Song of Solomon 8 … Consider Him Who Has Sealed Us in the Strength of His Love

Originally posted: 2/17/2021

“Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death…” (8:6).

We find ourselves at the end of this love song; and it crescendos, like any love song worth its salt, in a passionate eruption and explosive declaration of the unmatched force of love: indomitable and unrivaled; uncontainable and unstoppable; unquenchable and indestructible; unparalleled and unsurpassed.

“Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy is as severe as Sheol;
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
The very flame of the Lord.
⁷ “Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers overflow it;
If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised,” (8:6-7).

Death cannot stop it. No rival can thwart it. Nothing can extinguish it. And no one in their right mind would ever think of abandoning this kind of love for anything, even for all the riches in the world.

It’s no wonder the bride has asked to be set like a seal over his heart (set over all his devotion) and his arm (set over all his strength), to be claimed by her beloved as his own; that he would be recognized as hers, and she as his.

 “Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a seal on your arm… (8:6).

“My beloved is mine, and I am his…” (Song of Solomon 2:16).

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…” (Song of Solomon 6:3).

Seal: 2368. חוֹתָם ḥôṯām,  חֹתָם ḥōṯām: A masculine noun referring to a seal, a signet ring. It was usually made of baked clay, metal, or stones and was used to identify someone. It served much like an ancient identity card (Gen. 38:18) by bearing a person’s distinctive mark. It also refers to a metal or other type of mold containing a person’s seal that was then impressed on clay (Job 38:14) or another substance…It was a precious and intimate possession of its owner (Jer. 22:24); hence, a signet ring could be used figuratively of a person closely connected to someone (Hag. 2:23). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Scripture tells us that the Father has set His Seal on His Son as His sole provision for eternal life.

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal,” (John 6:27 emphasis added).

And Scripture also tells us that He has Sealed us in His Holy Spirit, guaranteeing our eternal inheritance in His Kingdom.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, ²² who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge, (2 Corinthians 1:22-22 emphasis added).

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory, (Ephesians 1:13-14 emphasis added).

We have been guaranteed our inheritance, for we have been identified as His and marked as His own intimate possession; Sealed by the Strength of His Love; for He Himself Is Love.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love, (1 John 4:7-8).

Consider Him Who Has Sealed Us in the Strength of His Love

• He Has Sealed Us in the Faithful Strength of His Love.
  • Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (Deuteronomy 7:9).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Abundant Strength of His Love.
  • But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, (Psalm 86:15).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Enduring Strength of His Love.
  • Give thanks to the God of heaven!
    His faithful love endures forever, (Psalm 136:26 CSB).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Compassionate Strength of His Love.
  • “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
    But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
    And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
    Says the Lord who has compassion on you, (Isaiah 54:10).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Everlasting Strength of His Love.
  • The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying,
    “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness,” (Jeremiah 31:3).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Life-Giving Strength of His Love.
  • “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Unfathomable Strength of His Love.
  • so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God, (Ephesians 3:17-18).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Extravagant Strength of His Love.
  • But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Great Strength of His Love.
  • But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (Ephesians 2:4-5).

• He Has Sealed Us in the Perfecting Strength of His Love.
  • There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love, (1 John 4:18).

How do we respond to Him Who Has Sealed Us in the Strength of His Love?

The Strength of His Love is indomitable and unrivaled; uncontainable and unstoppable; unquenchable and indestructible; unparalleled and unsurpassed; it is Faithful, Abundant, Enduring, Compassionate, Everlasting, Life-Giving, Extravagant, Unfathomable, Great, and Perfecting.

Death cannot stop the Strength of His Love. No rival can thwart the Strength of His Love. Nothing can extinguish the Strength of His Love. And no one in their right mind would so grieve Him as to even think of abandoning the Strength of His Love for anything, even for all the riches in the world.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption, (Ephesians 4:30 emphasis added).

As we leave the pages of this passionate love story, may we always remain awe-stricken in all that we have considered in these eight short chapters of this Love Letter that so beautifully reflects His Love:

He Has Sealed Us in the Strength of His Love in Jesus, His Gift of Gifts [1]
and He has placed us forever under His Banner of Love [2]
How can we not passionately pursue Him? Truly such a Love Must Be Sought [3].
He is the only One Who is willing and able to Validate Our Value [4],
and He Is Wholly Desirable [5].
He Is Our Beloved [6],
and He Delights in Our Beauty [7].
These truths are forever ours, for He Has Sealed Us in the Strength of His Love [8].

How can we possibly take His Love for granted?

Oh Lord, stir our hearts like never before, to love You like never before. We want You to place us as a Seal over Your Heart and Arm, that all the world would know that we belong to You as we proudly proclaim You as our God; for truly nothing can compare with Your Faithful, Abundant, Enduring, Compassionate, Everlasting, Life-Giving, Extravagant, Unfathomable, Great, and Perfecting Love.

We thank You Father and we are passionately grateful that You Have Sealed Us in the Strength of Your Love. Please use our lives as an impassioned declaration to a lost and dying world that desperately needs to know the Strength of Your Love.

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonders.
² I will be glad and exult in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High, (Psalm 9:1-2).

Praise the Lord, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
² For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the Lord is everlasting.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 117).

Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, (Psalm 107:43).

Let’s Grow Together!