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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Every life our hope is sudden when love shines in love will teach us how to breathe love will drive a new movie turn our darkness into day when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in all the heart is strong to see when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in joy and peace others when love shines in once again how the world will go in beauty when love shines in and the heart rejoices in beauty when love shines in joy and the soul in peace of life life will all be glorified when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in how the heart is strong to see when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in joy and peace others when love shines in how our sorrow will ride through when love shines in and the heaviest spur that lighter when love shines in is the glory that will grow by the snow in fair to go through the heart of letting go when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in how the heart is strong to see when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in joy and peace others when love shines on that deep heaven meaning splendor when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in how the heart is strong to see when love shines in when love shines in when love shines in joy and peace others when love shines in Good morning everybody welcome to Verity Baptist Church take out your bullets in here today and our verse of the week is Proverbs 30 verse 5 the Bible reads every word of God is pure he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him that's a great verse there we are a family integrated church meaning children and infants are welcome during the services we do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience as well as the ladies comfort room the men's comfort room is up here in front remember no eating during the service maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running and making noise during the church service on the next page our service time is listed first service is at 10 am short break in our 1130 service Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 pm soul winning time is listed there we do have soul winning now updated to 4 pm on Wednesdays meeting here at the church building Saturday afternoon soul winnings is in KESOL Memorial Circle from 10 to 12 lunch provided by church and then afternoon 2 to 4 as well we do have soul winning of course today after our lunch fellowship at 2.15 pm and so our salvations are listed there as well as baptisms, Bible study fellowships updates on the birthdays and anniversaries for May so also not just my son was born but congratulations to brother winter and sister Mario for getting married it was the same day that her son was born but you know congratulations to them so that is added to the bulletin here on the next page our Bible memorization challenge and so we do have prizes back there if you're able to complete this upcoming activities so we do have our prayer meeting today after soul winning then men's choir practice starts next week we do have men's choir on the 19th that is Father's Day so on Father's Day we're kind of doing a men's activity and ladies activity double because we did not do the Mother's Day activity so basically the ladies will have the tea party here at the church building and the guys are going to go somewhere to do the men's activity now what I'm planning to do with our kids I'm planning to bring my son not Ezra but Zeph for the men's activity because obviously if it's Father's Day it doesn't make sense to not let your kids come with you right but obviously we're celebrating Mother's Day as well so I'm planning to bring Zeph and leave the other kids here we're not planning to do a singles activity so the single ladies can stay here at the church the single guys can go to the men's activity but we're planning to do that in three weeks so I encourage you to be here for that it's going to be a lot of fun and so let's see we are in the book of Daniel and this will be the last sermon on kind of the first half for the political aspect of the book of Daniel before we get to prophetical and we are starting the Song of Solomon here today so that's exciting and so we have information on a group chat and then other than that there's just place for notes on the back of your bulletin so I believe that's it for announcements while Brother Marlon leads us in another song The next song is starting in number 178 in number 178 in number 178 In the Bible I see This is the dearest that Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves me Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves me Jesus loves me Oh I forget him and wonder still he don't love me whenever I say come to his fair loving hearts would I be when I remember that Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves me Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves even me I'll ask if there's only one song I can sing when in this beauty I see the great green I'll show my soul in his early divvy Oh what a wonder that Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves me Jesus loves me I am so glad that Jesus loves me Jesus loves even me Let's take our offering Amen. For scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 1 verse 2 verse 3 verse 4 verse 5 verse 6 verse 7 verse 8 verse 9 1 Kings chapter 3 1 Kings chapter 3 1 Kings chapter 3 and as our custom we'll be reading the entire chapter 1 Kings 3, please say Amen if you're there. Amen. 1 Kings 3 verse 1 and Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about only the people were sacrificed in high places because there was no house built into the name of the Lord until those days and Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of David his father only he sacrificed and burned incense in high places and the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there for that was the great high place a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said ask what I shall give thee and Solomon said thou is showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy according as he has walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee and thou is kept for him this great kindness that thou has given him a son to sit on his throne as it is in his day and now Lord my God thou has made thy servant king instead of David my father and I am but a little child I know not how to go out or come in and thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou has chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for more the truth give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this thy so great a people and his speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing and God said unto him because thou has asked this thing and has not asked for thyself long life neither has asked riches for thyself nor has asked the life of thine enemies but has asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment the old I have done according to thy words though I have given thee a wise and understanding heart that there was none like thee before thee neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee and I have also given thee thou that which thou has not asked both riches and honor so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days and if thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments as thy father David did walk then I will lengthen thy days and Solomon awoke and behold it was a dream and I came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings and made a feast to all his servants then came there two women that were harlots unto the king and stood before him and the one woman said oh my Lord I and this woman dwell in one house and I was delivered of a child with her in the house and I came to pass the third day after that I was delivered that this woman was delivered also and we were together there was no stranger with us in the house save we too in the house and this woman's child died in the night because she overlaid it and she rose at midnight and took my son from beside me while thine handmaids slept and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom and when I arose in the morning to give my child suck behold it was dead but when I had considered it in the morning behold it was not my son which I did bear and the other woman said nay but the living is my son and the dead is thy son and this said no but the dead is thy son and the living is my son thus they spake before the king then said the king that one saith it is my son that liveth and thy son is the dead and the other saith nay but thy son is the dead and my son is living and the king said bring me a sword and they brought a sword before the king and the king said divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other then spake the woman who the living child was unto the king for her bowels yearned upon her son and she said oh my lord give her the living child and in no wise lay it but the others said let it be neither mine nor thine but divide it then the king answered and said give her the living child and in no wise lay it she is the mother thereof and all Israel heard of the judgment was the king had judged and they feared the king for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment blessed be God's word let us Lord God in heaven we thank you Lord for the states you've given to us and we pray that you would bless the preacher and the preacher you go over and go to state please give us a good sweater for our soul winning later on in Jesus name we pray, amen Alright we are in 1 Kings and we're starting a new verse by verse series through the Song of Solomon you say well why are we in 1 Kings? Well today's sermon is an introduction to the book and so I personally I like sermons that are verse by verse because you get to learn kind of everything in the Bible we don't try to avoid anything it's a great way to to learn the Bible as opposed to the topical so both the sermons are going to be verse by verse here today but this is going to be an introduction to the topic of the Song of Solomon and the first thing I want to talk about is who are the people in the Song of Solomon? So there is a great debate by people of who are the main characters in the book the Song of Solomon and I'm assuming that everybody in this room is at least somewhat familiar with that book it's a song or a poem between a husband and wife that are in love with each other it doesn't directly tell you the name of the woman in the book though so when you're trying to figure out who the people or persons are you've got to look at some other things to figure that out and so my opinion is the two main characters are Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter which we do not have her name okay? Notice what it says in 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 1 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 1 why do I believe that Solomon's daughter is the woman? Well notice what it says in 1 Kings 3 verse 1 and Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end to building his own house in the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Now look of course if you're familiar with Solomon one thing he is very famous for is marrying a lot of women, a lot of wives a lot of concubines. Now I do not believe though that as a young man he just immediately started marrying a bunch of women. I believe that in the Song of Solomon he's married to one woman and he's happy and then over time that ends up changing okay? But the first woman that you see mentioned in the life of Solomon is Pharaoh's daughter here in chapter 3 verse 1. Go to chapter 7 1 Kings chapter 7 1 Kings chapter 7 And look it's not like you know the names of most of the wives of Solomon we know more the names of the wives of David's wives than Solomon even though Solomon married a lot more women so the fact that Pharaoh's daughter is mentioned specifically is actually pretty significant okay? 1 Kings 7 verse 8 And his house where he had dwelt had another core within the porch which was of the like work Solomon made also in house for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken to wife like onto this porch. Go to chapter 9 chapter 9 chapter 9 chapter 9 1 Kings chapter 9 verse 16 the Bible reads 1 Kings 9 verse 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Geezer and burned it with fire and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city and given it for a present unto his daughter Solomon's wife. So once again we're looking at Pharaoh's daughter mentioned in chapter 9 verse 16 look at verse number 24 verse 24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David under a house which Solomon had built for her then did he build Melo and if you're reading through 1 Kings at this point it's not mentioning any other women in the life of Solomon it's Pharaoh's daughter Pharaoh's daughter Pharaoh's daughter Pharaoh's daughter so if you're looking at the most significant woman in the life of Solomon I would say that it was Pharaoh's daughter that's the woman that he was married to that's the woman that he loved that's the woman the Bible speaks about over and over again. Go to chapter 11 chapter 11 chapter 11 and it says in chapter 11 verse 1 But king Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh women of the Moabites, Ammonites Edomites, Zydonians and Hittites so when you're reading that verse it sounds like Solomon's married to Pharaoh's daughter but then he gets married to other women right in 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 1 together with Pharaoh's daughter okay now go to Song of Solomon chapter 1 Song of Solomon chapter 1 Song of Solomon chapter 1 and in Song of Solomon 1 verse 9 the Bible reads so that's kind of exterior evidence outside of the book of Song of Solomon where I would say it's Pharaoh's daughter okay even though it does not specifically state the name of the woman in Song of Solomon that's exterior evidence that would seem to indicate it's Pharaoh's daughter but what about interior evidence in the Song of Solomon look at verse number 9 of chapter 1 of Song of Solomon I have compared the oh my love to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots now this is not the only time that Solomon will reference things such as locations and stuff that his wife is obviously going to be familiar with but here's the thing you're not going to use an example to compliment your wife if she does not understand it he mentions Pharaoh's chariots and here's the thing if you mention to me the horses in Pharaoh's chariots I wouldn't know what you're talking about I don't know the horses in Pharaoh's chariots but I believe he mentions this example because if she is Pharaoh's daughter she grew up around the horses of Pharaoh and what he's basically saying which we'll talk about next week is basically you're the best basically the greatest horses in the world he's saying you're like the best in the world it's just symbolically referencing, he's not saying you're like a horse he's just saying you're the best but he's using the example that she would be able to understand now here's the thing, if this woman has never met the horses in Pharaoh's chariots has never met Pharaoh, doesn't know the chariots or anything, she's going to be like what are you talking about? It's just like why did you tell me that? Why did you call me a horse? It's not going to make a whole lot of sense to her, but I would say interior evidence in this would suggest that she understands this, she's familiar with it, so I would suggest it seems like it's referring to Pharaoh's daughter, okay? Now that's who I believe the woman is, what about the man? Well, verse number one it says Song of Solomon 1 verse 1 the song of songs which is Solomon's and so, I mean the Bible's very clear in the Song of Solomon, Solomon's mentioned over and over and over again, he is the man the primary character, now I think it's pretty obvious that there's two characters, two main characters but there are people that put a lot of weird interpretations in the Song of Solomon, they turn it into a love triangle and add all these extra characters and things like that but this is just a song between a husband and a wife who love each other okay? Now turn in your Bible to Song of Solomon 3 verse 11, Song of Solomon chapter 3 verse 11 Song of Solomon chapter 3 verse 11 So I believe that this is a husband and a wife that are married and happy but obviously eventually that did not last I mean it didn't last forever because obviously Solomon married multiple women, right? Song of Solomon chapter 3 verse 11 it says Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the gladness of his heart now espousal is basically a marriage ceremony, okay? and so what he's saying here in the day of the gladness of his heart he's saying he was glad when he got married and throughout this book he'll say, my sister, my spouse spouse, a reference to his wife so this is not two people that are dating this is not girlfriend and boyfriend the Bible's very very very clear that it's husband and wife and that is a very important thing to understand because if you think these are two people that are dating then the Bible's saying it's okay to kiss somebody you're not dating and be physically involved well obviously that's not the case, right? but the Bible's very clear in this book it is husband and wife and to understand this book you need to realize it is husband and wife in the day of his espousals in the day of the gladness of his heart the day he got married now there is a lot of debate about who the woman is in this story now you say why is there debate? well I'll show you here in a second but one thing we also have to keep in mind is that when this was written to get a time frame Solomon is already the king okay? it's not just the fact that his husband and wife we need to realize Solomon is the king he is already the king when this book is being written notice what it says in verse 9 verse 9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon okay? so he's already the king verse 11 so it's very obvious he's already the king unless you believe something weird like this poem was written over like 20 years or something like that he's already the king they're already husband and wife they love each other, okay? now go to 1 Kings chapter 11 1 Kings 11 1 Kings 11 1 Kings chapter 11 now the reality is that based on what I've shown you so far if that's all the Bible ever mentioned everybody would probably agree it's Pharaoh's daughter but there is a reason why there's a big question mark and I do believe it's Pharaoh's daughter but I also understand why there's a big question mark so I want to show this to you and what you need to understand is this sermon is an introduction and it doesn't really change the words found in Song of Solomon whatever your interpretation is even if you disagree with me who the main characters are it doesn't change the fact this is a book between a husband and a wife and it teaches us how to have a good marriage we have practical wisdom on how to be a good husband, how to be a good wife regardless of who you think the characters are okay? now remember, Song of Solomon was written when Solomon was already the king notice what it says in 1 Kings 11 verse 42 and the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years okay? so he reigned for 40 years according to this verse and he is already the king when Song of Solomon is written now go to 1 Kings 14 1 Kings 14 verse 21 1 Kings 14 verse 21 and it says in 1 Kings 14 verse 21 and Rehoboam, the son of Solomon reigned in Judah Rehoboam was 40 and 1 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there and his mother's name was Naaman and Ammonitis and so if the 40 years is accurate and you got 41 years this would suggest that Rehoboam was born one year before Solomon became the king well that kind of changes the perspective quite a bit, right? because what I said is I believe that Pharaoh's daughter was his first wife and that's who he was happy with and then eventually he married other women and that is what I believe, you say well what's your interpretation? and as I said you know what, honestly there could be a lot of different opinions on this and honestly this is probably the least preached book in the Bible so it's not like a lot of people have really talked about this you know, there could be different opinions but I think I think he actually reigned for more than 40 years I don't think the 40 years is a reference to his entire reign from beginning to end like you would think I would say maybe it's a reference to the fact that it took 11 and a half years approximately to build the house of the Lord so 40 plus 11 and a half would give over 50 years but I'm also not dogmatic about this and it's not going to change the overall view of Song of Solomon I'll give you all the different possibilities and things that I've heard for me this one actually makes the most sense or it could be possible the 40 years is a reference to he's the king and at some point because he got into sin even though he's still kind of reign it's like God had kind of rejected him so there could be added time that's my opinion, but I'm not dogmatic about that but let me give you some of the other opinions that people could have one is that Song of Solomon was written to Naamah that's an obvious possibility that people bring up and I would say that's a possibility that it's written to Naamah the only thing I would say is the Song of Solomon is like the greatest love story ever there's no indication that Solomon really loved Naamah so much more than any other woman in his life, the woman that's really mentioned is Pharaoh's daughter Pharaoh's daughter Pharaoh's daughter, there's also no interior evidence that I'm aware of in the Song of Solomon that would suggest it is Naamah but I'm not saying it's impossible it would just seem strange to me that it mentions Pharaoh's daughter all the time and yet the love story is between Naamah and Solomon now once again if that is the truth it doesn't change the book itself because it's still the words of God and we learn the exact same things from it but I would say that's why I would have trouble with that the other thing is if it's referring to Naamah he didn't really stay happy with her for that long because he gets married Pharaoh's daughter shortly after he becomes the king and so basically that happy marriage really lasted a couple years and it's already over and look, that's possible but I would find that kind of hard to believe especially as Pharaoh's daughter's mentioned as if she's the only woman in the life of Solomon for him to have multiple wives at that time doesn't really seem to fit to me one possibility people say is maybe he had multiple wives when the Song of Solomon was written the big problem I'd have with that is throughout the book it says my beloved is mine and I am his as if they only have each other there's no indication of him having multiple wives once again, if that's the truth it doesn't change the book itself I would just say it doesn't seem to really fit with me another possibility mentioned is that Naamah, maybe she died during labor maybe Solomon was married to Naamah and she gave birth to Rehoboam she died during labor and then after that he marries Pharaoh's daughter well, I mean, that's a possibility and then he wouldn't be married to multiple women I would just say that if that's true which it's possible, there's nothing in the Bible that really indicates that it's just trying to fit that 40 year timeframe with that situation it's possible and maybe Solomon never brings up Naamah or the Bible never does because I would suppose if your wife died giving labor it'd be a painful memory that I would lean towards you say, well, what if Naamah is Pharaoh's daughter you say, well, how would that be possible well, Naamah is an Ammonitess but what if Pharaoh had a relationship with a woman from Ammon and it calls Naamah an Ammonitess even though her father is Pharaoh okay now, that would be a possibility I suppose, but you know the problem is that really doesn't fit with the timeframe because if the 40 years is just like 40 years he has the child before he becomes the king and he marries Pharaoh's daughter after he becomes the king so you'd really be messing with the time quite a bit, so I really don't think that would fit go to Song of Solomon chapter 6 Song of Solomon chapter 6 Song of Solomon chapter 6 and as I said, it really doesn't matter who you think the two people are in the book if you think it's Solomon and Naamah or Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter it doesn't change the fact the book is written to give us wisdom on how to have a good marriage okay some people say, well maybe it's Abishug the Shunammite you say, well why would they say Abishug the Shunammite and Abishug the Shunammite if you're familiar with 1 Kings basically it was the woman that was given to David as he became old and he didn't actually lie with her but it's kind of given to him you know, expected to be his wife or whatever but notice what it says in Song of Solomon 6 verse 13 return return O Shulammite return return that we may look upon thee what will you see in the Shulammite as it were the company of two armies and it'll say maybe it's Abishug the Shunammite because Shulammite is spelled very similarly to Shunammite okay so Shulammite, Shunammite yeah but they're not spelled the exact same I mean it's spelled similarly but the reference to a Shulammite seems to be a reference to a woman from Shulam just because they're spelled similarly that doesn't mean it's the same there's many words that are very similar and completely different from one another the other thing is the big problem with that interpretation is that would be perverse it was a woman that was basically given to David and then Solomon marries her that's ridiculous I'm okay with you saying maybe it's Nama I'm not okay with you saying it's Abishug I think that's ridiculous some people say the Queen of Sheba that also doesn't fit with the time frame I would completely disagree but these are some of the things people say now the really strange interpretation though is that there's this love triangle in the book okay now go to 1 Kings 11 1 Kings 11 1 Kings 11 now look if this whole book and look there is a lot of symbolism in the Song of Solomon obviously it's poetical there's a lot of things that can be interpreted different ways but here's the thing if the whole book is just this symbolism and not reality which is what some people say because they don't really understand the book or they don't understand certain verses then it would completely change the entire book itself of what it's about and various people will say that this book is about God's love for Israel or it's about something political a lot of weird things here's one of the big interpretations people give though and they say well here's a different story to the Song of Solomon a young beautiful Shulamite farm girl is betrothed through a sweetheart who is a shepherd because it mentions Solomon being a shepherd in the book one day the king travels by with his retina and eyes this young beauty referring to King Solomon he orders her to be taken into his harem so according to their interpretation basically here's a woman who's going to marry another guy Solomon sees her and he's like she's my next wife okay that's how some people interpret this book and then it says she is taken against her will to the harem of Solomon's wives and concubines she is desperate not to be violated and to escape so that she can return to her betrothed she manages to escape and asks the night watchmen if they have seen her betrothed looking for her before she can successfully return she is recaptured but this time kept under lock and key Solomon makes his inevitable advances but she diplomatically resists him despite his offers of wealth power and fame after a possible period of years she is allowed to return to home where her brothers come out to meet her and question whether she has remained faithful to her betrothed she tells them that despite the time she has been away she has indeed remained faithful to the covenant with her betrothed and thus ends a beautiful illustration of faithfulness which indicts Israel for its unfaithfulness towards God look I'm sorry but if that was the interpretation of the book it's like well Solomon's a psychopath right I mean obviously Solomon was a sinner obviously it was wrong for him to marry a lot of women there's a lot of things you could say against him but he also wrote Ecclesiastes he also wrote Proverbs he also wrote the Song of Solomon and basically that is a psychopath serial rapist if that's the interpretation I'm sorry but that's just out there okay and once again our verse of the week is every word of God is pure I don't believe that the Bible would be giving like some horror story in detail or whatever I mean that to me is a little bit ridiculous now 1 Kings 11 verse 1 let me show you a couple reasons you know once again why I believe it's Pharaoh's daughter and also maybe a possibility of why Solomon ended up marrying multiple women in the future 1 Kings 11 verse 1 but King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh women of the Moabites Ammonites, Edomites, Zydonians and Hittites so it seems to indicate Solomon's first wife is Pharaoh's daughter but notice it also mentions together with that the Ammonites, women of the Ammonites well Naamah was an Ammonitess and so it seems to indicate that Pharaoh's daughter was his first wife and then maybe Naamah is one of the women mentioned later and the only reason why she's really mentioned in the Bible is not necessarily because she's super significant except because her son ends up becoming the king now go to 1 Kings chapter 4 1 Kings 4 1 Kings 4 1 Kings chapter 4 and let me give you a possible reason why Solomon ended up no longer being satisfying with the person he was married to and look, I will say this that the polygamy has always been considered wrong in the Bible but you do see a lot of God's people married to multiple women and to be completely honest I believe God looks down more on fornication than he does polygamy now polygamy is a sin, the Bible says do not multiply wives unto yourself but you have to admit that God is more merciful to being a polygamist than to committing fornication outside of our marriage in our modern day, people look at it as the opposite if you were to ask people if they would marry multiple women they would be horrified saying, that's terrible and look, I agree, that's a sin because to me, I didn't grow up in a culture I didn't grow up Mormon, I didn't grow up Muslim to me, that's crazy but here's the thing in our modern day, people live together before they're married and think nothing of it and it's like, fornication is actually very looked down on in the Bible now, notice what it says in 1 Kings 4 verse 11 the son of Abinadab and all the region of Dor which had Tafeth, the daughter of Solomon to wife this does not mean that he married her in this verse but that's who he eventually married the daughter of Solomon to wife go to verse 15 Ahima, as was in Naphtali, he also took Basmuth, the daughter of Solomon, to wife so once again it mentions the daughter of Solomon now remember, he met Pharaoh's daughter 1 Kings 3 is when she first gets mentioned so I believe this is Pharaoh's daughter's daughters, okay so Pharaoh's granddaughters, I should say to make it easier but here's the thing, it doesn't mention him having a son now, I don't know this for sure, but it's possible that, you know what, because he didn't have a son with Pharaoh's daughter, maybe he sought love somewhere else because he wanted to have a son and, you know, historically speaking that has happened with one of the most famous kings in history King Henry VIII why did he marry all kinds of different women? why did he have them killed and divorced because of the fact he wasn't able to have a son and he blamed his wife? now in our modern day we realize actually the gender of the baby is determined on the father not the mother, but King Henry VIII was not aware of that, okay now I don't know this for sure you know, I'm just kind of giving you my opinion because I believe the Bible is relatively silent on, you know, exactly what caused the downfall of Solomon obviously he basically sought after God, but also sought after the lust of his own heart, but it doesn't really get into specifics and ecclesiastes or anything like that but it is a possibility I believe that these daughters mentioned are from Pharaoh's daughter but it doesn't mention him having a son and maybe he never did have a son with Pharaoh's daughter, and then he had Rehoboam with Nahima and, you know, maybe that's the reason why but turn in your Bible to Psalm 12 Psalm 12, Psalm chapter 12 Psalm chapter 12 that's just kind of a bit in depth kind of a Bible study, you're welcome to study it out, it's not going to change the book itself though, okay, I just wanted to kind of give an overall foundation because you know, if I'm going to say it's Pharaoh's daughter, I do realize there's a situation of Rehoboam being 41 I don't want to just be silent and then all of a sudden you see that one day and it's like oh, Brother Stuckey is ignorant, it's like, well I'm aware of the fact Rehoboam was 41 when he becomes king, and so maybe it's Nahima I believe it's Pharaoh's daughter though point number one, we saw the people in the Song of Solomon point number two though, let me talk about this, the purity of the Song of Solomon the purity of the book, the Song of Solomon Psalm 12 verse 6 the Bible says that God's words are pure words not just some of His words all of His words that includes the verses in Leviticus that nobody likes in 2022, it also includes every verse in the Song of Solomon right, you can't sit here and say well I believe this part of the Bible but this part, you know, I don't know that's kind of risque, right that's kind of like PG-13 it's like, it's okay to talk about it but not if there's kids, that's why we have Sunday school right, it's like, well I don't believe that I mean, I preached the same sermon yesterday and all my kids were in the church I don't have a problem with going through the Song of Solomon with my kids there, because I believe God's words are pure words I mean, every word of God is pure, okay turn to Proverbs 30 your turn to Proverbs 30 also read to you the Bible says, thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it thy word is very pure there is nothing perverse in the Song of Solomon Proverbs 30 verse 5 Proverbs 30 verse 5 this is our text verse for the week every word of God is pure now does that say some of God's words are pure or does it say every word of God is pure every word of God is pure and then notice this, he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him shield is a protection, right so when you trust in God's word God will help shield you by trusting in His word, well here's the thing this is a book on how to have a good marriage and if you put your trust in this book and listen to the advice from it, it will protect you from problems in your marriage that is how you apply this verse to the Song of Solomon it's pure words it's about having a good marriage and if you put your trust in it, it would actually shield or protect you from problems that would arise in your marriage and look, you know, you're in this room right now you say, Brother Stuckey, you're preaching about a book where you know, it's husband and wife you're not married, so how does that apply to me? Well, I mean, you're not married now but I'm assuming most people have a goal to eventually be married and you know what, here's the thing it's better to have the practical wisdom now before you're married than when you are married imagine starting a new job where you're on Microsoft Excel all day long and you know nothing about computers and you're expecting the first day print out these reports, do these calculations you're going to have a pretty stressful first month just pretend you lied on your job resume it's like, I'm an expert at all these computer programs you get there on the first day and you're expected to know it you're going to be pretty stressed for a couple months hoping that it doesn't get found out that you don't know what you're doing right? Wouldn't it be better just to know that stuff ahead of time? Well, it's kind of the same exact thing in marriage because instead of being married and then all of a sudden well, how do I become a good husband? Wouldn't it be better to know that before you're married? Wouldn't it be better to know that before you're a wife, before you're a husband actually no practical wisdom on being married? The other thing is this when it comes to the Song of Solomon Solomon is already the king when this is written, but let me give you more on the time frame one thing that is noticeably absent from the Song of Solomon is what? Children. You say, what does that mean? It means they're newlyweds. This is a book between a husband and wife who are newly married. You say, why? Because when you're married with kids your life revolves around your kids. The kids would be brought up in every single chapter of the Song of Solomon very clearly. Right? I mean, look, all of us that are married with kids I mean, it changes everything, doesn't it? It's like if you're writing a book about being married and a husband and a wife you know what, it's going to factor in the kids if they have kids they're newlyweds, okay? Or they're married before they actually have children. Now here's the thing, you say, well I'm not married now but you know what, you might only be like one year away from the point we're at the point that Solomon was. So it's not really that far away. Now for us that are married with kids here's what happens when you have kids. A lot of things you're aware of and a lot of things you realize, you kind of just let slip as you have kids and kind of put it on the back burner. It's kind of like, well, you know my relationship with my spouse I'll just think about it later and just, I'm too busy, too stressed out A lot of the stuff that you're going to see in the Song of Solomon is very, very obvious. But it's kind of stuff that you know what you kind of just let slip because you know what, you have kids and it gets kind of more difficult to do things. And look, let me just confess my faults one to another. Okay, because my son reminded me of this the last couple days, you know. On Friday we were going to have our family time and go out to a restaurant and my wife and I are like man, we got our newborn it's going to be hard, it's going to be more difficult we just ordered food and ate at home and our son the last couple days is like when are we going to the restaurant? He's like, Daddy, he's like, tomorrow I'm going to church tomorrow, son he's like, when you come home then we'll go to the restaurant, right? And it's like, alright, we're going to go on Monday. Okay, even though it's easier for my wife and I just to order the food it's just kind of like, you know having kids will change everything and here's the thing, once you have kids you can kind of forget about some of these basic things between your spouse that were the things you thought about when you first got married. Honestly, this series is really like a resetting for those of us that have kids back to things we should already know but to those that are not married it kind of prepares you for that step there's a lot of practical wisdom. I would say this as well, because I believe there's 117 verses in the Song of Solomon I believe there's probably more practical wisdom that is life changing in these 117 verses than any set of 117 verses in the Bible, any book. And it's very basic stuff but you kind of just read over it and do not think about it. And you're like, oh, it's a cool love story and you don't actually pay attention what is being said in this verse? What can you apply from this verse? It's not that the book's complicated because prophetic books like next week when we start Daniel 7 it's like, man, this is complicated. With Song of Solomon it's not complicated but it's like people just kind of read over it and then don't apply it to their lives. What you should do in this room, whether you're a husband or a wife or not married yet is not think about, man, I'm happy for this series because my husband really needs this. Or my wife really needs this. What you should do is actually apply it to yourself like any sermon and ask yourself what can I do to make changes? And look, I don't believe there's a couple in our church, if you're honest with yourself can say that you're doing every bit of wisdom that's actually found in the Song of Solomon. I can say that when I'm re-studying this after having studied it before, I'm like, man, there's a lot of things. I need to make some changes. Just basic stuff, but sometimes it's hard to do what the Bible actually tells us to do. Now go to Revelation 22. Revelation 22. Revelation chapter 22. And what I'm planning to do for this book actually is at the end of Song of Solomon when we finish it, I'm planning to give everybody a handout with here's what can be learned about this topic, this topic, this topic with the verses just kind of organized. Because I think it's a good thing honestly to just kind of laminate, put here in the front of your Bible and you can kind of just pull it off from time to time, get reminded of these basic things on marriage. Say, why is that so important? The Bible speaks about when you're married to be heirs together of the grace of life. And often times that is just not the way it works in marriage. Often times people kind of just forget about their spouse and try to do things on their own, but that's not the way that God actually intended it. And when you read the Bible, you see godly person after godly person having terrible marriage. Terrible marriage. I mean even Solomon eventually. Terrible marriage. You know what? Honestly, it's just like just because you're in a good church, just because you read the Bible, you have to actually make an effort to have a good marriage. Okay? It's very important to actually apply the wisdom found in this book. Revelation 22 verse 18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto them the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Now, this is a warning on people that would add or remove from God's Word. And I'm not saying people are directly doing exactly like this, but you know, there's a lot of churches, Baptist churches, that would take the mindset, well, we can't preach from the Song of Solomon. It's not appropriate. And what they're basically doing is censoring the Word of God and basically saying God's Word is impure. I don't believe that. I believe every Word of God is pure. I mean, the Song of Solomon is a pure book. I mean, if it's not a pure book, why is it found in the Bible? Right? It is one of the 66 books in the Bible, and here's what you need to realize. Books are written for different reasons. The book of John, so people might get saved. Right? 1 John, so that you might have joy. Right? You know, Galatians, for people that are mixed up on salvation but already saved. You know, books have different purposes. Well, if you're looking for a book on marriage, what would be the book? Song of Solomon. It's not that this is the only place in the Bible that talks about it, but you know, if this is important to have a good marriage, you know, you ought to take heed to what this book says. For me personally, before I got married, I started memorizing the Song of Solomon, and I finished it shortly after we got married, but I was like, you know what? I'm about to be married. I need to know what I'm doing. Right? So I read the Song of Solomon, and you know what? It gives you a lot of wisdom, and a lot of choices I made that I would have never thought of, I was like, well, this is what we see in the Song of Solomon. Okay? There's a lot of great wisdom in this book. Go to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Like I said, I don't want you to get bogged down with the first point about the people in the Song of Solomon. Honestly, I don't care whether you think it's Pharaoh's daughter or Naamah. It really doesn't change the point in the purpose of this book. Okay? I think it's interesting. I want to look at everything that's found in the Bible, but you know what? This book is about having a good marriage. Okay? 2 Timothy 3 verse 16. All scripture. You know what that means? Song of Solomon is profitable for doctrine. All scripture is profitable for what? For reproof. Song of Solomon is profitable for reproof. All scripture is profitable for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And so look, all of God's word is helpful for these things. So look, I don't think we should skip over any part of the Bible. Whether it's Leviticus, whether it's Ezekiel, whether it's Solomon, I believe we should read every bit of the Bible, preach from every bit of the Bible, and not leave anything out, because there's wisdom found in every book of the Bible, including Song of Solomon. Go to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Now, here's the thing. Some people don't preach in the Song of Solomon. Some people because maybe they think there's other books that are more important, and I understand that because we've been around for three and a half years. I haven't really talked about the Song of Solomon much, but I decided to now. So there's lots of things to preach in the Bible. I understand that. But some people don't preach from it because they don't really understand it. It's poetical, and I like poetry. Anybody that knows me knows I like to write poems, so for me, I find that interesting. And here's the thing with poetry. When you're writing poetry, everything is not meant to be taken literally. A lot of stuff's symbolic, and here's the thing. Statements can be taken a lot of different ways, and people take certain statements in the Song of Solomon, and they turn it into something really perverted. Well, here's the thing. The Bible says that unto the pure, all things are pure. And so if you have a pure mind, you don't come up with something dirty when you're reading the Bible. You understand God's word is pure. You have a pure mind, so when you read it, even if you don't understand it, you don't come up with some perverse, disgusting thing that should not be talked about. And some people do that with the Song of Solomon. They'll say, well, this verse is referencing this, and it's like, what is wrong with you? Right? Like that interpretation that Solomon's a serial rapist, and it's just like, you know, why would you even come up with something like that? Right? And so look, you know what? There's a lot of, I understand. Some people can get confused, and there's parts of this that are poetic, and I don't understand everything in the Song of Solomon. There's some poetry mentioned there, some verses, and I don't really understand the full reference that's being made, but I can still say that there's a lot to learn in this book, and those that would come up with something perverted from this book, it's because their mind and conscience is defiled, or they've been brainwashed by people whose minds have been defiled. Right. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, verse 4. The Bible says, marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Now the Bible says, marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled. Now here's the thing. Obviously all of us understand that as a husband and a wife, there's a certain relationship you have that is not meant to be had with anyone before you're married. But I'm not going to be talking about the details of that in a sermon, because that would be impure. The Bible does not discuss intimate details that are left unsaid. Right? It doesn't do that. Even in the disgusting stories of the Bible, the Bible's very discrete would probably be the word to use, where basically, you know, you might know something, but it's like in Genesis 19, it doesn't go in super graphic detail. Right? It tells you enough so it's disgusting and perverted and you get the picture, but, you know, it's just like, you know, you don't need to know graphic details like a pornography or something like that. Look, the Song of Solomon is not like that. It doesn't have graphic details and intimate details that are inappropriate. You don't have to worry about, oh no, the Song of Solomon, my kids are going to be here at church, what's Brother Stuckey going to say, because I'm not going to talk about anything that's inappropriate. You say, why? Because that's something that the Bible doesn't address and it's not something that should be talked about in a sermon. And the Song of Solomon doesn't do that either. Okay? Now, turn in your Bible to Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy chapter 17. Now, this ought to be very obvious that, you know what, the Bible's not going to talk about something perverse, but, you know what, there are religions that have no problem with talking about things that are perverse. I mean, in Hinduism, there's a famous Hindu holy scripture called the Kama Sutra and the Kama Sutra is just like, you know, a pornographic book that goes into deep detail of the relationship between a husband and wife or, I mean, a man and a woman, but not even just a man and a woman. Men and men, women and women, bestiality, it's just like, that's beyond perverse. Right? You walk into a Hindu temple and what are you going to see in a lot of them? Bestiality statues as you're walking in. Look, that's not the word of God. Right? The word of God is pure. You look at a religion like Mormonism, and in Mormonism, you got, you know, all this perverse stuff. Like, they'll say that, you know what, the virgin birth is a virgin because Mary did not sleep with a mortal man. She just slept with God and that's where Jesus came from. And that's what Mormonism actually teaches that God slept with Mary. It's like, that's perverse. That's disgusting. Who would even come up with something like that? Right? Now, what's funny about this is the Mormons are complete hypocrites because this is what they say about the Song of Solomon in the Mormon Church. The Song of Solomon is the only book in the standard works that is considered uninspired. When speaking to a group of Seminary Institute teachers, Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I mean, the Twelve Apostles, that was 2,000 years ago, right, commented on each of the books in the Old Testament. When he came to this book, he said, the Song of Solomon is biblical trash. It is not inspired writing. So, according to the Mormons, the Song of Solomon is inappropriate. It's trash. Well, here's the thing. Even if they came up with these perverse interpretations, I really don't see how they have any grounds to speak when they supported polygamy. And here's the thing. This is how polygamy started in the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith was caught committing adultery with a young girl. And what he said is, well, God ordained polygamy. And basically, I can marry any of these women that I want. He got caught with either a 13 or 14 year old girl and he's like, well, God ordained polygamy. That's how the polygamy doctrine started. It was basically a defense by Joseph Smith, caught committing adultery. I mean, God told me to do it! Right? It's called, you're a pervert when you're sleeping with a 13 or 14 year old and you're a grown man. Right? And let me just say this on a side point, that, you know what, because unfortunately, we've had to deal with something kind of similar at our church. I'm going to be a lot less lenient if some pervert at our church is hitting on a girl half their age that is like 13 or 14 years old. If there's any hint of grooming, it's just like, you're just going to get kicked out of our church. Let me help you out. This is how you try to date a girl at our church if you're interested in someone. If their parents come to the church or their authority, you go to the parental authority and ask for permission. And if you don't do that, we're just going to kick you out of church because I'm not dealing with that garbage again at our church. It's like grooming, that's what the Mormons do. Now that you've got it, go join the Mormons if you're still looking for a church out there. But anyways, talk about hypocrisy though because here's a religion that their leader was a pedophile, married to lots of women, and then they'll say the Song of Solomon is inappropriate. It's like, when that's what he did, that's what Brigham Young did, that's ridiculous. Another example of someone famous who rejected the Song of Solomon was Martin Luther. Martin Luther rejected, but he looked at the Song of Solomon and said, it's all about politics. I don't really see this being about politics. I mean, Solomon's the king. Right? I mean, does that count as being political? Right? I mean, is there like symbolism and stuff like that? Sure. I mean, I've talked about before the soul-winning symbolism in the Song of Solomon. Yes, there's symbolism that doesn't change the direct meaning about a husband and a wife just reading it plain for what it is. Okay? Well, we're in Deuteronomy 17. So number one, we looked at the people in the Song of Solomon. Number two, we looked at the purity of the Song of Solomon. Number three, what's the purpose of the Song of Solomon? What is the purpose of this book? Now, I do want to show you this on a side point. I referenced the verse, but notice what it says And the Bible says that you're not supposed to multiply wives unto yourself. This is true not just for being a king, but for anybody. It's wrong to be married to multiple people because the Bible says when you get married, two become one. Right? Leave father and mother and cleave unto your wife. Right? You become one. The Bible says one flesh. You're meant to be married to one person. Okay? And people look at the Song of Solomon because look who the author was. Because even if you're right, brother Stuckey, let's say he was happy with Pharaoh's daughter for ten years. It doesn't change the fact that he ended up marrying multiple women. Okay? Go to Song of Solomon chapter 8. Song of Solomon chapter 8. I mean, I get it. It's interesting that God shows Solomon as the character when he can't think of anyone who married more women. But let me just ask you this. Does anyone here question the validity of Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman? No. I've never heard anybody question the validity of that book. Who wrote that chapter in the Bible to her son Solomon? Who is the mother of Solomon? Bathsheba. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. I mean, here's the thing. I believe Bathsheba became a godly woman. I'm not trying to criticize her. I'm just saying it's not like she'd be the first woman I would pick to write the chapter on the virtuous woman. Because it's not like her entire life she really lived by that. But here's the thing. Does that change the words that are found in that chapter? It doesn't change them. And look, I do believe Bathsheba became a godly woman so I'm not trying to criticize her in this sermon. I'm just saying that she's not exactly the first person you pick. But nobody ever questions Proverbs 31. But then they question the Song of Solomon. I mean, that doesn't make any sense. If you question Song of Solomon because of the author, well then I guess just throw out Proverbs 31 and let's not stop there because it's not like all the characters in the Bible were perfect. I mean, a lot of them did a lot of wrong. I mean, don't just throw out Song of Solomon. Throw out all the Ecclesiastes. We're going to learn wisdom from a guy married to all these women and Proverbs just throw that out of the Bible. I mean, it's like, where are you going to stop with that? Okay. Look, the bottom line is by faith we believe these 66 books in the Bible are perfect and every word is perfect and you can learn from every single word in the Bible. And look, here's the thing. All of the writers of the Bible were sinful people. Every single one. And the other thing is this. Every single one of them would have been a hypocrite at various points in their lives. People say sometimes, I don't want to go to church because church is filled with hypocrites. Everybody in the world is a hypocrite because sometimes you say one thing and you do another. Right? None of us are perfect. We're sinners. And look, here's the thing. When I'm preaching through the Song of Solomon I'm not saying I've got a perfect marriage in every single thing I do perfectly in this book. It's like, no, you know what? You preach sermons, it's kind of tough because you're not always 100% perfect on everything you're preaching. But I can say that as I'm going through this book I want to make changes. You know, learning from what the Bible says. Am I going to fail? Am I going to make mistakes? Of course. But we can still learn from this book. Song of Solomon, chapter 8, verse 7. It says, Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contempt. This is a pretty famous verse at weddings. Right? Many waters cannot quench love. I mean, it's a great verse in the Bible. Right? Very, very common. And look, this is the purpose of the Song of Solomon. It's a book to teach you how to have a good marriage. Look, if you're married, whether it's at the newlywed stage, you know, pre-kids, as I believe Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter are in this story, or whether or not it's after kids, or before you're married, you can learn from this book. If you're not married, get the wisdom now. I mean, learn what you need to do now. Because the reality is, let me just be honest with you, marriage is hard. Marriage is difficult. Raising kids is hard. Raising kids is difficult. Right? I mean, because people have this idea before they're married, and probably everybody in this room felt this way before they were married, you know, if I just got married, I'd be happy and my life would be perfect. And that lasts for about a month, and then you realize, actually, life is still pretty hard. It's still not very easy. It's like, no, marriage is actually difficult. Now look, marriage is a joy. Marriage is a blessing. I'm glad to be married. I'm glad to have kids. But I'm also being honest with you in saying, raising kids is hard. Marriage is difficult. These things are not easy. But, you know, one thing that could help you is learn the wisdom before you're married. Now, if you're at that newlywed stage, well, of course, this directly applies. I mean, learn it at that stage, because that is what the Song of Solomon is about. But here's the thing. If you have kids, a lot of these things I think we just kind of let slip, because things kind of get in the way. Life is busy. You need to listen to this series and read this book with an open mind and have the attitude, you know what, I'm willing to change if I've allowed things kind of to slip in my marriage. I'm willing to go back to that stage when the day of the gladness of my heart, when I got married, I was happy, and then life gets in the way, and then you kind of forget about these basic things. You must be willing to change whenever you hear any sermon, okay? And look, I'm saying this about myself as well. As we go through this book, there's changes I realize I need to make. I need to become a better husband. And this is the purpose of the book. I hope you're excited about it. This is not a commonly preached book, so there's probably a lot of stuff you never even thought of before, never as you're reading through the book. But look, I would encourage you, you know what, read the book over these next several weeks, because if you read it or memorize it and you hear the sermon, it's really going to kind of click, oh, that's what the Bible's saying. That's what I can take away. And look, remember the Bible says you're meant to be heirs together of the grace of life. You are not meant to be like David who the love with Jonathan, his good friend, past the love of women. Well, I mean, that's great that you have a friend, a buddy that you really love, right, that you're really close to, but that's actually not a very good thing, because actually the person you're married to you ought to be really close to, not somebody else above your wife, right? Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic, and I ask you to help us as we study through this book, help us to be willing to change if there's areas we need to, God, including myself and my wife, help us to strive to have good marriages and strong marriages at our church, not just be zealous for soul winning and Bible reading and doctrine, but also seek to be great husbands, great wives, great parents, and have good marriages, God. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, let's turn to hymn number 16. Hymn number 16, let's sing some majestic, sweet, and sweet central. This is a new song, so let's all learn together and lift up your voices, sing through the song. Hymn number 16, majestic, sweet, and sweet central. Ready on the first, ready, sing. Majestic, sweet, and sweet central, Upon the singer's bow, He stand in vision for Israel, His lips in grace are closed, His lips in grace are closed, Once again, the mortal hand, He gave the bear, Among the sons of men, We heard Him sing, and all the fair, O hear the heavenly dream, O hear the heavenly dream, He strongly caused it in His past, And through to my beginning, To be able for the shameful cross, And there in all my being, And there in all my being, To be my hope, my life, and there, In all the joys we have, He makes me triumph over death, And takes me from the grave, And takes me from the grave. Amen. Seven, ten minute break.