Hear the Voice of My Beloved

Hear the voice of my beloved
Gently call at close of day
Come my love, come and meet me
Rise oh rise and come away.

Winter’s dark will soon be over
And the rain is nearly done
Flowers bloom and trees are budding
Time for singing has begun.

I have waited through the shadow
For my Lord to call for me.
Now the morning breaks eternal
In its sight His face I see
Now the morning breaks eternal
And at last His face I see.

When you see the fields re-budding
You will know the summer’s near
And when you hear the words I’ve spoken
You will know my coming’s near
So keep on listening my beloved
For my coming’s very near.

The song this week was written by names that will be very familiar to you – Bill and Gloria Gaither.  The song is based upon the Scripture found in Song of Solomon Chapter 2 which reads “The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.”  Song of Solomon is primarily a book about love.  It is not necessarily one of those books you have your children read at a young age, but it’s theme is love.  However, many scholars believe the book provides a picture of God’s love for Israel, or Christ’s love for His church.  The song is beautiful and if you have never listened to it, here’s a version sung by Cynthia Clawson.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Winter’s dark will soon be over, and the rain is nearly done” –  I think the author is trying to paint a picture of the parallel of the seasons in our lives that all of us at some time will experience.  The “winter’s dark” represents the sad times in our lives.  A time when nothing seems to cheer us.  Nothing seems to make us feel better.  The sun is “hidden” and doesn’t peak over the horizon.  A time where nights are long, dark and dreary.  The “rain” reminded me of the tears that often come during those dark winter times.  Tears are a natural part of dealing with the sadness that comes into our lives.  Just like natural rain, tears help in the cleansing process.  But I like the thought in this song that the rain is “nearly done.”  Yes, there are still times of sadness, but the author tells us that there is a time when weeping is nearly done, and there is a time for singing to begin.

• “When you see the fields re-budding” – What is interesting about the growth of a plants in a field is that growth doesn’t just happen overnight.  A farmer doesn’t go to bed one night with a dormant crop, and wake up the next morning ready to harvest his crop.  No, there are signs of life that start out as little sprouts or small buds.  I worked in my yard this weekend cleaning up dead plants and pruning back shrubs, and because of the warm weather we have had recently, I found some plants budding – in January.  The Lord reminded me that there will be signs of His return that come as we enter the last days.  These signs should be reminders to us that our “Beloved” is coming soon.  We must have our house in order.  We must have our lamps ready with oil.  We need to heed the signs of the “fields re-budding” and be busy about preparing for harvest.

I like the symbolism of Christ and His Bride – the Church, that you find in this song.  The idea that our Lord is telling His beloved not to worry because His coming is near.  That is a great image, and reminder that we need to hear sometimes.  But I also had another thought about this song.  I imagined this song being sung by a widow about her spouse that has already gone to Heaven, and the desire to hear the voice of her beloved again.  Although I have not experienced that kind of pain – the loss of a spouse, I know that when a wife loses a husband, or a husband loses a wife, there remains a desire to see them again and to just hear that person’s voice one more time.   The pain of loss may decrease a little over time, but the desire to hear that loved one’s voice again, I am sure, never goes away.

The wonderful news about the Gospel is that not only will we hear the voice of “The Beloved” Jesus Christ, but we also have hope that we will hear and see our loved ones again.  In I Corinthians 15, Paul talks about being “most miserable” if there is not a resurrection of the dead.  I thought I would include these verses from “The Message:”

“Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection. If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot.  But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries. “

I hope today as you read the words to this song that you will be encouraged that you will one day hear the voice of “The Beloved” and the voices of your “beloveds” – your loved ones that have already gone to be with the Lord.  That through the tears, you will know that the rain is “nearly done” and the time for singing has begun.