Text: Song of Solomon 5:2-9
Date: August 24, 2025
Introduction
Opening Illustration – Ephesus: In the book of Revelation there is a letter that is written to the church in Ephesus at the time. In that letter Jesus commends that church. But in the midst of his commendation, he has one word and one piece of advice for them.
Revelation 2:4–5 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first…”
This Ephesian Church at one time had all the zeal and passion and love of the Lord, but that have backslidden. Jesus calls them to remember the works they did at first. Remember where they have fallen from.
Personal: Backsliding can look like many things, but in general it is when you have fallen into a series of bad habits that has caused to walk backwards in your faith rather than forwards. And for a Christian, it is no light matter. Unchecked backsliding leads to all kinds of brokennes in our life, the chief of which is decreased intimacy with Christ our Savior. Have you ever had a season of backsliding before? What caused it? How did God pull you out of it? Or perhaps, are you backsliding right now? Have you fallen backwards in your faith in Christ, and if so, what is Christ doing in your life at the moment?
Series Context: We are right in the middle of a short series studying the Old Testament book Song of Solomon. And if you are just joining us in this study, what we have seen so far is that this book uses the imagery of the love between a husband a wife, as an allegory, to tell the story of greater groom and the greater bride, Christ and his church. This is a love song that teaches us the intimacy of the Christian faith with God.
Context: Our passage today begins rather abruptly. If you’ve followed this love story of Song of Solomon, the husband bride are in love with each other, and chapter verse 1 is this language of absolute union between the husband and the wife,
Song of Solomon 5:1 “…Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!”
This represents for us the mountaintops of our Christian faith, where there is such sweet union and intimacy with Jesus, we feel we will never come off the mountian. And then we’re hit with the beginning of our passage today, where all of a sudden the bride is distant from her husband. This is a picture of the spiritual condition that we call backsliding. Though, for a Christian, our Union with Christ never fades, He is never far. Yet, due to our sin and negligence, we can backslide in such a way that our experience of him feels distant. But if our text today teaches us one thing, it is that Christ passionately pursues his backsliding saints
Song of Solomon 5:2–8 “I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me. I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.”
Meaning & Application
Christ passionately pursues his backsliding saints. I want to show us three aspects of Christ’s pursuit from this text.
I CHIRIST PURSUES US BY PATIENTLY TAPPING ON OUR HEART
Woman in Bed (2-3): In verses 2-3 we are presented with the problem that traces through this passage, and it reads much like a manuscript of a play.
I slept: She begins by saying “I slept but my heart was awake.” In other words she was in a restless position. Many of you might know what it is like to be laying in bed trying to sleep, on the verge sleep perhaps, and yet your heart and mind are distracted by worries and concerns. She’s restless. Her heart isn’t right. Why is she so restless? We soon discover, her beloved is not next to her.
Knocking: She hears her husband (“her beloved”) knocking at the door, wanting to enter into the bedchambers with her. At this first phrase it seems that her heart is thrilled that he was there. He speaks to her through the door and says “open to me my love.” And he uses four words of intimacy and treasure to speak softly to her: my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one. That is that word “flawless” that we saw last week. Talk about a passionate pursuit. This groom whispers his deep love into his wife’s ear from outside the door. Can you feel the loving pursuit of the groom towards his bride.
Head Wet with Dew: He says that his head is wet with dew. He’s been at the door all night. While she was sleeping restlessly, he was outside waiting patiently for her to awake. And as readers we feel the shamefulness of the situation. This wonderful husband has been kept outside all night. There is a sense of the shame that a good wife should feel over leaving him locked out of the bedroom. And yet he does not speak meanly or rudely to her. He speaks with the utmost tender affection “Open to me.”
Excuses: How will the bride respond. As we discover, her restlessness is more than just restlessness. In verse 3, she begins to make a series of excuses why she can’t open the door to him. She’s already taken off her clothes and washed her feet. How could she get up out of her comfortable bed, and walk across the room, in the cold of the night, to open the door? She loves her beloved, but in this very moment, you know what she loves even more, her cozy bed and a little more sleep.
Allegory for Backsliding: What’s going on here? This is a picture for us a backslidden Christian. Gone are the mountain peaks of spirituality. Gone are the deep and wonderful intoxitating love with Christ. Now, she can’t be bothered to get out of bed to open the door for him. As the verse in Revelation said earlier, she has fallen from that place she was once in.
Signs of a Backsliding Faith: Let’s pause here and ask ourselves an important question what are the signs, from this text, that our faith has backslidden?
1 Heavy Conscience: The first is a heavy conscience. We see this in the bride who is laying bed sleeping but her heart is awake. There is something on her mind, weighing on her conscience. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit within us. And when we start to drift away from God in some way, the Holy Spirit will poke and prod upon our conscience. It’s a bit like a small wound. I hurt my finger this last summer sledding with my girls. For six months that thing ached every time I tried to open a jar, or lift a weight. It was a nagging reminder that something isn’t right with my finger. Just as the body gives you warning signs that all is not right, our restlessness may be the Holy Spirit speaking to us, letting us know when things are not quite right.
2 Lack of Intimacy: Second sign of a backsliding faith is a lack of sweet intimacy with God in the ways you once had intimacy. This woman is lying in bed alone, when formely she was lying with her husband. This can look like a lot of things, but let me give you some practical examples.
Prayer: You once had such sweet time with God in prayer, but you’ve entered into a season where prayer feels more like work, not intimacy, and your prayer time has gone down… You’ve lost something of that intimacy. You’re backsliding.
Church: You once so looked forward to Church, and sitting underneath the preached word, and going home on a high. But recently, the Sunday gathering of the Saints has felt not so special, the preached word isn’t really compelling, and you’ve started to contemplate not coming every week like you used to… You’ve lost something of that intimacy. You’re backsliding.
Fellowship: A third example might be fellowship. You used to take such delight in gathering in homes and studying the scriptures and digging into each other’s lives. But now it doesn’t feel quite as important. You’re beginning to justify why you don’t need that kind of fellowship. What’s happened? You’ve lost something of that intimacy. You’re backsliding.
3 Excuses: And the third major sign from this text that you’re backsliding, is that you’re making excuses for sin and spiritual laziness in your life. The bride has taken off her clothes, and washed her feet. I know she wants to open the door for Christ, but can she really be expected to get out of bed and walk all the way across the room. When we start making excuses for our sin, or for our lack of intimacy with Christ and justifying it, we have backslidden very far.
Transition: When you feel in your heart any of these three signs, they are Christ tapping on your heart and pursuing you. It is the Holy Spirit weighing on your conscience beginning to pull you back to him. Let me appeal to you right now, how is your faith described in this moment. Are you chapter 5 verse 1 Christian in this season, walking deeply with Christ, enjoying his fellowship, living for Him and through Him. Or are you a chapter 5 verses 2-3 Christian, backslidden?
II CHRIST PURSUES US BY DRAWING US OVER EVERY OBSTACLE IN OUR PATH
The second aspect of Christ’s pursuit is that he draws us over every obstacle in our path. Indeed if you are backsliding, Satan is delighting. He does not want you to find your way out. He wants to keep ineffective in Christ’s Kingdom, and feeling distant from Christ. And so he’ll put all kinds obstacles in your path.
Hand to the Latch: In verses 4-5 something happens that is critical to understanding this passage. It says in verse 4
Song of Solomon 5:4 “My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.”
Previously Christ has been knocking on the door. But now he puts his hand to the latch of the door. The idea here is that he “unlocks the door.” Oh precious saints! hear these words. None of us can heal our own backsliding. We are far too weak. But Christ unlocks the door that we have locked. When we shut him out, he opens the door, and draws us out towards him. And notice immediately what happens in her heart. “My heart was thrilled within me.” When Christ begins to stir in you, it is an unshakeable newness and freshness of the Spirit! When he unlocks the door that you have locked, it is an overwhelming desire for him that invades the soul.
My Beloved Had Gone (6): But what happens next is interesting. She races to the doro, but he “had turned and gone.” In an instant you can feel the entire balloon deflate. She has gone from the thrill of verse 4, to her statement in verse 6 “My soul failed me when he spoke.” This kicks off a series of obstacles for this bride to get back to her husband. Why would he do that? Why would he unlock the door, and then seemingly hide himself from her. Friends, it is because this book is an allegory of the Christian faith, and it is painting for us a picture of the very real and very difficult obstacles that will stand in your way to overcoming backsliding. The truth is, Christ never leaves you, but here we have a moment to feel the difficulty of what spiritual effort is required to regain the intimacy with Christ you have lost. Four obstacles are in the bride’s path
1 Despair: The first obstacle is despair. This comes from the verse we just read in verse 6. When the bride says “My soul failed me.” Another way to translate that is “I fell into despair.” Why would she fall into despair. She was so hopeful to go see her husband at the door, but now she realizes her excuses caused her to miss him. Her moment had passed. When we have fallen into backsliding places of sin as a Christian, sometimes what can happen is that we have a moment where we get our mind in gear and we set out to go make things right. But we open the door, and we realize just how much we’ve screwed up. And that moment, of opening the door and realizing the consequences and the weight of your sin, can cause some people to go into even more backsliding than before. The momentary burst of spiritual energy was all for nought.
But look at this bride, the example she sets for us. Though she feels the weight of her sin more than ever. She does not go back to her bed. The great groom has drawn her, has changed her heart, and she cannot return to her bed alone.
2 Length of Recovery: The second obstacle obstacle that will stand in your way is the length of recovery. Look at verses 5-6. There are five different verbs used to describe the actions the bride takes. She “arose.” Then in verse 6 she “opened” the door. Then she “sought him.” Then she “called” him. In these words you can almost feel the anxiety rising with each step. She opens the door and you can just see her nervously looking for him. Like a mother looking for her child, she first looks, and then when she gets a frantic she begins to “call” to him. Yelling his name. Returning to spiritual intimacy with Christ can take time. Sanctification is a long steady process of continual habits built in one’s life. It does not click out of thin air. You might think of a runner who has had an injury. Once the injury is healed, and you’re ready to hit the pavement again, there is hardwork to get back into the shape you were in before the injury occurred. The great groom has drawn her, has changed her heart, and she cannot return to her bed alone.
3 Not Knowing How to Find Him: The third obstacle we find in this passage is not knowing where or how to find him. We’ve already seen this in verse 5 and 6 where the bride is calling out for her husband. But we see it again down in verse 8, where the bride calls out to other women nearby and says
Song of Solomon 5:8 “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.”
She wants to get out of her lack of intimacy with the groom, but she doesn’t know how.
Sometimes, folks might come out of a season of backsliding, and they have a moment of clarity. They want to pursue Christ. And then wake up and say “I’m going to do it.” But they don’t know how. Sometimes folks just need to learn how to read our Bibles in such a way that it is spiritually profitable. The Apostle says we need “training in righteousness.” We need to learn how to pray, and how to intercede for others. We need to learn how to structure our lives in such a way that we draw near to him. Sometimes, Christ allows us this space in order to learn and form habits that are going to cause godliness in our life over time.
4 Poor Counsel: The fourth obstacle we discover in this text is poor counsel. This bride in verse is discovered by the watchmen. We are told the watchment of the city beat her, bruised her, and took away her veil. It is such an odd verse in the entire book of Song of Solomon. What is it denoting. I believe the watchmen are an allusion to pastors and spiritual authorities (hence the title watchmen). Here, the very people that are supposed to help her, point her towards the location of her beloved, in fact do her much harm.
This can happen in so many ways. And it grieves me with deep pangs to know that there are pastors who do more harm than good for Christ’s precious saints. Maybe you have experienced this. You reach out to a pastor for help, and the advice you get is not word-centered, it’s not pointing to Christ, it’s riddled with guilt. It’s like getting beat up. With youtube, there are thousands upon thousands of false teachers at your fingertips. And their videos look good, they pepper enough bible verses in their teachings to make it sound legitimate. But the teachings they’re giving are false, they will not help you, they will end in destruction, and pain.
There is so much bad teaching. But Christ has given you his spirit to discern the Word of God. He has given you faithful pastors who will not treat you this way, but will be like a nursing mother to you. He leads you through all of this.
Conclusion: If you have been in a season of backsliding, what obstacle have stood in your way. Christ is using those obstacles to form something in you. He has you there for a season, in order to restore sweet intimacy. He is drawing you.
III CHRIST PURSUES US BY NOT HOLDING OUR BACKSLIDING AGAINST US, BUT RESTORING OUR SWEET INTIMACY WITH HIM
Lastly, Christ pursues us by not holding our backsliding against us, but restoring our sweet intimacy with him. If you trace this narrative after verse 8, what happens is interesting. The “daughters of Jerusalem” whoms he asked if they had seen her groom in verse 8, then turn to ask her in verse 9 what is so special about her groom. And in verses 10-16, she describes her groom with intimate love… And then in the start of chapter 6, in verse 2, she finds him.
Song of Solomon 6:2–3 “My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies.”
Christ restores that intimacy. He has led her, and he ultimately leads her towards even more precious ground than previously. What were the things the bride did to find him in the end.
1 Meditate Often on Christ’s Greatness: First, meditate often on Christ’s greatness. In the very next section, verses 10-16, the bride describes her husband to the “daughters of Jerusalem.” We won’t read the entirety of it, but what happens in those verses, is the bride recollects majesty of her husband. As she tells the daughters of Jerusalem about how great her husband is, she herself is remembering all about him. Thomas Manton wrote this about this very idea.
O, if you could see Him that is invisible, you would have more reverence! A man that is praying or worshipping should behave himself as if he were in heaven, immediately before God, in the midst of all the blessed angels, those “ten thousand times ten thousand” that stand before God. O, with what reverence, with what fear, should a poor worm creep into his presence!
Yes, in your prayer life, don’t just pray, but as you pray remember who it is you are praying to. He is over all. He is supremely over your life. Have you been backsliding? He knows. Is there a desire to work out of it? He knows. He has a legion of angels prepared to assist you. Meditate on His Greatness.
2 Meditate Often on Christ’s Love For You: Then second, meditate on his love for you. Woven into her description of the greatness of her husband are hints not only of his greatness but of his love.
Song of Solomon 5:16 “His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable…”
here she is thinking of the words that Christ has spoken to her. Perhaps she is remembering those very words from the beginning of our passage today.
Song of Solomon 5:2 …“Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.””
Remember Christ and all he has done for you. Remember his willingness to suffer for you. Remember his thorny crown. Remember how he was mocked nad mistreated. Remember how he carried his own cross up that hill to Golgotha. Remember how he was mocked and mistreated. Remember his death, where all our sin was placed on his shoulders. Remember that he loved you so much that he would give his life to rescue you from your own sin. Reflect on this often.
3 Be Absolutely Severe in Your Purpose: Third, be absolutely severe about your purpose to regain sweet intimacy with Christ. There are going to be all kinds of challenges along the way. And you must have it in your heart, that Christ is a greater reward than every other obstacle and distraction that could stand in your way.
Christ is a greater reward than another hour of sleep
Christ is a greater reward than another television show to waste your time on
Christ is a greater reward than any benefit of browsing the internet
Christ is a greater reward than the affections of those who would distract from your Christian duty.
Have this heart from the very beginning. Come Hell or High Water, Christ is my Destination.
Conclusion: As a Christian, Christ will not leave you in a state of backsliding. He will draw you out. But our sanctification is a dance where he leads and we follow. Take hold of your faith. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul
Philippians 3:13–14 “…Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Conclusion
Today, we have examined a very important subject, God’s heart for backsliding saints. And what have we seen. Christ’s heart overwhelms with grace and tender affection for us in all of our sins. At the end of this passage, the bride, through all of her challenges finds the groom. And the majority of chapter 6 is the bride relishing in the mountain top once again.
You may be in a valley right now, but God does not intend to leave you there. He is drawing you out. Follow Him. And don’t stop until you’ve found him.
