The Beautiful Exchange

This post was written by my friend Dara Postell…

I was reading Song of Songs 1. I will normally recognise something from a particular verse or group of verses. This time, I was led to see the exchange in the chapter. The Shulamite begins by expressing her desire to experience true intimacy with the king. She then goes into worship describing what it is like to be in the king’s presence. She gives another request to be drawn into the king’s heart and to run away with the king into his chamber.

Psalm 40:3 TPT says:

A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how he breaks through for me! Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many will see his miracles; they’ll stand in awe of God and fall in love with him!

The Shulamite gets so caught up in expressing love that it draws others who give their input as well, in verse 4. Almost immediately, the Shulamite starts speaking of her unworthiness. The king steps in with “Yet…you are so lovely!” The Shulamite again expresses how dark and dry she feels. The king replies in love, describing how lovely she is. Finally, the Shulamite tries to explain why she seems so uncomely. The king responds with how he sees her.

Next, the Shulamite describes how the fragrance of the king’s light awakened her “night/darkness” (John 1:5). Deeper worship was released from her heart, which was followed by a dialogue of loving words between the two.

Please know that however unworthy you may feel at any given time, King Jesus is pursuing you and will always tell you what is reality/true about you and everything concerning you. He will not stop His pursuit. His goal is to awaken your night with Himself/Light and to get you to exchange loving words with Him. Why? Because, the Song of Solomon 4:11 says that our loving words are like honeycombs to Him. They matter! Go ahead and have a beautiful exchange!