His Banner Over Me Was Love…

I randomly opened my Bible this morning and the first words my eyes fell on were…

‘He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.’

What a beautiful truth to look at on Valentine’s day friends!

This verse is so well known but I wanted to dig a little deeper into the Hebrew today.

He brought – bow’ – led, called, carried, lifted up, pulled in, fetched.’

Friends, when we first come to know Jesus as our Saviour, God calls us to His banqueting house, he finds us and lifts us up out of sin and despair. He fetches us, carries us and brings us to His banqueting house where we can feast on His perfect love.

‘me to the banqueting’ . yayin – From an unused root meaning to effervesce, wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxication:

God brings us to the house of wine, to the place where we’re washed in the precious blood of Christ and bathed in His everlasting love.

God intoxicates us with his love. It’s a love that bubbles up like fermented wine inside of us, overflowing to those around us, making us shine for His Kingdom. It’s a love that keeps bubbling up and overflowing from Him to us, day after day.

David describes it like this…

‘Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.’

This banqueting House is a most beautiful place

‘House’ – bayith – court, palace

It’s rich and beautiful, like a palace, a place rich in perfect, everlasting love.

It’s a place where no fear can enter because…

‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.’

This love covers us like a banner.

‘and his banner’ – degel – A large military standard.

A standard is a military battle flag, used in war.

We’re at war friends, not physical war but a spiritual war…

‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’

We’re at war with the enemy of our souls who seeks to destroy us…

‘But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

In battles, the standard bearer, (who carried the standard, or battle flag) would stay near the leader so you always knew where the leader was, also if you got separated from your unit you could quickly see where your unit was.

God’s love is like that standard, held up for us to see, to point us back to Him whenever we get distracted by the world or wander from His ways.

God’s banner of love is evident in so many little ways each day of our lives.

We see it displayed in each sunrise, in the song of a bird, the warmth of the sun, the pattering of rain, in His goodness to us each and every hour.

Friends, God’s banner over us is LOVE and it’s written in the precious blood of Christ, from when He gained the victory over sin and death and hell for us upon the cross. And this love and blood covers us and is over us as a banner.

This love is what strengthens us for the battle. This love is a love we can feast upon to give us the strength we need to keep fighting the enemy, this love holds us, this love keeps us, this love surrounds us and this love will hold us fast until the final enemy, death, is defeated.

‘He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.’

Sol 2:4, Ps 23:5,6, 1 John 4:18, Eph 6:12, 1 Cor 15:57, Sol 2:4.