The Song Of Solomon 1.7-8

“Tell me, O you whom my heart loves,
where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat?
Tell me lest I wander around 
beside the flocks of your companions!

If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,
simply follow the tracks of my flock,
and pasture your little lambs
beside the tents of the shepherds.”

(The Song Of Solomon 1.7-8, NET)

Whether the male in this opening exchange was literally a shepherd, we don’t know. We do know that the lover desperately wants to be in his presence (v.7). Rather than being one who [wanders] around beside the flocks of [others] the lover wants to be with her beloved. Above all else, above anyone else, she wants to be with the object of her love. It seems that he occupies the number one place of importance in her life.

For the first time in The Song Of Solomon the beloved speaks and says:

“If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,
simply follow the tracks of my flock,
and pasture your little lambs
beside the tents of the shepherds.”

Simply, he says that there is ample evidence to lead her to his presence. There are the tracks of my flock. There are others that know me and there are others that follow me. If she does, if the lover follows the evidence and finds her beloved, she is assured that there will most certainly be a place for her.

As we talked about the literal and metaphorical interpretations of The Song Of Solomon, I think here we see a clear and crisp teaching about God Himself.

Hardwired in our nature is the desire for something greater than ourselves, a higher power, and a deeper truth. We are made to have something be the object of our love and we will often stop at nothing to satisfy that desire (v.7).

The Lord says, many times and in many ways, that if we simply follow the ample evidence in creation (Psalm 19.1), in His Word (John 5.39-40), and in His people (Matthew 5.16), we will find Him. When we do, there is always a place for us (v.8).