautiful to me, I delight in you, don't give up, come near me. We will look at that in the other sessions. Then Roman numeral 3, it's very, every part is very important. I think I'm going to say, this is a very important part, every chapter. But this one really is very important. Is that then Jesus reveals her identity, who she is to him. Paragraph A, and she sees the beauty of who he is. And in verse 15, I don't have on the notes, he says, you're beautiful. And she answers back, the beauty of the Lord, I see that you're wonderful and glorious. She is seeing that salvation is much more than being forgiven or being provided for, or being given a work assignment. Salvation is understanding his beauty and love and who we are to him and the heart connect. Yes, we, yes, we want the forgiveness and the provision and we want him to anoint us in our work assignment. Top of page 39, paragraph B, then she begins to experience the sweetness of communion with Jesus. After she sees her identity and who she is to the Lord, then she sees the beauty of the Lord. She begins to experience this wonderful presence of God. Look at chapter 2, verse 3 to 5. She's a young believer at this time. She says, I sat down in his shade with great delight and his fruit is so sweet to my heart. He brought me to the banqueting table. He's feeding my heart with such sweet things of his presence. His leadership over my life is love, love, love, love. Verse 5, she says, sustain me, refresh me. Oh, my heart is sick with love. I love you so much. So when she understands who she is in his sight, remember back in chapter 1, verse 7, she said, oh, you who I love, where will you feed me? In verse 3, we see the answer. Under the shade tree. Oh, the blessed shade tree, the finish work of the cross where we rest in the assurance of his love for us. She's not striving to try to motivate God to love her. She has confidence of how he feels about her. Look at verse 3, great delight, sweet to my taste. She is experiencing his presence. Remember she prayed, draw me after you. And let us run together. Well, in the beginning of her journey, she was running in ministry, but she got burned out because she got disconnected from his heart. She goes, oh, where will you feed me? And he tells her who she is to him and who he is to her. And now she's resting with confidence that she's loved by God because of the cross. And we know a little bit of what it means, the great delight and the fruit that is sweet, the presence of God. But here's a significant point. She's only in chapter 2 at the very beginning of her journey. And she's experiencing his presence. And she thinks that's all there is to Christianity, experiencing his wonderful presence. At this stage of her journey, her goal is her spiritual happiness. As long as she can feel his presence, she's happy. And that's all she wants. She goes, this is it. And the Lord's going to answer her in a few moments and says, no, there's more to it than that. I want you to experience my presence. I want you to feel the delight of how I love you. But there's more. I don't just want you to know I love you. You're my bride. You're my partner. We're going to rule together on the earth forever. I want you to be with me where I am, doing what I do in partnership with me. I don't want you just to enjoy me. I want you to agree with me where we yoke arms and we do the work of the Father together. She might say, well, I don't know what all that means. I just love your presence. That's good enough for me. Sometimes we see this at IHOP. People come and join our staff. And they're weary from the 10 years before. And now they're so burnt out. And they make it to the prayer room. And they almost collapse. And they begin to feel His love again. And they have tears. And this is all I want to do forever. And they tell me, oh, this is it forever. I smile. I say, may the Lord bless you. I know they're only in chapter 2 and there's six more chapters to go. I said, the Lord will disturb you at the right time. I don't say that to them. I just smile and say, bless you. The Lord has bigger plans for the relationship except more than just them crying in a prayer room. He likes that. But He wants to partner with her. Okay, Romans number 4. Like, oh no. Okay, just put on your seatbelt. Because she's at the table under the shade tree loving everything. Suddenly in verse 8, my beloved, he's leaping on mountains, skipping on hills. What is this about? You're jumping over mountains? He's boundlessly, effortlessly triumphing over everything. He's showing himself as the Lord of the nations. She says, what's this all about? I thought we were supposed to be at the table just doing worship songs and smiling. He says, verse 10. Rise up. Come with me. Jesus, you're on the mountains. I don't like heights. I don't like mountains. Those are scary. I want to stay under the shade tree. He says, you can only experience so much of me in the shade tree. I want you with me in everything that I do. But Jesus, verse 17, very sad moment. She says, no. She says, turn and go on the mountains by yourself. Jesus comes and He challenges the comfort zone in her life. Paragraph B. She refuses Him and says, I don't want to leave the table and partner with you in the work of the kingdom. But this is important to know that she's not refusing Him because she's rebellious. That's not what's going on. She is compromising by saying, no, I can't go with you. I'm going to stay in the comfort zone. She's fearful. She's immature. She's not rebellious. That's a very different thing. She fears that total obedience will cost her too much. Oh, I love you so much, Jesus. Let's just stay at the table. Let's not go on mountains. Just you and me together forever. Jesus says, no, I'm a king. My Father has given me all the nations. And I'm going to change the nations with my bride in a love relationship. And I want you to experience more of my heart than just the table. We all know those moments in our life when He challenges the comfort zone. I have good news. I have good news. It's safer with Jesus on the water, out of the boat than in the boat without Jesus. Jesus said, Peter, get out of the boat walk on the water. Beloved, it's safer on the water with Jesus than in the boat without Him. Beloved, it's safer on the water with Jesus than in the boat without Him. When Peter stepped on that boat at first, I don't like the taste of sea water. But the Lord restored him. He says, you're okay, Peter. Top of page 40. She stays at the table, and she doesn't go. Oh, no. She finds a very difficult experience next. He says, I'm on my bed at night. I seek the one I love. But something new is happening. I can't find Him. I can't experience His presence. And she remembers. He said, arise and go with me to the mountains. She goes, I can stay here in my fear, but I don't have His presence. So, verse 2. She goes, okay. Here it goes. I'm going to arise and I'm going to go forth now. I'm going to seek the one I love because I have to relate to Him on His terms, not on my terms. And so, in verse 4, she finds Him. Oh, Jesus! Oh, I feel Your presence again! And I held on to Him. I will never let Him go. It was so painful having You lift Your presence. The Lord says, it is safe to go with me. But if You want to experience My presence, You must relate to Me on My terms, not Me relate to You on Your terms. But Jesus, what about the good old days when I just had worship songs and sat alone and cried and just you and me? Oh, we will have many times like that over the years. But while You're working together with me, You will have times You will draw aside and experience me at the table. In Roman numeral 6, chapter 3, verse 6 to 11, Jesus reveals Himself to her as a safe Savior. Again, this is a wonderful passage. Roman numeral 7, so now she has this new revelation that it's better to go with Him wherever He goes. But we continue to have the times at the table under the shade tree as a part of our life forever. Roman numeral 7, now the Lord speaks to her and tells her how He feels about her. And He speaks about eight virtues in her life. And these virtues, these character traits, they are only emerging, they are only budding, they are not mature yet. Did you know that Jesus speaks to you about the virtues you said yes to even before you've matured in them? Page 42, paragraph B. She is so excited because Jesus told her, I love you, I love you, you're beautiful, I'm for you. Now look, she gives the great statement in verse 6. I will go to the mountain. Back in chapter 2, 17, she goes, I won't go to the mountain. Now she says, I will, I'm not afraid anymore. Roman numeral 8, this is one of the most famous passages in Song of Solomon. When she says, I will go to the mountain, I will partner with you in whatever you want me to partner with you in. He says, you have ravished my heart, my beloved. Beloved, God is not a detached God who stamps your passport. His heart is deeply moved towards you. In paragraph C, verse 16, chapter 4, 16, this is the great turning point of the book. This is the great prayer of her confidence in his leadership. She prays two things. She says, awake, O north wind. Blow, O south wind. Blow upon the garden of my heart. Why? I want my spices, my fragrances to go forth to you. Let my beloved come to his garden and receive the pleasant fruits. Now she cries for the north winds. The north winds are the cold, bitter winds of the winter. We don't like the north winds. She says, send the south winds, the warm, refreshing winds of summer and spring. We all love the south winds. Now she's not afraid. She said, send the north and the south winds, whatever it takes. Because there's two things I want. I want the fragrance of my life to come forth to please you. And the very significant phrase at the end of verse 16, she says, come into your garden. Right here at the middle of the book. Her life is no longer her garden, it is now his garden. Top of page 42. We're only going to go a couple more moments. We won't finish this whole session. But I want to just give you a few more moments so you can respond to the Lord and you can read the rest on your own. Paragraph D. The first four chapters of the book, she is concerned with her inheritance in the Lord. She is concerned with what she gets from the Lord. This is very important. I love the first four chapters. But the last four chapters is very different. It's his inheritance in her what he gets from her. The first four chapters, her inheritance, what she receives. The second, the last four chapters, his inheritance, what he receives. Now the journey of love goes into a whole another level of intensity. The great prayer that we just looked at, chapter 4, verse 16, send the north winds, the bitter winds of winter. Send the south winds, the winds of blessing. Whatever it takes, I want my garden to now be your garden. I don't come to you only for what I can get out of you, but I come to you because I want to give everything to you. Because up until now, Jesus was a stepping stone for her own personal blessing. But from the rest of the book, Jesus is not a stepping stone for her to be blessed. Jesus is the very reason she exists. To love him, to be his partner, to be together with him on his terms. So in Roman numeral 9, the Lord comes to her now with a whole different face. She said, send the north winds, test me, try me, see if I'm not fully yours. So now Jesus comes to her as the Jesus of Gethsemane. He comes as the one who's been in the lonely dark night and his hair is wet with the dew of the night. She says, Jesus, I've never seen you in the lonely dark night with the wet hair being alone at night. He says, now it's time for you to meet me and to join me in the fellowship of suffering. Paragraph C. My heart yearned. I arose. Notice, she did not resist him. She said, I arose. I want to know the Jesus, even the fellowship of suffering. Top of page 43. Now two very surprising things happen. Paragraph D. She is tested. He withdraws his presence from her. Look at verse 6. I opened for my beloved. I said yes to the Jesus of Gethsemane. But I'm so confused. He turned away. He's gone. My heart was leaping with obedience and desire to be with him. I can't find him. He won't answer me. And so the north winds begin to break in upon her. Now she can't experience his presence. Jesus is saying this. Will you love me even if you cannot feel the pleasure you felt in early days? Do you only love me if you feel the sweetness of my presence? Will you obey me even if you don't? It gets worse. Paragraph E. The watchmen, the leaders, they strike her. They wound her. They take her veil, her spiritual covering away. So in paragraph D, she loses the feeling of his presence. Paragraph E, in verse 7, she loses her ministry. Paragraph G. Remember her life vision. Draw me. I want your presence. Let us run. I want ministry. Only two things that she ever wanted. His presence and to do ministry with him. Both of them are temporarily lifted. And he's looking at her heart. Will she still love him when she doesn't get what she got in the early days? Is she relating to Jesus because she wants the first four chapters? Or is she relating to Jesus on his terms because she loves him? No questions asked. Top of page 44. You can read this later. Even at the other sessions later on in the syllabus. But she's not offended at all. And in paragraph B, they ask her, Why do you love him so much? He lifted his presence from you. Your ministry was taken from you. You have nothing. But you're not offended. And she answers in verse 10, My beloved is dazzling. He is chief among ten thousand. And then she describes his attributes. His head is like finest gold. His leadership is perfect is what she's saying. And then she goes and describes him attribute by attribute. Verse 16. She says, Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. This is my friend. And so Jesus then will end with this. He answers her. In Roman numeral 11. He breaks the silence. She asks for the north winds to blow even the trials. Jesus comes as the guard as the Jesus of Gethsemane. Will you love me on my terms without anything related to you? Am I just a stepping stone for your blessing or are you in it for love? She goes, I want to be your guard and I'm in it all the way. And then he says, Okay, let's see. The presence lifts off her life. The ministry is gone. The only two things she ever wanted are both gone but only for a short time. But she doesn't know how long it will last. Then they say to her, why aren't you offended in him? She said, my beloved is dazzling. He's altogether lovely. This is who he is. So in chapter 6 verse 4, Jesus breaks the silence because he's been silent during this time of testing. He finally speaks to her. And it must be so surprising what he says. He saw that she was not offended but she trusted him and loved him in the most difficult circumstance. He says verse 4, Oh my love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem. You are as lovely as Jerusalem. You are as awesome as a victorious army. You have conquered all the enemies that came against your soul and you've led me through them all. Page 45, verse 5, he says to her this most dramatic statement of love. He said, turn your eyes away from me for you have overcome me with your love. He said, I didn't really leave you. I wanted to see your love come to a whole nother level. You were not offended at me. You were not in the relationship just for yourself. He said, oh my love, you are as beautiful as tears, as lovely as Jerusalem. You have conquered the enemies against your own soul, your own selfishness, and your own way. He said, turn your eyes from me. You have overcome my heart with love. He's not saying, don't look at me. He's explaining the way her faithfulness under trial moved him so deeply. Beloved, all the armies of hell cannot conquer this man. But the heart of devotion, the eyes of love from his church, they conquer his heart. The only thing that overcomes him is when we stay faithful in love when we trust his leadership. Amen and amen. Let's stand. You can read the rest of the journey on your own time. And we will cover some of it in this teaching seminar. Let's just go before the Lord. Many of you have said, Lord, I want to be in this thing for you. Oh, I love to sit at the table when it's so sweet. But I want more than that. I want to go all the way to the mountain with you. And even if things don't turn out right, I will love you to the end. You're not just a stepping stone to my blessing. You are the very reason I exist to love you. Now just say that to him for a moment. The Lord says that you're beautiful in his eyes. You're as lovely as Jerusalem. You're awesome as a victorious army that did not stumble. He says, all the armies of hell cannot conquer me, but your heart moves me when you answer like this. Just for a few moments, let you talk to the Lord in worship. And they will dismiss. But just talk to him along these lines for a few moments.