Song of Songs Devotion for Couples – Advent 4 & Christmas Eve

Opening Prayer

All four Advent candles are lit. A fifth white candle may be lit for Christmas.

The husband may say, or the couple may say together:

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Heavenly Father, who has created man and woman and provided them with the estate of marriage, provide us in our relationship the kind of love that reflects your love for us. For you gave your Son to purchase us by his blood, and you will send him again to bring us to the heavenly wedding feast on the Last Day. Strengthen us by your Word as we expect his Advent.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Together you may confess the Apostles’ Creed and pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Advent 4 Tuesday: Song of Songs 6:11-13

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Wife: I went down to the nut orchard to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom. Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.

Both: Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return, that we may look upon you.

Discussion

Orchard:  The Shulammite looks for her Groom in a garden bursting with new springtime life. This reflects our hope for the eternal life we will have at the Last Day, finding that we once again have access to the tree of life (Revelation 22:2).  

On Easter morning, the Gospels describe a group of women searching in a garden for Jesus, but they are unable to find him – but for a happy reason. He is not to be found in the tomb in the garden, but having risen from the dead, springing up with new life that he gives to us all through faith. As Jesus surprised Mary in the garden, calling her name, Solomon surprised the Shulammite here, as she suddenly found herself “among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.”

Dance: The chariots catch her on their way home from victory. A dance between armies would imply such a victory, as women would frequently dance in a religious setting when loved ones returned from war with the soldier. The two armies are two camps of the same army, and her dance between them is a religious act that unites them all together in the joy of the victory they share.

We Christians on earth are known as the “Church Militant,” while those who are already in heaven are known as the “Church Triumphant.”  In the Divine Service, both groups are united in the same religious activity – one “communion of saints.”  

Why is it a comfort to know that we share the same blessings as those in heaven, even if we don’t have them in fullness?

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Christmas Eve: Song of Songs 8:5-12

Love’s Meaning and Application

Wife: Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

Both: We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

Wife: I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

Discussion

Mother was in Labor: The consummation of the marriage between Solomon and the Shulammite happens at the place where he was conceived, namely, beneath the apple tree. Is this not also true for Jesus’ marriage to us? Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, something planned already from the Garden of Eden. When God gave his Word to Adam and Eve in the Garden, it was as good as done. God has united us to himself through the birth of Jesus, and through his death on the tree of the cross, we become the Bride of Christ, and we again have access to the tree of life.

Seals:  A seal, worn both on a cord around the neck (resting on the heart) and around the arm was used to mark personal property. These seals would include, among other things, the owner’s name.

When the Bride asks to be her Groom’s “seal,” she wishes to bear his name, and to be worn closely to him as his dearest possession. This is more than a gift given to her. She wishes to be the gift to him.

How has Christ made you into an appropriate gift to himself?

Cedar: If their sister has been chaste, her brothers will help to maintain her chastity. If she has been promiscuous, they will “enclose her with boards of cedar,” the wood of the Temple. This means they will bring forgiveness and absolution to her, so that it will be as though she had never sinned.

What makes Christian families different from other families?  What is the greatest gift we can give to one another?

Hymn

Hymn verses this week: “The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us,” v. 5, 7

(Listen to the melody here)

5. In yonder home shall never
Be silent music’s voice;
With hearts and lips forever
We shall in God rejoice.
The angels shall adore Him,
All saints shall sing His praise
And bring with joy before Him
Their sweetest heav’nly lays.

7. Thus God shall from all evil
Forever make us free,
From sin and from the devil,
From all adversity,
From sickness, pain, and sadness,
From troubles, cares, and fears,
And grant us heav’nly gladness
And wipe away our tears.

Author: Johann Walter; Translator: Matthias Loy

Benediction

The almighty and most merciful Lord, the Father, the † Son, and the Holy Spirit bless and preserve us. Amen.

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Devotions by Rev. Michael Lilienthal and Rev. Jeff Hendrix.