Sat Jul 5

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word beautiful.

Reading

Song of Solomon 1:12-17—You Are Beautiful, My Love

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

Questions

(some read these before notes, then ask them after)
  1. Why should husbands and wives desire each other?
  2. Why does love sometimes fade?
  3. How do you know if you love Jesus?

Notes

Today’s notes are from a commentary on the Song of Songs by Douglas Sean O’Donnell

How do we apply this ancient Hebrew poem to our contemporary American lives? Below are four applications. The first application is this: desire is not demonic. … That is, this desire for sexual intimacy expressed here so obviously is not only natural but can be (should be) naturally good. … It is natural to desire, but don’t let the natural neutralize the ethical. We are to glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20), and glorifying God means playing by his rules. … So, desire is dangerous but not demonic.

The second application is that character and chemistry both matter in the matters of love. … Know that. Apply that. …

The third application is that that first flame of desire (which is depicted colorfully here) need not (ought not!) die out after the honeymoon. Put more succinctly: that first flame need not fizzle. …

Our final application is an application to all Christians, and it has to do with our desire for Christ: Just as your desire for intimacy with your spouse is a reliable indicator of your marital health, so too your desire for intimacy with Christ is a reliable indicator of your spiritual health.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 128a, 34a

Prayer

  1. Pray that you understand and apply the Song of Solomon.
  2. Pray for the reading and preaching of God’s word tomorrow.
  3. Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.
Notes this week are drawn in part from commentaries by John Calvin, William Hendriksen, Kent Hughes, Stephen Um, Douglas Sean O’Donnell, the Theological Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments (TDOT, TDNT) and notes from the CSB Study Bible, and the Reformation Study Bible (RSB).
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