Song of Solomon 2:9

“My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.”

Here the woman is describing the manner of her Beloved’s approach by using the characteristics of a deer.

The deer is very timid in his approach. He hides himself well from his enemies at the very edge of the tree line. This timidity is not out of fear, but out of discreetness. The male deer keeps himself partially hidden as the female deer feeds. This action of the male deer is to be a sentry to detect any enemies that might approach; and also to allure the female deer to him.

The Bride reveals this in explaining the partial concealing of the deer in a figurative sense of her Beloved’s approach to her.

“Behold, he standeth behind our wall…” Her Beloved conceals himself from the Bride. He withholds himself from her; “behind our wall.” She knows where he is; for he is behind our wall. He is in their house, not the house of another. He is preparing his Bride, first by allowing her anticipation to grow toward him. She knows her Beloved is with her, but he has not revealed to her his desire to express his love to her.

In the spiritual, there are many examples of waiting, of The Beloved hiding Himself:

“Wherefore hidest thou thy face…” (Job 13:24a). (Refer to Psalms 44:24. See also Psalms 10:1; 104; 29a.)

“Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour” (Isaiah 45:15). (Read verses 16-25.)

“Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments” (Job 23:3-4). (Job showed that he could not find God at this moment)

“And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18). (Here Isaiah tells why God waits.)

Christ carries us many times through a waiting period. This waiting period:

1. Gives the Bride time to examine herself;
2. Gives her time to prepare herself for her Beloved;
3. Causes her desire for His Communion and Fellowship to grow.
4. Teaches her (Isaiah 30:18) the reasons that she waits on Him (for He is waiting):
   1. “that he may be gracious unto you (His Bride)…
   2. ‘therefore will he be exalted…
   3. “he may have mercy upon you…
   4. “blessed (or happy) are all they that wait for him.”

Also see Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall:

1. “renew their strength;
2. “they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
3. “they shall run, and not be weary; and
4. “they shall walk, and not faint.”

Therefore, the first step in Christ’s approach to His Bride is to wait; “that he may be gracious” to her. For in this waiting period, she is being readied for His Love and Leadership, for His Command for her to follow Him.

“He looketh forth at the windows…” Here the Beloved begins to reveal his presence to his Bride by coming to the window opening to show himself to his Bride. He is saying, I am here; for Solomon writes, “shewing himself through the lattice.” This shows that the Bride cannot see him completely, or cannot see all of him; for the lattice is shielding her full view of him. But she can see enough to know it is her Beloved and that his time to come to her is close, very close. This also gives her assurance and great anticipation that soon she will be in his full presence and fellowship.

So it is with Christ to the Church. His first step in His Approach to her is to wait. Next, He shows Himself in the midst of the darkness (2:17); or in the midst of the valley, the trial, the lack of knowledge, whatever it may be. God is gracious to His Bride in revealing His Presence in the midst of her waiting period. He does this in His Written Word, revealed by the Holy Spirit. He does this by the bearing of a witness in His Bride’s spirit, whereby she sees Him through the lattice. This second step comes before His Voice is fully manifested to her; that is, she sees Him in His Word (in His Promises).

This revelation in His Word of Himself gives her the stability to be still and wait for His instructions; wait on His specific commands for her. Christ, in His Appearance and in His Approach, has readied His Bride to receive His Word. He has readied her for full submission and obedience to Him; so it is in the physical.

The husband reveals his appearance and his approach to his Bride that he might be gracious to her and cause happiness to flood her entire being (body, soul, and spirit).

Husbands, what is your appearance to your wife? And what is your approach to her? Follow your pattern, your example, who is Christ. Follow His Appearance and His Approach to the Church, His Bride, if you want a God-blessed marriage.

The problem with many failed marriages lies with the husband (with the exception of 1 Corinthians 7:15). The man picks out his bride; he draws her; he reveals his love for her; and then she responds.

The question arises: What if she refuses his pick of her?

The answer is: She will not refuse him, because he will only pick her according to God’s plan and purpose; he will love her and she cannot resist his love.

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…” (Psalms 110:3)