Sat.’s Devo - God’s Love for Us

Read: Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 22:22-23 Song of Solomon is a controversial book. I never know how to handle it in my blog. It can be an allegory of Israel and God, a love story between a man and a woman or a picture of how God thinks about us. I choose to use the latter one in my blog. I think of how Solomon wrote that he has never met a virtuous woman and in Proverbs 31 he asks “who can find a virtuous woman?” So, it is hard for me to see it as his encounter with a woman. I like to see it as God’s encounter with his first love which was Israel. *** Solomon wrote many songs but, to him this is his Song of Songs, his masterpiece. The woman begins the conversation describing her feelings for her new love. This reminds me of how we first felt when we gave our hearts to Jesus but also it describes Abram’s first encounter with the Lord when he called him and told him he would make him a Father of a nation. Later, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and told him he would be the father of many nations. God called Abraham his friend and shared with him his secrets like when he was going to destroy Sodom. Abraham had such a love a respect for God, he was willing to lay down the life of his only son on the altar. *** In Solomon’s story others were happy for the woman, but then the woman begins to look at herself and do some introspection. She feels unworthy of her lover’s love. She feels a little unsure of his love, but he urges her to just follow him. He assures her of his love for her. They enjoy many intimate moments together. In God’s story with his people, Abraham’s heritage passed on to Isaac who passed it on to Jacob his son. Jacob had a rough start and had many “foxes” in his vineyard he had to catch. It looked like his vineyard would be destroyed but God found a redeemer through Joseph. *** The children of Israel went through years of walking away from God and being separated from the freedom to worship him like he had prescribed. They were exiles in Egypt for many years until God brought her out with many signs and wonders. They would enjoy years of worshiping the Lord, then years of rebellion. *** In Corinthians, Paul is happy that the people in the church in Corinth welcomed Titus with such love. Titus came to love them as Paul did. Paul would also be sending another helper with Titus who would be joining Paul in taking the collection they had gotten from the churches to the church in Jerusalem. The believers there were being terribly persecuted by the Jews and the government of Rome. *** Our Psalm tells us that God doesn’t need our sacrifices for himself. What he really wants is our thankfulness and praise. He wants us to keep our promises to him because he always keeps his promises to us. When we are in trouble he is just a prayer away. *** Lord, we thank you for all you have done for us in the past, present and future. Your love sustains and us and keeps us. May our hearts of gratefulness bring you much joy. All we have we owe to you.