“Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.”

Song of Songs 4;5

We are waiting for that great and wonderful day, when the shadows of this world will flee away and the dawning of a new day of righteousness will arrive. The troubles of life will be over and we will see the Saviour of the world, our dearly Beloved, Jesus the lover of our souls. We will see the end of our salvation, the redemption of body, mind and soul, and we will be overcome with thankfulness to have made it home. The day of eternity will dawn, and the people of God will enter into the marriage of marriages, the wedding feast with their husband and friend. He will take away all the pain and disappointment and show us what it to like to be happily married to the one we love best and most. He will be ours forever, and we will live in His embrace. He will rejoice over us with a husband’s love and never leave us. His care will be constant and His love supreme. 

So the lover in this book, is looking for the day when he will be with his bride, and they will never be parted, but rejoice in married bliss, forever. His love for her is constant and never wavers. He loves her with a true love, and appreciates her in every way, and always will, for her form in attached to her character, which has been forged by love and service. As he thinks of her, he will look to the “mountain of myrrh” the place of remembrance, and he will think of her when she is not with him. He will think of the cost of having her as his own, the death of self, and the resurrection to life, with her forever. Myrrh is for burial, and to love means the death of self, and the putting first of the other. It relates to the death of Christ for the sins of the world, and was a gift, given to Him as a young child, for the wise men who visited Him. It was also given on the cross as a pain relief, but Jesus refused it, preferring to suffer loss for the sake of His people, than to convenience Himself. We can look for relief, at times, from wrong sources, and seek relief from troubles, from wrong things. We must seek Christ alone, the beginner and finisher of our faith, and only He has the power to strengthen us and bring us through the darkness. 

The “hill of incense” could refer to the prayers and praises of the people of God. Until the day that Christ returns for His church, He will be praying for them, and enjoying the prayers of His people as we pray to Him, and worship Him from afar, on this earth as we live. One day it will all change, and we will be bodily present with the Lord, and forever able to talk face to face with Him, as sisters and brothers in Christ. So the lover in this book, is thinking of his beloved woman, and the day when they will tie that eternal knot. That knot is so right and true and is meant to last our whole life. 

There are situations where it does not, because of the failures of the parties to love each other properly, to make sacrifices and spend time with each other to please each other and build a deep relationship. Over time, this will result in loss, and the relationship cannot keep going. True love will last. Earthly love dies. The hurt is always there, and the failure acute. Marriage must be worked at and valued and the two persons must put the other first, and respect what each person does, sharing life and making decisions together. It is a tragedy when things do not work out. It gets very painful, until it becomes impossible to stay together, due to the hurt felt and known. Only God knows that outcome. The decisions we make are in God’s hands, and only He knows the long term purpose of the events of life, and only He can make all things work for the good of those who love Him.

But for the Christian, they live in the knowledge of a marriage that is indissoluble. It will surely last because it depends on the perfect one, the one who gave up all to save and rescue them from the clutches of sin. It is a true marriage and will be consummated on that great day when Jesus returns for his truly Beloved and takes her home to heaven. His church will rise victorious to meet Him in the sky, and be forever with the Lord. We will enjoy the great supper of the Lamb, and be forever in His embrace.

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 19:6-9  

This is the eternal destiny of the believer in Christ. “Forever with the Lord…”

For now we remember Him who we love, our truly Beloved Lord and Saviour, as we think each day, and partake of the Lord’s supper, in the bread and the wine, and think on Him.

We pray without ceasing, always in that place of communion in conversation with Him. It never ends. We build our relationship and gain closer access to our Lord Jesus, and grow more like His perfect character and behaviour. Jesus was always in prayer, praying to the Father on all occasions, and so also must we. These things will keep us true and close and we will not stumble continually or make monumental wrong turns that divert us from what we should be doing.

“But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?”

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NLT

We climb the mountains of myrrh, in remembrance, and the hill of the incense of prayer, and enter into the inheritance, kept for us in heaven, by our precious Saviour and friend. Our husband, Jesus will always provide for us without stinting, and our days, even on this earth, will be glad. 

“May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

Psalm 141:2