In the Song of
Solomon, the Lord compliments His Bride, for He sees within her a quality that
He intensely desires to cultivate and use.
“Behold,
you are fair, my love! behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.” Song
of Solomon 1:15
When a dove fixes
its gaze upon its mate, it is not distracted by any activities around it.
Therefore, a dove is often referred to as being a “love bird,” as it has what
appears to be a “single eye” toward another dove.
Our Lord
complimenting us for having this “dove’s eye” indicates that we have cultivated
a spiritual sensitivity that will lift us above the pulls and distractions of
the earthly, so we can respond to the Lord’s presence, in obedience to His
desire and purpose.
The Lord’s
approbation (divine favor) rests upon those who have this “single eye” toward
Him.
“If
you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah
1:19
This is possible
only in those who have cultivated a close personal relationship with the
Lord. These can be easily led by Him, for they are close enough to see
which way His “eye” is looking, in relation to His intention for them.
“I
will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with
My eye.” Psalm 32:8
This “eye” guidance
is silent, and is beyond any “word” that we might hear or receive.
Our being led by the
gaze of our Lord’s eye is dependent on our living very close to Him. It
means that we have made a total commitment to live and walk in His presence,
and have an active personal relationship with Him.
In contrast, the eye
of a horse has a very different characteristic. A horse is distracted by
side vision. Therefore, it must have “blinders” placed beside each eye,
and a “bit” set within its mouth. Only then can it be kept on the path.
Therefore, we are admonished:
“Be
you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth
must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near to you.” Psalm
32:9
Once we have
developed this “single eye” toward the Lord, we will no longer respond to Him
as being like a horse or mule (according to our desires). Instead,
we will have become responsive to guidance by the Lord alone, and can ask of
Him knowledge and wisdom.
We will be lifted
into a higher level of personal relationship with the Lord in which we can
share with Him in the outworking of His redemptive purposes. We have
progressed from working for the Lord, to working with Him. Only now could
we (His Bride) say to the Lord:
“We
have a little sister, and she has no breasts (she is spiritually immature):
what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
Song of Solomon 8:8
Now the Lord can
further instruct us in order to prepare us to function with Him in this higher
level of a cooperative relationship with Him. He responded and said:
“If
she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.” Song of Solomon 8:9
Being a “wall” means
that her spiritual experience is established on a firm foundation.
Therefore, she can be brought into a higher level of spiritual substance and
integrity (a palace of silver).
But if she is a
swinging door (spiritually unstable, sometimes in and at other times, out), her
spirituality must be protected (enclosed in boards of
cedar).
This is the quality
(her “single desire” toward Him) that so moved the Lord with a desire to be
with His Bride in the outworking of this cooperative relationship.
Therefore, when she cried out:
“Tell
me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make your flock to rest
at noon: For why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of Your
companions.” Song of Solomon 1:7
“Tell me.”
This intense desire that she expresses is singularly toward her Lord, and she
seeks to gaze upon Him, alone.
The Lord quickly
responded:
“If
you know not, O you fairest among women, go your way forth by the footsteps of
the flock, and feed your kids beside the shepherds’ tents.” Song of
Solomon 1:8
“Go your way forth
by the footsteps of the flock.” That is, find those who know the Lord,
and they will lead you to the Lord Himself, not to some program or purpose.
She can no longer be
satisfied with only the knowledge of things about Him. The ministries,
abilities, or personalities of His servants are no longer enough, for now she
must intimately know Jesus. An intense reduction of all her ambitions, desires,
and dreams has brought her to this place.
Now that her vision
has become single, the Lord is ready to lead her on:
“My
beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come
away.” Song of Solomon 2:10
Psalm 27 was written
by David about his experience with the Lord during the time when he was hiding
in a cave, while Saul’s armies were outside seeking to kill him. In the
darkness of his present circumstances, David’s dreams about sitting on the throne
of an earthly kingdom with all its grandeur, faded in the light of the eternal
Kingdom, which he now saw.
“The
Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength
of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and
my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host
should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear….” Psalm 27:1-3
In this seemingly
hopeless situation, David realized that only that which is of God has any
lasting value. All else vanished in the darkness of the cave, including
the hope of his sitting on the throne of Israel, according to the prophecy that
was given to him by Samuel.
David, now reduced
to a single vision, has but one desire - to abide in the presence of the
Lord. The dark, musty cave has become a cathedral, for now he has “the
eye of a dove” and sees only the Lord. Only now could David say:
“One
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the
Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me
in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set
me up upon a rock.” Psalm 27:4-5
The values in
David’s life are now in divine order, as the Lord has first place in his
life. Now, the Lord, in His time and way, can lead David to the throne of
Israel.
“But
seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
If we will respond
and seek the Lord above all of the other pressures and demands on our time, and
tell Him that we desire Him with “a single eye,” He will then respond and say
to us, “Behold, you are fair, you have dove’s eyes.”
Now, we are ready to
be led into a further experience of union with Jesus in the outworking of His
Kingdom purposes upon the earth.
Today, the Lord is
seeking those who are willing to be reduced to having this singleness of
vision.
Are you one of
these?
