The Bridegroom and the Bride · Day 5 of 8
Day 5 — Song of Songs 5
Read
He
1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Friends
Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.
She
2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?
4 My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening. My heart pounded for him.
5 I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left, and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer.
7 The watchmen who go about the city found me. They beat me. They bruised me. The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.
8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
9 How is your beloved better than another beloved, you fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you do so adjure us?
She
10 My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand.
11 His head is like the purest gold. His hair is bushy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, washed with milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes. His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
The Lesson
“It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: Open to me” (v. 2). Jesus echoed this very verse to the church: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). He doesn't kick the door down; He calls in patient love, waiting for us to choose Him. She hesitates — the scene may even be a dream — but don't read her slowness as a crime Jesus punishes. Look where the chapter lands: by 6:2–3 she knows exactly where He is, and He's still hers. Restoration, not failure. The watchmen's violence (v. 7) is real and disturbing — wandering from the King's shelter leaves hearts exposed to a bruising world, and no one should ever treat a woman that way. And notice what wakes her heart back up: her friends ask, “Why is your beloved better than anyone else?” (v. 9), and she starts listing His beauty until it becomes a love song. When you feel numb toward God, start recounting who Jesus is — declaring His worth out loud rekindles your first love.
Live It
Answer the knock today — pray before the noise of the day begins. And if you miss a morning, grace: He's still knocking at noon.