I. INTRODUCTION
A. In this session, we will look at Song 1:4, as the Bride describes her spiritual goals and life vision.
4 Draw me away! We will run after You. The King has brought me into His chambers. We will be glad and
rejoice in You. We will remember Your love more than wine. (Song 1:4)
B. Review: Song 1:2-4 sums up the main themes and theology for the Song as the progression of holy passion. She
cries for the kisses of God’s Word knowing that Jesus’ affection is better than anything this world has to offer. She
declares the reality and effectiveness of the good perfumes of Jesus and then declares her life vision as one who wants
to be drawn near to Jesus in intimacy and to receive grace to run with Him and the Body of Christ in ministry.
C. In Song 1:2-4, the Bride speaks in three different ways
1. In Song 1:2a, she speaks to the Father, “Let Your Son kiss me with His Word.”
2. In Song 1:2b-4, she speaks to Jesus saying, “Your love is better than wine. Because of Your perfume, Your
name will be poured forth and the virgins will love You.” She asks Jesus to draw her to Himself in intimacy and to receive
grace to run with Him in ministry.
3. In Song 1:4c, she speaks to Jesus with others who are diligently running with her.
II. THE EXPRESSION OF HER FERVENCY: 2-FOLD LIFE VISION
A. Her 2-fold life vision expresses her goals in the form of a prayer to God. A life vision is one that our short and long
term goals for our family, vocation and ministry fit into. The NAS translates this as “draw me after You.” The words “after
You” modifies “draw me” in many Bible translations. In the NKJ the “after You” modifies the verb “running.”
4 Draw me away! We will run after You. (Song 1:4)
B. She prays, “Jesus, draw me away.” She longs to be drawn close to God’s heart in deep intimacy as an extravagant
worshipper who loves God with all her heart.
37 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul… (Matthew 22:37)
C. She prays, “We will run after You.” The ‘we’ refers to running with Jesus and His people. Being drawn to God is
singular but running with Him is plural. She longs to serve people in ministry partnership with Jesus and those who love
Him. Running represents a life of service motivated by compassion for people. It involves obedience in action, reaching
out to others, and stepping out in faith. We run behind Jesus who sets the pace and in relationship with other people.
39 The second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:39)
D. The balance is to have passion for Jesus and compassion for people. There is a constant tension throughout
our entire spiritual journey between “drawing” and “running.” At the beginning, most are focused on running in ministry
without being drawn in intimacy.
1. Because running brings conflict, rejection, and persecution, many soon burn out even as the maiden did in
Song 1:5-7. Some overreact, determining to focus only on being drawn without any vision to run in ministry.
2. As Jesus answered her prayer to “be drawn to Him” in intimacy, she temporarily refused to “run in ministry”
(Song 2:8-13). She lost the balance of these 2 tensions. Jesus answers both parts of her prayer related to her life vision
throughout the 8 chapter love Song.
E. We are to both be drawn and run in each season. It is not enough to be only drawn near to God’s heart in
intimacy. Nor is it enough to only run in ministry. The Lord often emphasizes one over the different spiritual seasons in
our lives. We are not to totally neglect either in any session. Do not be afraid of what others say when the Lord
emphasizes one in a specific season in God.
F. The general order of the Kingdom is to first be drawn in intimacy and then to run in ministry in the overflow of
our close relationship with Jesus. The First Commandment focus to love God with all our heart empowers us to much
more effectively walk out the Second Commandment focus to relate to and serve others. The 2-fold life vision of the
Bride speaks of the two Great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
Our life vision should always contain both aspects of “drawing and running”.
G. I was taught to write out my life vision at about age 18. A life vision is established regardless of our occupation,
family status, economic status, etc. I determined to be an extravagant worshipper of God and an anointed deliverer of
people so as to fulfill the two Great Commandments in loving God and people (Matthew 22:37-39). I wanted to learn the
Scripture and learn to live in the Spirit as an extravagant worshipper of God and an anointed deliver of people.
18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint… (Proverbs 29:18)
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish. (Proverbs. 29:18, KJV)
H. The components of a focused life include having an overall life vision with life goals in each of the main areas of
our life such as our spiritual life (prayer time, fasting days, Bible study, etc.); relationships (family, friends, etc.); vocation
(marketplace calling); ministry (in the church, outside the church); economic (earning, spending, giving, saving, investing);
physical (exercise, health, diet, etc.); and rest (recreation, vacation, play, entertainment, sports, etc.).
I. We must have an action plan for each long and short-term goal in every area of our life (long-term goals are
over 10 years and short-term goals are from 3 months to 3 years). We must have a schedule for each action plan to help
us focus or prioritize our time.
III. THE GROWTH OF FERVENCY: THE CHAMBER EXPERIENCES
4 Draw me away! We will run after You. The King has brought me into His chambers… (Song 1:4)
A. The King’s chamber is a bridal chamber. It refers to the times that she develops her secret life in God. We all
have a secret history in God where Jesus draws us to Himself especially in His Word. The times in the chamber form and
fashion our inner man. It is the times that the Lord woos and warns us and promises and confronts us so that we grow in
the Spirit. The King’s chamber is a time of preparation that we might love and obey Jesus with all our heart as He fashions
us for future tasks to run with Him in active service.
B. The young Bride asked the Lord to draw her (take the initiative to help her) and Jesus answered by carrying her
into His chambers. He responds by carrying or bringing her into His chambers.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house…. (Song 2:4)
C. Jesus described the good shepherd as carrying the lost sheep on His shoulders of grace.
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (Luke 15:5)
D. The chamber experiences refer to the times that God carries us to Himself by granting us unusual experiences in
the Spirit (revelations, encounters and impartations). Two examples of my personal “chamber experiences” surprised me
as a new believer. I was filled with the Holy Spirit in Feb. 1972 without any prior understanding of it and without seeking
it. I also experienced a vision of the Judgment seat of Christ in Oct. 1978 that I did not seek.
IV. THE CERTAINTY OF FERVENCY: THE PROPHETIC ASSURANCE
A. The Bride declares to the daughters of Jerusalem with the bold resolution and the certainty of faith that together
they would, “Be glad and rejoice in God and remember His love through all the seasons of life.” This was her resolute
confession of faith through each season in life.
4 The King has brought me into His chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in You. We will remember Your
love (affection) more than wine. (Song 1:4)
B. We will be glad and rejoice in Jesus and remember His love in three ways. First, we rejoice in and remember His
tender mercy in our weakness as we refuse condemnation. Second, we rejoice in and remember His excellencies and
exhilarating affections that are superior to the wine of sin. Third, we rejoice in and remember His leadership over our
lives in times of difficulty and testing.
11 We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ… (Romans 5:11)
C. This faith confession in times of despair and testing is an expression of spiritual warfare as we declare that God is
good and the devil is a liar. This confession of faith foreshadows the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We will use these
very words on the great Wedding Day.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife
has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
V. REMEMBERING CAUSES US TO LOVE GOD
A. The goodness of Jesus’ love powerfully causes us to love Him. When the Church remembers Jesus’ love and
goodness it awakens our heart in the 3-fold love of God (love from God, then for God which overflows to others). The
Bride understands how God changes the human heart.
4 We will remember Your love more than wine. Rightly do they love You. (Song 1:4)
B. The Bride is showing the way to maintain the fervency she received in the chamber experiences. In the chamber
experiences we receive personal encouragement and assurances in God. It is not enough to have these experiences.
God holds us accountable to remember them and to act on them by setting our soul to agree with what God spoke to
us in these times.
C. We engage in spiritual warfare by proclaiming God’s Word as darkness assaults our heart. We must renew our
mind as we refuse to lose anything that God gave us in the chamber experiences.
D. There are two dimensions of gladness. First, the gladness that is by faith that requires the setting of the heart to
remain in agreement with the confession of our faith in difficulty. Second, is the gladness by overflow that automatically
rises up in our heart. She refers to both dimensions here.
E. The gladness that is by faith remembers Jesus’ love and refuses to draw back. We must regularly re-align our
soul to God’s Word. There is a place to set our soul to be glad by faith.
1. In difficult circumstances, we actively rejoice in God and confess His loving leadership instead sinking in anxiety.
We declare that we glad in His good leadership. In the darkness of the midnight hour, we remember the revelation He
gave us in His chambers.
4 His banner (leadership) over me was love. (Song 2:4)
28 We know that all things work together for good to those who love God… (Romans 8:28)
2. In temptation, actively rejoice in God and confess that His affections and promises are better than the wine of this
fallen world.
24 By faith Moses…25 choosing rather to suffer affliction…than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin 26…
for he looked to the reward. (Hebrews 11:20-30)
3. In failure, we confess His love as we believe in His tender mercy instead of wallowing in condemnation. We will
not accept the accusations of the enemy. Satan tells many they are rejected by God so they run from God instead of to
Him in weakness.
F. In difficult circumstances, temptation and failure, we declare that the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever
(1 Chronicles 16:34, 41; 2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:3, 6; 20:21; Ezra 3:11; Jeremiah 33:11; Psalm 52:1; 100:5; 106:1; 107:1;
117:2; 118:1-4, 29; 138).
11 They sang responsively…giving thanks to the LORD: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever
toward Israel." (Ezra 3:11)