Photo Source: www.typographicverses.com by Jonathan Ogden
The Song of Solomon is not always the most widely read books of the Bible. There aren’t too many sermon series about women caring for their vineyards and her lover like a young stag on the slopes of the mountains. But there are lessons in these few chapters about men and women and about God and his love toward us.
Place me as a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
Love is as strong as death,
its jealously unyeilding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a might flame.
Many waters cannot quench love.Song of Solomon 8:6-7
I love the poetry and the imagery of this passage. It reminds me of knights in shining armor and damsels in distress. The woman is saying that her love will protect the heart of her beloved. No other love can get into his heart because he has it sealed up with her love. And he wears her love on his sleeve as a badge or an emblem for everyone to see that he belongs to her.
Jealously is so often though of as a bad thing, even a sin, but the jealousy of a love that is true and pure is a good and noble thing. It keeps it pure. And it keeps the heart from wandering. It’s like those jars or bottles where under the cap there’s a foil lining that you have to peel back to get inside. The seal protects and keeps things from getting inside, and it also protects what’s inside and keeps it from getting out.
God’s love toward us should be like this seal upon our heart. When we’re tempted we have his love for us and our love for him to keep us and protect us. When we consider our actions we need to remember that our hearts and our lives belong to another. With God, just as in marriage, we can be tempted to give our time and affection to another.
But he is jealous for us. He fights for us. He doesn’t want us to wander away or to find someone or something else to take his place in our hearts. Place his love as a seal on your heart. Wear his love as a badge on your arm. Rest in his love, for there you will find peace and joy and contentment.