( There was an error with yesterdays post being delivered so we will be sending it out again today. If you were one of the few who did happen to receive it, please excuse it coming to you a second time. Also, please see note at the bottom of page…thanks)
Proverbs 5:18: “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.”
The literal interpretation of this is obvious. Fountain would represent children and Solomon is encouraging young men to remain faithful to the wives of their youth.
Solomon is a fine one to talk considering all the wives and concubines he had. But he did have a wife of his youth. He writes about her in the Song of Solomon. Read the Song of Solomon and you will find he truly loved this young woman. Yet, as time passed and he sought the pleasures of this world and the pleasure of any woman he desired, that love grew cold. Now in his older age we find a lonely broken old man. After a life of, as we would say, wine, women and song he discovered something he had not often considered, and that is youth gives way to old age. He finds now in his old age that he just longs for the comfort of the true love of a woman and the affection of his children and grandchildren. But with the life he lived, he blew it all away.
When we read this, however, we could see more than this, that this is not so much speaking of a relationship with a spouse as with our relationship with God. For many of us God has been the love of our youth. I have heard many say that in their youth they loved God with all their hearts, God was continually on their lips and they would spend hours praying and studying the Word of God. But then as they grew older, the attraction of other gods, other pleasures consumed them and now as they look back they begin to wish they had spent more time with the love of their youth, and more time nurturing that relationship.
In ancient Judaism a fountain was symbolic of the very essence of life. In the Hebrew the word for fountain is kur which is a spring of water, it is also used for the very fine thread that you find in a spider’s web. This thread is very delicate and yet very strong with a sticky substance. If you ever walked through an old basement I don’t need to tell you about spider webs.
First let me say that I do not find the word fountain to be in a cohorative (permissive) form, that is “Let your fountain be blessed…” In other words the translators chose to put it in such a form as it seemed to make more sense. But literally it should be “The fountain is your blessing.” Suppose I were to render this passage as: “The thread of a spider’s web is your blessing.” Now if the picture of a fountain is the essence of life it would really fit the poetic expression of Solomon here. The very essence of life clings to you like the thread of a spider’s web. That thread is so fine, so unnoticeable, yet for a long time after encountering it, you are still clawing at it to remove it from you face.
One commentator suggested the fountain represented both wife and children. Hence Solomon is encouraging young men to let the basic family unit cling to you as that is your real blessing and not the harem pool as Solomon sadly discovered.
But let us look at it another way, Jesus has always been the love of our lives. He has been the very essence of our life. Yet, many times throughout our life other gods sought our attention and we gave them that attention. There were gods of financial security that consumed our time, gods of recognition, gods of learning etc. Yet as each god sought to be our fountain, the very essence of our life, our true love in Jesus still clings to us like the sticky thread of a spider’s web. Like the sticky web of a spider’s web it clings to us, annoying us as we try to claw it off. Even though these other gods brought some joy or relief, we know that that annoying thread sticking to us is where our true joy and blessing lies and secretly we are grateful that even though it was such a fragile thread, it still clung to us until we come to our senses and recognize that this is our true blessing..
Solomon encourages the young men to rejoice with the wife of their youth. As an old man Solomon longed for a companion that he could rejoice with just as we long for a God that we can rejoice with as we did in our youth. The word rejoice is samek. Yeah, as in the Hebrew letter Samek. Samek represents a joy in a support and in the sharing of secrets. Solomon, now in his old age longed for a mate or companion that wasn’t just a sexual partner, but one that he could trust in such a way that he could share the secrets of his heart and someone who would share the secrets of her heart with him. He wished for a companion that he could share his longings, desires, his fears and his questions. He also longed for a companion that would put her arms around him when things in the kingdom were going sour and he faced stresses on every side. He longed for someone who would listen to him share his broken heart and after hearing all his troubles she would then hug him, look into his eyes with pure love and say; “It’s ok.” And you know what, in that moment everything would be ok.
We find that now after many years of being married to God, we realize that it is not so much those miracles and demonstrations of his power that we long to experience and see but that we are just longing for a God that we can share our fears, hurts, and troubles. More than a financial miracle we long for a God that we can just talk to about our financial woes. More than just God meeting our financial need is just the desire for Him to put His arms around us and simply say: “It’s ok.” And you know what, just having that hug from God, His whispering in our ears that it is ok, makes it ok whether that financial miracle comes or not.
So today, I don’t know about you but I am just going to rejoice in the love of my youth, I am going to recognize that He is my true blessing and I will go to Him to rejoice or samek in other words I am going to Him for support, to share my troubles. Oh yes, like everyone I need a lot of miracles in my life right now, but you know what, I really need and long for more than those miracles. What I long for is just for Him to put His arms around me and whisper, “It’s ok.” Because, after years of being with the love of my youth, I have found everything is suddenly ok even if I never experience another miracle in my life, that one miracle hug is all I really need, that is all that is important. I will stop clawing at that sticky spider web of His presence so I can enjoy the pleasures of this world and just enjoy the pleasure of the love of my youth.
You see, samek or rejoice has one other meaning, it means a shelter. In the shelter of His arms the pleasures of this world, the need for a miracle and deliverance no longer exist, not when He gives you a big hug and whispers in your ear, “It’s ok.”
Note: HarperCollins has contacted Chaim about publishing his Word Studies and they said they will be “crunching the numbers” this week. So it would be so helpful to us if you could take a minute and “Like” our facebook page and posts, simple click on the highlighted word Like and it will link you over to our Facebook page. For those who have already done this, it would be great if you would share with friends the devotionals that you like. Is it possible to get 100 new likes in a week…yes, with your help! Thank you so much for all h support, we truly appreciate it! Chaim & Laura :)
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