“I sleep.” The first step the Bride took was her confession of her condition, of where she was – “I sleep.” She admits that she is sleeping, tired, lazy; she has pulled off onto the spur track. She says, I need a little time to myself.

In the spiritual sense, the Bride of Christ is not immune to “sleeping” on the job as His Bride, His Servant, and His Friend. This spiritual sleeping is deceiving because you can be busy for Christ and be asleep. That is, you are moving and serving, but you are numb; you have no real drive, no real communion; you are just busy for Christ’s sake. But you have left off taking time to lay yourself bare before God to have Him:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” (Psalms 139:23)

Why ask Christ to do this? For Him to:

“…see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:24)

This needs to be done daily before God – to keep Him in your mind; to keep yourself clean and pure before Him. To identify any deception of the flesh that may have overtaken you. To immediately identify and then confess the sin; and forsake the sin or sins that is causing you to appear asleep, or numb, in your fellowship with Christ.

Please read Isaiah 59:2 and 1 John 1:9. Unconfessed secret sins will rob your fellowship with Christ. You can be caught up in a snare of the flesh, and be so deceived, that you have completely justified your sin (Romans 13:11-14).

When this “sleep” comes upon Christ’s Bride, Christ has a plan of recovery. Christ implements His plan of recovery by speaking to (by knocking on) the spirit of His Love, His Bride.

However, something had happened to her:

“But my heart waketh”; my body is on the bed asleep, but my mind, my spirit, is now awakened.

What has happened to awaken her mind?

The Bride of Christ is first awakened by the voice of her Beloved knocking (or revealing Himself) to her mind, to her spirit.  She knows that it is her Beloved; she always knows when Christ speaks to her, for Christ is very plain in His Voice. She understands that Christ is approaching her condition of “sleep.”

Christ uses several tools to open her eyes to where she is: “asleep.” In the case before us (Song of Solomon 5:2), Christ uses persistence: “knocking,” not just one knock. Christ also uses patience: He has stood all night outside, proven by the dew on His head and hair. And He uses His Love: by His persistence and patience to awaken her by His Words of Love, He touches her spirit.

She now sees God’s purpose and plan is to recover her by revealing to her of her present state, of her condition of hiding her secret sins. She now knows that God is leading her to growth and maturity, through His Wisdom of what and how to show her of her condition, and give her a space to repent and change (2 Peter 3:9).

“It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh.” Even though she is still in the bed, even though she is determined to stay on the spur track for a period of time; her Beloved has something else in mind.

Notice the imaging here: the voice of her Beloved was knocking. That is, his voice had awakened her spirit; his voice is now identified to her. She is awake enough to know that it is her Beloved’s voice; it is his voice that awakened her. There is no mistaking the voice of her Beloved, for none has ever spoken to her as her Beloved has.

This phrase presents the Beloved’s concern for his Bride. Secondly, it shows that he is carrying out his responsibility as the head to his Love, his Bride. Thirdly, it shows the power of the voice of her Beloved. And fourth, it shows his voice has a distinct sound, a sound like none other; therefore, there was no mistaking who was speaking to her.

Spiritually, now that His Bride is fully awake, she knows for certain it is Christ that is knocking at her door. She knows there is no hiding now. She also realizes His concern for her; that He loves her, as revealed by Him carrying out His Duty as her Head and Husband in coming to awaken her. Ultimately she knows she could not resist His Voice of Power.