Looking for Jesus (Song 3:1-5)

What do we do when we lose something valuable? Normally we would search for it very carefully and very quickly. Perhaps the story that Jesus told about the woman who lost one of her ten coins comes to mind. The reality often is that seeking for what has been lost becomes the main priority for us. What happens, however, when we don’t start looking for what we have lost? Usually we become content with the circumstances and perhaps even forget what we once had.

Is this what happened to the church in Ephesus as described in Revelation 2? They had lost their first love, which was a tragic situation, but what is also tragic is that they had become content without it. No one would have noticed because they kept on doing what churches do. But they were now on a road to spiritual disaster unless they changed. What happened to them as a church could only occur because of what had happened to them as individuals.

A new poem begins here and it is a short one of five verses. To begin with, in verses 1-2, the woman is alone, searching for the King in two different places, first in her bed and then in the city. In verse 3, she is helped by the watchmen of the city to find where the King is. Verse 4 describes her finding him and the path she engaged in to enjoy his love, and then in verse 5 she speaks to the daughters of Jerusalem about her happy situation.

One detail that we can note is the contrast of this poem with the previous poem, and that is to observe who is doing the seeking now. In the previous poem, it was the King who came seeking for her at her place of residence whereas in this poem she is seeking for him in his residence. So we can see that we can approach the spiritual life from different perspectives. Of course, sometimes the King has to seek her because she has lost interest, but that is never a possible reason why she has to seek him. His absence has nothing to do with any loss of interest on his part.

The absence of Jesus (3:1)

The woman is described as being in bed, but unable to sleep because her beloved is not with her. It is the hours of darkness, of course, and she wonders what has happened. Perhaps she has woken up and discovered that he has gone suddenly. The point is that she misses him.

What does this depict in the spiritual life? I would suggest that it describes times of spiritual darkness that occur, and not because of sinful behaviour. Obviously, we will lose the sense of the Lord’s presence if we engage in sinful thoughts and actions. But the woman here is not in that state. Instead events have come about that have caused a separation between her and the King. Those occasions may come suddenly or they may last for a while. She is in the place of rest, but she has no rest. Her searching for him on the bed, when it is obvious that he is not there, points to perplexity at his absence.

We know that such experiences were common in the Bible. Many psalms focus on it, and the Book of Job describes one man’s very painful experience of it. One prophet described God as hiding himself. Yet we should notice what this kind of experience does not do. It does not diminish her love for her beloved. The psalmists turned to God in their troubles, as did Job. Our longings are often the best spiritual thermometer we can have, especially when things are not to our liking..

Searching for her beloved (3:2-3)

She realised that if she remained where she was, she would only have love for an absent King. And she did not want only that; in addition she wanted his presence with her in a clear way. She knew that he must be somewhere in the city, so she went to look for him. The city was a safe place for her to search, because in it were watchmen placed there by the King. They could tell her where he was.

What does the city represent? In Israel, it would have been Jerusalem, the capital city. Often in the Bible, the city depicts the church. We can think of Psalm 87, for example. And the streets and squares depict the various activities connected to the church. So we can say that here we have a picture of a believer seeking for Jesus in the various services of the church. There are a wide variety of such activities: meetings for fellowship, prayer, the Lord’s Supper etc. When we look for the King, it is right to go there because he himself goes to them as well. Often, believers have met with him in those places.

Yet as the lady went up and down the streets and the squares, she did not find the absent King. Something more was needed, and this was the instruction of the watchmen. We are not told how long she had to search before they became involved. Who were the watchmen? At the time, they would be the individuals who Solomon had chosen to pass on information, protect the city and warn of dangers. It is not too difficult to see in the watchmen a picture of pastors and leaders.

We should note that she uses the plural term when speaking of the watchmen, indicating that they worked in harmony looking after the King’s city. They are described as being alert and watchful, and they spot her in her difficulties. When they ask her about her concerns, she asks if they know where her beloved is. Obviously, they were able to tell her because she found him shortly after speaking to them.

How do spiritual watchmen indicate where the King is to be found? I suspect that there are two answers to this question. One is that they know by personal experience, because they are meant to be in fellowship with him. The other is that they know his Word – after all, Solomon’s watchmen would have known his instructions. So spiritual watchmen should know what the Bible says about spiritual experiences, even if they are not the experiences they are going through at the moment or may never have gone through yet. And so they are able to guide the one who is seeking for Jesus.

Finding Jesus (2:4)

It is obvious that the woman had to move beyond the watchmen in order to get to the King. We could imagine a situation in which the seeker could decide to stay with the watchmen because they seemed to know all about the King, and were able to give her a lot of information. Yet if she had done that, she would not have recovered her experience of the King. There is the danger of putting the guide in place of the goal. The goal is not to meet someone who knows Jesus and where he is. Instead our goal is to meet Jesus for ourselves.

In the illustration, we can see that the presence of the King is very close to the words of his watchmen. She had not gone far from them before she found him. Spiritually, how far may we be from the presence of the Saviour while listening to his watchmen. Perhaps only a prayer away.

The woman found the King and held him. We know that there are many pictures of faith in the Bible. Sometimes we can lean on Jesus, sometimes we can depend on Jesus. Those descriptions of faith we can say are more passive. In addition to them, there are active descriptions of faith, and one of them is holding the King. Humanly speaking, Solomon would have been far stronger than the woman, yet she was able to have power over him by her love. In a far higher sense, when we love Jesus much, he is compelled to bless us.

In addition, the woman had great determination. We might wonder why she did not want to go with him to his palace rather than taking him home to the house where she lived. We could say that the palace is where the King is, of course. Obviously, she wanted some form of privacy away from the bustle of the regular palace. And clearly the King was glad to go. The King, who is used to palaces, is delighted to be in his people’s humbler homes.

Why did she take him to her home? The answer is that she wanted him to have rest – we can see this is the case from verse 5. No doubt, it was the rest of love. We are aware that we as believers should find rest in Jesus. Yet it is also the case that he finds rest in his people. Rest indicates satisfaction, comfort and pleasure. Is it not amazing that Jesus receives such from those who express their love to him?

Keeping Jesus (v. 5)

The woman is aware of a danger to the recovered experience that she is now enjoying. We may think that the danger she mentions is very surprising because it is connected to the women who normally would want to help her the most, the daughters of Jerusalem. In previous episodes in the Song they had helped her in some of her experiences. Yet the rest of love can be disturbed by what might seem to be innocent words by the daughters. And we know that can be the case when we speak about worldly things to other believers, or even when we say truthful things that we don’t experience in our hearts.

Her previous loss makes her value her renewed experience and obviously she does not want to lose it again. So she asks the other lovers of the King to help her in maintaining her enjoyment of his love. Probably she recalls how easy it was for her to have lost his presence on the previous occasion.

Moreover, she is willing to let the King decide when he wants to move on from this experience (when he wakens), but until that moment comes she wants to enjoy his presence. She recognizes that circumstances will change, but until then she wants to enjoy the current contact. Changes happens in the spiritual life as well and we know that even the times of highest contact with Jesus will not last. The disciples, after all, could not stay on the Mount of Transfiguration longer than was beneficial at that time. Nevertheless, here in these verses are described the rest of love, and it can be known in this world.