Valentines is not a holiday, but it is still a special day. Now and then it comes on Sunday. Then it makes us truly think of love, HIS love. Everyday he beholds us through the eyes of love. It takes a Supreme Being to love us supremely.
Song of Solomon 2:2 “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.”
Here in poetic form is the answer the three Hebrew children gave to the king. They knew their God was the real God. Also, they knew God loved them even as captives in Babylon. They also knew it was their own nation’s fault they were in captivity. Although they were under the thumb of the king, God’s love empowered them to do what they could not have done. God’s love gives us hope. It’s a love worth feeling. It’s wonderful to be considered lovable by the One who knows us best.
Do you ever wonder if God loves us as he once did or as the Bible says? Saying “I love you” is wonderful, but love goes beyond words or feelings. Like the blood in our body, we need love. If you thought no one cared, not even God, you’d feel like life was over. The love of today is selfish. It makes us wonder if love is actually real. Do you ever wonder “where is my valentine?” Where is THAT valentine? The Bible says that faith, hope and charity abide and the greatest is charity—love. Charity is a working love. Of the three, the most dependable is love. It alone is enduring, regardless of time, distance, and circumstance. Though it is terribly missed, what a comfort to know that love is still there. And will be.
In this passage Solomon is speaking of his love for the Shulamite woman, and she speaks of her love for him. Solomon is so wise; we can see how the Lord loves us too. We all understand romance on human terms, but the love of God transcends it all. The song says “the love of God is greater far than tongue nor pen can never tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the deepest hell.”
In verse two we find the beginning of Solomon’s conversation with the woman he loves. He saw her condition and situation. She was a Shulamite , considered by many as just another thorn in the bush. She deserved to be a thorn. Solomon saw her as a lily in the midst of the thorns. Are we not thorns by our Adam nature? God saw the lily and sought it out. Solomon pulled her from the briar patch just as God wants to do for us. The Lord didn’t stop due to our flaws; he saw something worth the sacrifice to bring us out of the thorn patch of sin. In doing so he wore the crown of thorns for us. He saw something of worth in us.
Where is my valentine? For sure Jesus knows who he loves, and he does it with an everlasting love. Maybe we should ask ourselves if we’ve shown love to Jesus. Since he considers us a lily we should love him in return and let him make us a lily.
In response to Solomon she said he was like a forest of trees where only he bore fruit. She felt privileged to sit down under his tree. You may feel things are rough; what you’re going through may be hard, but remember you’re loved and have been brought out of the thorn patch to sit under the apple tree of God’s grace. It surrounds us; all we have to do is reach out and pull the fruit from the branch, because we sit under the shadow of it.
Never ask “Lord, where is my valentine?” We run into his love all around us. Sometimes we’re loved so much we take it for granted. We see God’s valentine every day. Times grow worse, but God’s loves increases and will be there for us.
Solomon then took her from the apple tree to the banquet hall. When she sat down all eyes looked above her head. She looked up too. Verse 4 she says “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” We don’t know her name, but I imagine the banner saying “King Solomon loves the Shulamite.”
It’s good for us right now to be saved and under the apple tree of God. One day we’ll be taken to a banquet. Where is my valentine? I know. All I have to do is look up at the banner. It says “Jesus loves Bob Surber.” It says the same to you. “His banner over me is love.”
Do you need to say something to the Lord? Do you need to thank him for his love and give more love in return? Where’s our valentine? We know. Just look up.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 