Sermon Central
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First Date Series
Contributed by Shawn Drake on Feb 12, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the 2nd study in the study "Intimacy" (Song of Solomon). This study looks at first dates and gives a couple of hints.
FIRST DATE
In our last study we found the Shulamite woman desiring to be with Solomon. She was also concerned about the fact that Solomon might be more attracted to one of the other “available” women.
In this study we find Solomon meeting the Shulamite woman and then having dinner with her. We will follow this date and see how the date goes. We also will find some helpful hints for dating and a very good “piece” of advice in the last verse of our text.
Setting Up The Date
Song of Solomon 1:7-10(NKJV)
(TO HER BELOVED)
7 Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself By the flocks of your companions?
THE BELOVED
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little goats Beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with chains of gold.
Song of Songs 1:7-10(Message)
Tell me where you’re working- I love you so much- Tell me where you’re tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care?
THE MAN
If you can’t find me, loveliest of all women, it’s all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
You remind me of Pharaoh’s well-groomed and satiny mares. Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat. I’m making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty.
The Shulamite woman was getting frustrated because Solomon seemed too busy to meet with her. She was very anxious to spend time with Solomon and was afraid he just didn’t want to see her.
Solomon assured her that she just needed to be patient because he thought she was very beautiful. I am sure that she was very relieved to know that Solomon was attracted to her, but probably almost immediately she began to worry about how their time together would go.
It is interesting to watch how people worry so much. It is easy to laugh or criticize this woman for being so paranoid, but almost all of us have done the same. During the dating process, one must be patient and remember that God is still in control. I believe that sometimes we want something or someone so bad that regardless of what God tells us to do, we continue to pursue that anyhow. Be careful!
Just A Thought
Traditionally, men are the ones to initiate the dating process; but in recent years women have become bolder in these areas. How do you feel about women “asking” men out on dates?
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Setting Of The Date
Song of Solomon 1:12-2:2(NKJV)
THE SHULAMITE
12 While the king is at his table, My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, That lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms In the vineyards of En Gedi.
THE BELOVED
15 Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.
THE SHULAMITE
16 Behold, you are handsome, my beloved! Yes, pleasant! Also our bed is green.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar, And our rafters of fir.
1 I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.
THE BELOVED
2 Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
Song of Songs 1:12-2:2(Message)
THE WOMAN
When my King-Love lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room. His head resting between my breasts- the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh. My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of Engedi.
THE MAN
Oh, my dear friend! You’re so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful, like doves!
THE WOMAN
And you, my dear lover- you’re so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen. We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
I’m just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools.
THE MAN
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds- that’s my dear friend among the girls in the village.
Their first date must have been a dinner date. As they were eating she was quietly wondering what he was thinking. She was hoping he noticed how sweet she smelled. Finally, Solomon broke the silence and told her how beautiful she was. As he looked into her eyes he told her that she had beautiful eyes. She returned his kind words with telling him how handsome he was. She then told him that compared to some of the other “available” women that she felt very average. He replied to her that she was like a lily among the thorns. Meaning he thought she was the most beautiful of all the women.