I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night.”I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.I was asleep, but my heart waked: It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.
4 sermons cite this verse
… And here now, it's happening again. I sleep but my heart is awake. It is the voice of my beloved. He knocks saying, open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one. It's late and he's tired coming home from work, but he's not too tired as he comes home from work. And so he decides to butter her up with not one, not two, not three, but four expressions of his love. And then he says to her, explaining the time, my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night, which experts will say in that part of the world of Israel, the heavy dew would fall at midnight. So he's coming home late from work. It's midnight. I remember this exact thing. I mean, it wasn't midnight. I did better than Solomon. But early on in our marriage, I had worked, you know, five, six o'clock came and went. I touched base with my wife. She said something to the effect of, I'm coming home late. She said, no worries. …
cause the evil within us to be developed rather than restrained, would soon prove to a demonstration that our nature was evil, and only evil, and that continually! You may take a bag of gunpowder and play with it if you care to do so, for it is quite harmless as long as you keep the fire from it, but put just one spark of fire to it and then you will discover the force for evil that was latent in that innocent-looking powder! You may tame a tiger if you begin training it early enough. And you may treat it as if it was only a big cat—but let it once learn the taste of blood and you will soon see the true tiger nature flashing from its eyes and seeking to destroy all that come within reach of its cruel claws! In a similar fashion to that, sin was originally latent within everyone of us and whatever better qualities God may, by His Grace, have planted there, it is still true that we were, by nature, "the children of wrath, even as others." I need not say any more about the original sin of Adam, or about the sinfulness of our nature, for those of us who have been saved know that our practice was according to our nature. Who can deny that the fountain was defiled when he is compelled to confess that polluted streams flowed from it? Can you look back with complacency upon the days of your unregeneracy? I feel sure that you cannot think of the sins that you committed, then, without weeping over them, and especially sorrowing over that sin which so many forget—the sin of not believing on the Son of God, the sin of so long rejecting the Savior, the sin of not yielding to the gentle calls of His Grace, the sin of bolting and barring the door of your heart while He stood outside and cried, "Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled: for My head is filled with dew and My locks with the drops of the night." But we would not rise and let Him in! What a horrible sin it was not to see the loveliness of Christ and not to admire the infinitude of His love! Had we not been sinful by nature and by practice, too, our opposition or our indifference would have been melted concerning the coming of Jesus—and we would have at once opened our hearts to receive Him. …
… will in chapter 5 verse 2. I sleep. Now here she's talking. He's been away. And she says, I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night. I've been up all night just trying to get to you, sweetheart. And so he's knocking on the door. Well, now here's what she says, she says to him, now wait a minute. I'm already undressed and I'm in the bed. I have put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I have washed my feet. How shall I defile them? Now maybe she lived in a house with a dirt floor and she's saying that, look, I'm already in bed and don't bother me now. And he's out there knocking at the door and she's pretending she doesn't want to go to the door. Now look, if you will, in verse 4, My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him. …
According to the text, He was gone. Read the preceding verses, or perhaps you have them upon your memories. The spouse had been asleep. This was the beginning of the mischief. "I sleep, but my heart wakes." If we begin to fall asleep, we must not wonder if we miss the quickening and comforting influences of our Lord's Presence. Jesus Christ did not put us in His Church that we might sleep away our time on earth. Do not fancy that such an active spirit as that which burned and blazed in our Savior's flesh can be content to hold communion with lazy sluggards who toss upon their bed and say, "Yet a little more sleep and a little more folding of the arms to slumber." It is the active Christian who keeps pace with Christ! Christ is a quick walker—if you crawl along the path of duty, He will soon leave you behind—until you begin to enquire, "Where is He gone," and quicken your pace to overtake Him. Are there any here who have missed Christ's Presence, and who may trace it to the fact that they have been drowsy in prayer of late, heavy in all the exercises of study and duty, and, in fact, altogether sleepy? Have they been without care for the conversion of others, having scarcely any concern, even, about their own children? Are they, perhaps, indifferent to the welfare of Christ's Church, feeding little upon the Word and resorting but little to the assemblies of the saints? Marvel not if the Beloved withdraws Himself when His spouse does nothing but nod and sleep, instead of keeping company with Him in active service! …