Draw Me Away! Part 3

Chapter 3 Song of Solomon

Let us not forget that up until this point everything the Beloved did to woo the Shulamite was in response to her heart cry: “Draw me away!” (Song of Solomon 1:4) Now notice the contrast between her cry and the statement of the Daughters of Jerusalem (representing carnal Christians): “We will run after you” and “We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine.” (Song of Solomon 1:5)

Notice the “I will.” Their devotion is based on their own will, which are dead works. But the Shulamite cries out : “Draw me away!” She recognized that she must be beckoned by the Beloved. She realized that her own passion and dedication could only take her so far. We too must come to the place where we cry out for the Lord to draw us away. We need to have the pull of the Holy Spirit leading us into the secret place. Jesus will respond to that heart cry every time. That leads us to chapter 3 where the Beloved continues His work or drawing the Shulamite.

“By night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.” (Song of Solomon 2:1)

Backing up a bit to chapter 2 we find the Beloved saying “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.” (v.10)

It appears she failed to respond to the Lord and now its night time and she is comfortable in her bed. She regrets not responding and sought him from her place of comfort. Isn’t that how we are at times? The Lord visits us, calls us to rise up (come to a new spiritual level) and we fail to respond. Then we seek Him in how we are comfortable. Of course He won’t be found in that place because He wants desperately for her to “rise up.” Sometimes we will only meet God when we decide to rise up out of our places of comfort and come to the new stair – or spiritual level. We hear the call to “come up here.”
Failing to find Him the Shulamite rises and seeks Him.

“‘I will rise now,’ I said,
‘And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.’
I sought him, but I did not find him.
The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said,
‘Have you seen the one I love?‘” (vv.2-3)

Now she was desperate. She was willing to put her self in great danger as a woman walking around the city looking for the Beloved. Again, Jesus will always recognize this type of hunger and respond to it. Sometimes He withdraws from us for a season to stir up this type of hunger. Now see what happens:

“Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the house of my mother,
And into the [a]chamber of her who conceived me.” (v.4)

Now she finally found her Beloved and would not let Him go. I feel that many in our day are going to find Him – maybe even for the first time – and will refuse to let Him go. They now realize that living without Him is the worst possible scenario. Notice, though, what she says just before finding Him.

“Scarcely had I passed by them.” The Passion Translation puts it like this: “Just as I moved past them, I encountered him.” The “them” refers to the watchmen, which represent other believers close to us. Sometimes in seasons when we don’t sense the presence of God because He has withdrawn we seek out other believers. But we must not rely on other believers in these times and “move past them” and then we will quickly find the Lord. Jesus’ greatest aim is to take us up and away. He is drawing those of us that have cried “draw me away.” He is calling us out of the place of comfort and past other believers. It is there where we will find the one we love.