The Greatest Love Story

The Greatest Love Story

Young Woman In Song Of Songs

Read: Song of Songs 1:1-4

Paula spun the rack of paperbacks at the library. It was getting harder to find one that she hadn’t already read. So many of the covers looked the same—a muscular, handsome, shirtless man grasping a woman with flowing hair and a dress that was slipping off her shoulders. No wonder Paula felt the need to hide the books from her kids. But how she loved those hours of escape into a dream world of passion, pursuit, and happily ever after. If only my life could be like one of these books, she sighed.

How did the women in Bible times react when they heard the Song of Songs read? Did they blush at the graphic descriptions of love between a man and a woman? Did they envy the way the young man wooed his lover? Did they daydream of being cherished like the young woman in the text?

Although Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, many people believe that he wrote the Song of Songs as a protest against the practice of polygamy. The book depicts a model relationship between a man and a woman who enjoy romantic love within the marriage relationship as God intended. On a deeper level, many see it as a picture of God’s intense love for believers.

In an imperfect world filled with imperfect people, we will never experience a perfect romantic relationship. Boyfriends and husbands will always disappoint us in some way. But God’s love is “more wonderful than any other.” If we want to find love that truly fulfills, we have to get to know the One who loved us enough to die in our place. Then we discover that the greatest love story of all is in the Bible. And we never have to be embarrassed about the cover.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

Song of Songs 6:3 (NASB)