Days 126&127: Song of Solomon 5:2-8:14, Psalm 45, Proverbs 1-4

I continue to be baffled by Song of Solomon. It's like a gushy romance novel stuck in the middle of the Bible.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
   coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
   not one of them is missing. (Song of Solomon 6:6)

Really?

I confess that, of all the books of the Bible, I am probably least familiar with this one. I just haven't been motivated to look into it because reading it doesn't arouse my curiosity...I just sort of mentally gag and try to get through it.

The them of romance continues in today's reading because Psalm 45 says in it's heading that it's "A Wedding Song". It seems like it might be for Solomon's wedding (one of them, at least) because of lines like this:

Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
   Forget your people and your father’s house.
Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
   honor him, for he is your lord. (Psalm 45:10-11)

And then there's Proverbs. It looks we'll be spending a little time getting to know Solomon through the things he wrote before returning to the history of his life and reign. Proverbs begins by clearly stating what it's for and why it was written. (Something that would have been helpful for Song of Solomon.)

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple,
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:1-7)

The first four chapters contain several verses that are pretty familiar, and for good reason, but there were a couple that stood out to me this morning that aren't quite so familiar. The first one is:

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
   when it is in your power to act.
Do not say to your neighbor,
   “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
   when you already have it with you. (Proverbs 3:27-28)

I think it stood out to me because I so often do exactly what it says not to do.

The second one was more familiar to me but I hadn't read it in quite a while and it is pretty powerful stuff:

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
   or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
   turn from it and go on your way. (Proverbs 4: 14-15)