UBF Daily Bread

CATCH THE LITTLE FOXES

Passage: SongofSongs 2:8~3:5

Key verse: 2:15

⁸Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.^(A)
⁹My beloved is like a gazelle^(B) or a young stag.^(C)
    Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    peering through the lattice.
¹⁰My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.
¹¹See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
¹²Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
¹³The fig tree forms its early fruit;^(D)
    the blossoming^(E) vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
    my beautiful one, come with me.”

He

¹⁴My dove^(F) in the clefts of the rock,
    in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
    let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.^(G)
¹⁵Catch for us the foxes,^(H)
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,^(I)
    our vineyards that are in bloom.^(J)

She

¹⁶My beloved is mine and I am his;^(K)
    he browses among the lilies.^(L)
¹⁷Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,^(M)
turn, my beloved,^(N)
    and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag^(O)
    on the rugged hills.^[a]^(P)

3 All night long on my bed
    I looked^(Q) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
²I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
³The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.^(R)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
⁴Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,^(S)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.^(T)
⁵Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^(U)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.^(V)

Footnotes

Song of Songs 2:17 Or the hills of Bether

1. The season of singing (2:8-13)

Spring is a beautiful time. The winter is past and flowers appear. It is the time for love to blossom anew. The love relationship is like a vineyard coming to life after a long winter, like the fig tree which bears early fruit. Love awakened in the heart is like springtime after a long winter. When Jesus comes into a cold, dead heart, the season of singing comes. All human love relationships must be rooted in Jesus to give unclouded joy.

2. The little foxes (2:14-15)

When the vineyards are in bloom they are vulnerable. Little foxes running and playing there ruin the vineyard. A blossoming love relationship is also vulnerable. The little foxes of sin can ruin it.

3. He is mine and I am his (2:16:3:5)

Mutual commitment is essential in a love relationship. Jesus laid down his life in commitment to me. Am I so committed to him?

Prayer: Lord, restore to me the joy of the springtime of love.

One Word: Get rid of the little foxes