19th March 2026

19th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 2v7, 3v5 & 8v4)


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


If the Song of Solomon was a house then it would have three great pillars dividing up the different rooms. The Song has four sections and between each section is something called an "adjuration" spoken by the Shulammite. What is an adjuration? It's not a polite request but a heartfelt appeal which urges the listener to act in a certain way. The first adjuration comes in 2v7 and says "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." This is repeated word for word in 3v5 and then again in 8v4 only without the reference to gazelles and does. Another adjuration is found in 5v8 where the woman begs the daughters of Jerusalem to tell her beloved that she is sick with love.


However, it is the three almost identical adjurations which are the pillars of this particular Song. If the Song was performed as an opera or play then the adjuration would see the stage cleared and the next act of the performance begin. But what message was the Shulammite giving to the daughters of Jerusalem?


These other women were members of Solomon's hareem, they were his wives and concubines and they were pushing the Shulammite towards Solomon. In the first scene they praised her (1v4a) and promised to give her jewellery to make her even more beautiftul (1v11). In the second scene the Shulammite and her beloved are kept apart and although the daughters of Jerusalem don't speak, you can imagine them telling the woman "Just forget him. Move on. Solomon will be your beloved. Give yourself to the King."


The third scene is the longest in the Song and it sees the arrival of Solomon to claim the Shulammite as his own. The daughters of Jerusalem almost appear fed up with the Shulammite. She urged them to help look for her beloved (5v8) only to be asked why her true love was better than the other options which included Solomon (5v9).


The adjuration was the Shulammite's response to those around her who thought she should simply choose Solomon over the Shepherd. The Shulammite was in Solomon's hareem, he was wise, handsome, rich and powerful - why wouldn't she choose the King? Simply because she knew that there was a greater love just outside the walls and even without any guarantee of seeing her beloved again, she was prepared to wait.


Isn't that a little picture of faith? As the Apostle once said "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11v1). We cannot yet see Christ and we can only imagine what heaven will be like but faith trusts His promises and is prepared to wait. In a world that demands all things immediately, waiting is an incredibly revolutionary act indeed. Wait on the Lord brothers and sisters, in life, death and relationships, wait on the Lord (Psalm 33v20).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
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