JOYFUL DELIGHT Song of Solomon 2:8-13 August 30 th, 2015 As we begin our series this morning on the Wisdom Literature of the Old Test- ament, a

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1 JOYFUL DELIGHT Song of Solomon 2:8-13 August 30 th, 2015 As we begin our series this morning on the Wisdom Literature of the Old Test- ament, a surprising choice of the Lectionary is a selection from the Song of Songs. Sometimes this book is called the Song of Solomon because of its association with King Solomon. It is situated in the tradition of the wisest and most prolific king in Israel s history. Regardless of the translation, each brings in its own way our attention to the contents of the book as a special collection of songs or poems. The Hebrew title usually translated literally, as the Song of Songs, identifies the work as an exemplary literary creation. According to tradition, King Solomon uttered some three thousand proverbs and a thousand and five songs in his lifetime. Most Bible scholars believe that it is highly unlikely that Solomon actually composed the Song of Songs, however, because of some of the later literary forms scattered throughout the book. It is possible that the reputation of the infamous king as sage, composer, and husband to hundreds of wives inspired more than one composer through the centuries to draft some rather provocative love lyrics in his memory. So perhaps rather than a pre- cise date and specific author, we might better understand this book as the scribe s effort to associate the book with a prominent figure in Israel s history and to place its contents within an established tradition of reflection namely, the wisdom tradition. In Biblical studies, wisdom literature designates the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, some selections from Psalms and some books from the Apocry- pha. As I mentioned previously, the Song of Songs is often included on the grounds that it, like the wisdom books, is of Solomon. The Christian Bible groups the wisdom books together (with the psalms) after the historical books and 1

2 before the prophetic books. There is a persistent attention to wisdom itself, which sets these books apart from others in the Bible. The books are concerned with practical wisdom knowing how to live well, how to perform one s tasks, and how to understand the secrets of the universe. But the Bible goes beyond specific instances of wisdom to explore the nature of wisdom, its importance and its limits, and its relationship to Yahweh. In its summary of the wisdom books, The New Interpreter s Bible explains: The people of the ancient Near East, like people today, were interested in learning how to live optimally in a world they found only partially understandable. They took note of successful and unsuccessful ways of coping with life, stated them memorably, and handed them on to others. They also observed that life is often inexplicable and the lot of human beings to be miserable, and they explored such problems in complaints and dialogues. It was the human task to observe carefully the world the gods had made to record their observations. So there is a remarkable continuity among the wisdom literatures of the ancient world. The people of Israel lived in that world and responded to it in literature similar to that of its neighbors. Belief in the sole God, Yahweh, made things different, however. The relation of wisdom to Yahweh had to be explained. The problem of evil was an especially difficult problem, because there were no demons to blame or a fate beyond God: there was only Yahweh, whom they celebrated as all-wise and all-just. The wisdom books are incorporated into a story, which Christians and Jews regard as still ongoing. They remind readers that we must take hold of life as both gift and task, that there are many possibilities but also profound limits, and that honest observation and faithfulness to one s experience of life can put us in touch with a wondrous order whose source is God. The wisdom 2

3 books starting point of everyday experience and honest observations create common ground for Bible readers to interact with other people just as it once did for ancient Israel and its neighbors. As we start this five week series in the Bible s literature, we begin with spring flowers and a young couple in love running off together. Why? Because our God reveals the life-giving force and character of wisdom is love, joy, and delight. The fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom is grounded in the love and enjoyment and sharing of the abundance of God s first work of creation. Proverbs 8:29-30 makes this point clear. Wisdom herself speaks, When he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race (NRSV). Wisdom delights in creation, in the lives and loves of people, and in the Creator who turns a chaos entirely hostile to life into a new order where life in every form can abound and multiply. The brief verses we read today from the Song of Solomon bring us that sense of delight in the creation and the Creator, in abundant life and its multiplying as richly and to the point as any in the Bible. Lover and Beloved are exuberant over each other. Lover portrays my beloved as leaping upon the mountains.like a gazelle or young stag (vs. 8-9). Beloved calls Lover to come forth and join the celebration of the rest of creation, its flowering, its singing, its fruitfulness, its sweet aroma. This is what wisdom does. This is what the Holy Spirit does. This is what we do when we undertake to learn wisdom. Wisdom consists in such joy, such delight, such awareness of and joining in the flowering, singing, fruitfulness, and sweet smells around us. We have misread wisdom and missed entirely the joy 3

4 and delight in it if we have treated it as an academic pursuit or the result of extreme spiritual practices of denial, or merely of hard intellectual searches. We hear wisdom and we think somber, solemn, serious. We hear wisdom, and if we are hungry, we think Eat your spinach. Not in this series. Not in the Bible. And not in Christian discipleship. Wisdom is love, joy, and delight ordering all things. If you see the order, or seek to impose it, but your effort is missing the love, joy and delight of wisdom, you re doing it wrong. So we sing songs celebrating love, divine and human, and we sing and pray with thanks and joy and delight in creation in all its forms today. Only the foolish make wisdom seem sour and gloomy. This series of poems in the Song of Songs is about the joy, the ups and down, even painful longing when apart and violence against the woman by her community when she searches for her lover, of a relationship between two human beings who love one another. While contemporary writers are likely to use different metaphors than those used the ancient authors and compilers of the Song of Songs, words such as stag and gazelle are designed to compliment and entice the beloved into the relationship. Alphonetta Wines tells this story about a couple she knows. Married thirty years, they act like teenagers when they are around each other. I remember once when the husband had been away traveling for work as he often does. On this occasion, a Thanksgiving community dinner, they had not seen each other for several days. His eyes lit up and he hugged his wife with such tenderness that everyone could feel the presence of love in the room Ask anyone in a happy marriage and they ll tell you, there is nothing like it. Whether it is love s first dawning or the seasoned love of having lived and loved for decades, 4

5 committed lovers would have it no other way. This is one of only two biblical books, Esther and Song of Songs, where there is no mention of God. The poems are spoken by a man, a woman, and a chorus that periodically comments on what is happening between the two lovers. Unlike most books in the scriptures, the woman s voice is clearly heard. In the intimacy and anticipation of love, her voice rings out in close to 75 percent of the poems. In our text today the audience hears her voice as she reminisces and anticipates love. Neither shy nor reluctant, the onset of spring stirs her desire for the one who loves her. Frequent references to nature are an indication that both understand their love to be in agreement with the goodness of God s creation. A glimpse of her beloved is all she needs to reflect on his voice calling her to love. Not once, but twice in these few verses, she imagines his voice inviting her to come away. Completely committed, later in verse 16 she affirms, My beloved is mine and I am his. When we take those wedding vows as we enter into a committed relationship, we can have second thoughts as the big day approaches. Sometimes we d wonder if getting married is the right thing for us at that point in our lives. Martha Manning remembers all too well those apprehensive feelings prior to her wedding day. She specifically recalls the vows she and her husband took 22 years ago. The vows worked then and they still work now, she says. However, she admits that her wedding vows mean something different to her now than they did when she was 21 years old, standing before friends, relatives, and God on her wedding day. Candidly she says, When I said those words at 21, resisting recipe cards, avocado appliances, and a boring life were the challenges 5

6 I anticipated. Then she acknowledges, When I first said those words, I never envisioned that they would have to stretch so far over times of tremendous pain and suffering, over the wonderful and awful stages of parenthood, over advances we never expected and losses we d always feared. But these vows did carry her through the for better or worse In 1982, after George and I had been married three years, he was called to work in Pakistan for the National Wildlife Research Center. This was at a time of unrest in that country and there was major hostility against the United States. After he had arrived and was out in the field, I heard on the T.V. that the gates of the American embassy had been stormed by citizens of that country. I was frantic to know if George was safe and I called an emergency contact number that I had been given. For several days I didn t heard anything from him. Finally, on Valentine s Day, I picked up the phone and heard him telling me Happy Valentine s Day! At first I didn t even recognize his voice I was so caught unaware. And then, I was so moved to hear his voice and so relieved that he was safe that I just couldn t stop being so grateful that it was actually him!!! To hear his voice telling me he loved me was a very special gift that day. It was a wonderful Valentine from my husband and one that I will always remember. In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, we discover that God desires to be in relationship with humans. God is viewed as entering into a relationship with the first couple, Adam and Eve, even walking in the Garden of Eden. God would give Moses the Ten Commandments. Finally God would enter into relationship with humanity through our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing that God loves us and desires to be in relationship with us allows us to enter into meaningful relationships with other people. Some suggest that in 6

7 order to love another person we must first experience love ourselves. The New Testament book of First John reminds us of this truth, We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4: 19) The Song of Solomon rekindles in us those special feelings of being in love. In a day and time such as this, we need to hear the Song of Songs. We need to hear voices that speak boldly of true love. We need to be reminded of what love can be. Scholars tell us there was much debate whether to include this book in the sacred text. The text is richer and the world is forever blessed and grateful for those who won the argument for its inclusion in our Holy Bible. May we continue to grow in the wisdom of love, in our relationships with God and each other. Amen and amen. 7