Ravished by Covenant Love
Song of Solomon 4, the Seal of God, and the Rest That Heals
There was a season of my life where I loved God — but I related to Him primarily as a servant under examination.
I believed in mercy.
I believed in forgiveness.
But internally, I lived vigilant.
After divorce.
After a cancer diagnosis.
After years of habitual pornography that left deep grooves of shame.
I didn’t live in rebellion. I lived in watchfulness.
Careful. Guarded. Measuring.
I believed holiness meant constant internal monitoring.
But that is not how I was healed.
I was healed at the well.
The Well, Not the Watchtower
When pornography had its grip on me, it wasn’t discipline that set me free. It wasn’t fear of consequences. It wasn’t better monitoring of triggers.
It was encounter.
It was coming to Christ broken, ashamed, and exhausted — and discovering that He was not disgusted.
He was merciful.
John 4 became real to me:
“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst…” (John 4:14, KJV)
I wasn’t healed because I tightened control.
I was healed because I was satisfied.
Living water displaced counterfeit thirst.
But even after deliverance, something lingered.
Not bondage.
But vigilance.
A subtle voice:
“Don’t drift.”
“Don’t presume.”
“Don’t measure wrong.”
And then Song of Songs 4 confronted me.
“Thou Hast Ravished My Heart”
“Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse…” (Song of Solomon 4:9)
That verse stopped me.
Because I could understand it in marriage.
When I look at my beloved wife, Charmaine, I know what it means to have my heart captured. Not because she is flawless. Not because she never struggles. But because we are joined in covenant.
She is mine.
And I delight in her.
Then the realization came like a quiet wave:
If I can feel that way toward my bride, how much more does Christ feel covenant affection toward His redeemed bride?
He does not say:
“You are barely acceptable.”
He says:
“There is no spot in thee.” (4:7)
That is not denial of sanctification.
That is covenant declaration.
The Seal Is About Belonging
Scripture says:
“In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 1:13)
Sealed.
A seal in Scripture contains three elements: name, title, territory.
And the only commandment in Scripture that contains those three elements is the Sabbath commandment:
“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day…” (Exodus 20:11)
Name: The LORD
Title: Maker
Territory: Heaven and earth
The Sabbath is not merely a day.
It is the sign of covenant relationship.
“Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you… that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.” (Exodus 31:13)
That ye may know.
The Sabbath is not about proving ourselves holy.
It is about remembering who makes us holy.
It is covenant rest.
It is sealed belonging.
Day of Atonement and At-One-Ment
I have long believed we are living in antitypical Day of Atonement language — a time of cleansing, confession, sealing, and worship.
But here is what I am learning:
Cleansing happens inside covenant, not outside it.
Israel was not wondering if they belonged during the Day of Atonement.
They were already covenant people.
The sanctuary was cleansed because it was God’s dwelling.
We are not refined to see if we qualify.
We are refined because we are sealed.
That changes the emotional tone of the entire experience.
Not fear-driven preparation.
Love-driven purification.
Shame Has No Legal Voice
“Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Hebrews 12:2)
He despised the shame.
Not me.
Not you.
The shame.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1)
Condemnation includes lingering accusation.
Conviction leads to confession and peace.
Accusation leads to rumination and self-measurement.
The difference is life-changing.
The man I was — addicted, ashamed, fractured — died.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him…” (Romans 6:6)
Crucified men do not negotiate.
They do not wait to re-emerge.
They are dead.
And resurrection life is sealed life.
Sabbath: Covenant Rest That Reaches Into Heaven
The Sabbath is not legalism.
It is relational.
It is the weekly reminder that I am not my own savior.
It is the weekly reminder that I do not sanctify myself.
It is the weekly reminder that covenant love preceded my performance.
Hebrews 4 speaks of entering His rest:
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works…” (Hebrews 4:10)
Ceased from his own works.
Not ceased from obedience.
Ceased from self-reliant striving.
The Sabbath trains the heart to live sealed.
And that rest is not temporary.
It reaches into heaven.
It is a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
At-one-ment.
Consummated covenant.
Eternal union.
Restoration, Not Probation
For years, I lived as though Christ looked at me primarily with concern.
Now I understand something deeper.
He refines what He loves.
He seals before He cleanses.
He claims before He corrects.
He delights even while He sanctifies.
When He says:
“You have ravished My heart,”
He is not speaking to someone on probation.
He is speaking to someone sealed.
I just want to add one statement here, this is not a biblical exposition but a testimony as to our security in God and that we love because we are first loved.
When I speak of being sealed, I am not suggesting that God places His final seal upon an unchanged character. Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy are clear that the seal of God rests upon those who are settled into truth and living in loyal obedience. Rather, I am describing the covenant reality that we belong to Him by faith, and that belonging is what empowers the cleansing, not replaces it. The Spirit seals us when we believe; the final seal confirms a life fully surrendered to Christ.
A Word for the Weary
If you are carrying:
Shame from habitual sin.
Fear of presumption.
The burden of constant spiritual vigilance.
A sense that you never quite measure up.
Come back to the well.
Come back to the covenant.
Remember the seal.
Remember the Sabbath.
Remember that sanctification flows from belonging — not toward it.
And when Christ says:
“Thou art all fair, my love,”
receive it.
Not after you improve.
Now.
Because covenant love does not wait for perfection.
It produces it.
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