So many allusions and intertextual references in the Song of Songs. It's like treasure hunting. This morning, I'm thinking about one of the most painful verses in the Song and the hope found in what the bride is echoing:

"The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me---the guardians of the walls." (SoS 5:7)

"For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one's youth when she is rejected, says your God. 'I have deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with abundant compassion.'" (Isaiah 54:6-7)

And we know where to find him:
"My love has gone down to his garden, to beds of spice, to feed in the gardens and gather lilies. I am my love's and my love is mine; he feeds among the lilies." (SoS 2-3)

He is with his people.