HIS HEART SONG…Part 22

“Contentment, Peace, and Favor of the Bride”

  • Last week we were challenged to behave as a bride should act…MATURE and always AWARE of our “little sisters” aka: the young believers in our sphere of influence….we saw the bride as she INTERCEDED for her little sister…she was very concerned with how to DISCIPLE her to help her grow in maturity…because, after all…she KNEW her Bridegroom loved her little sister and he longed for her to know Him intimately too….
  • Let’s start in verse 10

Song of Songs 8:10 “I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in His eyes like one bringing contentment.”

  • Other versions end this verse with “as one that finds favor”…or “as one that brings peace”
  • She says “she is a WALL”….what does a wall do? It SEPARATES and PROTECTS….it keeps the bad stuff from getting in!!
  • Isn’t that how He tells us we are to live?....
  • 2 Corinthians 6:17 “"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord..."
  • AN EXAMPLE FROM SCRIPTURE: Paul giving us an example of how he is a WALL (he knew part of his calling was to correct wrong foundations or wrong thought patterns…and he did this “to Peter’s face!”
  • Galatians 2:11-16 (Paul Opposes Peter is how it is titled in my NIV Bible) “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. “
  • And again Paul talks about himself being a WALL…being a protector of the new believers…
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 “but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
  • Paul is a great example of what it means to be a SPIRITUAL WALL to new believers…a place of protection
  • Moses did it too when he interceded for the children of Israel in Exodus 33:4-34:8…when he stood as a WALLto keep the Lord from destroying them completely for having created a golden calf and worshipping it…keeping the Lord from destroying them completely for having created a golden calf and worshipping it
  • THINK ABOUT IT FROM a parental point of view…as you are raising your kids, what do you do?...HOPEFULLY, you do everything you can to keep the “bad things or wrong thought processes” away from your kids. You do everything you can to ENCOURAGE them… THAT is like being a WALL. You have to be very SELFLESS to do this…if you want to be a GOOD PARENT. Your MOTIVES should be to keep your kid from harm at all cost….you would think this seems ridiculous to even say….but this is not exactly how a lot of parents think these days…SELFISHNESS ABOUNDS…it’s all about what “the parent wants”, not so much about what “the child needs”….some parents have the crazy belief that they need to be “friends” with their children so they are considered to be “cool”….not a good thing…the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 to “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (remember that Solomon wrote Proverbs!)…..we can apply this Scripture to our kids and to our “spiritual kids”…the young believers
  • DEFINITION OF TRAIN: to direct the growth of usually by bending, pruning, and tying
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  • SIDENOTE HERE: The Bride is telling us that “she is a WALL”…she is a source of PROTECTION for young believers…just as a parent is to be a source of protection to a child…Solomon wrote many more Proverbs about just this…
  • Proverbs 12:1 “ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. “
  • Proverbs 13: 1 “A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.”
  • Proverbs 13:18 “He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.”
  • Proverbs 13:24 “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
  • Proverbs 15:5 “A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
  • Proverbs 15:10 “Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.”
  • Proverbs 19:18 “Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.”
  • Proverbs 22:15 “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.”
  • Proverbs 23:13-14 “Do not withhold discipline from a child; it you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.”
  • So……………..lots of verses about being a WALL for our kids! According to these verses I just read… It is how they receive KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, HONOR, LOVE, PRUDENCE (discretion, foresight, forethought), LIFE and SALVATION OF THEIR SOUL.
  • If we choose NOT to discipline or teach our kids…if we are NOT a wall of protection for them…this is what they will get: STUPIDITY, FOOLISHNESS, POVERTY, SHAME, MADNESS, SILLINESS, RECKLESSNESS, IRRATIONALITY, PHYSICAL DEATH AND SPIRITUAL DEATH
  • We better take this WALL BUSINESS seriously!!!!! …Moses did, Paul did, the Bride did…so we shall too!!!
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  • The bride is saying she is a WALL….she is saying her MOTIVES are PURE and SELFLESS…she is a source of PROTECTION from the enemy for young believers…they are SAFE within her walls…there is even a Psalm about it!
  • Psalm 122:7 “May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels." (citadel is a fortress used as a place of refuge)
  • She says “her BREASTS are like TOWERS”
  • BREASTS=faith and love
  • If they are like towers…that would mean they were well developed…well able to nourish others
  • TOWER: a tall structure that is designed to withstand attack…
  • This is the third time she has been compared to a TOWER…first in 4:4…her NECK is said to be like a tower…NECK is her WILL…then again in 7:4, her necak and her NOSE…her spiritual discernment…then now in 8:10…it’s her breasts…her faith and love
  • Her FAITH and LOVE are designed to withstand attack…but not only that…she has an ABUNDANCE of nourishment to feed the young ones with…
  • She is totally aware that the enemy is prowling around just waiting to attack…remember that her nose is like a tower of Lebanon that is pointed toward Damascus…meaning that she is spiritually discerning to even the subtle attacks of the enemy…..
  • EX: When Satan throws an arrow of bitterness at you….how do you react? When someone says mean things to you…how do you react?....are your FAITH and LOVE tall towers…able to withstand attack???...able to see it for what it is and rebuke it instead of letting bitterness or anger or offense knock your tower down…..BECAUSE…when he can get at you and you react “crazy-like” meaning in a “non-biblical way”…the little sisters are watching you…what are they seeing and hearing?
  • DO younger believers come to you for answers or comfort or encouragement or guidance…are your breasts like towers…full enough to feed and nourish???
  • She is loving letting God have access to every part of her mind, will, and emotions…she is loving that He “knows her every move”
  • She is CONFIDENT of who she is IN HIM…so much so that she says that she brings Him CONTENTMENT…
  • DEFINITION OF CONTENTMENT: satisfaction, pleasure, ease
  • The KJV says “then was I in his eyes as one that found favor”….the Hebrew word for favor is PEACE
  • She is like one who found PEACE…
  • PEACE, FAVOR, CONTENTMENT….she has found these things IN HIM because of the LOVE and FAITH that she has for Him…
  • This is not a prideful or arrogant statement…she simply knows WHO SHE IS IN HIM
  • The Bride can be CONTENT no matter what circumstance she finds herself in simply because he KNOWS that she knows that she knows that her all-powerful supernatural GOD is on her side!!!!
  • This is what Paul was talking about when he said he could get through any mess because he KNEW that God would give him the strength to overcome and go through it…
  • Romans 8:31 “What can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
  • How in the world could Paul say these things?! He went through all kinds of craziness…But he told the church at Corinth…
  • 2 Corinthians 12:10 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
  • Apparently Paul had discovered something in God that the bride in the Song has also come to KNOW
  • They KNOW that they KNOW…without a doubt…that their CONTENTMENT in Christ comes from KNOWING that the POWER and the PROVISION that Jesus gives them is SUFFICIENT for ANY circumstance that we might find ourselves in…..it’s like saying “I have Jesus and He is enough”
  • Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
  • …she is like one who found CONTENTMENT, PEACE, and FAVOR
  • DEFINITION OF PEACE: freedom from war: freedom from war, or the time when a war or conflict ends , tranquillity: a calm and quiet state, free from disturbances or noise, mental calm: a state of mental calm and serenity, with no anxiety
  • John 14:27 “PEACE I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
  • Isaiah 32:17-18 “And the work (fruit) of righteousness shall be PEACE; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence for ever. And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.”
  • Sooooooooooooooo…..apparently, when your “breasts are like towers”…when your “FAITH and LOVE” are designed to withstand attack…then you are at a place where you have found a PEACE, FAVOR, and CONTENTMENT that passes all understanding.
  • What an AWESOME place or “state” to be in!!!!...where NOTHING can move you …NOTHING that you go through can remove that PEACE, FAVOR, or CONTENTMENT that you rest in…
  • Do you realize that the type of PEACE that men literally search their entire lives for, is right there for us!...People go to great extremes looking and searching for this PEACE…in all the wrong places
  • People WANT this peace …but for most people…the opposite of peace is what they seem to have….there is a WAR going on in their MINDS and HEARTS….if you are one of those people longing for that PEACE…you need to know that it has EVERYTHING to do with your SOUL…not really with your surroundings, or what you “have or don’t have”
  • The Bride has discovered that where she was once alienated from God…she is no longer…and therefore, she has PEACE
  • Colossians 1:21 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” (evil thoughts and actions)
  • Alienated means: cutoff, isolated, estranged
  • We (meaning mankind as a whole) were created for FELLOWSHIP with God…INTIMATE fellowship at that…so when we are separated from Him…because we were “enemies in our minds”…the result is NO PEACE
  • Ephesians 2:14 “For He Himself is our peace...”
  • DID YOU KNOW….that the devil prowls around looking to take our peace away!?...he did it to Adam and Eve in the garden…and he does it to us still today….he would love for us Christians to forsake God’s promise of peace…he would love to rob us of this….that is one of his major goals and missions…
  • 1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires(the desires of your corrupt nature), which war against your soul.”
  • Satan does this “warring against our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) through situations we find ourselves in…through people we encounter (at the check out line at Wal Mart, driving down the street, etc)
  • Satan also gets at us and fights for our THOUGHTS and FEELINGS…
  • Check out these verses…
  • 2 Timothy 2:22-26 “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
  • 1 John 3:7-10 “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother”
  • 1 John 3:12-15 “ Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him”
  • These Scriptures warn us of battles that go on around us that try to steal our PEACE….SOME OF THEM ARE: the desires of youth, foolish and stupid arguments, resentment, opposition, people who try to lead you astray, evil actions, jealously, envy, hatred
  • If your “nose is big and pointed toward Damascus”…then you will be able to discern these things as they are coming at you and then you are more likely to conquer them in order to keep your PEACE INTACT!
  • If you are someone that has found that your PEACE has gone MIA...here are some things you can do…
  • 1. CHANGE YOUR FOCUS…Check out where your focus is at the moment….is it on HIM or on the issues….Hebrews 12:2 says to keep our eyes FIXED on JESUS, He is the One who leads us and makes our faith complete….so…..you just might need to CHANGE YOUR FOCUS!
  • 2. CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES…..this could be as simple as changing your lifestyle....are you staying up all night and not getting any rest, have you overloaded your schedule, are you trying to be ‘everything to everybody’…these things will rip the peace right out from under you!.... Elijah ran to a broom tree in 1 Kings 19 to get away from things for a bit and there the Lord met him and encouraged him.
  • EX: Donny and I ‘escape’ every couple of weeks and go to Houston for the night…just to get away and refocus.