The Song of Destiny 3: How to Find God’s Will for Your Life

Continuing on in the series on discovering God’s will for our live’s today we will cover the Shepherd. The Shepherd is a picture of God’s best for our lives. Let us examine some attributes of the Shepherd, and we will learn more about determining God’s will.

The Shepherd- The Shepherd was the Shulamite’s one true love, and he had a number of attributes that set him apart from Solomon. Let’s look at what made him so unique.

Found God’s Choice doing God’s will- The will of God is discovered by doing what we already know to be the will of God. For instance when Eleazer was seeking a bride for Isaac he said, “I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” What this means is that we have made the will of God far too complicated if we were to do the things we know are God’s will then God would lead us from there.

The Shulamite did not necessarily know God’s will for marriage, but she definitely knew that the Shepherd had a shared calling with her because he was a shepherd. Solomon on the other hand was from a completely different walk of life, and had different goals, dreams, and ambitions. If someone has a definite calling they should never consider choosing a spouse, a job, town, relationship etc. that would take them one step away from that calling.

Unfortunately Satan will often offer a relationship with someone who is headed a different direction in life then you. To make things worse because they are different he will tell you that they are exotic, interesting, in short way better than what you have experienced before. This inevitably is deceitful men, and women are already so different in so many ways why would it be better to add to that. So that you not only have the standard differences, but a different calling, and different direction. Amos the prophet said, “how can two walk together except they be agreed?” The simple answer is they can’t. Different isn’t exotic it’s erroneous avoid it at all cost.

Looked at the countenance and words not outward attributes- Song of Solomon 2:14 says, “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” The next thing that made the Shepherd God’s choice was his correct focus. As you study Solomon you quickly see that his primary ways of wooing were: alcohol, flattery, coercion, peer pressure, harlequin romance, power, and promises of security. He starts with flattery of her shape, proportions etc. The Shepherd on the other hand does not start with the physical, or external, but rather looks at her character.

One of the marks of a worldly suitor is their focus on the externals. The problem with this approach is that physical beauty is transitory, fleeting, and time has a way of taking it away from us. Character on the other hand is who we really are under the skin, and it is what will make a great marriage decades later. The shepherd started with the eyes, and the countenance. It has been said eyes are the windows to the soul, and I think that is very accurate. Someone’s eyes can reveal whats in their heart. Take for instance a disobedient child, inevitably they can’t look their parents in the eye because of what’s in their heart.

When the Shepherd looked into the Shulamite’s eyes it caused him to declare, “thou hast dove’s eyes”. What does that mean you may wonder. The following attributes that the Shepherd saw in his beloved made her an ideal mate.

Dove’s mate for life- He saw a woman that was commited to a lifelong relationship for better or for worse

Dove’s are very pure- A dove will never rest on a dead carcasse. He could see her commitement to purity

Dove’s can fly long distances- He could see in her a commitment to the long term vision

Dove’s are transparent- Dove’s have transparent eyelids , and this is a picture of the Shulamite’s honesty, and transparency.

Was under authority- The last that made the Shepherd an ideal mate was the fact that he was under authority. From the story we get the impression that the Shepherd was an older man, and furthermore the story tells us that the Shulamite’s father was dead. So the Shulamite could have said, “your father’s dead, and I’m an older wiser man so lets just get married”.

However the Shepherd was a man under authority. In the beginning of the story when the brothers moved the Shulamite to the vineyards to slow their relationship they accepted that. They could have said, “we know this is God’s will, let’s just go for it” instead they waited patiently for God to reveal to their authority the will of God. In the last chapter likewise they have a willingness to share their story with the family, and ask for marital blessing.

If you are considering a course of action that requires you to go against your God ordained authority, preachers, teachers, parents, employers, goverment. Then you are probably about to make a mistake, God leads through authority, and the king’s heart is always in the hand of the Lord. So today let’s analyse our decision making paradigm, and make decisions like the Shepherd, and Shulamite today.

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