SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (SONG OF SONGS) LESSON 6.

EACH OF US IS LIKE A LITTLE LAMB LOST IN THE WOODS

Set an alarm can you callSO GOD IN HIS MERCY HAS PUT WITHIN OUR SOULS A YEARNING

FOR SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER US.

HOW I LOVE GEORGE GERSHWIN’S SONG “SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME,”

FOR  IT TAPS INTO MY SOUL’S  LONGING,

A LONGING I HAD TO BE FOUND, TO BE RESCUED, TO BE LOVED.

HERE IS KATHERINE MCPHEE SINGING IT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cRYRM2LY8Y

YES, IT’S A SECULAR SONG.

BUT EVERY SONG OR STORY THAT TOUCHES OUR HEARTS

DOES SO BECAUSE IT TAPS INTO SOMETHING TRUE,

SOMETHING GOD PUT IN OUR HEARTS,

THOUGH WE MAY NOT FATHOM WHAT HE HAS DONE

(ECCLESIASTES 3:11)

SO OFTEN WE DO NOT REALIZE OUR LONGING IS FOR CHRIST

I HAVE BEEN FOUND, YET I KEEP FORGETTING THE GOSPEL,

AND NEED TO BE REMINDED THAT HE IS HERE,

HE IS FOR ME,

HE IS LOVE ITSELF,

UNLIKE ANY GOD OF THIS WORLD.

THIS WEEK WE ARE GOING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS SOMEONE WHO

WATCHES OVER US,

WHO TENDERLY LEADS US, WHO KEEPS HIS FLOCKS LIKE A SHEPHERD.

AND WE ARE GOING TO LEARN HOW WHEN WE SEE HIM,

NOT AS WE HAVE WRONGLY IMAGINED,

BUT AS HE REALLY IS,

THAT BEHOLDING THAT LOVE WILL TRANSFORM US

FROM A TIMID LAMB LOST IN THE WOODS

TO A STRONG AND CONFIDENT FILLY,

LIKE THE MAGNIFICENT HORSES OF KING SOLOMON,

KNOWN FOR THEIR GRACE, STRENGTH, AND BEAUTY.

SUNDAY/MONDAY ICEBREAKERS

1. What stands out to you from the above and why?

Read these lyrics:

There’s a saying old, says that love is blind
Still we’re often told, “seek and ye shall find”
So I’m going to seek a certain lad I’ve had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven’t found him yet
He’s the big affair I cannot forget
Only man I ever think of with regret

I’d like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?

There’s a somebody I’m longin’ to see
I hope that he, turns out to be
Someone who’ll watch over me

I’m a little lamb who’s lost in the wood
I know I could, always be good
To one who’ll watch over me

Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key

Won’t you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me

Won’t you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me

2. Just for fun, look at the above lyrics of “Someone To Watch Over Me” through eyes touched by Christ, and see what you can see. Or look at the video below and see how the earthly romantic rescuer is in some way a faint shadow of the True Rescuer. This is a good exercise to practice for yourself and to help your children to see “beyond the sun.” What do you see?

Monday-Wednesday Bible Study

In chapter 1 of Song of Songs, she is longing to find Him and is told to follow the tracks of the shepherds, for He is caring for His sheep. There are so many beautiful passages about Jesus as our Shepherd. When I hear “He Shall Lead His Flock Like A Shepherd” from the Messiah, based on Isaiah 40, I am always moved. And then there is John 10, where Jesus Himself tells us “I AM the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.” But perhaps the most beloved psalm in the whole psalter is Psalm 23. This is one of the most beautiful video musical renditions of it I have ever seen. Please watch to let it prepare your heart for this study, to let it help you behold what a God you have who watches over you. Then share what stood out to you and why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNDSjrdj530

3. What stood out to you from the above rendition of Psalm 23 and why?

Read Song of Songs 1:7

“Tell me, O one I love, where are you leading your flock today? Where will you be at noon? For I will come and join you there instead of wandering like a vagabond among the flocks of your companions.” (TLB)

So much has been written about the stupidity of sheep. I remember that Keller quoted a shepherd who said they fight when they are rescued, they are so dumb, so the shepherd has to seize them and carry them over his shoulders. What a picture of how it is not we who find Him but He who finds us! This video of a lamb called “Bee” lost in the house made me laugh — I kept wanting her to go get him, but he finally does find her. 🙂

Jamie Lash, who has written “A Kiss A Day,” a good devotional on The Song of Songs, writes:

When I ask my Lord, ‘Why must a stumble about in constant quest, bewildered?”

I can hear the Messiah answering, “You shouldn’t. There’s no reason to stumble. If you’ve been with Me all morning, you’ll certainly know where I am at noon!” There’s no reason to be lost, for we have been found. We must cleave to Him, even as He cleaves to us, from morning to night.

4. What thoughts do you have on Song of Songs 1:7?

Read Song of Songs 1:8. Richard Wurmbrand of Voice of the Martyrs has a commentary on The Song of Songs with stories of God’s lambs who have suffered so and found Him true. His thought on verse 8 is that the Lord sees her as beautiful because she is seeking Him. He is tender — and the advice He gives her is to follow the footsteps of the flock, meaning, follow after those who are following fast after Him, and you will find Him.

5. What thoughts do you have on Song of Songs 1:8?

6. How does he describe her in Song of Songs 1:9 and how is this different from being a lost little lamb?

YeahMatthew Henry writes:

“Fear not,” says Christ,“I have made thee like a company of horses. I have put strength into thee as I have done into the horse (Job 39:19) so that thou shalt with a gracious boldness mock at fear.”

Jonathan Edwards said that comparing the church to a company of horses fits with Christ’s being conveyed on a chariot of truth drawn by the church, especially by “the ministers of the gospel.”

7. Are you less fearful than you were once? How does seeing Christ’s love reduce your timidity? Give an example of being less fearful — you are praising the Lord who is transforming your desert into a garden. He is the one who gives us fruit, who adorns us with His jewels (Song of Songs 1:10.)

8. Read Song of Songs 1:12-14. How does she describe her beloved?

A few weeks ago Susan counseled Diane, who is suffering so, that a message by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (which you will hear this week) Nancy talked about how Jesus is a fragrance, an ointment, and a salve — He is with us, He is comforting us, He is anointing our wounds with His oil. Susan wrote:

I’ve had that “ointment” stuck in my head this week as I encounter various trials and think, “I need Jesus to be my ointment for this”…healing, forgiving, soothing, restoring, warming…

9. How has He been a fragrance, oil, or a salve to you this week?

Thursday/Friday  Listen (or read the transcript) to Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Share Your Notes (Link)

10. What are your notes?

Saturday

11. What is your take-a-way and why?