“And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.”
– Song of Songs 1:8
The mention of the “shepherds” here is in the plural. If it were singular, it could refer to the Lord, but this is not the case. The shepherds in verse 8 actually refer to the “mother’s sons” in verse 6, who are the frustrating ones. You may be unable to obey “my mother’s sons” and may argue with them, feeling they are just slightly ahead of you in the church life and are not qualified to give you directions. You may also question why they don’t let you function according to your burden.
The Lord’s answer here is very particular—He tells her to live under the authority in the church. If the Lord is the great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:4), the brothers are the shepherds to whom the Lord has given responsibility (1 Pet. 5:2). If the Lord builds up the church (Matt. 16:18), so do the brothers (Eph. 4:16). You cannot look down upon these shepherds, thinking that they are just “other children of my mother.” You should not feel that they are on the same level as you are. You have to see that they are the shepherds appointed by the Lord. When you say, “O daughters of Jerusalem,” you are joyful to be among them. But when you say, “My mother’s sons were angry with me,” you are actually complaining about the Lord’s arrangement. The Lord seems to be saying, “Don’t think that you can be independent and do what you desire just because you have your particular burden, commission, and vineyard. You still need to pasture your young goats by the shepherds’ tents. You cannot carry out something independently from the brothers.”
Adapted from The Song of Songs: A Divine Romance, pages 46-47.
Tomorrow: “The Shepherds’ Tents” (2)