Introduction
On 14 August 1836, a young man, who was later to have a remarkable ministry, preached a sermon as a candidate for the position of minister in a new congregation. He chose to expound a passage from the Song of Solomon (2:8-17). His opening words may have startled his audience. Here is what he said:
‘There is no book of the Bible which affords a better test of the depth of a man’s Christianity than the Song of Solomon.
‘(1) If a man’s religion be all in his head – a well-set form of doctrines, built like mason-work, stone above stone, – but exercising no influence upon his heart, this book cannot but offend him; for there are no stiff statements of doctrine here upon which his heartless religion may be built.
‘(2) Or, if a man’s religion be all in his fancy – if, like Pliable in the Pilgrim’s Progress, he be taken with the outward beauty of Christianity – if, like the seed sown upon the rocky ground, his religion is fixed only in the surface faculties of the mind, while the heart remains rocky and unmoved; though he will relish this book much more than the first man, still there is a mysterious breathing of intimate affection in it, which cannot but stumble and offend him.
‘(3) But if a man’s religion be heart religion – if he hath not only doctrines in his head, but love to Jesus in his heart – if he hath not only heard and read of the Lord Jesus, but hath felt his need of Him, and been brought to cleave unto Him, as the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely, then this book will be inestimably precious to his soul; for it contains the tenderest breathings of the believer’s heart towards the Saviour, and the tenderest breathings of the Saviour’s heart again towards the believer.’
Who was the young candidate for the ministry and where was the new church? The preacher was Robert Murray McCheyne and the church was St. Peter’s in Dundee, Scotland.(1) In fact, during his ministry, which was not very long in terms of years, he would preach from almost every verse in the Song of Solomon.
Others have shared his opinion. C. H. Spurgeon preached about sixty sermons from the Song of Solomon and here and there among them he gives his opinion regarding the value of the Song of Solomon. For example, in a sermon on Song of Solomon 4:10-11, called ‘Christ’s Estimate of His People’, Spurgeon claims that ‘The true believer who has lived near to his Master will find this book to be a mass, not of gold merely, for all God’s Word is this, but a mass of diamonds sparkling with brightness, and all things thou canst conceive are not to be compared with it for its matchless worth. If I must prefer one book above another, I would prefer some books of the Bible for doctrine, some for experience, some for example, some for teaching, but let me prefer this book above all others for fellowship and communion. When the Christian is nearest to heaven, this is the book he takes with him. There are times when he would leave even the Psalms behind, when standing on the borders of Canaan, when he is in the land of Beulah, and he is just crossing the stream, and can almost see his Beloved through the rifts of the stormcloud, then it is he can begin to sing Solomon’s Song. This is about the only book he could sing in heaven, but for the most part, he could sing this through, these still praising him who is his everlasting lover and friend.’
Hudson Taylor, the well-known nineteenth-century missionary to China, had a very high regard for the Song of Solomon and wrote a small exposition of it called Union and Communion. In it, he wrote: ‘Well may this book be called the Song of Songs! There is no song like it. Read aright, it brings a gladness to the heart which is as far beyond the joy of earthly things as heaven is higher than the earth. It has been well said that this is a song which grace alone can teach, and experience alone can learn. Our Saviour, speaking of the union of the branch with the vine, adds, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11, KJV). And the beloved disciple, writing of Him who “was from the beginning”, who “was with the Father, and was manifested unto us”, in order that we might share the fellowship which He enjoyed, also says, “These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4). Union with Christ, and abiding in Christ, what do they not secure? Peace, perfect peace; rest, constant rest; answers to all our prayers; victory over all our foes; pure, holy living; ever-increasing fruitfulness. All, all of these are the glad outcome of abiding in Christ. To deepen this union, to make more constant this abiding, is the practical use of this precious Book.’ (2)
Going back into the previous century, we find that Jonathan Edwards was helped greatly as a young Christian by meditating on the Song of Solomon. ‘From about that time I began to have a new kind of apprehensions and ideas of Christ, and the work of redemption, and the glorious way of salvation by him. An inward, sweet sense of these things, at times, came into my heart; and my soul was led away in pleasant views and contemplations of them. And my mind was greatly engaged to spend my time in reading and meditating on Christ, on the beauty and excellency of his person, and the lovely way of salvation by free grace in him. I found no books so delightful to me, as those that treated of these subjects. Those words Cant. ii.1 used to be abundantly with me, I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. The words seemed to me sweetly to represent the loveliness and beauty of Jesus Christ. The whole book of Canticles used to be pleasant to me, and I used to be much in reading it, about that time; and found from time to time an inward sweetness, that would carry me away in my
contemplations.’ (3)
John Owen is often regarded as the Prince of the Puritans and reading his Collected Works is a major challenge. Yet his writings are full of gold, especially in his insights into the person of Christ and his relationship with his people. In his work on Communion with God, as he explains the interaction between Jesus and his people, Owen makes use of the fifth chapter of the Song of Solomon and shows how it reveals, in a marvellous manner, the riches of that relationship. Reading his explanation both extends the mind and enraptures the heart of a believer in love with Jesus. (4)
If these men are right in their assessment of the benefits of using the Song of Solomon in a devotional manner, and they are only a sample of many others who have said the same, then we should spend time reading it and meditating about it. Hopefully, this short book will help you do so, and also to read much fuller treatments (some are mentioned in the short bibliography at the end of this introduction). It is divided into twenty-six short sections, and each of them can be read in a few minutes.
What kind of love story?
It is obvious from the contents of the Song of Solomon that its author refers to a relationship between a man and a woman, which raises the question as to the focus of the book. From the time of the early church fathers down to the beginning of twentieth century, the almost universal opinion among devout commentators was that this book was an allegory depicting the relationship between Christ and his people (either individually or corporately). Today it is common, even among evangelical commentators, to deny that it speaks of that union and instead to claim that it describes the relationship of a husband and wife.
Of course, it is difficult to prove that either view is wrong. Regarding the possibility of a human relationship depicting the tie between Christ and his people, there are other references in the Bible that use the husband/wife union to illustrate the love between Jesus and believers. Paul uses it in Ephesians 5:22-23, John uses it in Revelation 19:6-8 and 21:9ff., the Old Testament prophets use it to describe God and Israel on numerous occasions, it is found in Psalm 45, and Jesus calls himself the Bridegroom (with the implication that his people are his Bride).
It seems to me that sometimes one’s interpretation of the Song is connected to one’s Christian interests. Some believers are more active than contemplative. It cannot be denied that there is a need for active Christians. But activity, even Christian activity, cannot feed our souls. And I suspect today that there has been a subtle shift from contemplative religion to a form of Christian activism that is commendable in several ways; yet instead of maintaining a balance between a healthy heart religion and a healthy walk, the heart has been largely jettisoned and we have produced a kind of Christianity that is not as warm as the spiritual life of our forefathers. We may be more active in many areas of life, which they may have stayed away from, as we attempt to become light and salt in society. Yet no matter how important these initiatives are, sometimes the cost is too high because they mean that we do not have enough time in which to meet with Jesus Christ and have fellowship with him in our souls.
What has this to do with the Song of Solomon? If it is taken to describe an ideal human marriage, then it ceases to be descriptive of the love between Christ and his people. Perhaps reading the Song as a marriage manual does produce better marriages, although I think that those who do use it in this way reveal as much imagination in interpretation as ever did the allegorists of the past. But is it spiritually wise to remove Jesus from a book of the Bible, especially in face of all the evidence of countless myriads of believers who claim to have met him in the Song of Solomon?
Personally, I think it describes Christ and his people, and taking this approach has been of great blessing to my own heart. I can identify with what Marcus Rainsford wrote in the preface of his own book on the Song of Solomon, ‘I can truly say I never expect to enjoy on earth sweeter hours than I spent in the study of this Song of Loves.’ Some may respond by suggesting that such an interpretation is subjective rather than objective, as if a subjective experience could not be genuine. This would be a valid criticism if the meanings of the various descriptions in the Song were left to human imagination alone. Yet I would say that using other biblical teachings to prevent illegitimate interpretations also enables a reader to draw appropriate meanings from the descriptions of the King and his beloved in the Song. Surely it is better to have a genuine subjective experience that is in line with objective truth than to have only an objective understanding of a reality. For example, it is good to understand all the details of the truth concerning divine adoption, but it is far better to have that understanding alongside the strong cry of ‘Abba, Father,’ a subjective experience brought about by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The Song of Solomon gives to believers an answer to a very important question: ‘What is it like to have contact with Jesus Christ?’ We make contact with him in a variety of ways. Here are two examples. At times, we come to him as penitent, recovering from inner backsliding – the Song can show us the causes of such spiritual troubles as well as its effects on one’s relationship with Jesus, before depicting for us the way of restoration. At other times, we come to Jesus as members of a congregation gathering together to meet with him – the Song, through the contributions of ‘the daughters of Jerusalem’, describes the joys and delights of fellowship as well as the dangers to such fellowship posed, not by outward enemies, but by friends.
There are many other ways of having contact with Jesus, and we can see them in the Song. Such contact is superior to other encounters that our souls have. For example, on holiday abroad my heart is moved by hearing something related to Scotland (sound of bagpipes, a song played in a shop), but at that moment Scotland does not come to me nor do I have an authentic Scottish experience (merely nostalgia, a substitute for the real thing). Contact with Jesus, however, is genuine because he does, by his Spirit, visit the soul and bring heavenly blessings with him, giving to his lovers tastes of his peace and joy. Since these experiences are not described in such detail elsewhere in the Bible, we need the contents of the Song to guide us as we develop a spiritual relationship with Christ.
Of course, the Song uses the human relationship as a picture, but it is only by illustration that we can speak about God and his ways. The Spirit in the Bible uses many images drawn from human life to depict the ways by which God relates to his people. He is likened to a potter, to a metalworker, to a warrior, to a guide, to a shepherd, to a singer, and many others. All these illustrations depict realities about God. He is the potter who shapes our lives, he is the metalworker who burns off the dross we have accumulated, he is the warrior who fights on our behalf, he is the guide who leads us safely through the desert, he is the shepherd who provides provision, and he is the singer who rejoices over his beloved. Some of these appear also in the Song, although the main illustration is that of a Royal Lover and the woman of his affections. Like the other illustrations, it describes truth in the heart of Christ and depicts his interactions with his people.
Poetry
If you read the book in a modern Bible version, you will see that it is poetry (the version used in this book is the English Standard Version). Poetry is a type of literature that appeals to the imagination; it can draw in illustrations, play on words and introduce an endless manner of ways of depicting a situation. (5) This happens in the Song of Solomon. In one scene, the lovers are in a palace, in another scene they are in a field, in another scene they are on a journey. Poetry is the language of lovers, and it can communicate to our minds in a way that simple prose does not do.
As far as I can tell, there are eight poems within the Song, and they are identified on the contents page. Each of the poems, while able to stand on its own, fits into the overall subject of the Song, which is the relationship between Christ and his people.
I don’t think the collection of poems is describing a relationship from its beginning to its conclusion. Rather it contains different pictures or cameos of the relationship believers have with Jesus, highlighting features that recur often in their experience. These features include mutual delight, the effects of spiritual laziness in a believer, the path of spiritual recovery, and longing for perfection.
In the main, there are three speakers in the poems: the king, the woman, and the daughters of Jerusalem. The king depicts Jesus, and I take the woman to be a believer and the daughters of Jerusalem to be her fellow-believers. In the original language, usually the speakers can be identified as masculine or feminine, singular or plural, and modern versions of the Bible identify the speakers. The text of the English Standard Version has been included for the help of the user of this book. Occasionally I have departed from its identification of who is speaking in a section of a poem.
The author
The book itself claims to have been written by King Solomon and that claim is sufficient for all who accept the authority of the Bible. It is not known when he wrote the Song of Solomon, but we can deduce from Peter’s description of the production of the Old Testament (2 Pet. 1:21) that Solomon would have written the Song when he was in a spiritually-healthy state.
Providentially, the Lord had prepared Solomon to become the author of all his writings. We are familiar with his special request for divine wisdom (1 Kings 3). Regarding the Song of Solomon, through the possession of such wisdom, he was given the ability to compose a poetic masterpiece; further he had the experience of creating palaces, gardens and vineyards (each of which appear in the Song), was familiar with the several aspects connected to each, and so was able to use them wisely as pictorial locations of where to place the characters of the Song as they interact with one another on a spiritual level. His own riches and possessions enabled him to use himself as a picture of Jesus in love with those who are poor in spirit.
It is not difficult to show from Scripture that Solomon is a type of Christ. His names point to Christ: Solomon means ‘prince of peace’ and he was also called Jedidiah, which means ‘beloved of the Lord’, because the Lord had special affection for him (2 Sam. 12:24-25). Both these titles, while applicable to Solomon, excel in meaning when he is seen as a type of Jesus, the true Prince of Peace and the eternal Beloved of the Father. Solomon was also the son of David (the king) who enjoyed the greatest success as far as kingdom building was concerned. While Solomon personally failed to maintain a disciplined walk with God and succumbed to the influence of his pagan wives, his kingdom did become a picture of the future kingdom of the Messiah (for example, Psalm 72, which describes the kingdom of the Messiah, is an enhanced description of Solomon’s kingdom).
Could Solomon have written about the Messiah in such an intimate way as revealed in the Song of Solomon? One answer to this question is that he did reveal his interest in the Messianic King by what he wrote in Psalm 72. In that psalm he anticipates the endless and universal reign of the Messiah, one that would be infinitely more durable and extensive that his own reign, great though it was. (6) Since Solomon was guided by the Spirit to describe those more external aspects of the Saviour’s kingdom, and to use contemporary illustrations to depict them, why could he not have been guided by the Spirit to describe the greatness of that kingdom from its inner perspective, that of the love between the Messianic King and his subjects, and to use the intimacy of human love to help us appreciate the pleasure of experiencing divine love? Further, while one cannot say when Solomon wrote the Song, his own experience of departing from God’s ways would have given him all the insight he needed for describing the folly of the woman in the Song when she fails to maintain warm affections for the Lover of her soul. There are aspects of the beauty of Jesus that only a restored backslider can appreciate.
Since there is no reason why Solomon could not have written about the Messiah in an intimate way, we can understand why the title of the Song of Solomon (1:1) indicates that there is something so special about the Song which makes it unique. Solomon wrote over one thousand songs (1 Kings 4:32); he possessed the wisdom that enabled him to make an accurate judgement regarding the differences between them, and this one Song he describes as superior to all the rest. If his assessment was merely based on elegance of style, then it would be possible for him to have written his best song on any topic. But if his assessment was based on the subject of his song, on what greater theme could he written than on the love of Christ for his people? The other songs of Solomon have disappeared (apart from Psalms 72 and 127), and we do not know what was in these missing songs. But we do have his best Song on the best of subjects. That is what divine providence has done with his songs.
The contents of this work began life as a series of sermons preached several years ago in the Scalpay Free Church of Scotland congregation in the Western Isles of Scotland. Sometimes the preaching style will be easily identified. Since they were the first to hear the contents, this book is dedicated to all my friends in the Scalpay Free Church of Scotland, a congregation composed of people who did far more for me than I ever did for them.
(1) Andrew A. Bonar (1844, rpt. 1892, 1978), Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne, Banner of Truth, p. 480.
(2) J. Hudson Taylor (1914, rpt, 1996), Union and Communion, Christian Focus, p. 13.
(3) The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 1, (1834, rpt. 1974), Banner of Truth, xiii.
(4) ‘Communion with God,’ The Works of John Owen, Vol. 2 (rpt. 1965), Banner of Truth, pp. 71-8.
(5) ‘This song sets forth in poetic and dramatic form the subject of subjects, in diverse scenes and personages and experiences; and the whole is arranged as in a many-sided mirror to reflect the beauty and glory of our King, and tell us of his love that passeth knowledge, the love of Christ for me…. A heaven-given riddle, attempting to reveal the love of Christ, and his own Spirit alone can expound it. It may be a detailed history of churches, it is of individual Christian experience, a drop of living water from the ocean of love, a spark of fire from the eternal glory’ (Marcus Rainsford [n.d.], The Song of Solomon, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton and Kent, pp. 7-8).
(6) ‘This psalm agrees with the Song of Songs, in showing that Solomon occupied his mind earnestly with the Messianic kingdom’ (E. W. Hengstenberg [1860], ‘Prolegomena to the Song of Solomon’ in Commentary on Ecclesiastes and Other Treatises, Smith, English and Co.,) p. 280.
Bibliography
George Burrows (rpt. 1958), Commentary on the Song of Solomon, Banner of Truth.
James Durham (1840, rpt. 1997), The Song of Solomon, Banner of Truth.
E. W. Hengstenberg (1860), ‘Prolegomena to the Song of Solomon’ in Commentary on Ecclesiastes and Other Treatises, Smith, English and Co.
Alexander Moody Stuart (1857), The Song of Songs, James Nisbet.
Marcus Rainsford [n.d.], The Song of Solomon, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton and Kent.
Richard A. Norris (2003), ‘The Song of Songs,’ The Church’s Bible, Eerdmans (very useful for comments by various church fathers and medieval writers).
C. H. Spurgeon (1996), The Most Holy Place, Christian Focus.
J. Hudson Taylor (1914, rpt, 1996), Union and Communion, Christian Focus.
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