Proverbs 5:19
A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
Words we don’t all too often think of when it comes to both scripture and our wives. In fact, I don’t even think I have ever heard a sermon preached on such a verse. Maybe it would be wise to go verse by verse through Proverbs, or maybe even Song of Solomon. Who knows? It could be an absolutely blast! At least you’d get people talking.
But beyond just an eye-catching and flashy verse, is the substance within it. It speaks on an intimate level of a lover to their love. The whole chapter is a warning against adultery. A call to realize how good you have it. And coming from Solomon, you have to recognize that this guy knew what he was talking about. Not just because he ‘got around’, but because the man, the king had several wives. More wives equals more trouble, and just pleasing one is hard enough as it is.
This past weekend I had an opportunity to drop the kids off at the in-laws house and head down to sunny San Diego and enjoy a few days away with the wife celebrating our anniversary. Truly, it was a good thing to get away.
This is what I want to draw near to real quick: to get away. As pastors and as men, we are confronted by the issue of adultery more than most. Whether it be the couple we are counseling, or the entrapment of adultery’s snare on our end, we are pressed hard on every side by temptation. And I think our view of adultery has expanded over the years too.
Adultery was once just considered to be between an adulterer/adulteress and a cheating spouse. Now the mistress can be something as simple (and complicated) as porn, a chat room; some even would say time and money. Sin is a whore.
Take time for example. You know, I’m not trying to be crude or anything, but without taking the time out of my busy schedule, how could I truly enjoy the relationship with my wife that God so desires me to have? Since having the kids, we haven’t taken a single vacation alone together. Sure, we have spent a day here and there away. But nothing of substantial time just the two of us. That’s both a product of a growing family, and a neglectful husband.
In Exodus, it took Moses’ father-in-law to work him into shape (Exodus 18). Today, who knows what it will take for you. For me, it was blazingly obvious that I needed to get away, and once I did, it was like a Mack truck smashing against my dull skull saying “you should have done this long ago”.
So I got with my wife and we enjoyed one another. Don’t look too far into this folks. Just enough to see that I have admitted I was wasting good time with my wife. That I recognized something needed to happen. And that I should heed the words of scripture and always be captivated by her satisfying love.