Song of Solomon 2:1-17: a reflection

1I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 3As 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, his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love. 5Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love. 6His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me. 7I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires. 8The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills. 9My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice. 10My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. 11For behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. 12The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.” 14My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. 15Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. 16My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies. 17Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.

In the Song's poetry of love, the beloved describes the joy and security of being loved: He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love. A banner was raised over an army or a people to mark whose they were and under whose protection they stood; and here the banner raised over the beloved is love. She stands under the banner of love, marked as loved, secure in it. And read, as this Song has long been read, as a picture of God's love for his people, it speaks of the security of living under the banner of God's love, marked as his, covered and protected by a love raised over us like a banner.

Notice the image: his banner over me is love. To live under a banner is to live under its claim and its protection, marked as belonging to the one whose banner it is. And the banner raised over the beloved is love; she lives under love, marked as loved, secure beneath it. Read as a picture of God's love for his people, it speaks of a wonderful security: to live under the banner of God's love, covered by it, marked as his beloved, protected beneath a love raised over us. We do not live exposed and unclaimed; over us is raised the banner of God's love, under which we are secure, marked as loved, covered by his love. The banner over us is love.

That is worth resting in, for we who are God's live under the banner of his love, secure and marked as loved. We can feel exposed, unclaimed, uncertain whether we are loved; but the beloved's words picture a wonderful security, to live under the banner of love, marked as loved, covered and protected by it. For those who are God's, the banner raised over us is his love; we live under it, secure, marked as his beloved. Do not feel exposed and unloved, as though no banner of love were raised over you; if you are God's, his banner over you is love. Rest in the security of living under the banner of God's love, marked as his beloved and covered by his love, as the beloved said, his banner over me is love; for those who are God's live under the banner of his love, secure beneath it, marked as loved, and covered by a love raised over them like a banner.

Lord, in the Song's poetry of love, the beloved describes the joy and security of being loved: he brought me to the banquet hall; his banner over me is love. A banner was raised over an army or a people to mark whose they were and under whose protection they stood; and here the banner raised over the beloved is love. She stands under the banner of love, marked as loved, secure in it. And read, as this Song has long been read, as a picture of your love for your people, it speaks of the security of living under the banner of your love. Show me the image: his banner over me is love. To live under a banner is to live under its claim and its protection, marked as belonging to the one whose banner it is. And the banner raised over the beloved is love; she lives under love, marked as loved, secure beneath it. Read as a picture of your love for your people, it speaks of a wonderful security: to live under the banner of your love, covered by it, marked as your beloved. We do not live exposed and unclaimed; over us is raised the banner of your love, under which we are secure. Let me rest in that, for I who am yours live under the banner of your love, secure and marked as loved. I can feel exposed, unclaimed, uncertain whether I am loved; but the beloved's words picture a wonderful security, to live under the banner of love, covered and protected by it. For those who are yours, the banner raised over us is your love. Keep me from feeling exposed and unloved, as though no banner of love were raised over me; if I am yours, your banner over me is love, Lord. Help me rest in the security of living under the banner of your love, marked as your beloved and covered by your love.