INTRODUCTION

The Song of Solomon is frequently named a song of songs. This is derived from the first verse, and makes reference to the superior nature of the song. It is best of all songs. Thus the title reminds us of the special importance of the theme of the book. The Song points to Christ and His tender love relationship with His people. It cannot be properly explained merely in terms of human love. The dialogue between the bride groom and the bride may be viewed as a dialogue between Christ and the Church.

In the words of out text, the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ, calls the bride, that is the Church or His child – by a new name.

Formerly, He had compared her eyes to a dove’s eyes, and now He calls her ‘my Dove.’ How humbling and comforting it is to be a child of God, when Christ by His word and Spirit, speaks to the heart: ‘Thou art mine, my Dove.’ One Hymn write says: ‘For I am His and He is mine, and I am his forever.’ Thou are mine my dove!’ What endearing terms.

Christ calls each of us, His child, ‘My Dove.’ This is so precious and endearing. A dove is a very attractive creature, and so in the eyes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is every bought blood child of His. So too should be our Saviour to each of us. We sing it sometimes; ‘For He is so precious to me.’ God loved us from eternity past, washed us in the blood of our Lord and Saviour, and then we are renewed by the Holy Spirit’s grace.

The Dove In The Cleft Of The Rock

by Dr. Joseph Halliday​

Song of Solomon 2:14

‘O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock  in the secret places of the stairs,

let me see they countenance, let me hear thy voice,

for sweet is thy voice,  and thy countenance is comely.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DOVE  

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A Dove is by Nature a Very Clean Creature

Let us now speak intimately to each of our hearts. A dove loves cleanliness. Doves keep their bodies clean and also their nests. By application we should also keep ourselves clean, free from all entanglement of the muck and miry of the world. This includes the places we go and the company we keep.

A Dove Is Very Selective Of What He Eats and Drinks

Doves love to feed on pure grain and drink clean water. So as the dove of Christ we have to be selective above not only what we eat, but where we eat. Would we invite Jesus to dine with us there? What about our favourite drink as well as our drinking place? Would we be happy to say dear Lord Jesus come here with me for a drink?

How blessed is the thought that believers are inwardly united with Christ. We are cleansed by His blood and His Spirit. Hence we should love to feed on the pure preaching of the Word of God, that is ‘desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may grow thereby.’ So to all believers we have to be careful with what we eat and what we drink. Take care also where you go to feed. We ought not to tolerate truth mixed with error.

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A Dove is A Very Harmless Creature

Did not Christ say ‘Be ye therefore wise a serpents and harmless and doves?’ (matt 10:16) Believers should if at all possible live peaceably with all men and ought to love and care for one another.

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A Dove Is A Very Sociable Creature

They like to feed, fly and congregate in flocks. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. However doves have a special affection for each other. So too should God’s children desire each other’s company. We should love to fellowship with each other, and speak about the things of the Lord.

Proverbs 27: Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Hebrews 10:25 ‘Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.​​

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DOVE (continued)

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A Dove has A Mournful Voice

Strangely enough, this lovely creature has a very mournful voice. In Isaiah 38:14, we read that King Hezekiah said ‘I did mourn like a dove. My eyes grew weary of looking up for help. Oh God I cried. I am in trouble. Help me.’

It seems that there are several lessons we can learn from this very important creature. When we are in trouble look to the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Ask the Saviour to help you, Comfort strengthen and keep you

He is willing to aid you, He’ll carry you through

The best friend to have is Jesus. Some people when in trouble they look in the wrong places for help. There is the terrible mistake of going to the wrong persons to seek advice.

What lessons can we learn from the dove in its mourning?

God’s children should mourn for their sins with an inward sorrow. At times they also mourn for the loss of Christ’s presence in their lives when they wander off and stray from the fold. The hymn write picked up the strain in these verses.

‘I’ve wandered far away from God, now I’m coming Home

The depths of sin too long I’ve trod,  Now I am coming Home

Yet whatever the case Christ never forgets us. He always has great compassion for the wanderer, and longs for him or her to come home, never more to roam. He has great compassion and rescues each one of us in their trials and affliction. Christ Jesus prays for each one, pleading His own blood. He loves each one with a brother’s tender care.

A COMPARISON OF THE DOVE TO THE CHRISTIAN

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These various comparisons show that God’s children have a dove-like nature.

This is so by the grace of God the Holy Spirit. And so Christ calls the beloved ‘My Dove!’ There are times in the lives of the believer when he or she says with the bride. ‘my beloved is mine and I am His.’ How wondrous is such appropriating grace! It is often like the light of the day after a dark night. What re- assuring words are given, when we hear the voice of our heavenly bridegroom saying, ‘My child, my dove come away.’

It is deeply comforting when the Heavenly Bridegroom speaks so intimately to our hearts. ‘Thou art mine, ‘my Dove’; Especially when she is in situations as in our text.

You see the timid dove becomes so easily afraid when big birds of prey or other dangers are threatening. Instead of trusting in the care and strength of her Beloved, the bride flies at times like doves are wont to do, to the clefts of the rock and in the secret places of the stairs. Don’t we as believers often do the same?

Unbelief and shame sometimes cause the bride to be heartless and discouraged, so that she hides her face from her beloved. On account of her unworthiness, she does not dare to approach Him with her petitions. The clefts of the rock appear to be a good shelter from the enemy. However soon she discovers, to her sorrow, that her flight to the these clefts also causes a certain distance from her beloved. She mourns his absence. The wonder is her beloved likewise longs for her. Therefore in grace He returns and speaks to her with His comforting voice. ‘Oh my dove let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice.’

CONCLUSION​

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You see, it is not only when we are in trouble that we ought to fly to the clefts for refuge.

The dove makes her nest, we have already learned, in high places. The King James text says, “the secret places of the stairs.” Other translations suggest “in the high places,” but literally, “in the places of going up.” In order for you to have the fellowship with God that you need to have and for me to have that fellowship, it is necessary for us to get away from it all. It is necessary for us to be in that secret, quiet place away from all the busy turmoil of life.

Did you notice here in verse 14 where the appeal is? Christ says to the Church, “Let Me see thy countenance; let Me Hear thy voice.” Isn't it an interesting thing that Christ would be asking us to have fellowship with Him?

We are prone to go to Him, and it is all one-sided. We go to Him for what we can get. He would like for us to come to Him because He loves us. The Scripture says that you are the portion that has been delivered to Christ, that you are the heritage of Christ. You are His and you mean something to Him, and I think we are oftentimes prone to forget it. That is the reason He said, “Let Me see thy countenance, and let Me hear thy voice.”

In His unchanging love, He still desires to see her face and to hear the voice of her complaint. Regardless of what her condition is, in his tender grace He desires to be her All in All. In spite of her many sinful infirmities, he views her countenance as lovely. Even when she is in the cleft of the rocks her voice is sweet to Him. He loves to hear the prayer and the cry of the needy. ‘But when in fear is at the height, Jesus comes and all is light.

Dear brothers and sisters, have you ever known a love like Jesus!

He loved! He sacrificed! He Saves; He keeps; He Satisfies.

He shelters! He protects!

It is no wonder the hymn writer would pen words like these:

Oh safe to the Rock that is higher than I

My soul in its conflict and sorrow would fly

What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord!

What a wonderful Saviour to me

He hideth my soul in the Cleft of the Rock

And covers me there with his hands