Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16, 2 Corinthians 8:16-24, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 22:22-23
Today is the 6th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together.
Introduction to the Book of Song of Solomon:
In the Old Testament, we have spent some time in the book of Job, and then in the book of Ecclesiastes. So, wisdom literature but very, very particular, dealing with some of the more darker, difficult topics that we face as human beings. But this leads us to some brand-new territory, unlike any other territory that we’ve been in the Bible, so far. And this territory is known as the Song of Songs or the Song of Solomon. And it’s pretty short, we will read it over the course of the next couple of days, but it is poetry and it’s potent poetry, beautiful poetry, that…that on the face of it, deals with human sexuality. And it’s a poem and so it’s poetry and so poetry is full of metaphor and allegory. And so, this book, the Song of Solomon, has been looked at a number of ways, which is totally fine, it’s poetry, we look through a certain lens when we understand what the genre is, what we’re reading. But we also need to take it at face value and understand that human sexuality and the joy of covenantal, marital relationship is important, important enough that we find it here in the middle of the Bible, that is literally what we will read in the poem: passionate, consummation of love between a man and a woman, who are lovesick and cannot get enough of each other. And it stands on its own for that sake. Ancient Jewish tradition, as well as Christian tradition has allegorical views of this poetry. So, like, from ancient Jewish perspective, it…it’s the story of God revealing how passionate He is and how passionately He loves His children, who are the Hebrew people. And that is totally supportable in the Scriptures. In the Christian tradition, it’s like an allegorical look at Christ’s, Jesus passionate love for His church, His bride, and foreshadowing of His desire for her. And we’re in one of the situations where we’re dealing with poetry. And so, it can speak to us in any of these ways. We can look at it through any of these lenses and all of these interpretations can be true. And so, as we read through this, just invite the Holy Spirit to allow you to see what you need to see and consider what you need to consider and hear what you need to hear. I love it when we get to this point in the year because it’s an opportunity for me to invite my wife Jill, to join us here, because Song of Solomon is largely poetry between a man and woman, her friends and his friends, sort of a male and female voice in the poetry. And so, we will read through this together. And so, let’s dive in together and enjoy the Song of Songs, today chapters 1 through 4.
Prayer:
Father, thank You, thank You for the Scriptures. Thank You for bringing us through the territory that we’ve come through, the wisdom literature in Job and Ecclesiastes and thank You for bringing us into the Song of Songs. And may we drink deeply from it, both in what it is saying literally and also in considering how passionate You are toward Your children. But even as we view that and see once again, an example of how deeply You love us, may we reflect upon whether or not, we feel the same way, we act the same way. If we are contemplating that You are lovesick over Your children, that You are deeply invested and committed, then we need to consider whether our hearts are aimed in the same direction. Or if often times we are users, not deeply lovesick with the one that we love but infatuated with what we might get. Reveal our hearts to us Lord, that we might change. We pray this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I am Brian, I love you and I will be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hey guys, this is Bridget from New York City. I want to pray for Natalie from North Carolina. I just listened to everyone else’s prayer request, and I just felt led to pray for you, for your marriage, for your community. You know, being a mom and a wife and feeling alone, while you’re really truly not is one of the hardest things to really experience. I remember that. So, I just want to lift you up. And Lord, I just ask You, Father God, first and foremost, to speak to Natalie’s husbands’ heart, Lord God. That, Father, though he may work and have to travel, Father, I pray that You would continuously put his wife, in his heart, Lord. That he would call her, that he would text her, that he would send sweet nothings to her, Father God. I pray, Lord, that You would give her community, Father God. That You would surround her Father, introduce her to women that are in similar situations, women that can pray alongside her, women that can encourage her, women that can be a friend to her, Father God. And that Lord, she we would just remember, Lord, that Your word says that You never leave us, nor forsake us. And though she may feel alone, Father God, or feel discouraged Father God, that she would take time as Mary did and sit at Your feet and know that as she sits and as she waits and as she listens, God, that You are ever present with her Lord. That she may sense Your Spirit, just encouraging her. In Jesus name I pray for you my sister, have a good….
Good morning, Daily Audio Bible brothers and sisters. This is Sylvia from South Texas. I’m calling in to request prayers for all the people that live with alcoholics. I know what a hard life that is. I pray that everyone that is suffering this, will go to God and ask the Lord to touch the alcoholics hearts. And that they realize how much hurt and pain they’re bringing their families. I am one of those people that sit in silence, watching my husband go down with his choice of drinking, instead of being with the family. Just pray for everyone …
Hey DAB this is Nate in Washington. I’m requesting some prayer from the community today mostly for my wife. I am a recovering sex addict. And by God’s grace my wife is still with me. We’ve been together for about 10 years now and the majority of that time I have really just been lost in my addiction. More recently, I’ve really stepped into the battle of trying to recover from this and stop my unhealthy habits and it’s…it’s just been such a struggle. And I just really need to, I need God’s help to understand my wife’s pain; pain of the betrayal that I’ve done. I really need to, I just, I need, I pray for God to reveal himself to me. I know He’s the only way that I’m going to be free of this. And I, He has, it’s just when I talk to my wife, there’s still that betrayal, there’s no trust, which is understandable. But I, I’m just really, I know that prayers, God can do anything. So, I thought I would reach out and see if I could get more people involved in talking to God and see if I can really gain some real ground on this, by God’s grace and with his power.
Hey DAB family, this is Beloved in Texas, Sparky’s wife. I’ve kind of been MIA for a while. I’ve been listening, trying to catch up. I just wanted to come on and ask you all for prayer. I love my new job, but it does come with a lot of responsibilities. We’ve also had some financial setbacks that have been causing me some stress. And I just, I have been managing my anxiety and my bi-polar disorder, pretty well. Until recently and now it’s kind of like, the cork popped off the bottle and I’m spewing emotions everywhere. And I don’t, none of my regular coping mechanisms are working and I really don’t know how to handle this. And I don’t want to be this person whose either awake and agitated and angry or volatile and asleep all the time because I don’t know how else to shut my brain off. I just kind of feel like I’ve, I’ve hit a point where I’ve just crashed. And physically, er, earthly I know that’s inevitable when you have bipolar disorder. And it’s not that I don’t have faith that God can get me through this or that He could heal me. It’s just I don’t know how to get through this. I don’t know how to not be so tired of trying so hard to be okay. So, if you could pray for my family, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Kathryn calling from Maryland. I just want to call and thank you, Hands to Heaven for your beautiful prayer for the truckers. All those who serve us, bring things to us that we need. I hope that every, every traveler and trucker like that and is able to go to the transcript section, print it out and read that every day when you’re on the road. And I join you in lifting you up and praying for your safety, for your faith to deepen in those moments alone and for the opportunity for you to share that faith with others. I also want to lift up LOV and Kingdom Seeker Daniel; it was nice to hear your testimony. And you know, God can turn things for good that we initially don’t see. And that sounds like that what’s happened with you. So, pray for your marriage, pray for your love for each other, which has always been very inspiring. Joyful spirits. And wish that you can stay, stay together, stay in love, stay with the three chords, the two of you and God. Lifting up all those with long COVID and those caring for them and surrounding them as well.