New Life Worship Ministries

Meditations on Solomon's Song of Songs by Char Scott

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Challenging the Comfort Zone

by Char Scott

We are continuing our study of the Song of Songs tonight. We left the maiden sitting at the banquet table with her Beloved, being embraced and fed the truths of His great love for her as revealed in His redemptive act on the Cross. Their love is flowing back and forth as they express the delight they share in each other. He warns others not to disturb her in this special and vital season of her life. We do not know how much time passes until the next verse.

Let’s begin tonight in Song of Songs 2:8-17. “Listen! My Beloved ! Behold, He is coming, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills! My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, He is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice. My Beloved spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; the time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!’

‘O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.’ Catch the little foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom. My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He pastures His flock among the lilies, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”

In Song 1:5-7, the maiden faced her first spiritual crisis, which was seeing sin in her life and experiencing shame. The revelation that she is dark but lovely to the Lord has set her free from shame to enter into further intimacy with Him. Now she experiences a crisis of fear as the Lord Himself disturbs her. The season in her life has changed, and He is calling her out of that safe place that He has made for her in order to bring her into further maturity.

The issue she faces is this--is Jesus a safe God? Can she trust and obey Him completely? It seems safer to her to stay in the boat without Jesus than to step out on the water with Him. Up to this time she has only seen Jesus as an affectionate Father and as a tender-hearted Shepherd caring for her needs and resting under shade trees. Now she sees He is also the sovereign King, skipping on hills and leaping on mountains. This is a new revelation to her. She recognizes His voice, but He has a new face.

Let’s take a look at the verses together. “Listen! My Beloved!” She knows the sound of His voice. There is a familiarity and sensitivity in her ability to discern His voice. Jesus taught us that His sheep would know His voice. Her heart is awakened to hear what He would now say to her. Each time the maiden speaks to Jesus, she calls Him “my Beloved.” Her heart is His.

“Behold, He comes!” He wants her full and undivided attention.

“Leaping on the mountains” refers to obstacles we may face, either human or demonic. “Mountains” can also refer to natural or spiritual governments. In Mark 11:23, Jesus taught us to speak to these mountains and to command them to be removed. The obstacles in this world are nothing before Him, and He wants to train us to share in His authority. One day the authority of the government of God on earth will be greater than that of any nation.

“Skipping on the hills” speaks of the personal difficulties we face in our lives. They are much smaller than the mountains of oppression in the nations. Jesus can easily skip over the troubles we face. None of them are difficult for Him to overcome.

“My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag” creates a picture that it is no challenge for the Lord to leap over any and all mountains. A gazelle is an animal that is fast and especially swift in its sudden movements, running easily in high places or away from enemies. The gazelle is an image of effortless ascending up the mountains. The young stag refers to an attitude of courage in face of opposition. He is ready and willing to meet head-on any challenger who would oppose him. Combined, the gazelle and the stag create an impression of great agility and fearlessness, effortlessly achieving victory over all enemies and all authority structures, in heaven or on earth. Jesus is seated far above all other powers and has authority over all.

“Behold, He is standing” shows the Lord ready for action. Normally, He is described as seated in heaven, at rest in His finished work on the Cross. Here He is seen as standing, calling her to come forth with Him. He is answering her cry to “Let us run together,” and calling her to come with Him in ministry.

“Behind our wall” describes that position she is now in. She sees Him as standing behind the wall, but in reality she is the one behind the wall, a wall of self-protection that shuts out the world and the needs of others, that keeps her from the risks of walking in faith. She sees it as “our wall,” one they created together. Initially, it is true He put her behind the wall, in isolation, in order to make her lovesick. But now it has become her place of security and her comfort zone. He is outside, calling her forth to join Him in a new season.

“He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice.” Jesus gazes at her with eyes of fiery love, wanting to draw her forth from her private world of self-concern and imparting to her a vision for the nations. The windows and lattice openings are placed in the wall by the Lord so He can deeply touch her. They speak of the holy ways He can touch and transform her heart as she is vulnerable and open.

“My Beloved spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along’” lets us know that He speaks to her in love at every step in her journey. He enjoys her at each stage of maturity, much as a parent delights in a child with each new evidence of growth. He uses endearing language to motivate her.

She is His “beautiful one” at each phase of maturity. Jesus speaks tenderly to her as opposed to harshly or in judgment even though she refuses to come out. He does not tell her she looks bad in her selfishness and fear. Many people think God sees us as hypocrites who better get our act together or be rejected. They think God threatens us in order to get us to obey Him. This is not so. He is saying to her, “You are so dear to Me. You mean so much to Me. I want to reign and rule with you at My side.”

The young maiden does not want to leave the place of rest and refreshment where she just enjoys loving and worshipping Jesus. She does not like the risks of walking by faith, yet the very place God wants to meet her now is in this place of danger. God, in His infinite wisdom, has established a kingdom that operates by faith, with confidence in things we cannot yet see and may not feel. This faith reflects devotion, more than seeing and feeling does, and it honors God.

God challenges the comfort zone in our lives in many different ways. He places us in new relationships, new jobs, new locations, new ministry, facing new issues in life. The maiden confronts three difficult aspects of leaving the comfort zone. The first is the risk of walking by faith. She does not want to go to the mountains, the high places. She is afraid. She also does not want to deal with the struggles of spiritual warfare. They are real, even though we know the outcome. She does not yet want to be a warrior as well as a worshipper. And finally, she does not like the cost and inconvenience of sacrificial service to others. It costs something of ourselves to run with the Lord in ministry.

“For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone” reveals that it is a new season, a time of springtime in the Spirit. Jesus is encouraging her with a prophetic word that it is time for fruitfulness and the harvest is not far off. He wants to help her overcome her fear and obey Him now.

The Lord reminds her of His faithfulness in the past. He tells her that the winter is past, and they are still together, still in love with one another. “The winter” speaks of trials and hard times. He has helped her through all her past trials and dark times. One reason the Lord takes us through difficult seasons is to give us our own personal history in the faithfulness of the Lord to us. It is not enough to read of His faithfulness to others. Someone else’s faith cannot make us stable in a time of personal crisis. We need to know His faithfulness in our own lives that we can draw on in future struggles. Our own personal history with God is what makes us stable and established in the faith. The most difficult times I have been through have also been times I learned the most about the Father’s love for me personally. They are precious to me and to Him.

“The flowers appear on the earth” signify a coming harvest. The flowers appear on the vine just before the fruit does. The flowers are a prophetic sign of the coming harvest, and now it is time to prepare for this harvest. In all of history, there may not have been a time when it was more important to prepare than there is now.

“The time of singing is come” refers to the celebration that takes place when the winter is over, and the harvest approaches. We naturally experience new hope and joy in the springtime when the sun shines and new life comes forth around us. It is the same in the spiritual realm.

“The voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land” tells us that the harvest time is near. This bird was heard in Israel at the time of harvest.

“The fig tree puts forth her green leaves” is another sign of spring. Figs grow even in the winter time, and now the fruit is almost ripe. There is fruit in our lives that matures even in the dark times of winter.

“The vines with the tender grapes give forth a good smell” again refers to a sign of spring. The grapes are immature, but they are there on the vine. He is calling her to recognize the new season.

“Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come along!” repeats His call to her to rise up and leave her place of comfort. This indicates a sense of urgency. The Lord consistently motivates her by love and affection. He is wooing her with the bridal paradigm and the promise of fruitfulness. This passage reveals the tenderness of God’s heart as He declares her beauty even in her struggle with fear. He knows she will refuse Him, yet He expresses His love and delight in her anyway.

The goal of her life, and of ours, is not just to feel His presence, but also to function as His inheritance, His partner, beside Him as His bride. We can make it into heaven even if we stay in our comfort zone, but we will not bear much fruit. He desires that she become all He has intended her to be.

“O, my dove” expresses her sincerity and devotion to Him. The dove also speaks of purity, innocence, and loyalty. He still sees these qualities in her and affirms them.

“In the clefts of the rock” refers to Christ’s redemption. Jesus is the Rock of God. The “cleft of the rock” is where God hid Moses when the glory of God passed by. Moses hiding in the cleft of the rock was a symbol of salvation through the cross. He was being hidden, figuratively, in Christ’s redemption. We also are hidden in the cleft of the rock because we are in Christ. Jesus is the rock that protects us in our sinfulness from the glory of God. The “cleft of the rock” also refers to the wounds in Jesus’ side on the Cross. The only safe place to relate to God is on the basis of Jesus’ finished work on the Cross. As a bird hides itself in the cleft of the rock in the cliff for safety, so we are to hide ourselves in Jesus.

“In the secret places of the steep pathway” speaks of the mystery of the resurrection. We are to find our safe place in the provision of redemption. There is much we do not yet know or understand that Jesus obtained for us on the Cross. “The steep pathway” is translated “secret places of the stairs” in the KJV. This secret stairway is the stairway to heaven that Jacob saw in his dream. He is calling her to new heights in the spirit. Jesus calls her to come to God in confidence even in the middle of her weakness because of what He provided in salvation.

“Let Me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely” speaks of the fact that her prayers are sweet to the Lord, even though she is fearful and immature. God wants to hear her adoring worship and her prayer for help in this crisis. He wants her to run to Him in confidence instead of from Him in condemnation. We think that when we are struggling with sin our voice is ugly and repulsive to God so we run from Him. Just the opposite is true. The Lord says, “I want to hear your cry for help. I know you are trembling right now. Ask Me to help you. Don’t try to do this alone, but lean on Me.”

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom” is her cry for help and for deliverance from the areas of fear and compromise in her life. Foxes are cunning little animals that destroy the vineyards in Israel under the cover of night. They are hard to catch and refer to the small areas of sin in our lives that are subtle and difficult to deal with. We may no longer struggle with big, obvious sins like immorality and other sins of commission. But we still find ourselves dealing with attitudes such as fear, criticism, lack of compassion, impure speech, and other areas of compromise. These are serious because they hold us back from the deepest experiences in the love of God, and we need His help to conquer them.

The maiden is now tending her vineyard in contrast to her situation in chapter one, however, these little fears and insecurities spoil her intimacy with Jesus. She longs for help to go deeper.

“Our vines” speak of areas in our lives that impact our spiritual life, as Jesus spoke of in John 15 when He called Himself the vine and us the branches. “The tender grapes” refers to immature areas of her spiritual life.

“My Beloved is mine, and I am His” is her declaration that she truly belongs to Jesus. She expresses her sincere love for Him and the fact that she has not lost her place in His heart. He did not cast her aside because of her struggle, and she wants to live totally for Him, to be fully His. What a wonderful revelation when we truly know we are His and He is ours! Nothing can ever really separate us from His love again.

“He pastures His flock among the lilies” speaks of the reality that He feeds us with the deep things of who He is among “the lilies,” the place of purity, trust, and innocence. In chapter one where she called herself “the lily,” she was discovering her own identity in the Lord. Here “the lilies” is plural, referring to the community of believers who are also seeking this whole-hearted love for Jesus. She is acknowledging her need to be part of the corporate Church.

“Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away” expresses the idea that there is darkness in her life until she receives more light. There are areas in her life that are not yet in the light. She cannot go to the mountains until she receives help with these fears and grows in maturity. This must break her heart because she knows she was created to live on the mountains with Jesus in extravagant love and bridal partnership.

“Turn, my Beloved” means that she knows He must go without her, yet she still calls Him her “Beloved.” Her weakness does not mean that her love for Jesus is false. She knows that Jesus must continue to do the Father’s work without her because His personality and purpose can never change. She understands the inevitable separation that is coming.

“Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether” speaks of the fact that He must go up without her. The word “Bether” in Hebrew means “the separation.”

So the maiden knows she is a lover of God, but she refuses to obey Him out of fear due to her spiritual immaturity, not out of rebellion. She tells Him to turn and go away to the mountains without her. He does turn and go on for a brief season. The Lord honors her voluntary decision to draw back. Our relationship with Jesus is based on voluntary love. She does not lose her salvation or her place in His heart, but she does not go on at this point. The Lord loves her too much to allow her to stay in this place. He already sees her as a beautiful, mature Bride. He will bring her forth and complete the work He has begun in her.

We all reach this place many times in our walk with the Lord. We hear Him calling us forward, but we are not yet free to follow. Do not become discouraged or feel you must strive to change yourself. He simply wants us to ask Him to help us. We truly cannot change ourselves, only respond to His love as He changes our hearts. We must be careful not to be too hard on ourselves at this point. We must also be careful not to compare ourselves with one another or to judge others who may be struggling to leave their comfort zone. The Lord’s way is to enable us through a deeper revelation of His love for us. As we allow His light to penetrate the dark areas of our hearts, we will find new freedom to go forward with Him.

Let’s pray, “Father, thank You that we can hide ourselves in Christ, in the finished work of the Cross. Thank You that You call us forth into maturity, and do not leave us in our darkness. Thank You that You hear our voice even in our weakness, and it is sweet to your ears. Thank You that You see us as lovely even when our fears hold us back. We ask that You catch for us the little foxes that spoil our intimacy with You. It is our desire to run with You and to grow in grace. Thank You for your wonderful faithfulness in each of our lives. We want to be totally Yours, Lord. Amen.”

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

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