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Day 114: Where Are You? (SoS 2:14c&d)

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” (Song of Songs 2:1)

The Beloved in our text today expresses why he asks to see and hear his Bride. He had requested her and in response, she withdrew from him. 

It has not become a reality to many that the Lord longs for communion with us more than we long for communion with Him. He delights in our presence and prayers.

When we look at the first time man withdrew from God, we'll see God's attitude and disposition to it. From the very beginning when man was created and put in the Garden of Eden, the Lord sought fellowship with man. 

When Adam and Eve fell, Genesis 3:8 says they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day and hid. That sound was familiar. They didn't need to see Him. They had such knowledge of the Lord that He need not say a word. He only had to move and they knew it was Him.

Genesis 3:9-10 says:

 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 

After Adam sinned, God came down and asked “Where are you?” Not because He didn't know where Adam was (physically), but because Adam was no longer in his spiritual position. He was not in the place of fellowship and communion. 

So, as a lover searches for a missing partner or a mother searches for her missing child, God sought Adam. “Where are you?” was God's expression of pain at Adam's separation from Him. He was hurt not just by Adam's sin, but by the consequences. But even though Adam sinned, God still cared for Him by killing an animal to cover Him.

In the same way, when we withdraw from God, God asks “Where are you?”

God didn't stop speaking because of sin. He didn't stop longing for a relationship. All through the Old Testament, He found men to partner with to sustain communion with man and to remove that which stood between Him and the human race.

God so delighted in man when Jesus had dealt with sin and cleansed man of all impurities, God chose to dwell in man by His Spirit. The splendor and beauty of heaven mean nothing to this eternal God, without communion with man. What a God! What love!

In lesson 112 we said the secret place is not a physical location, it is a spiritual one. Wherever the Lord is, is the secret place. So if we remain in hiding when the Lord is in the hills and mountains, we become exposed. When the Lord places before us a daunting task and we reject it, we do not just reject the task, we reject the benefits of the secret place and we gradually lose our advantage over the enemy.

Our Lord Jesus is the greatest example of executing daunting tasks for the Father. Concerning His death, He told His disciples in John 12:27 (The Passion Translation):

 “Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose —to offer myself to God. 

When the moment came, He prayed in Matthew 26:39 (The Passion Translation): 

 Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfill your plan for me.”...

Hebrews 5:7 (Amplified Version) tells us the result of Jesus' prayer and why it was answered:

 In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will]. 

Jesus knew His determination was not enough so He prayed to the One who works in us to will and to do.

In moments of weakness and fear, God wants to see our faces and hear our voices. Proverbs 15:8 says God delights in the prayer of the righteous. Just as He strengthened Jesus to do His will, He will strengthen us too if we ask and do not run from Him.

Hebrews 4:16 says we should:

 ...come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Strength comes on the heels of surrendering to His will. Surrender is first expressed in prayer.

PRAY WITH ME:

Dear Lord, today, I surrender to Your will for me. I will not withdraw in times of fear and weakness. Rather I'll submit that Your strength may be made available to me and that I may find grace to do Your will. Amen.

REFLECT & ACT:

  • Pray and meditate on Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:16 (New Living Translation):

 I pray that His glorious, unlimited resources will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. 

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