New Life Worship Ministries

Meditations on Solomon's Song of Songs by Char Scott

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Dark but Lovely...

by Char Scott

We are continuing our study of the Song of Songs tonight. Our desire is to open the meaning of this love song in such a way that these revelations become part of our prayers and our meditations. As this happens, our hearts will grow in passion for Jesus, our Bridegroom King, and our commitment will deepen to follow this amazing God who burns with desire for us.

Let’s begin with a brief review. This is the Song of Songs, the greatest of all songs ever written. It sets forth a pattern of spiritual growth to maturity. We can find ourselves in this book over and over. It begins with the maiden asking for the kisses of His mouth. She is no longer satisfied with what she has. These kisses could also be called the kisses of His Word. As we receive His Word into our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, our capacity to receive His love and to give Him our love in return is increased.

This experience is better than anything the world has to offer us. His fragrance , the expression of His lovely personality and His affection, stirs our hearts in a powerful way. The maiden asks to be drawn into deeper intimacy and also to become a partner with her Beloved. This is a wise desire because His love satisfies and captures our hearts as nothing else can.

Let’s read tonight from Song 1:5-11. “ I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats beside the shepherd’s tents. I have compared you, my love, to my filly among Pharoah’s chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains of gold. We will make you ornaments of gold with beads of silver.“

Her journey begins with the revelation we might call the “paradox of grace.” “I am dark but lovely.“ She sees the reality of her sinful desires, of the darkness of her own heart, and she feels ashamed. Yet somehow she is also aware of the Lord’s desire for her and the fact that she is truly lovely in His sight. How can this be? It is easy for us to believe the Lord will enjoy us in heaven, but can he truly delight in us now?

The darkness of her flesh is like “the tents of Kedar.” These tents were made of goat skins and were grayish black in color. There was nothing beautiful about them. Yet she knows in her heart that she is also “like the curtains of Solomon.” These curtains were bright white curtains in the holy place in the temple. They speak of the grace of God in her life. They could not be seen from the outside, but only by those who look within the holy place. Outwardly, others see her darkness. Inwardly, God sees she is lovely. Others cannot see the grace of God in our lives unless He opens their eyes. We must remember this fact about ourselves and about others as well.

What the Lord sees when He looks on His children is very different from what we normally see. When we become aware of an area of darkness in our lives, we are often surprised, and we think that God is surprised, too. We fear that if He truly knows who we are, in our weakness, He may reconsider His commitment to us. If He really knew us, He might reject us. We may know in our minds that God would not do this, but it is another matter to know it in our hearts. God is not surprised. It is a crisis in our lives when we see our sin, but it is not a crisis to God. The truth is that the situations in our lives only bring out what is already there, hidden until a certain pressure reveals what is under the surface. If we deny our own sin, it produces a hardness in our hearts, and the Lord must allow us to go through another situation of testing to reveal it to us again.

What we do at this moment is critical. There are three ways we can choose to respond. We can choose to deny our sin and hide it from others. We may blame others or even blame God. We can choose to run away from God. This is the way Adam responded. He first hid in fear and covered his nakedness. Then he blamed Eve for his own sin. Adam did not know he was dark, yet lovely to God. We do this when we say in our hearts, “He made me angry,” or “ If she would only quit doing that,” and so forth. None of us like to have our own darkness exposed.

A second response is to be overwhelmed by our sin. This is what happened to Peter when he denied the Lord. He was so overcome with grief and shame that he believed the Lord could never forgive him. He left his calling as a disciple and returned to the only other thing he knew, fishing. When Jesus came to Peter and asked if Peter loved him, He wanted Peter to realize that in spite of his sin, Peter truly did love Jesus. To erase three denials, Jesus had Peter repeat three times that he did love Jesus. Jesus had known what was in Peter’s heart, and He did not want Peter to stay in this place of shame and defeat. We are sometimes so focused on the darkness of our own hearts that we fall into depression or shame to the extent that we draw back from the Lord and the calling He has for our lives. This is not God’s desire for us.

When our sin is so dark we cannot face it, the fear of being rejected by Him can cause us to flee into the world, to say in our hearts “it is too hard to follow God.” If we run from God in our shame, it will only lead to further sin. God is committed to showing us our weakness so we will learn to lean on Him in love. Each time we see our weakness and run to Him, it is an opportunity to grow in love for Him. What a beautiful God to see all of our darkness, and still to offer Himself on the Cross for us! And as we accept our own weaknesses, we are able to love others as well.

David is an example of this third response to the uncovering of sin. When Nathan stood before David and exposed all that David had done with Bathsheba, David felt intense grief and shame. But he did not stay in this place. David chose to acknowledge his sin, to repent and then to receive the Lord’s forgiveness. After fasting and mourning, David went to the temple and worshipped the Lord. David could see his weakness and yet believe that God still loved him.

If we only see the darkness in our hearts, we will feel shame and be unable to enter into a love relationship with God. His desire is to reveal why we are lovely to Him. The truth of our flesh is not the whole truth about us. Why does God think we are lovely? We are beautiful to God because of the finished work of the Cross. We are clothed in His righteousness--He does not see our sin because it is covered by the blood of the Lamb. We are beautiful to Him because of our willing spirit. Each person who is born again has a desire within to say “Yes” to God, and this delights the Lord. We are also beautiful to Him because of His own loving heart. And finally, we are beautiful to Him because He sees us as we will be. The absolute certainty of our destiny as His bride, completely transformed into His own image, is a reality to God even now.

Let’s go back to the Song. “Do not look upon me because I am dark.” She has become self-conscious because of her sin. She is ashamed that others can see her sin, and she feels judged. She feels overwhelmed by the consciousness of her failure. She wants them to stop looking at her. When our sin is exposed to our hearts, it is actually evidence we are growing in the light. We don’t have more sin when God exposes it to us, we have more light.

“Because the sun has tanned me” refers to living under the influence of the natural realm. “Life under the sun” speaks of life apart from God. She understands she was born into a sinful world, and she has been affected by it in every aspect of her life.

“My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards.” The phrase “ the mother” in the Song refers to the Church. She has experienced the common crisis of being rejected by others in the Body of Christ. Maybe her original zeal for the Lord made others uncomfortable around her. Maybe her zeal was untempered and prideful. Often immature believers can be self-absorbed and critical of others. In her zeal she wanted to do everything, so the church leaders gave her many responsibilities. She soon found herself burned out.

“But my own vineyard I have not kept.” In her zeal to do everything to show her love for the Lord, she has neglected her own heart. Now she is tired and disillusioned with the Body of Christ, and she only wants to get back to her “first love.” She makes two statements about herself. “Why should I be as one who veils herself?” Her shame causes her to feel like a veiled woman, one who cannot show her face in public. “Why should I be by the flocks of your companions?” She feels that she is serving her Beloved at a distance. She has lost that sense of intimacy with Him. She has had five common experiences. She is rejected, she is ashamed, she is overworked, she has neglected her own heart, and she is serving Jesus at a distance. Many believers give up at this point.

This recognition produces a desperate cry, “Tell me, O You whom I love, where do You feed Your flock, where do You make rest at noon?” She is asking where she can go so her heart can be touched like it had been before. She has been fed by others, but she longs to be fed by Him alone. “Noon” refers to the heat of the day. Sheep will lay down at noon only if their hunger is satisfied. She wants her hunger for Him to be satisfied so she can find her rest again.

Jesus now answers her cry and reveals Himself as the tender-hearted Shepherd. He gives her instruction on how to find her path again. First, He gives her a general answer. “If you do not know, O fairest among women…” The answer to her need is to discover how God views her in her weakness. He focuses on her beauty, not on the darkness of her heart. He is helping her to remember His love and the beauty He has imparted to her. He speaks directly to her shame and rejection, calling her back into romance with Him.

Then He tells her where to find Him. “Follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats beside the shepherd’s tents.” This is an unexpected answer to her cry for greater intimacy, yet it addresses three temptations in the life of a believer. The first is the temptation to isolation and bitterness. He encourages her to stay involved in the church, “follow in the footsteps of the flock.” The second problem was that she had become involved with too many areas of service. Now that she is burned out, she is tempted to draw back in fear and selfishness. He tells her to care for the “little goats” He has given her, to be faithful in the area He has called her to serve and to leave the others alone. And she is afraid of those in authority because they have misunderstood and mistreated her. He asks her to stay “beside the shepherd’s tents.” He wants her to have an open spirit to spiritual authority even though these leaders are imperfect. As she does, the Lord will work deep things in her heart.

Then the Lord reaffirms her sincerity. “I have compared you, My love, to My filly among Pharoah’s chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains of gold. We will make you ornaments of gold with beads of silver.” The phrase “My love” again reveals His tender affection for her. We need to be reminded over and over of His love--we can never hear it too often. “My filly among Pharoah’s chariots” --a filly is a horse, and the horse is a symbol of strength and power. He is speaking of her strength in Christ’s righteousness. Egypt was known for having the best horses in the world, and the pharoah would have the best of the best. His would be the most skilled and trained horse of all. Jesus saw her hunger and desire for Him as strength. Even though she was not perfected in her training, he sees she truly has some skill. When we face the shame of failure, we often feel like everything is lost, like it was all for nothing, like everything from the past was wasted. This is not true.

“Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments” refers to the beauty of her emotions. The emotions of a person, whether joy or anger, are expressed through the cheeks. Ornaments are created by the skillful work of an artist. Jesus is the artist who beautifies us as we take on His own beauty.

“Your neck with chains of gold…” The neck refers to the will. The Bible speaks of people that are stiff-necked, which means stubborn or rebellious. The neck also speaks of godly submission. The neck is what turns the head as it chooses which way to go, right or left. God sees her submission to divine authority and her resolute will to obey Jesus. “Chains of gold” refers to royal authority. Only a king could wear chains of gold in Solomon’s time. Gold also refers to divine character. God knows that we stumble, but He sees our willing spirit as a chain of gold around our neck.

Finally, He gives her a promise. “We will make you ornaments of gold with beads of silver.” “We will make you…” is the divine promise of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together to accomplish it all in her life, to make her a finely crafted jewel of gold. “Ornaments of gold” refer to divine character. Jesus is telling her she will be Christ-like in her character. He will make her heart like gold as an extravagant worshipper. The phrase “beads of silver” speaks of redemption. She will be used to bring redemption to others and will be equipped to deliver them.

To summarize, we might say that Jesus is telling her, “Most beautiful, stay in the Body. Take care of the little ones I give you. Keep a right spirit towards imperfect leaders. O, My love, you are like a trained horse in righteousness, though you are still young. The very hand of God Himself has touched your emotions. And your will is under the authority of God, the King. You will be Christ-like in your character, and you will be used to deliver others. I will make you a jewel forever.“

Summary | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Index

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