Rise Up, My Love (31): Beyond Compare

Song of Solomon 1:16 “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.” Here the bride echoes back the joyous exclamations of her lover, even has she has seen the reflection of her own love deep within his eyes.  That Christ could find us fair is part of the “over and abundant, more than we could ask or think” provision of his infinite love (Ephesians 3;20).  But, the bride describing her Lord as “fair” shows that she knows him…but only a little! Our Lord declares that His bride is the “fairest among women” (verse 8), but He is “fairer than the children of men” (Psalm 45:2).  Not the “fairest” but more fair than the fairest…not to be compared, because he is better than the best!

And, here is a thought for couples. Do you consider one another to be “the fairest” and the best? Have you learned to honor your partner as your most cherished earthly possession? It is our privilege in marriage to model the relationship of Christ and his bride, the church. As such, we should always honor our partner with the reverence we would accord Christ. We should always speak more highly of them and be more delighted in their presence than anyone else on earth. Wow! I still have a lot to learn!

“Yea, pleasant.”  Na im is the Hebrew word used here, and it carries the connotation of not only lovely, but of being a delight to the senses (BDB [BrownDriverBriggs], 653…which will normally be my source for definitions unless otherwise noted). It is a term used to describe the delectable taste of bread and the music of the harp. Psalm 135:3 calls us to “sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.”  Is there any name so sweet as Jesus?  Is there any sound so dear as the voice of our lover? Is there anything in life so pleasant as communion with our Lord?  “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).  Surely, our Lord is not only beautiful beyond description, he fills up our senses with pleasure in his presence. “Also our bed is green.” Green speaks of life and growth. Green is the color of restfulness…of grassy meadows and chapeled pines.  The expressions of love shared in their bed were fresh and alive: green…growing…vibrant. Green also speaks of verdancy: new growth…inexperience… youthful innocence. Is there any green richer than the emerald of early spring? So, the bride, rejoicing with her lover in the spring of their marriage finds their bed fresh and new. It is green. It is full of new life and the delight of watching their love grow and bloom like a flower’s first blush as she opens her petals to the sun.

The marriage bed is holy (Hebrews 13:4).  Those who partake of its pleasures with a pure heart are innocent of sin. It is here that the bride finds ever green rest with her beloved Prince of Peace and Lord of Glory.  And, shouldn’t she, knowing that someday at his glorious name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess his lordship (Philippians. 2:11)? Then our eternal rest will begin.Consider the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow.  Red speaks of sin: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:17). Did you know that there is absolutely no red in the color green?…no taint of sin!  In the eternal rest of heaven, the question of sin will never again arise!

Green, the opposite of red, is made from blue and yellow.  To find a soothing blue, one naturally turns his eyes skyward, and in the heart awakened to God…to thoughts of heaven and God; in fact, blue has often been called the “heavenly” color.  In Numbers 15:38, the children of Israel were admonished to put fringes of blue on their garments to remind them that they were God’s children and should obey his commandments.

The most constant yellow in everyone’s world is the sun, which again turns our eyes upward. The ancients all recognized the sun’s great power, and many of the heathen made the sun an object of worship, but to those of us who have felt his fire, the sun is but a reminder of the Son of Righteousness…unchanging, all powerful, eternal.  Blue and yellow working together make green, the sure foundation of our peace and eternal rest based on the heavenly character of God and his immutable promises to his Son and his Son’s bride. It is our gift and joy to rest with Christ in the ever green bed of his divine love and eternal security!

The Incredibly Creative Brontës of Haworth

When I was a girl, few love stories moved me any more than those written by the  Brontë sisters: Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, and Anne’s   The Tenant of Wildfell Hall….classic stories reflecting the anguish of seemingly impossible love relationships. I think in many ways they had a negative impact
on my young mind as far as modeling what to look for in a healthy, wholesome husband, and it’s taken pretty close to forever to get my head straightened out! Naivety aside, on our trip to England with our British Lit aficionado, Kathy Kris, along, it just seemed right to visit Haworth, the tiny village on the English moors where the Brontë sisters lived in a little parsonage with their parents, sisters, and brother, Branwell. The girls’ father was the parson at the “Church of St. Michael

and All Angels,” and the church still exists today. Truly, I know nothing about the doctrines of the church, and Rev. Brontë may have been a very godly man (despite his severe looks), but I do know that his son, Branwell, ended up having   an affair with “Mrs. Robinson” (the mother of the children he tutored) was summarily dismissed by the father/husband and returned home as a rather desolate alcoholic who died young from T.B. and dissipation. Like his                three sisters, he was an extremely talented young man and a gifted artist, but unlike his sisters, he produced very little that has remained…even erasing his own likeness in the portrait he painted of himself and his sisters. (see above).The sad plight of the family included the death of their mother to uterine cancer, and eventually  the death of all the children at young ages (none even reached 40) from tuberculosis (and other complications, such as early-stage pregnancy and probably typhoid fever for Charlotte [the only one to marry].)Hundreds of thousands of “fans” still flock to the moors and museum each year,and I have to confess that with seven lively offspring who love to write & create, the Brontë family has long been somewhat inspirational to us, although—after having visited—I found that the aura of the ideal gave way to a rather sad realization about the true nature of even the most gifted and privileged. We are all made of clay, and our best efforts at creating will be flawed. Without a strong commitment to walking in truth and light, we will ultimately produce little of lasting value.
I pray that my own children (and Alan and I) will walk in the Light, and that our labors of love will produce enduring, good fruit…and I pray the same for you!The summer I spent working with missionaries in Scotland (40+ years ago), the milkman delivered fresh milk (un-homogenized…with 2″ of cream at the top) every morning! Imagine my delight in discovering that this marvelous tradition is still current today in Haworth! It made me stop and think: If we want to keep growing spiritually, we really need a fresh drink of the Word every day. May we never get to the point where we think we don’t need to meditate on the Bible…that we’ve outgrown it and can survive by indulging our brains in the wines of this world. To keep spiritually sound and emotionally robust, we need daily doses of the fresh, whole, creamy milk of the Word!

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

Rise Up, My Love (30): Dove’s Eyes

Song of Solomon 1:15 “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.”  The bridegroom, held in his beloved’s embrace, thrills with her beauty.  “Behold…” Look and see!  Is there anyone who would not see what the lover sees?  No one who will behold her as he has done!  “Thou art fair, my love.”  What a comfort to his bride, who so recently was lamenting her blackness and in shame asking that no one look at her!  Now, her husband looks on her and exclaims in delight that she is beautiful! “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). How like our Lord to exalt us when we have gone from seeing the shame of our own sinfulness to being taken up with the wonder of his person.“My love…” The one who is the object of his love.  Never doubt our Savior’s love.  He who has chosen you will never cease from loving you! “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 33:3).  Our eternal lover has promised to never forget us, having inscribed us on his hands: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (Isa. 49:16). Indeed, the scars of the nail prints will remain through eternity as a reminder of his everlasting love!  Oh, for husbands who could learn to love with such unending fervor!

“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.”  He repeats it twice… as if he cannot help himself…as if to reassure her that the unbelievable is true. The Hebrew word for fair is yapa, which means “beautiful.” It also brings to mind the idea of being “unblemished.”  Fair weather is that which is clear and sunny…unclouded. “Thou hast doves’ eyes.” It is said that Syrian doves have very large, luminous eyes. Doves were used for food and sacrifices, and they are among the world’s most docile of all creatures…not only beautiful, but characterized by gentleness and meekness. As the husband was held in his love’s embrace, what did he see most clearly?  Her large, open, unclouded eyes.  Her eyes, as “harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16), trusting,  glowing with purity and passion. What a challenge for wives, and for all who would hold Christ tightly to our hearts.  Are our eyes clear and bright, full of gentle meekness and pure passion, signifying preparedness for sacrifice?  May our hearts so burn within us that all the chaff of self is consumed and the fire of his presence is alone reflected in our gaze!

What is Grace?

Kay Arthur is a well known Bible teacher, but I’d never heard her until just recently as a part of a video series on David. Today’s lesson was on grace, and it was so encouraging that I wanted to share a few of her thoughts. Kay pointed out that “Sin will take you further than you ever expected to go, it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay.” I think if we could all get that truth implanted firmly in our brains, it would keep us from boatloads of sorrow. However, the real focus of her message was on the fact that God is gracious. No matter what we’ve done or whom we’ve hurt, as long as we’re not dead yet, then it’s not too late to be “converted”…to change our mind about sin: repent,  confess, and ask God’s forgiveness…not based on any “deal” or promises about being perfect in the future, but based on His perfect love and ability to forgive us, to change our hearts, to reconcile us to himself and sometimes even those we’ve hurt, and to transform us into people who reflect his forgiveness and grace toward others.

What is grace? It is “Charis”…free, unearned, unmerited favor…God’s kindness and benefits bestowed on us not because we deserve them, but because we need them so desperately and ask God to help us. In the course of the session, Kay mentioned that she hadn’t become a Christian until she was 29…after she’s made a terrible mess of her life. Since then she found herself complaining, “God, why didn’t you save me sooner? Why did you allow me to live such a destructive life?” After years of soul-searching, she felt like the Lord told her that if she’d stop moaning and groaning, he’d redeem even her ruined past by giving her the privilege of sharing her story with others in a way that would help them avoid the pits that she fell into. She learned with the Apostle Paul (who also led a terribly destructive life of persecuting Christians before he was converted himself) to say, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 10:15) …no more…no less. We can’t change our past, and we can be sure that we will be judged for our past. Just like David, whose family was forever marred by the consequences of his sins, we will reap what we’ve sown. Forgiveness does not mean there will be no consequences, but it does mean that we can still be used by God to share our story with others and encourage others to avoid our failures. Grace means that we can be blessed in spite of our failures, and that (whether or not it “pleases” us) we can bring glory to God through our heartaches, failures, and pain.

I’ve had people say to me, “There must not be a God, or he wouldn’t allow such evil.” Would you like to have no freedom to choose right or wrong? To do this or that?  When believers get to heaven, the Bible says that we will “be like Him,” and then I believe we will no longer make unwise or sinful choices, but until that day, we have the privilege and bear the responsibility for making our own decisions—for good or ill. We can either be a great blessing to those around us or a cause of pain and suffering. Our choices are ours. Will we be good even when others are not? Will we believe God and trust Him, or will we follow our own natural inclinations? “There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Will we seek forgiveness when we sin…and will we forgive those who hurt us? Are we willing to become conduits of God’s grace?

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

No Resurrection?

                               “To die, to sleep, no chance to dream or keep                                                              Our dreams alive. To be no more. We weep                                                           Along the golden shore where loved ones left                                                            Our hearts distressed, our longing souls bereft                                                            Of all we’ve known, alone…but needing more.                                                              Is there no resurrection from the dead?                  Is death the end of everything but dread?  What can I see that offers me a hope                                                                      That there is life beyond my lens’s scope?        Beyond the death of flesh is more in store?      The flower dies, but rises from the snow,                                                                      So I shall spring and to my Father go.” (Kathryn W. Armstrong, April 18, 2013)“Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this?’” (John 11:25-26).

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5).

Sonnet in Eulogy of the Boston Marathon

How are the mighty fallen on this day—

Those strong and rugged runners of the race?

Who placed the bombs to kill, then ran away—

Intent to frighten, injure and deface?

What wound, untreated, festered in their soul

That they should turn from truth to follow lies?

What twisted hatred took its evil toll

So they considered death the better prize?

Our hearts cry out in angry, anguished prayer:

“Oh God of love and light redeem our fall!

Extinguish pain, all suffering and care.

Restore the world to Eden for us all.”

“Sweet peace and blessed joy await all mine

Who run by faith to cross the finish line.”

(—Kathryn W. Armstrong, April 15, 2013)

“Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

The Last Enemy: Preparing to Win the Fight of Your Life

True confession: I am terrified by the very thought of babysitting. I don’t know if it’s PTSD from feeling emotionally abandoned during my childbearing years, or if it was from never babysitting as a kid (since my dad outbid the $.50 per hour rate for babysitters 50 years ago by paying me $.60 per hour to grade papers for him)…or…I just have a personality defect and find the thought of being the captive audience for a two-year-old more stressful than sitting in a dental chair.However, yesterday I managed a timid foray out of my comfort zone to spend the day with this radiant and wonderful family! I’ve known Emily’s parents since childhood…used to work out with Emily’s mom when she was expecting Em’s older brother, rejoiced in Emily’s birth, and have followed her growth for years.And so, when I heard that Emily had broken her arm, had a flooded basement, and needed help so she could be with her mom during a surgery in Ann Arbor…well, my love overcame my fears, and I rose to the occasion (by grace ye are  saved)! Besides, these three red-headed adorables are being homeschooled, so  what’s so hard about that? After 7 kids and 25 years of homeschooling, you’d think I could watch some especially well-mannered children for one day, right? True fact: I survived. No, I more than survived. The kids were truly gracious little hostesses and took great care of me all day. In fact, they played as sweetly as my  daughter, Kathy Kris, when she was little, and it made me sorry that I somehow                  hadn’t managed to have six daughters as well as six sons! I’m just finishing this book, which I’d taken with me when I babysat (not that I read much, but I take a book with me everywhere). The idea of understanding death from a Christian perspective is very much on my heart these days, not only because of Emily’s mother’s surgery, but because I literally have over a half a dozen close friends around the country who are currently grappling with serious cancer issues, and because this Friday Alan’s sister would have been celebrating her 68th birthday had she not died of cancer last Mothers’ Day. If you or any of your loved ones are facing the issues of death and dying, I recommend this book very highly. It’s not a gloss-over-the-issue-with-platitudes sort of work. Dr. Wittmer looks Death straight in the eye, wrestles with the issues, and shares insights and hope from the scripture. Death is our enemy, but for the believer, death has been conquered by Christ, and it is via the final surrender to death that we begin to experience unfettered, real, eternal life.

We may be terrified by the very prospect of death, but we don’t need to be. I’m not suggesting that death is a piece of cake, but I truly believe the Lord used the challenge of babysitting as an object lesson. When the crises of life and death come, God will give us the grace to  venture out of our comfort zone, and when it’s time to say goodbye to this life, I believe we will leave secure in the sense of God’s goodness and grace, and all will be well.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?…But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”                                (1 Corinthians 15:55,57)

The Snow Is always Deeper on the Northern Side of the State

So, I repent of complaining about spring taking so long to come to lower Michigan, because—as you can see from these pictures I took last weekend—the snowbanks at the opposite end of our state in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, still conjure up thoughts of northern Alaska to me. (Although I promise you that all these pictures were just taken this past weekend while Alan and I were taking a little nostalgia tour of our old home town.) Sault Ste. Marie is a beautiful place to visit anytime, although I love fall the best. I grew up in a little house on Dillon St., but we did something very special this  time: We stayed at the Ojibway, a historic hotel overlooking the the Soo Locks  and famed for hosting the “CaChoo Club” and some notable guests.The Ojibway is now owned by Ramada but still retains it’s 1930′s ambiance, and they include a lovely complimentary breakfast in their sunny dining room. Our room was charming and the bed comfy…definitely a pleasant stay. Our room overlooked the Soo Locks and Brady Park, and after we checked out,  we took a stroll through the park, as we have done hundreds of times over the  years. When we were kids, we used to sit in the crook of that tree on the left and watch the tourists passing by. Forty-five+ years later, we’re the tourists! My mother helped found the People-to-People organization nearly 50 years ago, and this gate from Japan in Brady Park was a gift from their “sister city.”I used to have to walk up Easterday Hill every day on my way home from school. In those days, there were no steps and we sometimes had to pull ourselves up using the railings to keep us from sliding back down in the icy winter weather! We picked up Milt and Faye for lunch. They are like second parents to Alan. Alan grew up with their son, Larry, & he later worked with Milt at his dad’s shop.(I hope you’re noticing the incredibly high snowbanks in these pictures!) Milt and Faye have been a great source of inspiration to us over the years!     (This is a picture from the wall by their front door…and they really live this out!)We stopped at “Cozy’s” for some of their famous whitefish & sour cream/chives  french fries. I’ll tell you, there’s no whitefish like Lake Superior fresh-caught! Oh, and I mustn’t forget to tell you about the great dinner we had the night before with Alan’s cousin, Jim, and his sweet wife, Gladys. What a blessing it was to head north for the weekend, even though they’ve had a

brutal winter and the snowbanks were unbelievably high! Next time I’m tempted to complain about the late spring in lower Michigan—or whatever challenge I’m dealing with—will you remind me that the snows are deeper elsewhere? I, for one, am glad I’m not on the other side of the fence, and I hope you are too!

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’.”      (Hebrews 13:5)

Spring Break: Paradise Lost and Found and Lost but Can be Found

Alan has faithfully taken the kids & me to Florida with him this winter when he’s had to go down for conferences. The first time it was 02°F, which was intensely cold even for Michiganders, but it was rainy, sleety, and still miserably cold the night we left last week to fly down for a medical meeting that happily coincided   with both Steve and Joel’s spring breaks. What a contrast! Snowbanks to snowy white irises after a simple 2.5 hour flight…from the inhospitable cold of the North to the warmth and light of grand Floridian elegance and beauty.While Alan toughed it out at the meetings all day, Stephen, Joel, and I soaked up  the sunshine and ambiance of our paradisal retreat. Thankfully,after the conference ended, Alan was able to kick back and relax too! We headed over to delight in the soothing surf of the Atlantic shoreline,hike along the beaches with the birds, play in the sand, and sit around sunning ourselves like lazy birds having the time of our lives! And, did I mention food? I cooked most of our meals at home, but the food in “paradise” is absolutely delicious! The whole week I kept thinking about the contrast between the warm beauty of  Florida & the cold, barren North during the winter…how mankind has lost the  original paradisal home on earth that God designed for us. Of course, I dearly love my home, and I’m not voting to leave anytime soon, but won’t it be glorious  when we “cast off this mortal coil” and set sail for our heavenly home?Probably most of you who read this already know the path to heaven, but just in  case you haven’t heard yet, there’s no pixie dust or magic involved. Jesus states clearly in the Bible: “My Father’s house has many rooms…I am going to prepare a place for you…I will come back and take you to be with me…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:2-4,6) “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). I hope we’re all heading for paradise with Jesus. “Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.”         (Proverbs 4:26).

Rise Up, My Love (23): Becoming Occupied with Pursuing our Husband

Song of Solomon 1:7 “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make your flock to rest at noon:” Here the bride turns from a consideration of her own unworthiness to occupation with her Lord. This is always the answer to our discouragement and despair over our own failure.  We cannot vindicate ourselves.  We cannot change past circumstances. Yes, we often try to justify ourselves by blaming our circumstances on something other than ourselves (“the sun was too hot;” “my family was unfair”), but in the final analysis, there is no excuse for our sinfulness, and it is a fruitless occupation to try to vindicate ourselves to ourselves or before men. Rather, we need to turn to the one our soul loves and become occupied with him.“Tell me where you feed, where you  make your flock to rest…” Visions of Psalm 23 come to mind: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.”  The new bride leaves her old occupation of tending vineyards to follow her shepherd.  I can’t help but think of Cain and Abel. Just as Cain’s offering of fruit was unacceptable, so the maiden’s attempt at caring for her vineyard was unsuccessful. Just as Abel brought a lamb for an offering, so the bride brings herself as a lamb offering to her shepherd husband.  How wise of her to turn from the efforts and failures of her flesh to follow the Shepherd and Bishop of her soul!  “…Where you make your flock to rest at noon.”  Again, Psalm 23 comes to mind. “He restores my soul…” Noon speaks of the heat of the day.  The sheep grazed in green pastures during the cool of the morning hours, but during the intense heat of the day, they needed protection from the scorching sun and an opportunity to rest.  In the east, shepherds made the flocks rest in the shade of the trees that grew up around the wells, or, if there were no trees, in the shadow of a great rock.  Christ is our mighty Rock in whose shadow we can rest (I Cor. 10:4). Elizabeth Clephane expressed this thought so eloquently in a song she wrote 150 years ago called “Beneath the Cross of Jesus:” “Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, The shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land; A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, From the burning of the noonday heat and the burden of the day.”Our Shepherd lover invites us to “Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).  What a blessed invitation for those who have toiled through the morning of their lives and are now experiencing the intense heat of tribulation and temptation during the noontime.  “Mid-life crisis” is a common term.  Perhaps the disaster could be averted before it happens if God’s own would hear His voice and accept His invitation to rest at noon!

“…for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of thy companions?”  Have you ever heard it said, “Either come apart and rest or you’ll come apart!”  No one can truly survive the heat of life’s day without resting, and those who fail to come apart and rest in the tender care of their Beloved will likely be turned aside to follow some other shepherd.  But, all the other “shepherds” are only wolves in shepherd’s clothing.  As Christ warned, “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers…The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and destroy” (John 10:8,10).  They are false idols…those who would rob God and annihilate us…evil shepherds of materialism, sensuality, and every lust who would lead us away—like the Pied Piper—promising unending pleasure but delivering utter destruction. There is no other shepherd who will love and care for us like Christ, who taught and lived, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

“…for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of thy companions?”  The bride could not bear the thought of being turned aside to follow a stranger. “The sheep follow him: for they know his voice.  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him” (John 10:4-5). No, she who had known his kiss of love and felt his warm embrace could no longer bear the thought of being turned aside.  She must have him whom her soul loved.  Though under shepherds may have tried to hinder her, though other lovers may have tried to woo her, she cries out directly to him.There is a solemn warning in this verse for all who have the blessed privilege of marriage here on earth and are modeling the relationship of Christ and his heavenly bride, the church.  In marriage, every bride must have her needs met by her husband, or she is very likely to be ‘turned aside’ to someone else.  Just as we cry out to our spiritual Lover, “Tell me…where you feed,” so every wife echoes that cry to her shepherd husband. Yes, she needs physical sustenance, but that is only the beginning.  A wife also needs her soul and her spirit fed…her emotional and spiritual needs met.  How many young husbands, intent on career success, ignore their wives’ pleas for help in these areas, until alas—very often too late—they realize their beloved spouses have turned aside to the ‘flocks of thy companions’ for the sustenance they so desperately need. Woe to the man who refuses to feed his wife! But, woe also to the wife who fails to pursue her husband and allows herself to be turned aside! Lord, help us to follow only you. Please help every husband to tenderly care for his wife, and help  every wife to faithfully pursue only her own husband!