Song of Solomon 1:1-4
…the upright love thee.
If again we consider the comment of Dakes, we are able to see the import of this phrase more clearly. We again picture the Shunamite as one who has been taken into the king’s court against her desires. Her preferred choice would be to remain in the shadow of her lover. However, she has been kept in the palace as one of the conquests of the king but her heart remained devoted to her true love. Her loving devotion to her true love is revealed by her stand to not have anything with the king. For she said, “Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers…” The call or cry is as though one is requesting for a quick intervention. This is only possible if the heart is upright toward the true lover. A corrupted person will not even think his/her evil deeds will hurt the person of his/her love.
Daniel and his friends are examples of the love of those who are upright in heart. Whereas they were in captivity and subject to the new king and his traditions, yet these young men did not forget the God of Israel and His laws. They were whole hearted in their devotions to Him and His words. Although the sparkling wine was displayed before them in several colours and bottles; meat of every kind was available for their pleasure at their request, they chose to suffer for the sake of their God.
Again, when they were called to bow before the image of the most feared king, they were defiant and confident to exalt their God above any graven image. When ‘President-colleagues’ conspired against Daniel because they were jealous of the grace of God upon him, his light outshined that of the others, and these became afraid that he might be set above them. They proposed that nobody should pray to any other god except the king, knowing fully well Daniel could and would never go without praying to his God. And this was exactly what he did. He prayed three times to his God against the decree of the king and he incurred the wrath of the law, sealed by the king at the behest of these jealous fellows. The jaws of hungry lions did not make him recount his conviction about his God. He stood calmly but firmly. Way-ward, corrupt and immoral men cannot stand faithfully in the time of test.
If one is not upright then he will be way ward. Samson is an example of a way ward child. Although the grace of God had showered much blessings on him yet he would not stay in the law of God. He preferred the pleasures of sin than to suffer the flesh for God’s victories to be won completely. Although he ultimately had a testimony of faith, but we account that his life could have been more meaningful and effective for God if he had stayed within the bounds of God’s laws. He loved God but because he was not upright, he was not as those we have described earlier.
Solomon is similar to Samson. The Bible even said’ he loved God,’ but what did he do? He married many strange women! The same thing God had warned His people to avoid was the exact thing He reveled in . By that act, his devotion to God was distracted and he gradually lost his grip of his faith. At old age, he was not the same young Solomon that loved God and sought to do His pleasure.
Christian experience also teaches and shows us that when we stand upright before God; when there is no known sin before us, our love for God is pure and our devotion strong. The moment we turn to our own way-wardness, we become slothful in the business of the King.
One of the secrets of staying upright and continuing in the love of the Lord is revealed in the words of the Shunamite. She said, “We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee” vs 4. The Bible again says, “We love because he first loved us.”1 John 4:19. It is His love that turns us to become His lovers. He was the first to initiate love to us; the sacrifice of his love compelled us to love Him in return. This is God’s principle. Let us therefore continue to remember his great love and revel in it. Let us allow His love to compel us toward acts that are worthy of Him. This will in turn be credited as our uprightness before Him.
It is His love that keeps us upright in the face of tests and temptations; only those who love Him this way are worthy of His reckoning.