Song of Solomon 2:2 “As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.”

This is one of the pieces I made for my final project in my Song of Solomon class.  The Song of Solomon is an allegory, a symbolic narrative to tell a greater truth, of how the Lord relates to the Church, but also the individual believer.  I’ll share with you some of my thoughts as I meditated on these verses as well:

Song of Solomon 2:2 “As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.”

In this verse the Lover is extolling the virtues of the Beloved because of her uniqueness of her love for him.  Jesus views us this way because in a world where many are in rebellion to His leadership, there are few who are trying, even in our weakness, to follow His leadership and love Him well.  Lilies represent purity and obedience in the song, further emphasizing the virtues He was proclaiming earlier in the song.  The contrast between lilies and thorns is that it was Adam’s disobedience that resulted in the fall, and thorns are part of the curse resulting from the fall of man.  Amidst a world of rebellion and sin, there is one (in the song) who is trying to remain faithful.  This could be related to 2 Chronicles 16:9 “ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him.”  and King David’s desire to build a dwelling place for the Lord.  A lily amidst a sea of brambles would be somewhat of a resting place tactilely, but also visually, a small bit of beauty amidst so much chaos.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, He was mockingly given a crown of thorns.  ( Matt 27:29, Mark 15:17, John 19:2) In our partnership with the Satan, the pinnacle of our rebellion was here at the cross, killing the One who came to save us from sin and death all for the sake of love.  But what the enemy intended for evil, the Lord intended for good.  Though the enemy thought he had defeated the precious Seed that was promised to defeat him in the garden, the cross was also the crowning achievement of God’s mercy to defeat the power of sin and death.  We, in partnership with the devil, tried to put Him under our rebellion and our own leadership, but He received the crown as a trophy of His victory.