THE SEPARATING WALL
But suddenly there is another picture. “The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice” (2:8-9). The picture has changed. Now her beloved is leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. You may think this is wonderful, but if you were the seeking one you would say, “I am here resting, and He is there jumping and skipping. While I am resting, He is leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. How different He is from me.”
A short while before, He was with her in the banqueting house; now, she is still in the house while He is outside the wall. A wall is separating them; He is behind the wall. This portrays some separation between the seeking one and the Lord. In the banqueting house they were one. But now she is within the wall, and He is outside the wall; she is resting, and He is jumping, leaping, and skipping.
So you see, it is possible that while we are loving Jesus, He is away from us. He may not be far away, but there is a separation, a wall between Him and us. He was with us in the banqueting house, but now there is a wall between us. It was so wonderful to be in the banqueting house, but now while we are still inside, He is outside. We are still resting and enjoying, but He is leaping and skipping. We have our character, and He has His. While we have our resting personality, He has His skipping personality.
But praise the Lord that walls nearly always have some openings. He can still see the seeking one by looking through the window. Praise the Lord for the window; but there is a lattice. He can see through, but He cannot get in. This is really meaningful. The Song of Songs is poetry, and a picture is portrayed here. There is a wall with a window, but the window has a lattice. Many times our experiences with the Lord have been just like this. While we were so much in love with Him, He was not with us. He was outside the wall. We were within and He was without. But an opening was there for Him to see us and for us to see Him. However, He could not get in, and we could not get out because of the lattice.
Many times in our experiences with the Lord, something like this will happen. We are separated, but we can still see through. Yet we cannot get through, and the Lord cannot get through either. But the seeking one did hear His voice. She said, “The voice of my beloved!” She heard His voice, and He seemed to be saying, “Rise up; don’t rest anymore. Come out of the house; don’t remain in your situation.”
THE REAL TEST
This is the real test. We say we love the Lord, but we love Him in our way. We love Him according to our taste, our intention, and our goal. We do not love Him according to His way, His taste, His intention, or His goal. Our intention is just to enjoy rest and satisfaction, but suddenly Jesus is away. We are satisfied, but He is away. So many dear ones become excited when they come to the local church and touch the Lord’s love. But then, after a time, they ask, “What happened?” It seems that the happiness is gone. At first they were so happy—they were even in the heavens—but now the happiness is gone. This is the test. We love Him, but it seems that He is away. We love Him, but we do not have His presence. This is because we have loved Him for our goal and for our intention. He is the Lord. He is the King. His intention is the intention. His goal is the goal. If we love Him, we must do so according to His intention and for His goal. This is why He says, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” This is to call us away from our situation.
(Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
