Song 3:11 | KingComments | STEP | The daughters of Zion have lovingly clad the interior of Solomon’s sedan chair. Now those who have created this atmosphere of love are called upon to go forth to “gaze on King Solomon with the crown”. Those who are guided by love in their dealings with the Lord Jesus and His own are given to see His glory as the crowned King. For this they have to “go forth”. It is the call that also sounds today in professing Christianity that has fallen asleep: “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet [him]!” ( ; cf. ). Love goes beyond being busy for Him. Martha serves the Lord out of love, and the Lord appreciates that too. But if it is only serving, the work becomes more important than the Person for Whom the work is done. There must come a moment when we “go forth”, go out of our activities to meet Him, to see Him and admire Him in His glory. The crown that Solomon wears is put on his head by “his mother”. ‘His mother’ is a picture of Israel. It shows what the faithful remnant will do with the Messiah as He comes to them after the time of great tribulation. They will acknowledge Him as their King and in this way put the crown on Him. This shows their connection with Him. He is their King and Lord to Whom they bow down in adoration: “Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him” ( ). At the same time He is their Bridegroom. He is crowned “on the day of His wedding”. The wedding refers to the union of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah with the remnant, or better, with the city of Jerusalem as His bride. The wedding determines us by the love between the Bridegroom and the bride. There is not only a relationship of authority but also a relationship of love. His love goes out to His earthly bride. Then there is no longer the aspect of “being busy” for Him in the foreground, but being there for Him. We see that in the last line of the verse. It is about “his gladness of heart”. When the Lord Jesus has introduced His earthly bride into His kingdom and she shares in His rest, His heart is full of joy. After the joy for Israel because of the redemption that He brought about through which He is in their midst as their King ( ), we read: “He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” ( ). The same goes for our relationship with the Lord Jesus. On earth, His kingship is contemptuously rejected by men, which is expressed by crowning Him with a crown of thorns ( ). But we acknowledge that He is rightly crowned with glory and honor by God ( ). Our acknowledgment of His crowning can be seen as the coronation we perform. We bow down deeply before Him and place our whole life under His authority. We give Him His crown and honor Him as our Lord when we dedicate our lives in every area to Him. That is as a father, as a mother, as a child, in society and as a member of God’s church with the task He has given. ‘The day of His coronation’, the day we crown Him, is for us every day we live with our hearts directed to Him. Then we will not be primarily concerned with what we can do for Him, but with ‘the joy of His heart’. Let us fix “our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” ( ). While He accomplished His work on earth through the terrible suffering on the cross He looked over that work to the joy. That joy consists of seeing the great crowd of redeemed whom He has bought for God through His work ( ). Among them is His heavenly bride, the believers of the church. He has “gave Himself up for her” to possess her ( ). He will rejoice in her forever. He has had her in His mind in completing His work. She is the “one pearl of great value”, for which He has given up all things to possess that one ( ). She already belongs to Him now, but is still on her way to Him. When she is with Him, the desires of His heart are perfectly fulfilled. Are we looking forward to His coming because of the joy it means for Him?

‏ Song of Solomon 3:11

The Coronation on the Day of the Wedding

The daughters of Zion have lovingly clad the interior of Solomon’s sedan chair. Now those who have created this atmosphere of love are called upon to go forth to “gaze on King Solomon with the crown”. Those who are guided by love in their dealings with the Lord Jesus and His own are given to see His glory as the crowned King. For this they have to “go forth”. It is the call that also sounds today in professing Christianity that has fallen asleep: “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet [him]!” (Mt 25:6b; cf. Eph 5:14).

Love goes beyond being busy for Him. Martha serves the Lord out of love, and the Lord appreciates that too. But if it is only serving, the work becomes more important than the Person for Whom the work is done. There must come a moment when we “go forth”, go out of our activities to meet Him, to see Him and admire Him in His glory.

The crown that Solomon wears is put on his head by “his mother”. ‘His mother’ is a picture of Israel. It shows what the faithful remnant will do with the Messiah as He comes to them after the time of great tribulation. They will acknowledge Him as their King and in this way put the crown on Him. This shows their connection with Him. He is their King and Lord to Whom they bow down in adoration: “Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him” (Psa 45:11).

At the same time He is their Bridegroom. He is crowned “on the day of His wedding”. The wedding refers to the union of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah with the remnant, or better, with the city of Jerusalem as His bride. The wedding determines us by the love between the Bridegroom and the bride. There is not only a relationship of authority but also a relationship of love. His love goes out to His earthly bride. Then there is no longer the aspect of “being busy” for Him in the foreground, but being there for Him. We see that in the last line of the verse. It is about “his gladness of heart”.

When the Lord Jesus has introduced His earthly bride into His kingdom and she shares in His rest, His heart is full of joy. After the joy for Israel because of the redemption that He brought about through which He is in their midst as their King (Zep 3:14-17), we read: “He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” (Zep 3:17b).

The same goes for our relationship with the Lord Jesus. On earth, His kingship is contemptuously rejected by men, which is expressed by crowning Him with a crown of thorns (Mt 27:29). But we acknowledge that He is rightly crowned with glory and honor by God (Heb 2:9). Our acknowledgment of His crowning can be seen as the coronation we perform. We bow down deeply before Him and place our whole life under His authority.

We give Him His crown and honor Him as our Lord when we dedicate our lives in every area to Him. That is as a father, as a mother, as a child, in society and as a member of God’s church with the task He has given. ‘The day of His coronation’, the day we crown Him, is for us every day we live with our hearts directed to Him. Then we will not be primarily concerned with what we can do for Him, but with ‘the joy of His heart’.

Let us fix “our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb 12:2a). While He accomplished His work on earth through the terrible suffering on the cross He looked over that work to the joy. That joy consists of seeing the great crowd of redeemed whom He has bought for God through His work (Rev 5:9). Among them is His heavenly bride, the believers of the church.

He has “gave Himself up for her” to possess her (Eph 5:25). He will rejoice in her forever. He has had her in His mind in completing His work. She is the “one pearl of great value”, for which He has given up all things to possess that one (Mt 13:45-46). She already belongs to Him now, but is still on her way to Him. When she is with Him, the desires of His heart are perfectly fulfilled.

Are we looking forward to His coming because of the joy it means for Him?