1. The voice of her beloved. - Song 2:8
"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills."
- It is the Shulamite who speaks because "my beloved" is masculine. She is telling the king's court ladies about her man.
- As the story goes, she is telling them how once he came to her and asked her out. Everything in this verse points to the fact that this event happened in the not-too-distant past.* She tells it like it is happening at that moment. She apparently is a vivid story teller! She heard him coming. "Voice" refers to all she heard concerning his arrival. "Voice" refers to the sound he made, not his voice calling out to her. It refers to the crackling of his footsteps coming up to the house. She was listening for him.
- Verse 9 is interesting in that she describes his arrival, "My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice."
- There he was, standing behind a wall at her house showing himself to her so that she would know he was there. He was peeking or glancing at here. It seems as if her brothers did not want him to be there, as we will see later.
- It was at this point, he managed to get her attention and invited her to come away with him, "My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." (Song 2:10) Verse 13 says the same, "...Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
- Such a sweet phrase is found in verse 13 in the words "my love." The phrase is feminine showing us it is the shepherd who speaks here through the voice of the Shulamite, and it means "my friend" or "my sweet friend." The story is vivid and real to her. It is becoming more real to the court ladies.
- Verse 14 is sweet as well, "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."
- He is saying, "Come on out here! Quit hiding. Let's talk and go away for a while!"
- There was a reason she was hiding. Her brothers didn't want her to go anywhere!
2. The voice of her brothers. - Song 2:15
"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
- Here, she tells the court ladies what her brothers did to hinder her from seeing her shepherd. They gave her a job to do. She was assigned the task of catching the little foxes that would surely ruin their grapes.
- As we studied in chapter 1, her brothers treated her harshly (verse 6 in particular).
3. The voice of her heart. - Song 2:16-17
"My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."
- "My beloved" is masculine showing us that it is the Shulamite who speaks here.
- Still speaking to the rest of the harem, she declares, "My beloved is mine, and I am his!" No, she did not and would not ever belong to Solomon!
- Her desire is expressed clearly as, perhaps, she gazes toward the mountains through her window and says, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."* What a delightful thought! She desires him to travel until the evening time when the shadows fade and the air is cool. She says, "turn, my beloved," literally, "return to me quickly!"
* "Bether" means "separation." There is a beautiful picture here. Her desire is toward her shepherd from whom she has been taken. She wants the separation to end!
Conclusion: As we have already learned, the Song of Solomon is a book depicting the love and devotion each of us should have toward Jesus, our Betrothed. One day, we will be His Bride but, until then, we are His betrothed. From this beautiful section of the Song of Songs, we learn that our separation from Jesus for now is bittersweet. How should we feel about this separation?
- "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE [welcome] his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)
- "LOOKING for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
- "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we LOOK for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20)
We all ought to long for the day we see Jesus. For now, we are traveling the mountains of Bether. One day, that separation will be behind us. Stuart Hamblen wrote:
My heart can sing when I pause to remember
A heartache here is but a stepping stone
Along a trail that's winding always upward,
This troubled world is not my final home.Chorus
But until then my heart will go on singing,
Until then with joy I'll carry on,
Until the day my eyes behold the city,
Until the day God calls me home.The things of earth will dim and lose their value
If we recall they're borrowed for awhile;
And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,
Remembered there will only bring a smile.Chorus
But until then my heart will go on singing,
Until then with joy I'll carry on,
Until the day my eyes behold the city,
Until the day God calls me home.This weary world with all its toil and struggle
May take its toll of misery and strife;
The soul of man is like a waiting falcon;
When it's released, it's destined for the skies.Chorus
But until then my heart will go on singing,
Until then with joy I'll carry on,
Until the day my eyes behold the city,
Until the day God calls me home.