Song of Songs Advent Devotion for Couples – Advent 2 Friday
Advent means a longing for Christ to come to us. We can try to seek him, but will always be unable to. It is simply impossible for us to seek him, because he seeks us. In fact, he comes to us, even now, in a chariot of humility of his Word and Sacraments.
Opening Prayer
The first and second Advent candles (violet) are lit.
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.
Song of Songs 2:16-3:11
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Wife: My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.
Marital Bliss
Wife: Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.
Courtship
Wife: On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. The watchmen found me as they went about the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
Wedding
Wife: What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night. King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon. He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.
By Kelly Schumacher, copyright 2017
Agnus Dei Liturgical Arts.
Used with permission.
This beautiful altarpiece by Kelly Schumacher is one of my favorite modern liturgical pieces of art. It is packed with imagery from Song of Songs, as well as everything from Genesis, Matthew, and Revelation. Trying to discover the meaning of each of the symbols is a treat.
Kelly provides this comment from Luther about the marriage of Christ to his Bride:
“Who then can fully appreciate what this royal marriage means? Who can understand the riches of the glory of this grace? Here this rich and divine bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil, and adorns her with all his goodness. Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ and swallowed up by him. And she has that righteousness of in Christ, her husband, of which she may boast as of her own and which she can confidently display alongside her sins in the face of death and hell and say, “If I have sinned, yet my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned, and all his is mine and all mine is his,” as the bride in the Song of Solomon (2:16) says, “My beloved is mine and I am his.” This is what Paul means when he says in 1 Cor. 15 (:57), “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, the victory over sin and death, as he also says there, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56).” (Luther 15)
Luther, Martin. “Christian Liberty”. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, PA, print.
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Discussion
Search: The bride pictures her groom on a bed of lilies – in joy and perfection. She tries to find him through her own thoughts but is unable to. Finally, after the watchmen find her, she sees her bridegroom. He is coming in a pageant through the town to come and get his bride, to bring her out of the wilderness. He is perfumed with myrrh and frankincense.
This all is a preview of how Christ comes to bring his Church out of the wilderness of this world. He has redeemed us not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood. He will return in all his glory to bring us home.
The myrrh and frankincense remind us of the wise men who came to offer their gifts to the Christ child. Recall that while the wise men followed the star, they couldn’t locate the Child merely with the star. They had to go to the priests at the temple to search the Scriptures to see where the Christ would be born (cf. Matthew 2:1-5). Christ has promised He would be found in his Word, not through thoughts, feelings, or even supernatural events.
Are you ever tempted to look for Christ where he hasn’t promised to be? Are you ever tempted to view your spouse as something they are not?
Hymn
Hymn verses this week: “The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us,” vv. 3, 6
(Listen to the melody here)
3. They will not blush to own us
As brothers, sisters dear;
Love ever will be shown us
When we with them appear.
We all shall come before Him
Who for us Man became,
As Lord and God adore Him,
And ever bless His name.
6. In mansions fair and spacious
Will God the feast prepare
And, ever kind and gracious,
Bid us its riches share.
There bliss that knows no measure
From springs of love shall flow,
And never-changing pleasure
His bounty will bestow.
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.
Devotions by Rev. Michael Lilienthal and Rev. Jeff Hendrix.
Jeffrey Hendrix
I serve as pastor of an Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) congregation in Oregon, WI. But I never wanted to be a pastor. I wanted to produce media. I went to Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN for communication/video production, and while I was there, I began to appreciate historic Lutheran doctrine and practice, recognizing the beauty and teaching in the design of the divine service. Professors encouraged me to consider studying for the pastoral office, and I listened. So now I produce media for churches (See my website LutheranSynodPublishing.com) as a pastor.
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