Rise Up, My Love

My beloved spoke, and said to me: Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:10

Having recently attended a lovely wedding wherein Christ was uplifted, this text comes to mind. The Song of Solomon details for us the deeply intense love relationship between Christ and His redeemed people. The scheme of the book consists of speeches which the Bride or the Bridegroom make, with a few other speakers playing minor roles. In our text, the Bride is quoting the Bridegroom. He says, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one and come away.’ One of the most attractive portions of this text is the manner in which He addresses her. He speaks to her with terms of endearment. He calls her, ‘my love,’ and ‘my fair one.’ Thus, Christ speaks to us with terms of endearment. He speaks to us from His heart and tells us what He thinks of us. This is the story of the Prince and the servant girl. He speaks to us as He sees us, not as we see ourselves. The other part of the text is His invitation to us to go away with Him. He desires quality time with the Bride. He calls upon her to come away with Him. This is a delightful prospect for us. It is enough that the King of glory loves us and sees us as fair. It is even more wonderful that He desires to be alone with us for quiet communion. He has extended this invitation to us collectively and individually. Let us go with Him.

Our Gracious Master and our God,
we rejoice in the love You express towards us.
We praise You that You want
us to be with You forever.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning