Overcaring for our spiritual condition before God will cause us to fall into introspection; as lovers of Christ, we are called to be delivered from introspection and the self through our oneness with the cross of Christ. Amen!
The best book in the Bible where we see a loving relationship between God and man, even a courting between God and man, is Song of Songs.
In this book, we see the history of love in an excellent marriage, for it reveals the progressive experience of an individual believer’s loving fellowship with Christ for the preparation of His bride.
As believers in Christ, we are not only those who received the life of God and who were reconciled with Him; we are also lovers of Christ, those who love Him and grow in their love for Him.
Our Christian life should be a romantic relationship with the Lord; He is our Beloved and we are His lover.
Our loving fellowship with Christ and our progressive experience of love with the Lord is portrayed in the book of Song of Songs, and we are thankful that the Lord has opened up the types and figures in this book through the ministry of the age.
This book starts right away with, Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.
This is how we are with the Lord in the first stage of our Christian life, in the stage of being drawn to pursue Him for satisfaction.
We just love the Lord and want to kiss Him, that is, we love to contact Him, be in His presence, and feel His sweetness all the time.
Of course, this shouldn’t be only at the beginning of our Christian life – this should be throughout our romance with the Lord.
We need to be romantic Christians with the Lord. Every morning we need to tell the Lord that we love Him, and every day we need to kiss the Lord and ask Him to kiss us.
We need to ask the Lord to draw us personally so that we would pursue Him and run after Him both personally and corporately.
On the one hand, He drew us with cords of a man, with bands of love, through the processes He went through – as seen in the New Testament.
On the other hand, we need Him to appear to us and draw us every day. We need to be personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual with the Lord in our love relationship with Him.
As we call on His name and come close to Him, He brings us into His chambers, the place where He dwells, for us to be with Him and for Him to be with us.
These chambers are our spirit, for the dwelling place of God is in our spirit.
May we develop and maintain our love relationship with the Lord as we are drawn to pursue Him for satisfaction.
Being Delivered from Introspection by Enjoying the Resurrected Christ
In Song of Songs 2:8-3:5, we see a second stage of our loving relationship with the Lord, which is ever so real and practical to us in our Christian experience.
The lover here hears the voice of her beloved, and she sees him coming, leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills (2:8).
Mountains and hills signify barriers and difficulties; the Christ who is in resurrection is like a gazelle or a young hart leaping and skipping over any difficulty and barrier.
Christ is now in the vitality of resurrection, and nothing is too high or too great to stop Him; we may have difficulties and barriers, but He is above all these: He leaps over them all!
However, many times in our experience the Lord seems to be behind a wall, looking through the windows, and glancing through the lattice (v. 9).
We love Him, and we pursue Him to enjoy Him for satisfaction, but He seems to be away from us, behind a wall.
The attainment of the lover of Christ in her pursuing after Christ for satisfaction and rest results in a condition in which she overcares for her spiritual condition before Christ.
We may love the Lord, pursue Him for satisfaction, and enjoy Him so much; however, we may end up in introspection, that is, over-analyzing our situation through our own lens and in ourselves.
The Lord, however, is skipping and leaping over any barrier, and He even calls us, saying, Rise up, my love, my beauty, and come away (v. 10).
If we overcare for our spiritual condition, we may fall into introspection, which becomes the seclusion as a wall that keeps us away from the presence of the Lord.
Our eyes should not be on our condition nor on our attainments or successes; we need to turn our eyes and look away unto Jesus (Heb. 12:2), who Himself is the Author and perfecter of our salvation.
Introspection directs our eyes to ourselves, but the Lord wants us to enjoy Him as the resurrected Christ to be delivered from introspection.
We need to seek and know Christ’s mountain-leaping and hill-skipping presence.
We shouldn’t look at ourselves and try to analyze why this and why that, how comes we’re so low in this or that respect, and how about this or that failure.
Introspection by the self increases the self and results in a kind of seclusion as a way to separate us from the presence of Christ.
Christ is not leading us to introspect; He is like a gazelle leaping upon the mountains and like a young hart skipping upon the hills.
When we contact Him, He shows forth His resurrection power over difficulties and calls us repeatedly to rise up from our down situation and come away to Him from that situation which separates us from Him (Song of Songs 2:8-10, 13).
It is easy for many of us to fall into introspection, that is, to analyze ourselves by ourselves.
To introspect is to examine ourselves by looking into ourselves.
When we examine ourselves, when we look into ourselves, we never get encouraged and we are never happy.
The Lord doesn’t tell us to examine ourselves or look into ourselves; He never asks us to analyze ourselves but to look away unto Jesus!
For example, we may want to share something in a meeting, and we prepare two main points; however, when we stand up to share, we may speak about something completely different, and upon sitting down, we may introspect and see what went wrong. Oh, Lord.
Many times we have been in our introspective self; such a situation leads us to be secluded from the Lord – there’s a wall between us and Him, and we’re not in His presence.
May we be delivered from introspection by looking away unto Jesus and by enjoying the resurrected Christ, the One who leaps and skips over anything of the barriers and hindrances.
Lord Jesus, we want to be delivered from introspection by enjoying and experiencing the resurrected Christ! We love You, dear Lord Jesus, and we set our eyes on You. We refuse to look into or introspect our self, analysing what we are in ourselves. We look away unto Jesus, the One who is leaping over any barriers and skipping over any difficulties! Draw us more, Lord, that we may run after You and leap and skip over anything of the self! Save us from being secluded from You by the wall of introspection. Save us from overcaring for our spiritual condition and thus falling into introspection. We choose to look not into ourselves but unto Jesus! Lord Jesus, we love You!
Being Delivered from the Self through our Oneness with the Cross of Christ by the Power of His Resurrection
![For now the winter is past; / The rain is over [and] gone. Flowers appear on the earth; / The time of singing has come, / And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, / And the vines are in blossom - they give forth their fragrance. / Rise up, my love, / My beauty, and come [away.] Song of Songs 2:12-14](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/For-now-the-winter-is-past-The-rain-is-over-and-gone-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "For now the winter is past; / The rain is over [and] gone. Flowers appear on the earth; / The time of singing has come, / And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, / And the vines are in blossom - they give forth their fragrance. / Rise up, my love, / My beauty, and come [away.] Song of Songs 2:12-14")
As lovers of Christ who pursue after Him for satisfaction and rest, there’s a danger that we analyse ourselves or introspect, thus being secluded in the self and losing the Lord’s presence.
What should we do in this case? The Lord Jesus is the crucified and resurrected One, and the resurrected Christ is leaping and skipping over any problem, difficulty, and hindrance.
The way for us to be delivered from the self is through our oneness with the cross of Christ.
We need to hear that the Lord is telling us that the time of dormancy (winter) is past and that the trials (rain) are over and gone (Song of Songs 2:11).
He tells us that the springtime has come, thus entreating and encouraging us with the flourishing riches of resurrection (vv. 12-13).
The way for us to be delivered from the self with its introspection is through our oneness with the cross of Christ; we can determine to take the cross by the power of Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 16:24).
It is by the power of Christ’s resurrection that we, the lovers of Christ, are enabled to be conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10) so that we may be one with His cross as staying in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the precipice (Song of Songs 2:14).
The only thing that can deliver us from the self is the cross of Christ, and the only way we can apply the cross of Christ and experience the death of Christ is by the power of His resurrection.
It is by the power of resurrection and not by our natural life that we, the lovers of Christ, are enabled to be conformed to the death of Christ and be one with His cross.
The reality of resurrection is the pneumatic Christ as the consummated Spirit, and this One indwells us and is mingled with our regenerated spirit.
It is in our spirit, our spirit mingled with the divine Spirit, that we can participate in and experience the resurrection of Christ.
When we experience Christ’s resurrection in spirit, we are enabled to be one with the cross to be delivered from the self and be transformed into a new man (Rom. 8:2, 4, 29; Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17).
We can never be delivered from the self by ourselves, our efforts, or our natural man; it is only by the power of Christ’s resurrection that we can be one with the cross of Christ and be delivered from the self.
When we’re thus delivered from the self, we are also transformed into a new man in God’s new creation for the fulfilment of God’s economy in the building up of the Body of Christ.
Hallelujah, the winter is past and the rain is over and gone; the dormant days and the trials are over and gone!
![My dove, in the clefts of the rock, / In the covert of the precipice, / Let me see your countenance, / Let me hear your voice; / For your voice is sweet, / And your countenance is lovely. Song of Songs 2:14 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. Matt. 16:24 So then if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/My-dove-in-the-clefts-of-the-rock-In-the-covert-of-the-precipice-Let-me-see-your-countenance-Let-me-hear-your-voice-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "My dove, in the clefts of the rock, / In the covert of the precipice, / Let me see your countenance, / Let me hear your voice; / For your voice is sweet, / And your countenance is lovely. Song of Songs 2:14 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. Matt. 16:24 So then if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17")
We can enjoy and experience the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the reality of His resurrection!
When we experience the resurrected Christ, we can be conformed to His death and therefore delivered from introspection and from the self.
When we’re one with the mountain-leaping and hill-skipping Christ, the resurrected Christ, He transports us into the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice.
He brings us into the experience of the cross, and He calls us, My dove…let Me hear your voice; let me see your countenance.
The Lord loves to see us in the cross; He loves to see our countenance in the clefts of the rock.
In order for us to experience the life-giving Spirit as the reality of resurrection in our spirit, we have to discern our spirit from our soul.
We need to come to the Lord in His word and let Him expose and divide the spirit from the soul, and under His shining light, we simply need to agree with His verdict on the self.
Oh, to be delivered from the self! What a freedom it is to be delivered from introspection by being one with the cross of Christ by the power of His resurrection!
Lord Jesus, grant us to hear Your voice and heed Your call to be one with the cross of Christ by the power of His resurrection to be delivered from the self! Amen, Lord, we want to be delivered from the self. We want to be delivered from introspection. May we see that it is by the power of resurrection – not by our natural life – that we are enabled to be conformed to Christ’s death by being one with His cross. Amen, Lord, keep us in our mingled spirit, for in our spirit we can participate in and experience the resurrection of Christ! Hallelujah for the resurrection life in our spirit, which enables us to be one with the cross to be delivered from the self and to be transformed into a new man in God’s new creation!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs,” pp. 292-307, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Loving the Lord and loving one another for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ (2022 fall ITERO), week 2, entitled, Song of Songs – the Progressive Experience of an Individual Believer’s Loving Fellowship with Christ for the Preparation of the Bride of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
– The voice of my Beloved, / Behold, He quickly comes; / He leaps upon the mountains, / And o’er the hills He runs. / The signs of His appearing / Are seen on every side; / The Bridegroom soon is coming / To claim His loving Bride. (Hymns #1323 stanza 1)
– Still at times I sense the shadows / Of my nature, untransformed; / Lord, I’ll go unto the mountain, / To Thy death to be conformed. / On the mountain till the daybreak, / Linger I, Lord, thus with Thee, / May Thy all-transforming Spirit / Saturate me thoroughly. (Hymns #1139 stanzas 2-3)
– In the clefts of the rock / I delight to be. / In the covert of the precipice / You would find me. / Lord, conform me now, / Daily to Your death. / Let me see Your countenance, / I am a dove, / In the clefts of the rock. / My Beloved responds: / Rise up my love, / My beauty and come away; / The rain is gone.vThe winter is past, / The time of singing has come. / Rise up and come away, / You are my dove, / In the clefts of the rock. (Song on, In the Clefts of the Rock)
About aGodMan
Song of Songs 2:8 and 9 speak of the vitality of resurrection. In the Bible, both the mountains and the hills refer to difficulties and barriers… Nothing is too high or too great to stop Him. Christ has resurrected; He has overcome all difficulties and barriers. Difficulties and barriers are things of yesterday. He is living in the next day. All difficulties are beneath His feet. The minute He leaps, all the barriers are behind Him. Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” p. 32
Amen
Christ comes as a gazelle leaping upon the mountains and as a young hart skipping upon the hills, showing forth His resurrection power over difficulties, to call her repeatedly to rise up from her down situation and come away to Him from that situation which separates her from Him (S. S. 2:8-10, 13b). The Lord wants us to experience His cross so that we may enter into His resurrection. The calling for the cross and the resurrection figured by the springtime is in Song of Songs 2… The flowers, the fruit, the time of singing, and the voice of the turtledove are a picture of resurrection…When [the Lord’s seeker] looks into herself, it is the wintertime of dormancy. But when she looks away to the resurrected Christ, she enters into the stage of spring, signifying the stage of resurrection. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs,” pp. 292-294
Overcaring for our spiritual condition causes us as lovers of Christ to fall into introspection, which becomes like a wall, keeping us away from the presence of Christ.
May we look away unto Jesus, the mountain-leaping and hill-skipping Christ in resurrection!
It is by the power of His resurrection that we can be conformed to His death and be one with the cross of Christ to be delivered from the self and from introspection.
amen brother in the 2nd stage of the believers experience in pursuing the fellowship with the Lord in a loving relationship is that the Lord is calling his beloved to come out of the cleft of the rock which is to come out of her introspection,
we need to realise that the Lord has overcome every obstacle and trial and he is the resurrection life and power,
he wants to bring us his beloved into resurrection and the only way he can do it is through the cross so we need to look away unto this so that we can know and through the power of his resurrection we can brought through experiences of the cross into resurrection
brother, the mountain-leaping, hill- skipping Christ is the one who has overcome every barrier and difficulty to save us from our dormancy in introspection – from a down situation – to cause us to rise up to be one with the cross by experiencing Him as the pneumatic Christ.
When we focus on our spiritual condition we remain in our self but when we look away to Jesus we enjoy Him in resurrection in our mingled spirit to be empowered to be conformed to His death for the organic building up of the Body of Christ! Hallelujah!
Every day, we ought always to thank & praise the Lord for becoming the life-giving Spirit. The reality of Christ’s resurrection is in the Spirit.
If we look away from ourselves unto Yeshua, we can touch Christ’s resurrection power through the Spirit.
All difficulties are beneath Christ’s feet, and nothing is too high or too great to stop Him.
By His resurrection power we can overcome our dormancy and become those who burn with love for our Christ.
May we discern our spirit from our soul by calling on the Lord unceasingly and rejoicing always and giving thanks continually…
Amen brother, we thank the Lord that He has found us,and now we can partake of all that He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead.
Amen brother.
I was so encouraged by our verse this morning:
S.S. 2:8-10 The voice of my beloved! Now he comes, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Now he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, he is glancing through the lattice. My beloved responds and says to me, Rise up, my love, my beauty, and come away.
Brother, we have a mountain leaping, hill skipping Christ leaping and skipping over all the barriers and difficulties in our situations to deliver us from the self and to experience Him in the vitality of His resurrection, to rise up and come out of our low situations to be with Him!
Amen! Christ is our everything!
Thank You Lord for the power of Christ resurrection which enables us us to deny our self, to be conformed to His death and be one with His cross, and experience the life-giving Spirit in our spirit!
Lord we want to look away unto You and not to ourselves and situations which separate us from You! Draw each one of us, we will run after You!
Amen Lord Hallelujah You are mountain leaping and hill skipping Christ in us! Keep looking away to You!
Amen, Lord Jesus!! We love your sweet voice!!