Dear congregation, I invite you to take your Bibles this morning and turn in them to Song of Solomon chapter 2. I'm going to read in your hearing verses 1 through 7. If you're visiting this morning, you have come on a morning when we are right in the middle of an exposition. You might call it a reflection. Exposition sounds so logical, which that's fine, but this is more poetry than it is didactic passages. We are working through the book of the Song of Solomon and we're glad that you're here this morning and invite you to follow along in our reading and in the exposition of this wonderful book. So Song of Solomon chapter two, I'm gonna read in your hearing verses one through seven. Listen carefully for this is the word of the living God. I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. As for the reading of God's word, the grass withers and the flower falls. But the Word of our God stands forever, and we are grateful for it. Would you bow with me this morning as we ask the Lord for help in the ministry of the Word? Father God, no doubt this morning, as we are gathered in this place, there may be friction between husbands and wives. There may be aloofness between husbands and wives. There may also, Father, be friction and aloofness between us and our relationship with your Son. And in both of these, Father, where they apply, We pray that You would speak to us through Your Word and that You would bring an aesthetic beauty and comeliness to Jesus Christ in such a way, Father, that He is once again altogether lovely to us. We pray, Father, that You would revive our marriages, for they constantly need reviving. We pray, Father, that you would help us to see, whether it is as husbands, as wives, as prospective husbands, as prospective wives, or as Christians, what it is in our lives, Father, that we need to change. Keep us, Father, from trying to find what our neighbors need to change. Keep us, Father, from trying to put our finger on what our spouses need to change. But help us, Father, to be laid bare before the Word of God and for it to minister to our souls in such a way that points toward hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ. For it is in His name we pray. Amen. Just to keep...bring everybody up to speed on what we're doing here in the book of Song of Solomon, because if you haven't been with us and you haven't heard me explain how we're reading this, you might be surprised by how we interpret it, but we see the book of the Song of Solomon as doing two things. Number one, it is describing and celebrating the love between a man and his wife. And then number two, it is describing and celebrating the love between Christ and His church. And we see this analogy put on display in Ephesians chapter 5 where Paul tells us that the marriage relationship which is the relationship between a man and a woman, not a man and women or women and men, not a man and a man or a woman and a woman or a man or a woman and anything else, but a man and a woman, is a picture of the love relationship between Christ and the church. And so, we see that as a heuristic lens, if you will, through which we view the Song of Solomon. And in the last few sermons, I have broken it up. In the first part of the sermon, I talk about how it applies to the marriage. In the second part of the sermon, I talk about how it applies to Christ and the church. I'm going to take a different approach this morning What I'm going to do is I'm going to try to talk about both throughout. I want to weave these two relationships into the application of this text. And if I could really sum up everything that's going to be said this morning, I would say a few things. Number one, I would say that the wife is unspeakably precious in the eyes of the husband. The husband is unspeakably precious in the eyes of the wife. Christ is unspeakably precious in the eyes of the believer, and the believer is unspeakably precious in the eyes of Christ. All of those things are going to come out as we look at this exposition. And I want you to notice first in verses 1 through 2 a flower among brambles, or a flower among thorns. I want you to notice that the very first verse, verse one in chapter two, is the voice of the bride. And if you look up previously to the end of chapter one, you will see that to be the case. Some of your translations will add headings in the text. It'll say he, she, or it'll say groom and then bride, or it'll say husband and wife, or maybe some will even say Solomon and the bride. But in verse 16 of chapter one, This is the voice of the wife, of the woman. And it really goes through chapter two, verse one. And what she is doing is she is describing, listen, how she feels because of how her beloved makes her feel. She describes herself as a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. What she is getting at here is she sees herself as beautiful. She sees herself in the kind of reimagined Garden of Eden that is to be the marriage relationship as a flower in the garden, a flower among the cedars, a flower among the trees. She is blossoming within the midst of this idyllic marriage relationship. And then, in verse two, we hear the voice of the groom, and what does he say? Well, he piggybacks off of her language, and he says, as a lily among brambles, or the thornbush, so is my love among the young women. I want you to see on the first horizon here as we think about how this applies to the marriage relationship a few things. Number one, We see that the bride recognizes herself as a lily in the midst of a cultivated bower of strong green trees. The husband says in verse 16, Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green. Verse 17, the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine. The husband makes her feel this way. She is simply describing the reality of her existence in the midst of her home that her husband presides over. This is how he makes her feel. Now, of course, these are idyllic, idyllic descriptions. There's no doubt about that. Remember, or if you've forgotten, let me remind you that the marriage relationship here is meant to be described in the idyllic Garden of Eden way that it was before the fall. And it's to be put before us as something after which we should be striving. It's not a reality all the time in our marriages, right? Maybe your car ride over here this morning was a testimony to that. but it is to be something after which we are striving. But I want you to notice in verse two, and this is very important, and this is directed mainly to men, the husbands in our congregation, that the groom, or the man, only has eyes for his bride. Look at verse two. She is a lily among the thorn bushes. Let me put it this way. Husbands, your love for your wives is so great, is so magnimonious, and is so unique that every woman, everything, everything else that is round about you is to you as thorn bushes. Your wife stands out. She stands out in contrast to anything and anyone else. Her beauty is all-pervasive. She is uniquely desirable to Him, uniquely attractive to Him. Now, I want to make a comment here about beauty. I don't want to fall into cliches and platitudes. It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is true. It is true that beauty is somewhat more subjective than it is objective. That's a tricky thing. But in the context of the marriage, let me say this. Beauty is much more than skin deep. Beauty is much more than what we see. And I was thinking of, I confess I haven't read the whole book. To be honest with you, I haven't read much of it at all. But I was thinking of Jane Eyre, that book by Charlotte Bronte. Because in that book, there's a story that Charlotte Bronte tells about Jane Eyre and Edward Fairfax Rochester. And in this story, Neither Jane Eyre nor Mr. Rochester are beautiful. In fact, the author goes out of her way to make that clear. Neither one of them are physically attractive. And in fact, early in their relationship, to test her honesty, Mr. Rochester asked Jane if she finds him handsome. and she tells him that he is not physically handsome, and he appreciates her honesty and integrity because he knows that he is not handsome. But both Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester have the opportunity to marry people who are handsome. Everyone expects Mr. Rochester to marry a beautiful young lady who is what might be described as in his own social station. But this young lady is very proud and neither her character nor her personality suit Mr. Rochester. And Jane has the opportunity to marry a young clergyman who has the face of a Greek god but his presence is oppressive to her. So Jane and Mr. Rochester fall madly and passionately and genuinely in love for one another because it is a love that transcends physical beauty. Bronte shows through the story that to choose physical beauty over the genuine companionship Jane and Mr. Rochester share would be a cheap move that would demean them both, giving happiness to neither. Now, why am I saying all this? Well, let me bring it back to the Bible, okay? Proverbs 31.30, charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. I'm thinking specifically of you younger folk who haven't married yet. I have seen women marry charming men who are monsters. I've seen it. Not just read about it, I've seen it. Men who charm everybody's eyeballs and ears off. in the public setting, and everybody thinks, because of that glimpse that they saw in that public setting, that that woman must be so privileged and honored. But it was all a rue. It was all a sham. Conversely, I've seen women who are absolutely gorgeous, but are shallow inside. And men marry them because of their beauty and find out later that they are only an inch deep. We must be very, very careful to look for beauty in the way that God wants us to see and look for beauty. There's a reason why when God chose David, what did it say? I know we're talking about a king, but God doesn't judge by external appearances, but he's looking for a man after his own heart. It's on the inside. There's a beauty that is on the inside that comes from a fear of the Lord. One who looks at all this world and all that it offers and says there is someone greater than all those things and it is my God. And they cherish their God and that makes them a beautiful person. Men, have eyes only for your wife. Have eyes only for your wife. As the Proverbs say in Proverbs 5, 18 through 20, let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely dear, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight. Be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? Those words are so important for us to remember. You want to know why? I don't know why. I don't know if it's just a recent thing, but I've seen so many cases of men, sadly many of them are pastors who have gone through their little midlife crisis, and they're going after the younger woman, typically the secretary. And what's really going on? Is there really love there? It's not love. You know what that man is seeing in that woman? He's seeing the youth that he no longer has. He's seeing the youth that he no longer has. Those carefree college days when he could just do whatever he wanted, quote, unquote. and he's looking for depth, and he's looking for fulfillment, and he's looking for meaning, and he foolishly thinks that he could find it in another woman, but it never fully satisfies the way he wants it to. It all becomes a huge disappointment to him, and that's how adultery always ends up. It's a scourge. Why should you go outside the confines, man, of the fountain that the Lord has given you? Have eyes only for your wife. Well, let me turn the horizon now to thinking about Christ and the church. First thing I want you to see in this verse, verse two, is that Christ sees us as a lily among thorns. Christ sees us, His people, His elect, His children, as a lily among thorns. What does that mean? What does that mean? I want you to think of the rest of the world, the rest of the world that travels on the broad road that leads to destruction. That's what Jesus said. I want you to see that world and those people in the eyes of Christ as thorns and thistles. That's how he views them. He views them as thorns and thistles, but in the midst of those thorns and thistles, he sees this beautiful white, Aromatic lily and that is his elect and that is you if you profess the name of Christ that is you He sees the world as thorns and thistles. Why? Because they are fruitless. You do not go to a thornbush to get grapes. You do not go to a thornbush to get fruit or even vegetables. You go to a thornbush to rip it up and throw it in the fire, and that is the destination of all those who are thorns and thistles. Why also does he see the world as thorns and thistles? Because when the Word of God is preached, when the Word of God is sown among them, it falls on fallow ground, fallow ground that is not broken up, fallow ground that is not ripe to receive the seed in good soil, fallow ground that produces thorns. You might ask yourself this morning, am I a fruit tree as I listen to the Word of God, or am I a thorn and a thistle? What do I do after hearing the Word of God? Does it change my life? Does it change my attitude? Does it change my perspective? Do I pant more after Christ and His righteousness, after His sin-atoning blood? Do I want those things? Are they precious to me? Does God break up the fallow ground of my heart? Or do I go out from this place? and the anger and the covetousness and the lust that was filling my heart before is just as strong when I walk out those double doors. What does the preaching of God's Word do in your heart? Thorns and thistles are meant to be thrown into the fire, and that's why Christ sees them as such. But as a lily among the thorns, the believer is so lovely in the eyes of his Savior. But why else does he call them a lily among thorns? Because they are lonely in the world. Do you ever feel lonely, Christian? I feel lonely as a Christian oftentimes. Sometimes, and I hate to confess it, I'm talking about my extended family. Even in my extended family, around people who have the same blood coursing through their veins, I feel lonely. I feel as I read this morning from Psalm 119 that I'm surrounded by people who do not love your law. I'm surrounded by people who do not see Christ as lovely. I'm surrounded by people who could care less what the Word of God says. I'm surrounded by people who think they're smarter than God, wiser than God. I'm surrounded by people who shake their fist in the face of God and do not fear what He can do to them. But as a lily among thorns, we are likewise lonely in the world, but do not be discouraged because so is Christ. Christ was also lonely in the world. The world is a world of loneliness, but one day, Christian, you will be transplanted to the restored garden of God. and then you shall be no more lonely. Then you shall be away from all the thorns. As flowers in a rich garden blend together their thousand odors to enrich the passing breeze, so in the paradise above you shall join the myriad of the redeemed, blending with theirs the odor of your praise. You shall join with the redeemed as the living flowers to form a garland for the Redeemer's brow. That's a beautiful thought, isn't it? Secondly, consider in this verse that Christ only has eyes for us. Shall we not also have only eyes for Him? Notice that Christ was not someone that was externally lovely to behold. In fact, His beauty was hidden from the proud and it was revealed to babes. What does Isaiah say about Jesus, the coming Messiah? In Isaiah 53 too, he says, he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. Isn't it ironic that what God regards to be the most beautiful thing in his economy was rejected and spurned by men? Light came into the world, and the darkness, what, received it? Not. In fact, the darkness rejected it. They didn't just reject it. They didn't just say, go home, salesman, we don't want what you have. They said, come here, salesman, we're going to nail you to a cross. The world hates what God regards as beautiful, and the world is blind to the beauty of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 11. He said in verses 25 and 26, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. My friends, I have a question for you this morning. What is beautiful to you this morning? Where do you find beauty in this life? Do you find beauty in the things that God gives as good gifts, or do you find beauty, extravagant beauty, superior beauty, greater beauty in the one who gives those gifts, in the one who is altogether lovely, in the one who came 2,000 years ago to be to us he who would reconcile us to God? Is your delight in the beauty of Jesus Christ this morning? Let me go on to verse 3, and I want you to consider secondly this morning the bride's delight in the shadow of the groom's protection and provision. The bride's delight in the shadow of the groom's protection and provision. Look at verse 3. As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. I want to consider this in the context of the marriage first, on what we're calling the first horizon between husbands and wives. And remember, this is poetry, and I just want to say something very simply here, just a simple observation. This is a tree that does two things. Listen to me. It's a tree that does two things. It's a tree that, number one, gives shade, which relieves the traveler, the weary traveler, from the oppressiveness of the heat. But this tree also does something else, doesn't it? It gives something sweet to the taste. It gives something to eat. So it gives protection and it gives provision. And I want you to notice here that the bride delights to sit, first off, in the shadow of her beloved's protection. Now, this is incredibly important with respect to husbands and wives, because number one, the wife is not constrained to sit under the shadow of his protection. She's not constrained to sit under his headship, under his leadership. Listen, she delights to sit under his headship. She does it willingly, not because she has to, not because that's what the Bible says she must do, but she willingly delights to sit under the shadow of his leadership. She feels safe. She feels secure. She feels pleased. I have a question for you men this morning. Does your wife feel safe under your leadership? Does she feel safe under your headship? Now, there's two ways you could answer that. You could say, yes, I mean, you wanna come see all my guns? I mean, I've got all kinds of guns. I protect my wife. If anybody breaks in, they're going out in a body bag, okay? Okay, fine, she feels safe, but there's one more person from whom she needs to feel safe. That's you. Does your wife, listen to me, does your wife feel as if she has the right to appeal to an authority higher than you if she feels like you are pig-headed and are not seeing what you ought to see. Be careful, preacher. Be careful, preacher. Are you asserting that there is an authority higher than the husband? Yes, I am. Your elders are a higher authority than you. Jesus Christ is a higher authority than you. Now, it's easy for you to say that Jesus Christ is a higher authority. But I don't have to submit to my elders." Well, I've got a few texts that say you do. You know how many times we've had to come in and adjudicate cases between husbands and wives because husbands were not thinking straightly? Because husbands were in sin from which they were refusing to repent? You know how many times that we were not invited to those conversations because the husband would not allow it? That is a very, very dangerous situation to put yourself in, to be in. Husbands, here's my question for you. Does your wife have a source of appeal to a higher authority if you go rogue? This is something that my wife and I had to figure out long ago for the safety of our marriage. And on more than one occasion, we have had to appeal to our elders. She has had to appeal to authorities higher than me. And I'm not going to tell you that I always liked it. But I will tell you that I thank God for every single one of those men that had the courage and the audacity to come in and tell me what I needed to hear. And men, if you have not so constructed your relationship with your wife that she has access to that, then you either think that you're perfect or you're blind to your own inconsistencies. And I would encourage and exhort you Don't make it the case that your wife not only feels safe from intruders, but she feels safe from you if necessary. But not only does she feel safe under his shadow of protection, but his provision is sweet to her. That is, she is content with it. Now, what I'm talking about is how he provides for her, the fruits of this tree, how he provides for her. bringing money home. It's not just the house that she lives in. It's not just the car that she drives. Because we can go on and on about who has more, and who has a bigger house, and a bigger car, and a nicer car, and how many channels on your cable, television, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That's not the point. She's content with Him for who He is and what He provides. Listen to Proverbs 15, 16 and 17. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble in it. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. You see, husbands, you set the tone for how much of a place coveting will have in your house. You set the tone. You want more and more and more? Your wife is going to be led to want more and more and more. Maybe it's your wife that wants more and more and more, and her proclivity is to be covetous. It is your job, husband, as a leader, to shepherd her in that and to teach her in the fear of the Lord to be content with what she has. She delighted in the provision of the shadow of the apple tree. Well, so much for the first horizon. Let's look at the second horizon, and I'm going to end with this this morning. I want you to consider this verse, verse three, as an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. And let's consider this now at the level of Christ in the church. Listen to me. Beloved, Christ does not compel you to follow him. He does not compel you to follow him. He does not force you to follow him. You know what he does? He does something a little different. Through the ministry of the Spirit, He changes your nature so that you want to follow Him, so that you want to follow Him. Christian, please, I beg of you, I beg of you, stop saying things like, I have to do this, I have to be monogamous, I have to not lust, I have to not covet, I have to not steal, I have to not burst out in anger, I have to not be a gossip. No, no, no, no, no. Are you a Christian? Because if you're a Christian, that's your nature. And granted, I understand that there's the flesh, right? And then there's the spirit. And they're always battling one another. And the question is, which one do I identify with? And that is the constant battle. That is sanctification. But that's why identity, dear beloved, is so incredibly important. When you're battling with any, any sin, no matter what it is, you have to ask, who am I? Who am I? I'm a child of the King. I'm identified through union with Jesus Christ. And it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. The world and the flesh have been crucified to me, and they have been crucified to Christ, and I am no longer a slave to those things. I don't care if it's alcohol, I don't care if it's drugs, I don't care if it's a besetting sin like anger and bitterness, you do not have to succumb to it. And when you tell yourself, that's just who I am, that is the most dangerous thing that you can tell yourself. Because you know what you're identifying with? A cadaver, that's what you're identifying with. A dead man, a dead woman, that person's dead. The old man is dead. There's just vestiges of it in your flesh that will one day be eradicated when Christ comes back. But you must start by asking yourself the question, who am I? And is there a spirit of God living within me? So Christ does not compel us. No, the voice of the beloved, the voice of the Christian, the voice of the church says, with great delight I sat in his shadow. Are you sitting with great delight in the shadow of Christ this morning? Because here's the thing, beloved, there are many idols that call for your attention. Many idols, many, listen, counterfeit trees. They may be counterfeit pine trees. They may be counterfeit oak trees. And you know what? Those counterfeit pine trees and those counterfeit oak trees, they may have many strong branches that give you shade from temporal afflictions in life. But there's nothing on those branches, beloved, that can sustain your soul. There's nothing to eat. There is no fruit, you see. You see, when Israel was traveling in the wilderness and they were looking for a place to rest, where did they come? They came to Elim, where there were 12 wells of water, 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. They had both shade and water to quench their thirst. And so it is with Christ. He does not just give us shade. He gives us nourishment. And what is the shade that He gives us? What is the shade that Jesus Christ gives us? He shades us from the wrath of God. I see here in this poetic form substitutionary atonement. I see here that Christ, rather than we, Christ takes the punishment of the blazing wrath of God so that we could rest under the shadow of His propitiation. He guards us from God's wrath. He guards us from the guilt and punishment that we deserve. And that is why it is with delight that we sit under Christ and His shadow. You see, the soul that is taught of God seeks for a complete Savior, not just one that will give fruit to eat and not just one that will give shade to guard us, but one that has and offers both. The awakened soul needs to be saved from hell and nourished from heaven. So we are safe from the shadow, under the shadow of Christ. And what are the fruits and the benefits and the privileges that God gives us in Christ? He gives us the fruit of justification. He gives us the fruit of sanctification. He gives us the fruit of glorification. He gives us the fruit of a clear conscience. Do you want that this morning? Do you want a clear conscience this morning? Do you want to be free from the guilt and the shame that so often come with our habits of running back to sin, running back to the vomit, running back to the mud? We just go back, we go back, and then we're filthy again, and then Christ comes with His cleansing blood, and He says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Christ comes this morning, He comes this morning in a picture, a picture of an apple tree, an apple tree that gives you shade, an apple tree that gives you fruit. But I must say this, beloved, knowledge, bare knowledge of this apple tree will do you no good. It's no good if I merely describe this apple tree to you. It's no good if I just show you a picture of this apple tree. It's no good if I bring up a picture on my phone or I draw a picture or I describe it with poetic brilliance. What you must do is you must experience sitting under the shade of this apple tree. You must experience biting the fruit of this apple tree. You must know Him personally. You must go to Him personally. So knowledge will not do, but it must come in your own personal experience. Jesus says that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood. That is to say, through faith you must experientially know Him. But you know what the world often says? The world often says, well, becoming a Christian, what a life of boredom. What a life of drudgery. What a life of forced obedience. But what does the Bible say, beloved? I sat down with delight under his apple tree and his fruit was sweet to me. Let God be true and every man a liar. Let God be true and every man a liar. Some of you said, well I tried that and it didn't work so I went back to the world. Return, return O Shulamite. Return to the Lord. What has the world given you? What has the world given you but affliction? What has the world given you but disappointment? What has the world given you but disillusionment? Will the world be able to make you stand on the last day? No it won't. All it can give you is temporal delights. Don't be like Israel of old. Constantly in the Old Testament, what did it say? They built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim and on every high hill and under every green tree. What tree are you going after this morning that is not Christ? What tree is offering shade but no fruit? What tree is offering fruit but no shade? Only Christ. And in Christ, through repentance and faith, can you have both shade from the wrath of God and the fruit and the privileges and the benefits of redemption and sanctification and glorification in Jesus Christ. So we're going to end there this morning. There's more to say, but I'm going to say it next week. So this morning, beloved, are you sitting under the apple tree with the light? Are you sitting under Christ and His headship? Are you in union with Him? We've seen this picture on two levels. May the Spirit of God drive it home to our hearts. Let's pray. Father God, I pray that you would take the preach word this morning and drive it deep into our hearts. Give us conviction where conviction is needed. Give us edification where edification is needed. And Father God, may we find delight under Christ in His Lordship, Christ in His Headship, Christ as Lord and Savior all the days of our life. We ask these things in Christ's name, amen. Let's stand for the glory