Thoughts Differ On The Song Of Songs

March 2011 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Thoughts Differ On The Song Of Songs

When I mentioned to a few friends that one of our 2011 Features would be the Song of Solomon, their reactions were interesting. One said, “I never could understand why that book’s even in the Bible.” Another said, “It’s way too sensual! When I read it, I can’t help thinking I’m doing so for the wrong reasons.” And yet another said, “It never mentions God, it’s about sex and Solomon wrote it. How many concubines did he have?”

I decided to do some research to find out what others think about it and discovered that my friends were typical of a large number of Internet bloggers’ comments. So then I searched for the thoughts of Bible scholars from times past, and here’s a sample of what I found.

John Gill (1697-1771), a Puritan theologian known for his Exposition On The Song Of Solomon, wrote this: “The subject of the Song is Christ’s deep love and concern for His Church, together with sweet communion and fellowship with Him ... particularly set forth, and rightly called the Song of Songs.”

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), founder of the China Inland Mission wrote in his book on the Song entitled Union and Communion: “Few portions of the Word will help the devout student more in the pursuit of the knowledge of God than the too-much neglected Song of Solomon.”

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), a famous British preacher who delivered 31 different sermons on the Song, said, “The true believer will find this book to be not merely gold – for all God’s Word is gold – but a mass of diamonds sparkling with brightness; nothing can be compared with it for its matchless worth.”

I also discovered that prominent Bible preachers and teachers today – including our Feature writers – agree with the above mentioned scholars. If you’ve thought about the Song as my friends have, I hope this month’s Features will change your mind.

By Larry Ondrejack