The Kiss

For centuries both Jewish people and Christians have considered Solomon's Song of Songs to refer to our relationship with God. Amazingly, God looks upon His relationship with us in nuptial terms!

Spurgeon said, "Let me prefer this book above all others for fellowship and communion." When Charles Finney entered into a deep love relationship with Christ, he said, "The language of the Song of Solomon was as natural to me as my breath."

This book is Christ's ecstatic description of His passion for you and me. As we read we see ourselves as the maiden, and as the Lover describes her beauty, it is Jesus talking to us personally.

The maiden begins by saying, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for your love is more delightful than wine” (Song of Songs 1:2).

From the beginning, the rabbis associated Deuteronomy 8:3 with this passage: "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." For 3000 years, the rabbis would speak of the kisses of God's mouth like this: "The kisses of the Torah are what we long for."

Origen, an early Church Father, said that when the Jewish Church prayed, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" they were longing for a closer revelation. It was as though they were asking, "How long shall He send me kisses by Moses and the prophets? I desire the touch of His own lips."

Much of our Bible study can be compared to receiving kisses from the prophets. We glean insights from Bible teachers and books, but when a fresh insight comes directly to us from the Living Word, it is like a kiss on our spirits. It gives us life! "They are not just idle words for you--they are your life" (Deut. 32:47).

We do not speak of kissing the lips of Jesus--that would be sacrilegious. But there is a mystical meaning, and when we begin to grasp it, we will be enthralled with the beauty of receiving His affection through the Word. We may be in the midst of a crisis or have a special need and He gives us a promise from His Word and it is as satisfying as a kiss on the lips. True intimacy with God begins when His Word becomes precious to us.

Dear Jesus, keep me with a passion to come close to You as I read Your Word.

“The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold” (Psalm 119:72).