As awesome as an army with banners.

Song of Songs 6:10

The Shepherd King completes His description of His bride’s maturity of faith and devotion with a glorious military simile.

In this phrase He speaks not of her beautiful character, but her victory over all the things which would keep her from Him.

What victory?

She has conquered  many an adversary.

She has defeated the internal foe of her sin nature. She was dark but beautiful, dark with the filth of the her sin nature. As she gave herself to His care, she was washed in His righteousness. The battle of sin and guilt in the bride’s life is won at the cross. He fought the battle giving us the victory.

She banished the enemy of fear that kept her in her chambers when He invited her to run with Him in the hills and conquer the mountains with Him. This victory came as He displayed His awesome might before her. He showed her the place of safety He prepared for her, in the cleft of the rock, and again she wins.

She untangled the lie of abandonment as she pursued Him in the night, and bore the marks of His suffering at the hand of the watchmen. This was likely her hardest test as she faced her own desire to quit, to sulk, to wither without Him. But in that dark night of the soul she rose up and went after Him. She declared to any who would listen her deep devotion to the Love she could not see, to the indwelling of the one she couldn’t sense.

Many more victories belong to her, and for each she carries a banner announcing to her foe – the enemy of the believer – the accuser of the brethren – that she is to be feared.

‘Awesome’ is better rendered ‘Terrifying.’

An army on parade with victory banners flying strikes fear in her enemy’s hearts. Our enemy once thought us lambs for slaughter, but to the bride there is a different end in store:

Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:36-39 NASB

Thanks for coming by.

Walk in the light!

Ben