SICK OF LOVE
The seeking one who reached such high attainment in her spiritual life still has some discrepancy between her and the Lord. She is much with the Lord, yet there is still some unwillingness. He calls her, and she hesitates. She gives the Lord a very good excuse. She says, “I have put off my old way of being. How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet from the dirt of the earth. How can I defile them again?” These are good excuses, but when the Lord calls, He does not care how good the excuses are.
At this point, she realizes that the Lord is gone. “I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love” (5:6, 8). She seeks the Lord, but she cannot find Him. She calls, but the Lord does not answer her. Others try to help her, and she tells them that she is sick of love for the Lord.
She is asked by all the others, “Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee” (6:1). While she is telling them about the Lord, she realizes that the Lord has not left; He is still in His garden. “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies” (6:2-3).
We all have had this kind of experience. Sometimes we feel that the Lord is gone, and we begin to talk to others about Him. But while we are talking, we realize that the Lord is still with us. We thought He was far away, but He is still in His garden, feeding among the lilies. He is still in us, and we are His, and He is ours.
A DEEPER TURN
At this time a further and deeper transforming work is done in the seeking one. Now the Lord says to her, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners” (6:4). After the turn in chapter four, the Lord likens her to a garden. But after this deeper turn, the Lord likens her to a city.
I do not believe that any other teachings or instructions could help us in our spiritual growth as much as all these points. We do not need to learn this book in a way of knowledge, but we must see all the turning points for our spiritual growth which this book opens up. We need to fellowship and pray over these points many times. All these lessons will be repeated again and again in a kind of cycle as we go on with the Lord. By all the cycles we will grow from the crown to the garden, and then from the garden to the city and the army. This is the way for us to fulfill God’s eternal purpose and to build up the Body of Christ.
(Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)
