Song of Solomon 6:13b “The Shulamite Bride: Why would you seek a mere Shulamite like me? Why would you want to see my dance of love? The Bridegroom-King: Because you dance so gracefully, as though you danced with angels!” Today's episode explains the Song of Songs and then goes deeper into this particular verse. It talks about the question we all ask, "Why me?" God chooses us, each one of us. He loves us, longs for us, and pursues us. This book is a love letter to us! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Why Would You Seek Me?
Song of Solomon 6:13b “The Shulamite Bride: Why would you seek a mere Shulamite like me? Why would you want to see my dance of love? The Bridegroom-King: Because you dance so gracefully, as though you danced with angels!”
I wanted to stick with the Song of Solomon Book, also known as the Song of Songs. I am in love with the passion translation of this book. Let me explain quickly for those of you who, like me, don’t know much about the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs is a love story between a Schulamite Bride, the Bridegroom King, and the brides-to-be, representing our interactions with the world. The passion translation tells you who is talking in each verse, so you don’t have to guess. It is easy to understand, and it can be read like a play. It is so beautiful. If you want to read this translation for free, you can go to bible.com and search it. I will also link a Word document where I copied this translation so you can read it. You can CLICK HERE and download it if you would like. Once you read it, you will be just as in love with it as I am. Remember, this is meant to be our story, too. This is how much our Lord is pursuing us, too!
While reading through the book this morning, two things in particular stood out to me. I will talk about one today and one tomorrow. Limiting the verses to one or two is difficult, as this book has many good things. I love the whole thing. However, the point of this podcast is to go deeper into the verses, so I will do my best to select a few verses to talk about. Today is just one verse but a conversation between the Shulamite Bride and her Bridegroom King. The Shulamite woman is asking a question we all ask at some point. Why me? Have you ever asked yourself this question when talking to the Lord? Why would you pick me? Why would you want to work through me? Why would you want to use me? I know I have.
This was the exact question I asked the Lord when trying to figure out why I had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and yet could not speak/pray in tongues. I heard/felt the Lord very clearly say, “Why not you?” He is saying that to you, too. The Lord is so amazing. When we look at ourselves, all we see are our flaws. All we see are our mistakes. That is not what the Lord sees. When He looks at us, He sees the person He created us to be. When He looks at us, He sees His child. If you have children or nieces and nephews, consider how you look at them. Do you see their mistakes and flaws, or do you see the good in them?
So many kids, my nieces and nephews, my boys, and their friends, don’t like how they look or don’t like anything about themselves. They don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. I wish, more than anything, that they could see themselves through my eyes. I wish they could see how amazing they are. I could tell them, and I do, but they don’t hear me. They don’t believe me. I imagine this is how God feels. I imagine how we talk about ourselves and see ourselves breaks His heart. I imagine He wishes we could see ourselves through His eyes, too.
Did you know this is something you can pray for? I have prayed for this for a long time, and while I am sure I don’t see myself exactly like God sees me, I do see myself better than I used to. I know I am a beloved child of God. I know God loves me, and although I may still question why he would want to use me or if He is using me, I don’t question if He loves or likes me. I know He does. I used to think the disciple John was a bit prideful or arrogant, referring to himself as “the beloved disciple, or the one who Jesus loved. Now I know that He wasn’t. He could see himself a bit more through Jesus’ eyes. He was able to believe what Jesus said about him. Jesus didn’t just say it about him, though. He said it about all of us. John was just able to believe it a bit more than we are.
In the verse above, the Shulamite Bride asks, “Why would you seek a mere Shulamite like me? Why would you want to see my dance of love?” and the Bridegroom-King says, “Because you dance so gracefully, as though you danced with angels!” Do you see how differently the Lord sees us? Do you see the kind of gentle, loving answer we get when we ask Him to show us how He sees us or why He would pick us? He doesn’t stop there, either. He goes on for almost another chapter, saying how wonderful she is.
God loves you! He really does. If you doubt this or think God couldn’t possibly love you after all you have done or all that has been done to you, I assure you, He can, and He does. If you have ever wondered what it feels like to be loved or pursued by the Lord, read this book in the Bible, and you will begin to understand what it feels like. When you read this book, resist the urge to discount yourself. When you read this book, fight the feelings you will have to say that God is not talking to you. This can be so easy for us to do. We can easily believe that God loves others but not us. We can believe that God forgives others but not us. God loves you! God forgives you!
Read this book and picture Jesus saying these things to you. Try to take them in and sit with them. Maybe you just read one chapter at a time and sit with it. Maybe you just read one paragraph and sit with it. Imagine the Lord saying these things to you. Imagine feeling these things about the Lord. If we want an intimate relationship with the Lord, reading this book might be a good start. Understanding the depths of His love for me becomes a bit more achievable when I read this translation of this book in the Bible. I hope it helps you as well.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us see your incredible love for us. Help us to believe you could be saying these things to us. Help us put ourselves in the Schulamite woman’s place. Help us truly take in how much you love us, pursue us, and long for us. We love you, Lord. We want to feel this way about you. We want to long for you. We want to pursue you. We want to turn over our lives to you. We need your help, Lord. We can do all things through you and nothing without you. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!