Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.Stay ye me with raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am sick from love.
3 sermons cite this verse
For now the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing has come. And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs and the vines are in blossom. They give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. And then from chapter eight. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is strong as death. Passion, fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of one's house, it would be utterly scorned. This is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let's begin with a little general background. Deep in the heart of the Hebrew Bible, nestled in a section that scholars call wisdom literature, Scripture has carved out a place for eight chapters of love poetry. …
… Verse 5 through 7. Sustain me, she says, with cakes of raisins. Refresh me with apples, for I am lovesick. You're like, I've been turned on before. I have never once thought about raisins. OK, well, in that day, they believed that raisins were an aphrodisiac, OK? So to paraphrase, she's like, somebody get me some red wine and some dark chocolate, because mama's feeling something, right? Refresh me with apples, for I am lovesick. And then his left hand's under my head, OK, and his right hand embraces me. OK, now if you've got your hand around a girl's waist and your left hand's behind their head, this is the perfect position. This is mooching. They're not looking into each other's eyes anymore. They're making out, OK? And she likes it. And she is very fired up. What about him? He's been fired up for some time. She is there now. He started there. The moment she said breasts, he's like, I'm there. I'm ready. Yes, all night between your breasts. …
Immeasurably high!" The truest joy is the joy of the creature in being made nothing that God may be All-in-All—the joy of emptiness in receiving of the Divine fullness—the joy of utter weakness laying hold upon the Divine strength! Have you never, dear Friends, in the worship of God, felt His hand gloriously bearing you aloft that not merely were worldly cares forgotten, with all the things that concern time and sense, but you seemed to forget that you were still in the body and that the body was upon the earth? There have been times with some of us when "the hand of the Lord" has been so blessedly upon us that He has seemed to open the pearly gates and bid us enter! We have stood awe-stricken and yet full of joy in the Presence of the Eternal, and we have worshipped Him with cherubim and seraphim—and have anticipated the day when we shall join the heavenly throng to go no more out forever! "The hand of the Lord" when it is upon us thus is so uplifting that we feel as though the joys of our spirit are more than our bodily frame can bear—and we cry with the spouse— "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am love-sick." May we often feel this downcasting and yet uplifting power of "the hand of the Lord" upon us! …