Request and Reason (meditation)
So I came across this verse (before a popular verse that’s often taken out of context) and wanted to share with you. It’s Song of Songs 2:14-15 NASB.
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of steep pathway,
Let me see your form, Let me hear Your voice;
For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely.”
Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom.
The bride speaks of her lover in verses 8-17. We hear from time to time in a spiritual-warfare-discernment type of way to “catch the little foxes that spoil the vine”. I hope this will give us a bit of context.
The bride brags on her beloved, how he leaps and climbs (vv. 8-9). She shares how he clues her in to the change of seasons; no more winter, the rains are gone, flowers appear, fig trees blossom and vines give fragrance (vv. 10-13). Wrapped in these verses is a key phrase: it’s time to prune the vines.
Further, the bride requests his presence and gives a unique reason for wanting to meet. Essentially, she wants to stop talking about him and be with him.
HER REQUEST: I WANT TO SEE YOU AND HEAR YOUR VOICE.
How often is this our cry to the Father? We wrap it in supplication for guidance and deliverance, but we really want to SEE HIM and HEAR HIS VOICE. Why? For just an experience? The bride gives her reason.
HER REASON: YOUR VOICE IS SWEET AND YOUR FORM IS LOVELY.
This moves me. There is something about the fact that He speaks that is as great as what He says. He ministers to his bride. And his form is lovely…wow. At times we make this walk with God so impossible in places — like He can’t do or we can’t measure up — and we go back to our default humanity. We relax on the excuse that we are human. We remain in relationship with Him to conform to Him and let His form shape us. And this work is LOVELY.
Today, let’s mind our requests for His presence and His voice. Let’s consider the seven ways we can hear Him (see earlier blog entry in Prayer Notes section), and embrace when He speaks. His voice is sweet…regardless of the message He brings and because His intentions are good toward us (Jeremiah 29:11). Hearing Him and knowing we hear Him is a sweet thing. And when He speaks and we do not harden our hearts, then His form is lovely to us. That is, His Word’s potential to shape us creates more beauty.
Note how the bride follows request and reason with a charge. This is BLOSSOMING TIME. This is PRODUCTIVE TIME. The VINEYARDS ARE RIPE AND SMELL GOOD. And the bride asks her beloved to catch the foxes that are attaching to LIVING AND FRUITFUL VINES. The focus is not the foxes, but the blossoming season.
Reaching? I don’t think so. Let’s not let the prevailing culture (within and outside of the church) turn us into junkies for judgment apart from God’s love. It’s absolutely coming (and is here in some regard), but it’s His last resort (and should be ours). Mercy still triumphs and love still conquers. My encouragement to us is that it’s okay to keep a heart for God that honors His voice and stays pliable in His hand.
Selah, and love to all.
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The Bereans' Commentary with Shaunta D. Scroggins, Ed.D. 
