His banner over me is love
So it was flowers yesterday. Today it is fruit and animals. We all describe our love in different ways and this is how this young woman describes the love of her life –
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Song of Songs 2:3-9
Delicious. Refreshing. Sustaining. Strong. Virile. Full of life. The most natural thing in the world.
Such is love.
Does anyone else remember the song ‘He brought me into his banqueting house‘? I’m sure some of you will. I grew up on that song. I don’t think anyone told me it was from the Song of Songs!
Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
His banner over me is love.
This is a military term. As a soldier, you would march under the banner, the ensign of your leader, your King. The banner would display to your enemies whose side you were on. Where your loyalty lay. Who you were prepared to fight for.
And when you were victorious in battle, you would raise your banner over the captured land to show that it now belonged to your King. He had claimed the ground. There would be a celebration banquet. Everyone would be rewarded for their bravery and allegiance. All would be provided.
So yes, there is an obvious analogy here. As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. We walk under his banner. We are on his side, part of his community. When we call ourselves Christians, people know where our loyalties lie, who we are serving, who we will stand up for.
And we are involved in the mission of taking his kingdom into the darkest places in the world. When Jesus died on the cross, he was raised up for all to see what love is all about. And that love does have the victory. Love wins. And it’s our job to stand under his banner of love and proclaim his victory over darkness and death.
His banner over me is love.
But let’s take it back to this young woman and the love of her life. Me and the love of my life. You and the love of your life.
When we fall in love, we stand under the banner of our partner’s love. We walk forward into unknown territory together under the banner of love. We belong to them and they belong to us. We stand together and we are a team.
We are on their side. We have their back. We are loyal to them. We are faithful to them.
And so we should live that out in how we behave. What we say. How we treat each other in public and in private. We should be looking to build up and not put down. To support and encourage, not criticise or tease or bring down. We should stick up for them and look out for them. We should stand with them and fight for them.
The banner over us is love. Our love. It is worth protecting. It is worth fighting for.
His banner over me is love.
