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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. La la la la. Hey, men. Good morning. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's start our second service. And let's get our kids entered to game number 179. 179. Single song. Game number 179. Such love. Such love. Ready on the first. Ready. Sing. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Such wondrous love. Let's pray. Every Father we thank the Lord for this morning. We thank you for our first service. Panginod. I mean the top of Panginod. And we ask the Lord that you give us your service. And I pray that all God that you would bless also the preacher and servant Lord with brother Saki. And so that we can preach with all college and diocese. Also Lord we ask Lord that you continue to bless this church and give us a good prayer this afternoon Lord. And I pray that you will also bless our fellowship over the lunch and we ask all these things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For our next song let's turn to hymn number 134. 134. Let's sing the song My Anchor Holds. Hymn number 144 My Anchor Holds So the angry circus froze On the first ready sing So the angry circus froze But my tempest even sown I am peaceful for I know But we know the winds may blow I have an anger safe and sure What could ever pour in blue And it holds, my anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and clear By his face I feel For my anchor holds My anchor holds When he cries about his fear There is earth within the deep And we bow to Jesus' sky And the tempest rises high Still I stand the tempest strong For my anchor grips the rod And it holds my anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and clear By his face I shall not fear For my anchor holds My anchor holds I can feel the anchor fast As I leave it sown and fast And the field will go on As the heavens leap in deep Though the storm is waking up Till the turning of the tide And it holds my anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and clear By his face I shall not fear For my anchor holds My anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and fast And it holds my anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and clear By his face I shall not fear For my anchor holds My anchor holds My anchor holds Oh what a stand o' gale On my heart so small and clear By his face I shall not fear For my anchor holds My anchor holds Alright good morning everybody welcome to Verity Baptist Church take out your bullets and we'll go through a couple things Any salvations anybody had this past week? Any salvations I'm not aware of? One? Alright Any salvation? Seven? Any salvation? Four? Alright Anybody else? Alright so twelve more salvations, great job everybody Of course we will have soul winning this afternoon, weather permitting Let's see the only other things in our upcoming activities We do have choir practice today after soul winning Next week of course is Father's Day We will have the men's activity, we're planning to do a bowling for the men and the ladies will have their tea party here, you're welcome to invite people to attend this event and let's see in two weeks is our prayer meeting for the ladies tea party if you are a lady, if you are able to we love it if you're able to bring a dessert to help share We will be ordering food but also be nice if the ladies brought desserts as well and as guys we get to bowl and come back and just you know eat lots of desserts right? Anyways we'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song For our next song it's starting to be number two on the ninth Let's sing the song Sunshine in the Soul Okay number two on the ninth Sunshine in the Soul There's sunshine in my soul today Ready all the first, sing There's sunshine in my soul today More glorious and bright Than those in any earthly skies For Jesus is my God For sunshine, doesn't sunshine When the peaceful, happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There's music in my soul today A carol to the king And Jesus listening can hear The songs I cannot sing For there's sunshine, doesn't sunshine When the peaceful, happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There's springtime in my soul today For when the Lord is near God the prophet sings in my heart The flowers, the praise of me For there's sunshine, doesn't sunshine When the peaceful, happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There's madness in my soul today And hope and praise and love For blessings which he gives me now For joys made up above For there's sunshine, doesn't sunshine When the peaceful, happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul Amen. Please open your Bibles to the book of Psalms, of Solomon. Psalm of Solomon. You have the poetic books. Psalms, Proverbs, Ekkleshasti. Psalm of Solomon writes in the middle of your Bible. Psalm of Solomon chapter 2. And as our custom we'll be reading the entire chapter. Psalm of Solomon chapter 2. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Psalm of Solomon chapter 2 verse 1. 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 suns. 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. Staying me with the flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hinds of the field, that ye steer not up, nor awake, my love, till ye please. The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a row or a young heart. Behold he standeth behind our wall. He looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, thou art in the collapse of the rock. In the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice. For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a row or a young heart upon the mountains of Bethlehem. Blessed be God's word, let us pray. Lord God in Heaven, we thank you, Lord, for this day. Thank you, Lord, for this day. Please just give us good weather for our soul winning and our fellowship later on. I pray that you would also bless the preacher and the preaching of your word, Lord, this day. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, we are in Song of Solomon chapter 2, and this is a great chapter. There's a lot of interesting information. And let's just start here at verse number 1, and the Bible says, I am the rose of Sharon in 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 woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Now, the Song of Solomon, as I've said, is a story between two characters primarily. You've got Solomon and you have his wife. So in these first verses, one of the things that's challenging about reading this book is you're like, who's talking? It doesn't always give you pronouns to let you know. And a lot of people are confused in these first couple verses about which one's the man and which one's the woman. Well, I don't think it's that hard because look at verse number 3 to start. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. So in verse 3, the woman is saying that my husband is as the apple tree of the trees of the wood, my beloved among the sons. So she's comparing her husband to the other men that are out there, and it says, I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. So it's very clear in verse 3, she's talking about her husband because it says, you know, his fruit, it says his shadow, and it says my beloved among the sons. So verse 3 is clearly the guy talking. Well, verse 2, it says, as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. So what he says about his wife is she's like a lily amongst thorns, and what she says about him is that he's like an apple tree amongst the trees of the wood. Because it says in verse 2, as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. So he's comparing his wife to the other women that are out there, and he says the other women are as thorns, and she is like the lily of the valley. So in verse 1, when it says, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys, this should not be shocking, but guys do not say, I am the rose of Sharon. I am the lily of the valleys, right? It's just not a way that a guy, a normal guy, would describe himself. It's not a very tough term saying you're a rose or you're a lily, and this is very clear. Now, the reason why this is significant is because although there's a direct application of Solomon and his wife, Solomon is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the wife is a picture of the bride of Christ. Now, when it comes to us that are saved, we all make up the bride of Christ, whether we're a man or a woman. This is just symbolically speaking, okay? Now, the most important thing is a direct application, but symbolically speaking, Solomon represents Jesus, which is the apple tree among the trees of the wood. Whereas his wife represents the bride of Christ, the lily of the valley. You say, why is this significant? Well, actually, take out your hymnal and turn to 240 in your hymnal, okay? There's a song that we do not sing at our church because it is just completely inaccurate, okay? Who's heard the song The Lily of the Valley? Who knows that song? Now, and probably a lot of you have sung that at church and stuff like that, and here's the thing about this song. This song has a really nice melody. But, yeah, there's a lot of rock songs that have good melodies too, all right? It doesn't mean that it's accurate. And you see the song, the name of it is The Lily of the Valley. It's not a song about Solomon's wife. It's a song about Jesus, right? I've found a friend in Jesus. He's everything to me. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see. And this is a song about Jesus Christ, and it calls him The Lily of the Valley. Well, the reason why we don't sing this song is because that's not Solomon in the Song of Solomon. That is clearly his wife, right? I mean, it's not really that confusing when you look closely, look at the pronouns, and stop and think about it. The song The Lily of the Valley is not accurate because it's the woman that's the Lily of the Valley, and the man is the apple tree of the trees of the wood. And that makes sense because a guy does not refer to himself as a lily, right? I remember a long time ago I heard this guy preach a sermon. It was like at a men's preaching event in West Virginia, and it was a pretty good sermon. And he's going through all these illustrations during the sermon of Jesus Christ, and he's like, you know, he's the Alpha and Omega, right? He's the King of Kings, the beginning and the end. Lord God Almighty, the Lily of the Valley. And it's just like there's all these amens, and then me and my friends are just like, and then complete silence when he said the Lily of the Valley. It's just like, which of these does not fit? The King of Kings, Lord God Almighty, the Lily of the Valley, right? Now, I don't think that song number 240 is heresy, but it's just inaccurate. We don't sing it because it's just not accurate. And the idea that we need to realize is that, although I love this hymnal, this is not the King James Bible. It's not perfect. There are songs in here we choose not to sing. There are songs that are very clearly pre-trib songs, right? Like there's the one song that starts that also has a good melody. Jesus may come today. And it's like, no, he's not going to come today, right? And then, you know, another song is Victory in Jesus. Victory in Jesus is a very popular song with a very nice melody. We don't sing that song, though, because it says, Repent it of my sins for salvation, right? And so it's a song we don't sing. So I want you to realize that when we sing these songs, you can learn good doctrine. They're great songs. But you've got to realize that not everything is going to be perfect. They're written by people that are fallible. And quite honestly, a lot of people are confused by the Song of Solomon. So they just don't really know, right? I mean, you've got to really stop and think, is it the man or the woman talking? It can be pretty tricky. So you've got to just use some wisdom when we're singing songs and thinking about those words. But anyway, so let's go back to these verses. And what she says in verse 1 is, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. And this is not a statement where she's being arrogant. She's just stating the way she feels because of how her husband makes her feel. Her husband makes her feel like she is the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys, that basically all the other women are nothing compared to her. And that's the way she feels because her husband makes her feel that way. In verse 2, as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. And Solomon describes all other women out there as thorns. Basically stating, you know, there's no one compared to you, just symbolically speaking. What she says about her husband is, he's the apple tree among the trees of the wood. Well, the idea is that a normal tree is not going to produce any fruit, but an apple tree produces fruit, so it's valuable, it's good. And she basically says that her husband is better than any other guy. And one thing we can take away from that is, you ought to make your spouse feel like nobody compares to them. That there's just no comparison with all the other women to your wife or all the other men to your husband. That is the way that you should make the person feel that you're married to. And a lot of these things are things we know and things we apply when we're courting or talking or dating or however you want to say, you know, someone. But it's kind of something you let slip as time goes by. It's just kind of forgotten. But the Bible says we need to be heirs together of the grace of life with our spouse. You need to keep these things in your marriage. It's very important, right? As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. Then it says this, I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Now, obviously, Solomon is not a literal apple tree, but a tree could produce a shadow when the sun is out, so she's sitting under a shadow symbolically, speaking of a tree having a shadow. His fruit, well, if he's an apple tree, it's just symbolic, just stating, you know, his fruit was sweet to my taste, just stating that she loves being around her husband. But what it said is I sat down under his shadow with great delight. Now, turn to Psalm 17. Psalm chapter 17. Psalm 17. Psalm 17. And the Bible uses this word shadow in different ways, and it uses it symbolically speaking here in Psalm 17, verse 8. And it says in Psalm 17, verse 8, Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings. Right? Now, look, obviously, God is not a bird, okay? But the symbolic symbolism being spoken of there is as a bird has wings, and the idea is we are underneath the protection of God. Right? We're underneath the shadow of his wings, like the song in our hymnal, Under his wings we're safely abiding. Right? We're underneath the shadow of the wings of the Lord. He's above us. He's our protector. He's our leader, and we're underneath his shadow. Right? Now, symbolically speaking, when it said, I sat down under his shadow, the idea there is the husband is the head of the home. That's what's being expressed there. In verse number 3. Now, turn to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. And look, as a wife, you are underneath the shadow of your husband. Right? Symbolically speaking. He is the head of your home. Okay? That does not mean that he's better than you. It's just an idea of authority, and the husband is the head of a home. The Bible teaches this. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians 5, verse 22, Ephesians 5, verse 22, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife. And notice how it's linked to even Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Obviously, Solomon represents Christ. His wife represents the bride of Christ. And the comparison of marriage, husband and wife, is linked to Christ and the church. Okay? And just as the Lord is above all of us, and he is our protection, our shield, our exceeding great reward, all these things told... Well, it's the same thing with a marriage. The husband is the head of that home, and the wife is underneath his shadow. Now, look, everybody knows the Bible teaches this. Right? Even people that complete... Even Joyce Meyer knows that the Bible says this. They just don't like it that the husband is the head of the home. I mean, it's not even debatable what the Bible teaches about this. It's not a question of what does the Bible teach. It's just a matter of people not liking what the Bible does teach. But see, the thing is, it's not just the wife is underneath the shadow of her husband. It's that I sat down under his shadow with great delight. And what that means is Solomon's wife is stating, I am happy my husband is my leader. I am happy to be underneath his authority. And let me just state this. You know, as a wife, do not develop this attitude, wow, my husband's a leader. My husband's a leader. That's what the Bible says, so I guess I'll do it. But you're bitter and angry about it every day, and you're upset about that. Now, the Bible says you should sit under a shadow with great delight. You should be happy and thankful, the person you're married to, that he's the leader of your home, not rebelling against your husband, being mad at your husband, complaining about everything he says. But you should do it with great delight. Not that you're competing for authority with your husband, but you're happy to be underneath his leadership. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, like a lot of things I said last week, kind of tough preaching on the guys, but it's like that verse, it's like that's reference to the ladies. Like, ladies, you should sit underneath the shadow of your husband with great delight. And if that's not the way you feel, you need to get right with God about that, because your husband is the head of your home, and you should be thankful to have him as your leader, right? That's what the Bible teaches. Now, go back to Song of Solomon 2. Song of Solomon 2. Song of Solomon chapter 2. Now, here's the thing. Although women should be glad to be underneath the authority of their husband, here's a great way you can get your wife to be thankful to have you as her protection and have you as the head when you make her feel special. It's probably not that hard for Solomon's wife to feel that way, because he makes her feel like the lily of the valley, the lily among thorns, the rose of Sharon. And so, of course, with delight, she's glad to have Solomon as her leader because of the way he makes her feel. Now, look, if your husband is just not very nice to you and doesn't make you feel good, it doesn't change the fact that you're commanded to be underneath his shadow, and you should be thankful to have him as your leader. That's what the Bible says. But if you're wise as a guy, you will try to make your wife feel special. Make her feel like there's nobody else that compares to you. And, look, if you do that, then both sides... If you as a husband do your part, your wife is more likely to do her part, and vice versa. If a wife is willingly wanting to submit, it's going to cause the husband to make the wife feel like she's very special. But you've got to make that choice in your marriage. Verse 4, He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Now, a lot of people are confused about banqueting house because this is not a personal home. It's not referenced to a bedroom or anything like that. A banquet is like an event, like a party for royalty and very special people, right? The Bible mentions having a banquet with governmental leaders. It's a big event to have a banquet for someone, okay? And what the Bible's indicating is that King Solomon at the house of the Lord, basically there was an official banquet house where you'd presume when there's really important business meetings or there's other kings or leaders, that is where they would meet at the banquet house, and they'd have a big party or festival, and basically have a big meeting or something like that. And what the Bible's stating is that even though this is basically reserved for royalty or big events or things like that, he personally just took his wife to this place, and I believe just one-on-one, and just had a date at the banqueting house. And the idea is that he's taken her somewhere very special. Now, I don't think any of us have a banqueting house. None of us are a king or anything like that. But an application you can make is trying to take your wife somewhere special, right? Making her feel special. And Solomon did that, and as a result of him taking her to the banqueting house where people are aware of it, it says, and his banner over me was love. What is a banner? It's like a sign, right? It's like out front we have our Verity Baptist Church. It's not exactly a banner, but it's the same sort of thing to let people know. It's like, okay, this is who this person is. This is what this is. And what it's stating there is that when his wife walked around town, it's as if there was a giant banner above her that said, Solomon loves this woman. That's what it's saying in verse 4. His banner over me was love. Wherever she went, everybody knew Solomon loves this woman. Now, that's some hard preaching because the question is, in your marriage, if your wife walks around, would people think, man, her husband really loves her? And of course, vice versa as well, would they think that about the husband, like, man, his wife really loves him. Is that the way that people would think of your marriage? Or when they think about your marriage, do they think they really like to have a lot of fights? Right? It's like because, what the Bible's stating, and look, this is, here's the thing, preaching against the sodomites is not really hard preaching at our church because everybody agrees with me. But this sort of preaching is kind of tough because the question is, is that what people would think about your spouse if they see them? Right? It's like when people look at my wife, Brother Stuckey really loves his wife. Or people see me, man, Sister Tan really loves her husband. Is that what they would think in your marriage? But what the Bible's stating is that he takes her special places, he makes her feel special, and it's as if there was a big banner over her. Solomon loves this woman. His banner over me was love. That's what's being expressed in verse 4. Verse 5, it says, Stay me with flagons, come for me with apples, for I am sick of love. Now the word flagon is used five times in the Bible. It's not really a very common word in today's vernacular. But the word flagon there, it's something that would hold some sort of liquid. And usually it's juice in the Bible. So it mentions like a flagon of wine is mentioned sometimes in the Bible, a flagon of juice. And it says, Stay me with flagons, come for me with apples. Now when it says, come for me with apples, I do believe, she referred to them as the apple tree, we're literally talking about apples, but I think in the form of apple juice is what's being expressed, because a flagon would hold a liquid. So being comforted with apples, I think that apple is probably turned into apple juice would make the most sense. And she's asking to be comforted with apples or apple juice. Why? Because she says, I am sick of love. What does that mean, I am sick of love? It doesn't mean she wants to divorce. It doesn't mean she hates her husband. And kind of the best way to express this is, and sometimes these things can fade as time goes by, but just think about when you first recording your spouse, you get those butterflies in the stomach. You know what I'm talking about? The butterflies in the stomach, you're excited to see them, but you're very nervous, you're afraid you're going to do something wrong, because you're really trying to impress them. You're worried about how you dress, you're worried about smelling good, the things we talked about last week and all those things, and you get very emotional toward the person that you're interested in. And one of the takeaways of this is that the person you marry, there should be strong emotions toward that person, right? Because as a Bible-believing church, sometimes we can turn marriage into a checklist. I go to church, he goes to church. I go soul-winning, he goes soul-winning. All right, let's just get married, right? But I don't actually think that's a healthy decision to make based on a marriage. Now, don't misunderstand me. Number one, there must be a spiritual checklist that is matched. No doubt about that, right? There's plenty of Scripture. I've talked about that, but that's not really the main thing that's being expressed in the Song of Solomon. But what you don't want to do is just completely get rid of the strong emotions and the desire toward that person that you're going to marry. There should be strong feelings. When you see that person, you should think, this person is so attractive. I really like this person, right? I really like hanging out with this person. I like talking to this person. You should be excited to talk to them and see them, and it does cause an emotional reaction because there's nervousness. There's the butterflies in the stomach. There are all these things, and you know what? Just for advice for people at our church that are single, it's like I don't think it's wise just to marry someone just because they go soul winning. My opinion is you could have a guy and a girl that both love God, and there's just no interest whatsoever between them. They're just not the same personalities, not attracted to one another, just different interests. That is very possible. Obviously, the number one most important thing is that they're spiritual, and they love God, and you're yoked together. Do not be unequally yoked, but at the same time, people have different personalities. A lot of people in this church love God. That doesn't mean that everybody would be a good match together with their personalities. I've expressed before one of the things my wife really loves about me. She thinks I'm very funny, and I tell a lot of jokes. Anyone who knows me knows I tell a lot of jokes. It's just my personality. The bottom line is if there was a girl that just did not find me funny, I would have never been interested in her because it's just like I'm telling jokes, and she doesn't get it. It goes right over her head. It's just like we're just not a match. There's nothing against that person they can love God. It's just don't have the same personality. Maybe you have nothing in common with that person. People can love God and just have nothing in common whatsoever. Just awkward silence, nothing to talk about, and it's just like there's not going to be a good match for each other. Look, the person you marry, you should enjoy spending time with, enjoy talking to, be very attracted to. All of these things are important, and I think that's something we can take away from verse 5. That's the way she feels about her husband. She feels like, man, this guy is very special, and it causes an emotional reaction to her, and we see him actually comforting his wife and spending time with his wife. Now, look at verse number 6. The Bible says, His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. And that's him spending time with her and comforting her and making her feel better. Verse 7, I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the rose and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor wake my love till he please. Now in verse 7, if you give somebody a charge, it's like giving them a commandment is a synonym for that. But she's saying to the daughters of Jerusalem, basically do not awake my love till he please. Now what does that mean, awake my love? It's literally referring to him waking up out of sleep. And the reason why it uses this terminology is Solomon at his job actually was around other women sometimes. You say when? Think about when he judged between the prostitutes, right? I mean, two women came to him, judged between the prostitutes. He would actually be around some of the daughters of Jerusalem, just a term for all of the women that lived in that area. And what she's expressing there is don't make my husband go off to work until he's ready, right? Because basically as he's going to his secular job, he's around other people, and she's saying, I don't want him to wake up. I want him to be here with me until he has to leave in the morning is what's being expressed there. It's literally saying awake my love, like wake up or cause him to go and have to go to work. Then it says in verse 8, the voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Now, to understand verse 8, you need to understand there's a time frame that goes by between verse 7 and verse 8. Because in verse 7, it's about him going off to work in the morning. Verse 8 is him coming home from work, okay? Basically, he goes off to work, and as he's coming back, she says, the voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. She's excited her husband's coming home. And look, that's the way you ought to feel about your spouse. Right? If they're gone doing something, you ought to be excited when they come home. Right? It shouldn't just be like, well, oh no, my husband's home. It's like, I'll just try to avoid him. I've got to do something on the computer. You should be excited when your husband's coming home. She hears his voice. She's very excited. He is also excited because he's leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. The idea is he's going home very quickly. Do you see that? He's excited to go home, and she is excited to see him. Look, there's a problem in your marriage if you tell your boss, it's like, no, no, let me just stay a couple hours longer. It's like, I'm not going to pay you overtime. I don't need any money. Just let me stay so I can tell my wife I'm working longer. Right? There's a problem with that because there should be excitement. You get off work. It's like, man, I'm excited to come home and see my wife and see my family. That ought to be the way you feel. Right? And look, apply the principles from Solomon because you want to get back to that point. Because when you're first married, like they are newlyweds in this story, you're excited to come home. Isn't that true? Right? You go to work. I remember just being excited every day. I was going home to see my wife, and my wife was excited for me coming home and everything. But honestly, as time goes by, you can let these things slip once you start having kids and lose some of these basic principles the Bible's teaching us. But we see that she's excited for him and he's coming home very quickly because he wants to see his wife. Then it says this, My beloved is like a roe or a young heart, a roe being a deer and a young heart is a male deer. And of course, you would think of a roe or a deer being an animal that skips and leaps and moves very quickly. Right? So she compares him to basically an animal that's basically coming home. And of course, when you're skipping or leaping, you're usually kind of in a good mood. Right? When you're skipping, think of a kid that skips or whatever. They're in a good mood. They're excited. He's in a good mood and happy to come home. And then it says, Behold, he standeth behind our wall. He looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice. So she finally sees him and she's excited. Now, here's the thing. When you go off to work all day and you work really hard, what's your reaction generally when you come home? I want to rest. Right? I want to relax. What's the easy thing to do? Just get on YouTube. Just get on Facebook. Just sit there and do nothing. And look, this is honestly how a lot of marriages are, where basically people go off to work, they come home, and then they just sit there and do nothing. Right? They just want to relax and not do anything. That is a major mistake in your marriage if you never do anything together. And look, what you see in these verses is she's excited for him to come home and he's excited to get home to see his wife. But then notice what it says here in verse number 10. My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. He gets home from work and what does he say? Let's go somewhere. Right? That's what he's saying. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. And she's excited to see him. He comes home. He rushes home. He's like, Let's go do something. Now look, I understand the easy thing to do when you get off work is just sit there and do nothing and be lazy. Right? Now, I'm not stating every single day you get off work you have to go somewhere because that would be a bit extreme if every single time you got off work you have to do something. But I think the idea being expressed is you don't want to live this very sedentary, you know, lazy sort of lifestyle in your marriage where basically you just come home and you just sit there and do nothing. You're on the computer. Then you just eat and go to bed just day after day after day after day after day. But yet that is the way it is in a lot of marriages. A lot of marriages, husbands and wives never actually do anything together. And they just kind of sit there and just that's it. Now look, I understand it is a lot easier to just not do anything. I have three young kids. Right? We went to a hot air balloon festival on Friday and you know what? It's hard when you go with three kids. What's a lot easier is just doing nothing. But yet those sorts of things I think are very important. And look, I'm not stating that you have to go somewhere expensive. You can do something as simple as going out for a walk in the park. I mean just kind of make a checklist of things that you want to do. Just do something simple because one thing you have to understand as a guy, and especially this is true, like let's say you have the husband who's out working like Solomon and his wife is staying home. It's like if the husband is out working and he comes home, the wife you have to realize is always home. At least in this story pretty much. I mean she helps with the vineyard and stuff. I talked about that last week. But in general, as a stay at home mom, she's going to be staying home most of the time. And you have to realize that that can get kind of depressing if you never really see sunlight, you never do anything. Right? Now one thing I believe is that as a husband, even though this is before they have kids, I do believe as a husband you should be fully capable of taking care of your kids so your wife can actually go out and do something. Because look, you have to realize it's pretty depressing if all you do is sit home and do nothing all the time. That's going to be very depressing on the woman to never be able to go out and do anything. I mean one thing from the COVID with all the rules and restrictions on kids is very tough on women. Tough on kids, tough on ladies that are staying home and never getting out. It's not actually a good thing for them. As a guy, you should be fully capable of taking care of your kids and so your wife can do something. Other than with Ezra, because he's too young at this point, my wife goes out sometimes and I just take care of the kids and she goes and runs an errand and it's good for her. She gets to go out and do something. I'm fully capable of taking care of the kids, cooking a meal if I need to, cleaning, taking care of them or whatever. I do believe, although we have roles of husbands and wives, I believe you can take this too far personally because I do believe that you should be able to take care of your kids as a guy. And I mean think about like let's say your wife gets really sick. I mean are you able to take care of your kids without the help of your wife? I can say yes I can. Right? You could ask my wife. My wife would say yes, Brother Stuckey can. Brother Stuckey does take care of the kids. He helps with stuff and sometimes I choose to help with stuff just because my wife's busy or I want to make it easier on her. Sometimes you can get a little bit too fundamental in my opinion with roles and just, you know, you need to be as a guy able to take care of your kids if your wife is not able to or allow her to do something. And she's at home all the time, but he comes home and he says, and come away. Right? Verse number 11. What's the idea there the winter is past and the rain is over and gone? Well I mean winter you have snowy weather. Rain, you got rainy weather. You can't do anything when there's the snow or the rain. Right? I mean think about it here in the Philippines when it's the rainy season are you going to go out and do something? Let's go for a walk in the park honey and it's just pouring. Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Right? And look, you know, sometimes there's going to be bad weather. You literally just can't go out and really do much because of the weather. Now I know that here in the Philippines people are like I would love to be around snow. Well I have biblical proof that snow is miserable here in this verse because literally you do nothing during the winter time because of the weather. I mean it's cold. You can't drive. I mean driving in snow is very hard. It's harder than driving in rain. It's very miserable. Being in cold weather for long periods of time it's not a lot of fun. And look, people don't generally go very many places when it's snowy or rainy or there's bad weather. And I do believe he's literally telling her the weather is good outside so let's go somewhere. But symbolically you could take this to say let's say you have a very busy season in your life. Right? Like let's say you got a lot of work or you got these big exams you're studying for. And speaking that could be as winter or as the rainy weather. And the idea would be maybe in some seasons in your life you're not able to do anything because you're very busy but you know once the winter is past you got to decide to go somewhere and do something. Right? I get it, you know you're at various stages it's tough. I know personally that you know when your wife is right near about to give birth and right afterwards that's kind of a season where you don't really do as much because it's a lot harder. But see once that season has passed once the winter has passed once the rain is over and gone you need to actually go out and do something. And if you never do anything you know it's going to cause depression in your marriage. It's not going to make you happy. Now here's the thing as a guy as I said last week we can go out and work and we don't necessarily feel this way. We can just work and work come home eat go to sleep and wake up the next day. But as I said I don't think that's the way most women actually feel. They actually want to do something they actually want to spend time with you and so you should try at least from time to time to come home and actually take your family out somewhere. Take your wife out somewhere. It doesn't have to be very expensive. When we saw the hot air balloon festival it's like you know you pay it's to get inside it's 500 pesos per person so we didn't do that. We basically just walked up so we could see the hot air balloons. 50 pesos for parking not that expensive. It's like we have too many kids I don't want to pay 500 pesos per person you know to be there for an hour didn't make a lot of sense but you know we were able to see the kids and I had my kids on my back they see the hot air balloon and everything they had a good time and everything and so I'm not saying you have to go to a really expensive place but there's a lot of activities you can do that don't cost any money. I believe he's taking his wife just he's a king and I believe he's just taking his wife out for a walk basically you know just to a basic area but it's something you're outdoors it's fun it's nice it's a good thing to do. So he says the winter has passed the rain is over and gone the flowers appear on the earth the time of the singing is coming the voice of the turtle is heard in our land the idea being it's kind of spring weather the bad weather's gone the fig tree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell arise my love my fair one and come away you know another application you can make going on vacation can be a good thing to do as a family right I believe going on vacation is a good thing obviously something like that it costs money you know it takes time and effort but you know it's actually good to actually go out and do something with your family from time to time and I think wisdom on the word of God would say there's nothing bad about that it's actually a good thing sometimes we think it's all about church soul winning reading the Bible and just never having any fun in your personal life outside of that I don't really believe that I believe you ought to have a balance on things in life and I believe you ought to be able to go places and have fun and do things one thing that's great about the Philippines that is not the same in most countries is we're able to do soul winning marathons in parks and you have a great time being outdoors but you also are able to get a lot of people saved you can't do that in the US you do a soul winning event in a park you're going to get zero saved because you don't have any opportunities to talk to anybody but here you know you're able to go to a park you're able to go soul winning be outdoors have family time I mean I think those are great when you go soul winning in parks soul winning marathons I always loved going to Case on Memorial Circle my wife would preach the gospel I'd watch the kids and then we'd switch she'd watch the kids then I'd preach the gospel once and you'd preach the gospel for several hours and then you're just kind of walking around as a family you get to do everything it's great right and things like that are a very good thing for your life and for your marriage it says in verse 14 oh my dove that art in the clefts of the rock in the secret place of the stairs let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely I do believe in verse 14 this is the husband speaking about his wife and what it says is let me hear thy voice let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely now what does that mean countenance and voice what is the Bible stating there well go to Proverbs 15 Proverbs 15 Proverbs chapter 15 and your countenance is basically referring to your face or the look on your face the attitude that's seen on your face okay and it says in Proverbs 15 verse 13 now the Bible says a merry heart somebody who's in a good mood is going to have a cheerful countenance when someone's in a good mood you can usually see it on their face when someone's in a bad mood you can usually see it on their face right you know especially I mean if your spouse is angry you can tell by the way they look on their face right it's like they make it a point to be like really you know on the look on their face like they are really angry right now right and what the Bible stating here from Song of Solomon 2 is basically you know his having a cheerful countenance whether it's whether I'm right about it the guy speaking about the woman or vice versa both husbands and wives should have a cheerful countenance both husbands and wives if you're in a bad mood and complaining and bitter and being rude it is going to destroy your marriage your spouse is not going to want to be around you right the Bible speaks about the brawling woman and the husband rather would be in the corner of a house like away from his wife right and look if you're in a bad mood whether you're a guy or a girl your spouse will not want to be around you and look I don't like being around people that are in a bad mood all the time I mean look if there is someone that is always complaining and in a miserable mood is that the person you really want to talk to no because they put you in a worse mood right but people that are in a cheerful mood and have a good attitude and are friendly and happy those are the people I like to be around because as a result of them being cheerful it makes me cheerful but if you're around people that are always complaining then you start having the same sort of attitude as them one of the important things in marriage is just you have a good attitude cheerful countenance it also said sweet is thy voice well go to Proverbs 16 Proverbs 16 Proverbs 16 sweet is thy voice what is that referring to sweet is thy voice Proverbs 16 pleasant words are as in honeycomb sweet to the soul and health to the bones the Bible speaks about pleasant words as being like a honeycomb what is a honeycomb really known for being very sweet very sweet tasting honey or honeycomb very sweet tasting pleasant words basically sweet is thy voice is referring to pleasant words it's referring once again to the attitude how things are expressed and it's interesting because what it says is it's actually health to the bones I take that literally I believe that when you're around people that are in a good mood it's actually healthy for you physically healthy like it's very good for you and I don't believe that they have the science to prove these things but I believe what the Bible says that you know what when you're around people that are in a good mood and have a good attitude it makes you in a good mood and having a merry heart is like a medicine it's good for you right and so look the idea is as whether you're a husband or a wife you need to talk in a kind way you need to have a good attitude not complaining not bitter but be in a good mood and look there's ways in which you can say things where you're expressing the same thing but there's a nice way a pleasant way and there's a rude way right I mean can you see the difference in these things you know honey can you make chicken for dinner right or honey can you make chicken for dinner please right it's a nice way what about this make chicken for dinner now do you see a difference I mean isn't there a difference between those two things now here's the thing if you want chicken and you're asking your wife to make chicken there's a nice way to say it you say well she has to obey me no matter what well yes she does but if you want your wife to hate you then be rude right I mean make her feel special and she's more likely and the truth the same is a true opposite as well with wives how you speak to your husband don't speak in a rude way use words like honey use words like please right you know you ought to say things in a nice way in a kind way and look when you're in a bad mood it's very easy to say something in a rude way you're just shooting arrows at your own marriage when you do that you're causing problems with your own marriage but if you say things in a kind way it's actually going to result in a healthy marriage a good marriage saying things in a kind way look as I said some of Solomon is is not complicated deep information I mean it's poetic I mean I love poetry so for me I've always loved this book I love poetry trying to figure out what everything's saying but the actual information is very basic right this is like even like a five year old would say well of course you know be nice you teach your kids the words thank you and please at a young age right but you know we need to remember these things when we're married things like this make a big difference in having a good and healthy marriage just having a good attitude and just saying things in a nice way now look as I'm preaching this I am not stating that I always have a cheerful countenance I'm not stating I always say things in a nice way I'm not stating I'm perfect right I'm stating this is some hard preaching right I mean this is tough because you know when you're not in a good mood it's really hard to basically stop yourself from being rude and to be not but you know honestly if we would learn to have a better attitude and say things in a kind way it would make a huge difference in our marriages now go back to Song of Solomon chapter 2 Song of Solomon chapter 2 Song of Solomon chapter 2 Song of Solomon chapter 2 Song of Solomon chapter 2 Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 15 the Bible says take us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes now I do believe that they have a literal vineyard and they they go outdoors they have plants that they produce and they they have plants that they produce and things like that but I think this is symbolically speaking about towards the marriage stating that their marriage you know is as vines and they have tender grapes and a tender grape the idea would be like tender meaning delicate very easily can be destroyed right and what she's expressing with a little fox is small things that would destroy you know your marriage because as a marriage because you're so emotionally attached to the person married to, it can be very tender and delicate where if as a husband you say something rude to your wife, it's going to really hurt her feelings, right? I mean if somebody I don't like is rude to me, I don't care, right? But if it's someone you actually care about says something rude to you, then of course that's going to hurt a lot more. And see with our marriage, you know, if you love your spouse, that's the way you're going to feel. We're basically the last person you would want hurting you is your spouse. And that marriage is very tender. It's very delicate. And so when something said that harms it, it causes a lot of hard feelings because you're so emotionally invested in it. Because look, when you're married, your number one relationship outside of God is with your spouse. And so it's a very tender and delicate relationship where you need to realize that because as a husband, I need to be careful with how I act toward my wife because I need to realize it's very tender. It's very delicate. It can cause a lot of hard feelings. Somebody else could be rude to my wife, it wouldn't bug her. But if I'm rude to my wife, it would really bother her because I'm her husband, right? And it's true both for men and women. And you know, it's not just foxes. It says little foxes. And the idea is small things can actually really harm a marriage. You say why is that? Because it's a very tender and delicate relationship. It's very emotional, right? I mean, you know, in marriage it's the person you love and it should be your best friend, the person you're committed to to life. But the reality is the person you're married to, you probably fight with more than anybody else in this world. Because you're around them 24-7 and sometimes there's problems, sometimes there's disagreements. We don't always have the cheerful countenance. We don't always have the honeycomb coming out of our mouth, right? We don't always have the sweet words coming out of our mouth. And it can result in problems in your marriage. But you have to understand and remember, this relationship is very tender. It's very delicate. And something small can really cause a lot of problems. I mean, look, as a guy I could be rude to another guy and say something mean or whatever. And you know what? He doesn't care and he forgets about it five minutes later. It's not the same way with your spouse, the person you're married to. These things become as wounds that stick with you, right? And so you need to be very careful with just the way you express stuff and what you say. You need to remember this relationship is very tender. It's very delicate. And you've got to be very careful not just about big foxes, but even little foxes, small things that would cause problems. And so if you identify areas where you need to change personally or something that really causes problems to your spouse, you should try to make those changes. Because those little foxes can destroy something that's very good. That's what's being expressed there in verse 15. Verse number 16. My beloved is mine and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies. Now what she states, this is the woman speaking in verse 16, my beloved is mine and I am his. And she's stating, you know what, I belong to my husband. He belongs to me. And this is an expression she makes throughout the book in various different ways. And the idea is, you know what, my husband only belongs to me and I only belong to my husband. And it says here also, he feedeth among the lilies. Now remember she said earlier in the chapter that she's the lily of the valley? He said about her she's a lily of the valley. And she felt like she was a lily because of the way that he made her feel. But here's the thing, even though he makes her feel that way, lily is being symbolic of other women in this verse, I believe. And feeding is where you literally eat. It's like a makalumang or archaic word to say that, you know, to eat or to feed. But I think what's being expressed is that basically he's around the daughters of Jerusalem sometimes. He's around other lilies, right? And she's stating he only belongs to me and I only belong to him. But she's also stating he is around other women sometimes. I mean, imagine as a guy, you come home from work, your wife, you know, and like just as a perfect marriage, like all of us have, your wife greets you at the door, she hugs you, she kisses you. I'm so excited and happy to see you. I'm so excited. I was skipping and leaping to come home, honey, right? You're excited. And then your wife's like, what did you do today? Well, I had two prostitutes who came to me because one of them accidentally killed a baby. It's like that's not exactly gonna make your wife that happy that you're around women in that sort of way. And I don't believe Solomon was doing anything wrong. I'm just stating the fact that, look, as a spouse you're gonna be jealous. As a guy, I do not want my wife around other guys. And my wife does not want me around other ladies. It's just common sense. Why are you saying you're jealous? Everyone who's married should be jealous. Because when you get married, your spouse belongs to you. That's what the Bible teaches. And she's stating the fact in verse 16, I belong to him and he belongs to me. But she's also stating he is around other women. Now one thing we need to realize and take away is that we need to be very careful how we interact with people of the opposite gender, okay? As a married person, you need to be very, very careful how you interact. I believe and teach that no married guy should be friends with any women that they are not related to, other than your mom, your aunts, your sisters, or whatever, right? I don't believe as a guy I should be friends with any ladies. Same thing for ladies. I don't believe ladies should be friends with any guys. You say, why? Because of the fact it can lead to problems. Because of the fact, even if it doesn't lead to something major, what can happen is it can cause jealousy in that relationship. So look, as a guy, you need to be very careful how you interact with other women. And look, as a guy, you should not be flirtatious with other people of the opposite gender. You should act very much in a business-like way. I'm not saying be rude, but I'm stating you need to be very careful how friendly you are as a married person, whether you're a guy or whether you're a girl. Now let me say this, that when it comes to this, I would say it's pretty obvious. Women are more perceptive than men when it comes to these sorts of things, emotions and feelings. I think all of us, I'm assuming, would agree with that, right? You know, we've had problems with people at our church before that, you know, were removed from church and kicked out. My wife told me a couple years in advance, you know, she said, well, you know, if you don't want to kick them out now, it's still going to happen. It's just a matter of when. My wife already knew, right? And I saw the signs of what she was saying, it's just a matter of, you know, I have to have actual proof for stuff, but it's just like, my wife is very perceptive about stuff like that. And one thing that's true is that guys can be very oblivious if, like, a woman is flirting with them. It would go, like, straight over their head oftentimes, right? They feel like, you know, she's just being friendly and you respond back in a friendly way. That can cause your wife to be very jealous when you're being too friendly with someone of the opposite gender. And look, you know, I'm being honest. As a guy, if a woman was flirting with me, I would not have any idea. Because there have been times in my life where my wife told me, you know, that woman was flirting with you. I was like, what? It's like I had no idea. It just, like, completely went over my head. And the reality is, we need to be very careful not to be too friendly with those of the opposite gender. You say, why? Because you only belong to your spouse. You should not be friends with someone of the opposite gender. And look, that sounds like very old-fashioned preaching. Well, I mean, old-fashioned preaching would actually give us good results in our marriages. We need to get back to old-fashioned preaching. I can say as a guy, I am not okay with my wife being friends with guys. And look, I'm not stating that if someone, you know, says hello to you at church, just be rude to them, or they try to shake your hand, and you're just... But I'm just stating, you know, you need to have some common sense and put a real boundary. Because you've got to put the boundary somewhere. I mean, where are you going to put that boundary? How about stopping at the point where you're carrying on friendships with those that you're not married to? And look, this is different when you're single, but as a married person, you should have enough sense not to be friends with people of the opposite gender. It is not a wise thing. It is not a smart thing. It can cause problems. It's not fair to your spouse. It's not the way it's meant to be, right? The Bible says, my beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies. So though Solomon was around other women, he did not, at this point in his life, flirt with other women or carry on friendships with other women. It's just a matter of, in his work, he came in contact with them. Of course, all of us in our day-to-day lives are going to be around people of the opposite gender. You go to the store, there's going to be men and women there, right? You're going to a restaurant, there's men and women. You go about your life, there's men and women. Ever. You're preaching the gospel. Look, as a guy, sometimes I preach the gospel to women. As women, sometimes you preach the gospel to men. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but you need to realize not to be too friendly, you know, when it comes to someone of the opposite gender. So verse 16, my beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies. Verse 17, until the daybreak and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a rower, a young heart, upon the mountains of Beethoven. Now, I'll be honest to you, this was the verse, I was like, I do not understand what this is talking about. This was the verse in this chapter that really confused me, but I do understand now, and it's actually perhaps the most profound verse in this chapter when you understand. But we need to break down each of these phrases. First, it says until the daybreak. The daybreak. Go to Genesis 32. What does the daybreak mean? The daybreak. Now, according to my wife, this is a terminology they use sometimes in surfing. My wife told me Mark will know what daybreak is. Is that true? Did they use that term in surfing? So apparently in surfing, and I think fishing, this is a term that's still kind of used, but it's not really used as much in our modern day. Daybreak's referring to the sun rising, and I'm going to prove that to you in Genesis chapter 32, and to understand this verse, we need to understand the daybreak is referring to the sun rising. Genesis 32 verse 24. Genesis 32 verse 24. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. So the breaking of the day, the daybreak, and when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. Go to verse 31. And as he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he holded upon his thigh. And so the sun rising is being linked with the daybreak. And if you look it up on Google online or whatever, it will say that the daybreak is the sunrise. I'm just trying to prove it to you from the Word of God, because it's not the most common phrase anymore. So the day breaking is the sun rising, okay? The other thing it said was, and the shadows flee away. Now this is why I was confused, because I thought, you know what, shadows exist when there is the sun. So it sounded like to me, until the sun rises and the sun sets, because the shadows fleeing away, you're not going to have shadows if there's no sun. So the shadows fleeing away would be at the sunset. That's what I was confused about. Now turn to Job 3. Shadows fleeing away is a terminology actually for the sunrise also, which makes this verse actually make a lot of sense. Job 3 verse 4. Because although shadows exist while there is the sunlight, a shadow is a word used synonymously with darkness in the Bible. And so basically the shadows fleeing away is the darkness fleeing away or leaving, which would be when the sun rises, there's no more darkness, right? Job 3 verse 4. So shadow is a word. A literal shadow exists. You have to have the sun. But here's the thing. What is stating there, you know, you have to have light, but what is stating there with the shadows fleeing away is darkness fleeing away. So the day break is the sunrise, and when the sun rises, the darkness flees away, right? So it's being stated in Song of Solomon 2 verse 17, what she's stating there at the beginning of the verse. Go back to Song of Solomon 2 verse 17. She's like, until the sun rises and the sun rises, is what she's stating. So what she's basically saying is this, until that point, well, when the sun rises, what does a man do in the morning? Goes off to work. So what she's stating is, before you go off to work, is what she's stating, until the day break and the shadows flee away. Until you go off to work, before you go off to work, be thou like a roe, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of Bethar. You say, well, what is that referring to? Well, I mean, the term roe and young heart is used earlier in the chapter, and the idea is, like, working hard and being diligent, and the idea was, when Solomon was at his job, he worked very hard. He took it very seriously. And look, as a guy, you ought to take your jobs very seriously. Here's the thing, though, when you come home from work, you need to be like a roe or a young heart also. Meaning, take your responsibilities as a father and as a husband very seriously. Don't just work hard, I'm providing financially, but I come home, I'm lazy as can be, I don't spend any time with my family. That is the wrong attitude, right? Be thou like a roe or a young heart when you're out in your secular job, but, you know, when you're at home, before you go off to work, work hard at being a father. Work hard at being a husband. Work hard at doing a good job at the role that God gave you. And what she's stating to her husband is this, you know what, when you're home, work hard. Be committed to our relationship. Work hard at it. Be a good husband. Right? That's what she's stating. And look, of course, the same is true for ladies as well. Work hard at being a good wife. Right? Work hard at being a good husband as a guy. Work hard at being a good wife, you know, as a lady. If your parents work hard at being a father, work hard at being a mother. But don't just work hard in the secular world and you take that very seriously. You take the money very seriously. And you should. Work hard at your jobs. Take that seriously. But don't develop this attitude that that is really important, but at home, I'm just going to be lazy. Because that's not what you're going to be at your job. If you want to be successful at your job, you work hard. Right? If you want to be successful in your marriage, you work hard. Common sense. Right? I mean, you can't be lazy in your marriage and lazy raising your kids and expect to be good at it. You got to work hard at it. You got to be diligent. And look, for many of us, at our jobs, we work very hard. I mean, we pay attention. We work hard. We want to get promotions. We want to be successful. But then at home, it is very easy to just kind of be lazy. It's like, well, you know, we're going to stay married anyway. So what difference does it make? That's the wrong attitude to have. If you want to have a successful marriage, if you want to do a good job raising your kids, you got to put in the time and the effort. Right? A lot of you thought, we're preaching through Song of Solomon. We're going to have a nice, soft and gentle sermon series, love and poetry. And now you're like, this is some hard preaching. And look, I feel the same way. This is hard preaching because it is very easy to get kind of lazy in your relationships in your marriages. But you know, we need to be like a rower young heart at home also, not just when we're out and about in the secular world. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thanks for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word in this topic. And help us to understand this book and apply this book to our marriages, including me and my wife. Help us to work hard at improving our marriages. I ask you to help all of us in this room that are married to work hard at being heirs together of the grace of life. But I also ask you to bless those that are single at our church to be able to meet the right person, meet someone who loves you, and enter into this relationship of husband and wife. God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. For our next song, let's turn to 130. For our last song, let's turn to hymn number 130. Let's sing the song yesterday, today, forever. Oh, how sweet the glorious message. On the first ready, one hymn number 130. Ready, sing. Oh, how sweet the glorious message. Simple faith may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. Still he loves to sing. The sinful heal the sick in vain. Cheer the mourners till the tempest glory to his name. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. He who part of every future never needs the fear. He that came to faithless love us all that now will fear. He who led the love of his life upon his close of rest. This he still with love us, let there lean upon his breath. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. He who meet the raging billows, walk upon the sea. Still can hush our wildest step, as fast so gallantly. He who wept and prayed, he languished here at seventy. Raised with odds, he struggled, trembling in our agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. As of old, he walked together, sweetened to abide. So to all that's waiting, walking ever near our side. Soon again shall we behold him, nice and Lord, that day. That will still be his same, Jesus, as he went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus, ever glory to his name.