Open to the Public
Song of Solomon 2:4 - "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."

When a dating relationship is in good order, each person can expect several things to happen as an automatic consequence of their spending time together. The first few verses of Song of Solomon chapter 2 detail these healthy expectations. The last of these expectations is exemplified in verse 4 by the fact that the man and the woman had an open-to-the-public relationship: The woman said, “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love” (Song 2:4). The banqueting table was a large area, usually occupied by many people. Solomon wasn’t at all ashamed to let the entire world know he was dating the young woman.

And that’s the way it should be. Not that you engage in a great deal of PDA (public display of affection), but that you are not the least bit ashamed for any person to know that you are dating. If you have any qualms at all about what others will think if they discover you are dating, question your relationship seriously.

Notice, too, that the woman stated. “His banner over me was love”. A banner was used in many ways in the Scriptures, and nearly all of those ways applied to the romantic relationship developing between Solomon and the woman. A banner was

1. A mark of identity. A banner was used in war to identify a king’s troops. The woman had no doubt as she entered the banquet hall that she was with Solomon. She knew that he had chosen to be identified with her and have her identified with him.
2. A mark of presence. Kings who had multiple residences often used banners to indicate when they were at home in a particular palace or fortress. The woman knew that when she walked into the banqueting hall that all eyes were upon her and that everybody in the room knew that she was with Solomon and he was with her. They had arrived as a couple, and they would depart as a couple. They were at home with each other in the midst of that public setting. They were with each other, present to each other. Any person who might intrude into their relationship was only a temporary visitor, not a resident of their relationship.
3. A canopy of spiritual blessing. Even today in Jewish weddings, a prayer shawl is suspended like a banner above the couple being married. It is a sign that the two are becoming one flesh, one identity, and that what they are doing is acknowledged as good and right before God. They are going to dwell under the same tent and under the blessing of God.

The woman in the Song of Solomon felt a banner of love over her. She had a knowing in her spirit that Solomon was doing the right thing by her and before the Lord and that their relationship was in good Spiritual order. Nothing had been done to violate the purity or sanctity of their relationship. They were candidates for all of God’s blessings.

What about you? Are you placing a banner of love over your significant other?

What are 3 ways that you could more appropriately love and respect your partner in a manner that is open-to-the-public?