Psalm 100 is a brief call for the whole earth to “shout” joyfully in worship, gladness, singing, knowledge, thanksgiving, and praise to the LORD – for He is good and His love endures forever – His faithfulness continues through all generations” (cf., Psalm 100). All these reasons give us something to shout about. “He alone is God, and we are His people – the sheep of His pasture” (verse 3). Think of it! The holy, righteous, sovereign Creator and Owner of the universe invites us to “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise” (verse 4). If people actually would read this Psalm at face value - recognizing that we are not our own but that we belong to God as His possession - we would live our daily lives much differently than we do. Our whole lives would be characterized by “thanksgiving, praise, and love” for our Master, Who is “good, loving, and faithful” toward us forever (verse 5). This is a Psalm of kingdom praise, and it looks forward to the nature of our praise in the coming kingdom of Christ.
Song of Songs 5-8 reveals – through special poetic expression – the culmination of God’s special gift and exclusive blessing of intimate love that He has given to a married couple – specifically and exclusively – for a man and a woman. In chapter 5, the king addresses his bride and speaks of the special pleasures that they enjoy together. The chorus, sung by the friends of the lovers, reflects God’s encouragement for and blessing on their expression of physical love toward each other – “Eat … and drink your fill, O lovers” (verse 1). In verses 2-8, we see the beloved bride’s second dream in which she envisions the king knocking at her door, but when she opens the door, he has already departed (verse 6). How heartbreaking! “My heart sank,” she says (verse 6). She searched for him, but then she was harshly mistreated by those in authority. This dream reveals how much she truly loves him, but it also anticipates the problem with spiritual delays – for whatever reason - when Christ knocks at the door to the sinner’s heart. Deep down inside, even the world’s worst sinner has a longing – a God-shaped vacuum in his heart - that only Christ can fill. A time is coming when He no longer may be found (cf., Isaiah 55:6). In verses 10-16, the beloved bride describes the beauty of her king, and claims him as her own – “This is my lover … O daughters of Jerusalem” (verse 16). They belong to each other and are not to be shared. A time is coming when Israel will accept and claim her Messiah. In chapter 6, the king reciprocates by extolling his bride’s physical loveliness. In chapters 7-8, we see an exchange of expressed praise and devotion to each other by the beloved bride and her king. She concludes by saying, “let me hear your voice,” and lovingly, he responds, “Come away, my lover …” (verses 13-14). The book is a tender, deeply-focused love song given to mankind by the One Who is the greatest Lover of all and with His complete approval on and ordination of the joy and beauty to be found in love, completeness, fellowship, and unity between a man and his wife. Such love represents the love between Christ and His church, and it is what God wants for us.
In 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, we see the importance of this kind of special love and its vital relationship to our faith. Paul describes what love is not – so that we will not miss the real meaning of love. Love is all-important to our faith because it flows directly from the heart of the only living God, Who - in and of Himself - is love. Love, therefore, constitutes the basis for our faith. Mirror-like, we are to experience His love and then reflect its light back to the world of darkness so that His love may advance, reproduce, and extend to all people out yonder - unto the ends of the earth. No other belief system can achieve this ideal either in theory or in practice. For this reason, we, as Christians, have a high responsibility to ensure that the love of God is manifested out from us to the rest of the world. May God enable us to fulfill that task.
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