Resting in the Shadow

I do not know for all of you, but I believe that I can rather confidently say that the book of the Song of Solomon is not the go-to devotion spot for us single gals. No single word in the Bible is without Spirit inspiration and practical application, yet for those of us who are in the waiting period for the Lord to manifest our romance stories to us, the Song of Solomon can be a book of the Bible perhaps visited less than other parts of scripture. There are, though, several lovely passages of the Song of Solomon that can be taken and beautifully applied to our relationships with Christ. One of the precious verses that has blessed my heart over and over is Song of Solomon 2:6, "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me." What a heart-pattering picture of me being safe in the arms of Christ, His hand pressing my head against Himself and His right hand encircling me in love, acceptance, and protection. 

    

    Another passage from this book that I studied last week, after it arrested my attention from The Daily Light on the Daily Path devotional (again, very highly recommend), is from Song of Solomon 2:1-4, 

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." 

    Verse 3 caught my attention, "I sat down under his shadow with great delight..." What is the purpose of and the help that we receive from a shadow? Shadows are used as places of coolness on an intensely warm day, they are a place to rest from the oppressive heat during or after exertion, they can be a place to comfortably commune with a friend without expereinces the uncomfortability of the sun's heat, and a darkened shadow can be a place of refuge from being seen by an enemy. They are a place of protection, rest, cooling, help, and comfort. Little help can be received from a shadow unless one steps into it and personally experiences its benefits. 

    Below is an excerpt from a commentary I read while mulling over this passage and its application.

"When a poor soul is parched with convictions of sin and the terrors of the law, as David (Ps. 32:4), when fatigued with the troubles of this world, as Elijah when he sat down under a juniper tree (1 Ki. 9:14), they find that in Christ, in His name, His graces, His comforts, and His undertaking for poor sinners, which revives them and keeps them from fainting; those that are weary and heavily laden may find rest in Christ. It is not enough to pass by this shadow, but we must sit down under it (here will I dwell, for I have desired it); and we shall find it not like Jonah's gourd, that soon withered, and left him in a heat, both inward and outward, but like the tree of life, the leaves whereof were not only for shelter, but for the healing of the nations. We must sit down under this shadow with delight, must put an entire confidence in the protection of it (as Judges 9:15), and take an entire complacency in the refreshment of it."

    

   So that is my new name for Christ, "My Shadow". His love overspreads me, and I partake of the cooling and comfortable fellowship with Him. My Shadow never shifts, never shortens with time, never loses its ability to rest me, but is ever present and always comforting. Full confidence must be placed in the Shadow, for there alone is full fulfillment. This week, ladies, take rest in The Shadow. Take a moment each morning to picture yourself sitting down there and pray to the Father to hold you there during the day's stresses, needs, frustrations, or pain. The Shadow is enough for you.

"For Thou has been a strength to the poor, a strength for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." 

Isaiah 25:4

"And a Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Isaiah 32:2