Devotions

20250228

a lifelong commitment

Song of Songs 8:1-7 (JDV)

Song of Songs 8:1 If only I could treat you like my brother, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts, I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.
Song of Songs 8:2 I would lead you, I would take you, to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.
Song of Songs 8:3 May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.
Song of Songs 8:4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.
Song of Songs 8:5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the one she loves? I awakened you under the apricot tree. There your mother conceived you; there she conceived and gave you birth.
Song of Songs 8:6 Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames– an almighty flame!
Song of Songs 8:7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be flatly rejected.

a lifelong commitment

The seal of ownership. Love, sealed by marriage becomes a lifetime of security and belonging. It becomes familial. That is as it should be. Love should not be awakened until it has become that lifetime commitment.

LORD, teach us to be cautious with love until it is ready to be a lifelong commitment.

20250227

joy and the adventure

Song of Songs 7:10-13 (JDV)

Song of Songs 7:10 I am my love’s, and his desire is for me.
Song of Songs 7:11 Come, my love, let’s go to the field; let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.
Song of Songs 7:12 Let’s go early to the vineyards; let’s see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my caresses.
Song of Songs 7:13 The mandrakes give off a fragrance, and at our doors is every delicacy, both new and old. I have treasured them up for you, my love.

joy and the adventure

The bride invites her beloved to explore all the joys that their mutual love can bring. She takes pleasure in the fact that her groom desires her, and wants to share the choice fruits of that love – the new experiences as well as the old.

LORD, thank you for the joy and the adventure of marital love.

20250222

my garden

Song of Songs 4:9-5:1 (JDV)

Song of Songs 4:9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride. You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
Song of Songs 4:10 How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride. Your caresses are much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
Song of Songs 4:11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
Song of Songs 4:12 My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden — a locked garden and a sealed spring.
Song of Songs 4:13 Your branches are a paradise of pomegranates with choicest fruits; henna with nard,
Song of Songs 4:14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices.
Song of Songs 4:15 You are a garden spring, a well of flowing water streaming from Lebanon.
Song of Songs 4:16 Awaken, north wind; come, south wind. Blow on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my love come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.
Song of Songs 5:1 I have come to my garden — my sister, my bride. I gather my myrrh with my spices. I eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with love!

my garden

The groom relishes in his bride and describes her in terms of taste and beauty. She is his garden, filling him with delight. She invites him to come to his garden, and he joys in the memory of their time together. This is how marital love should be, and it joys our creator’s heart when we love each other so.

LORD, teach us (married and betrothed) how to delight in each other all the days of our

20250221

the one

Song of Songs 4:1-8 (JDV)

Song of Songs 4:1 How beautiful you are, my companion. How incredibly beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
Song of Songs 4:2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from washing, each one bearing twins, and none has lost its young.
Song of Songs 4:3 Your lips are like a scarlet cord, and your mouth is lovely. Behind your veil, your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.
Song of Songs 4:4 Your neck is like the tower of David, constructed in layers. A thousand shields are hung on it — all of them shields of warriors.
Song of Songs 4:5 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.
Song of Songs 4:6 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.
Song of Songs 4:7 You are absolutely beautiful, my companion; there is no imperfection in you.
Song of Songs 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summit of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

the one

She is all that he can see. Her beauty has captivated his heart. There is no flaw in her. After seeing her, his desire for anything or anyone else disappears. She’s the one. And she feels the same way! Praise the LORD for the gift of marital love.

LORD, we celebrate the love of a bride and groom. Thank you for this gift.

20250220

an intimate place

Song of Songs 3:1-11 (JDV)

Song of Songs 3:1 In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him but did not find him.
Song of Songs 3:2 I will get up now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him but did not find him.
Song of Songs 3:3 The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”
Song of Songs 3:4 I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house — to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
Song of Songs 3:5 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.
Song of Songs 3:6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
Song of Songs 3:7 Look! Solomon’s bed surrounded by sixty warriors from the mighty men of Israel.
Song of Songs 3:8 All of them are skilled with swords and trained in warfare. Each has his sword at his side to guard against the terror of the night.
Song of Songs 3:9 King Solomon made a carriage for himself with wood from Lebanon.
Song of Songs 3:10 He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, and its seat of purple. Its interior is inlaid with love by the young women of Jerusalem.
Song of Songs 3:11 Go out, young women of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother placed on him on the day of his wedding — the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

an intimate place

The bride dreams of looking for her lover, and then finding him. In her dream, she takes him to an intimate place. She sees Solomon “on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.”

Even the longing for our time together can be a joyous thing. Marital love is one of the gifts from our heavenly Father.

LORD, thank you for the joy that is ours as married couples.