Song of Solomon 3:1-5
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Chapter 3 opens with a scene of despair; the Shulamite has lost fellowship with Solomon. Note, she has not lost her love for him, "I sought him whom my soul loveth." This is typical of us as Christians as well. Many times, I have lost the sense of his presence, I have turned to find him, and it seemed that he was nowhere to be found. This never made my love grow cold, actually, more fervent. So, when you can't find peace and assurance in the feeling of his presence you can find some assurance in the fact that you still love him. It is only possible for us to love him because he first loved us! These times of his seeming departure from our side make our love and desire for him grow stronger and that desire drives us out of our slumber as a Christian and into the highways and byways in search of our lovely Savior.
Notice where she sought him, "By night on my bed I sought him." I imagined the Shulamite turning over to find that He was gone, the warmness that was once there has departed. Turning over to see why this cold breeze had chilled her she finds that He is gone. She seeks him, most likely, by at first calling for him, maybe expecting a call from the other room that he would be right back. She calls and calls but no reply. When she can't find him in the bedchambers she says, "I will now rise." This is a wonderful lesson to us, when we can't find the embrace of his presence we should rise up out of the slumbering position we have been in. Our Lord, like Solomon is no sloth. What time is spent resting is that which is necessary, but many times our flesh would like to rest longer that what is healthy. I would remind you of the words of Solomon, by the Holy Ghost.
Proverbs 6:9-11
"How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."
We would want to always be in a time of relaxation and banqueting, we want always and every day to be time spent in private with our Lord, when we are comforted by his love and swept of our feet by his embrace, but our Lord is The Lord of the Harvest. If we slumber on and take our rest, he may very well leave us there and go attend to the business of the King. If you have every lived with a working man, you know there are a lot of early mornings and late nights that industry requires of a man. When I was working my secular job, I had to be up at 4:30 AM to get to work on time, if my wife wanted to spend time with me, she would have to be up early to see me off. Many mornings she would and many mornings she would awake to my absence. Before we had children, she would come to work with me, when I was working for myself. My point is this, Our Lord is a working man, He has fields to tend to, sheep to rear, kingdoms to oversee he reserves time for us in the secret chambers but if we would spend all the day long with him it means that we must also strap on our gospel boots, "have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel," and we will find him in the work. If you want to find him, you will find him in the fields as in Chapter 1:8. You will find him in the highways and the hedges as in this passage. You will find Christ and his presence in the work.
Have you missed him? Do as did the Shulamite. Rise off your bed of idleness go into the fields into the highways and where you couldn't find him in the private chambers of your closet, you will find his presence in sharing the gospel with a neighbor, in lending a helping hand. Many times, I have felt that same familiar embrace in the work of Christ as I have felt in my private times of prayer and study.
When she found Him notice she didn't take him back to the secret chambers, but she took him to her mother’s house. She has found the one whom her soul loves and she must tell others about him! Oh, let this be a lesson to us, not to just enjoy Christ for ourselves but to take to our families and friends and let them see and prayerfully come to know the one who has satisfied our hungering souls. Dear, Christian, He will be found. If not in the secret chambers in the sheep fields, caring for his flock. In the Highways, watching for his Kingdom. In your neighbor’s house, as you are sharing Him with them.