Song of Solomon 5:2-6
I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
This tenth canticle of the book runs from chapter 5:2 all the way to 6:3. Today we will deal with only the first 4 verses.
The opening line is “I sleep” and notice when this slumbering came. It was after they had just had a banquet in the garden of spices. Right after what seems to have been one of the high points, we find her sleeping. Now there is nothing wrong with sleep, it is a necessary part of life, but we understand the spiritual implications here and not the physical.
How many times after these high points in our Christian life have we “slept?” We were satisfied with the fellowship we had in our day’s ministry, or the fellowship we had at church and instead of retiring with our Lord, we retired from our Lord. Yes public, corporate worship is needful and wonderful, but Solomon wasn’t satisfied with just that banqueting but he wanting to visit her in her private chambers. So it is with our heavenly Solomon, many times we leave church or the ministry that we have been engaged in that day and we assume that the fellowship we had with Him at church or in ministry is sufficient for the day and we retire from Christ instead of retiring with Christ.
He comes to knock on our heart’s door, He prods our hearts to switch of the TV’s and phones and sit with him in the night hours, but our hearts have closed their eyes, our spirituality is done for the day. He knocks and receives no reply. We are asleep.
The next words are “my heart waketh.” Although she is asleep the voice of her beloved rouses her to life. If not her body, but her heart and her bowels are affected, that is butterflies fill her stomach. What an encouragement to know that even when we sleep, even when we are tired and not feeling the least bit spiritual and just want rest, the voice of our beloved Jesus is enough to awaken our hearts and enflame our desires for him again. How many times have I been in this state! Sleeping on God, he came and awakened my heart! His voice and his call is enough to stir even the sleepiest of saints. He calls for her to open the door, he has taken off his coat, washed his feet and is ready to settle down for the night but he finds a locked door. It Reminds me of the same fate Christ found in Bethlehem on the night of his birth. The Son of God stands at the door of hotels, houses, taverns looking for a place to come in and be born but the inn keepers had paying guest and no room for a poor mother and no room for Jesus. The Inns kept their paying customers and slept in comfort that night whilst the only door that opened in Bethlehem was the door of an old musty stable. Christ came into the door that opened and was born in that dirty old stable and it became the most blessed stable in all of history because its door opened to the Savior. Christ knocks on the door at the church of Laodicea and calls for them much like Solomon does here, and says if any man open I will come in and sup with Him. Christ knocks and calls but not for ever, don’t tarry when he calls, don’t allow yourself another second of sleep or we may meet the same fate the inns in Bethlehem met, and the same end as the Church at Laodicea, and the same fate that Millions of sinners have met. They were called, their heart was roused to come to Christ, but they assumed he would knock for the rest of their lives and they could answer when they wanted to instead of when He wanted them to. Many servants have been called to service, Christ came and knocked and said preach or go or do this or that and they said I will do this in a more convenient season and that season never came.
“I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.”
Here is the danger of slumbering whilst our heart is awake. Going to fellowship and finding his felt presence has departed. If your heart has been made alive and is awake then let your body be awake to his service, to his fellowship but to be satisfied with only a burning heart while we sleep through our Christian existence is to not be satisfied for long. Soon the one she had put off had gone away and now she must spend the next several verses seeking the one whom her souls loves. Is he knocking on your heart’s door this morning? Then open it up and allow Him in, He is calling you to fellowship with Him, to service with him. If not we may find ourselves like the Shulamite, calling but hearing no answer. We end with the promise given to the slumbering church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”