What should an unmarried person do with Song of Solomon?

Let's face it, Song of Solomon (also sometimes called the Song of Songs) is a controversial book.  Many appear to be uncomfortable with its unashamed display of passionate interaction between Solomon and his wife.  So much so that some attempt to take the edge off of the book by declaring that this is nothing more than an allegory of Christ’s love for His bride, the church.  

On the other end of the spectrum, there are others who promote the idea that this book celebrates the joys of sexual intimacy in marriage and nothing else.  For many years I would have nodded in agreement with this view.  

But recently, I began to wrestle with this question: if the book is about nothing more than the joy of sexuality and emotional closeness in a marriage, then what can the Song of Solomon possibly mean for me in my life today?  After all, I’m a thirty year old single man who will not be sexually active until marriage.  Surely there’s more to this book in the Bible then just to agree that sex in marriage is good, only to mentally set Song of Solomon aside.  So what follows is where I’ve landed in regards to this book after wresting with these ideas.

First of all, I wholeheartedly believe that we are to take this book of the Bible literally and interpret it primarily as a celebration of the love between a man and his wife.  To do anything less, as I see it, would be to handle the text incorrectly.  But for those of us who haven’t had the privilege of finding a spouse, I would like to quote a verse in Ephesians 5.

The context of that chapter is that the Apostle Paul is talking about the roles of husbands and wives.  He mentions how a husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church (by the way, don't gloss over that, gentlemen; that is quite the charge) and the wife is supposed to submit to her husband’s godly leadership.  Then he makes this statement: “This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church” (verse 32).

I once heard a preacher go through a sermon series on how marriage is a type and a picture of Christ’s love for His bride, the church, and he used Ephesians 5:32 as his proof text.  I think he was right on the mark!  With this bit of information, I can actually begin to look at Song of Solomon through the lens of the passionate love that God has for me, while not ignoring that the immediate, primary context is Solomon and his bride.  Once all of this dawned on me, I realized I had came across an exciting breakthrough!

Therefore, I can look at Song of Solomon this way: when, for example, Solomon says "You have stolen my heart, with one glance of your eyes" (Song of Solomon 4:9), I know that it obviously, first and foremost, is a groom expressing his love and affection for his bride, but I can simultaneously apply it to my life by knowing from other places in the Bible that God loves us.  For one example, He says in Jeremiah 31:3: "I have loved you with an everlasting love."  Think of that: an "everlasting" love!  That's means a love that is consistent, unwavering, and steadfast!

Kevin