An Invitation to Intimacy - Part 2

Focus Scripture

Song of Songs 1 : 1-4 (NRSV)

The Song of Solomon

The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine, your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured out; therefore the maidens love you. Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.

Daily Byte

The Song of Solomon is an ancient love poem, thought to have been written by King Solomon. The language is passionate and, in places, quite explicit. It is clear that the Scriptures are very comfortable with sexual language.

Throughout the centuries this song has been seen as an allegory of God’s love for God’s people. It resonates with the sexual language that is used in the Bible to describe our intimacy with God, and invites us to become passionate in our worship of our Divine Lover. There are some reasons why we sometimes get uncomfortable with entering worship in this way, though. For some of us we have separated the spiritual and the physical aspects of our lives to much that it seem wrong to think of worship in this way. For others, particularly men, we have become so used to masculine language - or other-worldly language - for God that we find it uncomfortable to think of God as a “Lover” like this. But, perhaps, if we can open ourselves to this idea, and invite God to show us what it might mean for us to experience God intimately and passionately, we can find a new joy and energy in our faith and our worship. Are you willing to try it?

Read the passage again, slowly. How does this language feel to you? In what way could you begin to explore the metaphor of “Lover” in your relationship with God? How do you think it might change your faith and your worship to begin to embrace true intimacy with God? What might be standing in your way and keeping you from this journey?

Pray As You Go

O Divine Lover,
How relentless You are
in drawing our attention to Your devotion to us:
You embody Yourself in planets and worlds,
in creatures and beauty
and You fill our lives with colour and with joy.

You decant Your desire for us
into the hearts of our friends and families and touch us through their comfort and their compassion.

Yours is a subversive, uncontainable love, O Beloved.
It finds us even when we try to hide;
It reaches us, though all the world would seek to build walls against it.
And it has invaded our hearts,
softening them and igniting love for You in us.

We praise You for this love.
And we bring the love-token of our worship in return.

Amen.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission.

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com