Song 1:5 ¶ “I am black but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
Remember, verse 5 is where the main body of The Song begins. The first 4 verses are just the introduction, but here the journey into the chambers of of His presence and heart begins. Having said yes to the journey into Lovesickness, and Christlokeness, verse 5 is where we start. This is such a remarkable and foundational verse, and it is the first thing you must learn on the path. It is the beginning revelation, and is the one you will come back to again and again as you climb higher. It is the truth that is our starting place, and the one that keeps pulling us forward along the way. As we move into His presence our spiritual darkness starts to become vivid in light of His otherness. This is so important, because being honest with yourself and God about your junk positions you for redemption and transformation. Yet, if all we see is our darkness we will despair even at the start, or at some point along the way. Therefore, thank God that our darkness isn’t all we see. Standing over our darkness is a Banner that simply says LOVE. This is the way of The Lord. While confronting us with our stuff, He is always telling us how LOVELY we are to Him. I think this is one of the hardest things for us to believe. It is so hard to come to grips with a love like this. You see, the remarkable TRUTH is that He doesn’t wait for us to mature, or be perfect to cherish us, and enjoy us. We are beautiful to Him PERIOD. The word “Lovely” could be translated beautiful home, or abiding place. He fashioned our hearts for Him. This truth isn’t an excuse for sin; we will look at that another day, but we must know that He is enthralled and fascinated with us. There will be many times on the journey, not just at the beginning, when you will be confronted with you darkness; and in those times The Accuser will be there telling you that you won’t make it; that you are now disqualified, and unfit. It’s during those times that Jesus will there telling you your darkness isn’t a surprise to Him. As a matter of fact He established that reality at the very beginning. He knew what He was working with. He will remind you that you still so Lovely to Him, so get up and go on. He will tell you how much beauty He sees in you, and how He believes in you. Even when confronting you darkness, it’s for redemptive and transformational purposes. There are times when He can be very firm and grieved with over our stuff, but He doesn’t need cheap tactics like condemnation, and the fear of rejection to motivate you to press onward and upward. You see, LOVE BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS. LOVE NEVER FAILS. He is that LOVE.