I slept but my heart was awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one.
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—
must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
must I soil them again?
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
my heart began to pound for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but my beloved had left; he was gone.
My heart sank at his departure.[a]
I looked for him but did not find him.
I called him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls!
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—
if you find my beloved,
what will you tell him?
Tell him I am faint with love.
The lover comes to the door at night, knocking. She is awake. But it’s warm under the covers and she has just bathed. She hesitates.
It’s only when her lover reaches through the latch-opening of the door that she arises. Perhaps pausing to douse her hands in myrrh.
She goes to the door to open it invitingly for her lover. Her heart sinks. He is gone. And her search for him yields nothing. No matter that the guards beat her for being out late, she only wants to find her lover. Find her missed opportunity.
The Lord sometimes comes to us. He knocks on the door of our hearts. He wants to meet with us. We are watching Tv. Or we’re under our covers already and we’re warm and sleepy. The snooze button is right there. He calls. We hesitate.
“In a moment.”
And then it’s gone. We can pray. But our delay caused that missed opportunity of connection.
There’s no condemnation. The lover will not leave us. But we missed out on a moment. We missed out on maybe something special. An intimate time together.
Lord, the next time you knock, let me embrace the cold. Let my feet get dirty so we never miss a moment again.
I am His beloved and my lover is mine.