Vineyard Days – In the Secrecy of the Steep Place, Part Three

My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secrecy of the steep place,
Let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet,
Song of Songs 2:14 LITV

“Tell me who I am.”

What a loaded statement. Given permission like that, one is inviting quite the critique. Maybe that’s why it is rarely heard or said. Sometimes it’s lauded in bestseller self-helps, but one can read, then close the book – along with The End to the fleeting thought of following through on such a vulnerable suggestion.

The mere thought of stating such a request to another may ignite painful awareness of one’s shortcomings, enough so to shut down one’s voice. Hiding through silence becomes the fig leaves of choice.

So powerful is the voice that it also means sound, ‘to call aloud’ in the Hebrew. Our First Parents fled to hide among the trees of the garden when they heard the sound of the Elohiym walking in the garden. [1] Their hearing Him meant they were intelligently attuned to be attentive and obedient to His sound, His voice. The declaration of “I was afraid”  has become the greatest single response to filter down the ages.

No matter how many iterations have been adapted through the generations – from daring someone to knock the chip off one’s shoulder to perfecting attitudes of pride, disdain, or rugged individualism – it still comes down to fear. The same word that means revere and reverence is that which leads to hiding.

Like a dove hiding in the safe, secret places of the mountainside.

***

Just because the Shulamite-dove was placed in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock doesn’t mean she was any too swift about showing her real self to the Beloved. Though she was coming to know Him as a Person – as a man or woman may with their matrimonially intended – it does not automatically follow that she or they fully revealed themselves to one another. That, my friend, can and may take a lifetime.

But it is just here that the Bridegroom says to her the equivalent of, “Tell Me who I Am.” [2] The time spent with His becoming Bride has been a time – seasons, years perhaps – of refining and recalibrating her voice.

With it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh {sweet} and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt {briny} water produce fresh {sweet}.  James 3:9-12

From the days of, “a quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand…” [3] to now, there is a sound He desires from her.

He wants to hear her voice, for it is (now) sweet and pleasant , agreeable. They have been through a lot to arrive at this point of close association, having pledged themselves to one another.

The Hebrew again graces us with a beautiful picture of sweet – as a voice that has been braided and intermixed with His. As she has allowed Him to introduce His workings into her circumstances and surroundings and grown through the processing such brings, she has mingled her own self with His.

Again, the rich portrayal of a life entwined with the True Vine, which in turn affects even one’s voice.

***

We can look at earthly marriages and recognize these dynamics. In fact, they may be part of the reason why the potential Bride of Christ has not yet fully acquired a new sound, a new song. Too much wounding in relationships has left the Shulamite-dove cowering before her True Covering.

The Enemy knows ‘the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings.’ [4] He would rather she continue to fear – leading to hiding – than to fear-revere the very Name (honor, character, and authority) by which the Bride also is named and called.

And so the Bridegroom counters the advances of the false one with inviting His dove to let Him hear her voice: “Tell Me who I Am.”

“Speak to Me of your love, and sing your worship of Who I am to you.”

“Let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet.”

Note He has not instructed her to go proclaiming it to everyone but Him. Let the others fade. He has her here, and He wants to hear her voice.

All the praise, all the honor that is due Him benefits her as well. Such is the mystery that as she shares with Him her song of love and worship, He receives it, intimately responds and her progression continues.

~ Gracefully Free

[1] Genesis 3:8; [2] Mark 8:29; [3] Proverbs 27:15-16; [4] Malachi 4:2

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Shammahs Field LLC/Shammah Ministries is the biblical counseling, life coaching, and spiritual growth ministry entrusted to Wayne & Nancy Bentz. You can learn more about the resources they have to offer at shammahsfield.com and nancybentz.com.