Song of Solomon 5:7

This is a very sad verse. The guards are very cruel. Their behaviour is terrible. They laugh at the young woman. They hurt her. They hit her. They even take away her dress, so that she is ashamed.

The guards thought that the woman was very stupid to be out during the night. Only bad women would be outside during the night (Proverbs 7:9-10). Only evil people had a reason to be outside (Job 24:13-16).

Perhaps the guards do not believe that the woman is looking for Solomon.

Perhaps they think that she has spent the night with another man.

Perhaps they imagine that she deserves punishment.

As we become more mature Christians, our responsibilities increase (James 3:1).

And the devil may oppose us more (1 Peter 5:8-9).

New Christians make many mistakes. They do not need to worry about their errors. We simply teach them to confess their evil deeds to God. Then God forgives them, and they can learn to do the right things. It is as if God is waiting for them to trust him again (3:4).

Mature Christians should not make the same mistakes as new Christians. God will still forgive a mature Christian when that person confesses his errors. But the results of these errors may be more severe. God is training that person to be more responsible.

When Peter met Jesus, Peter was afraid. He told Jesus to go away. But Jesus was not angry. He simply told Peter not to be afraid (Luke 5:8-10). Later, Peter tried to tell Jesus that he was wrong. Jesus was stricter. He warned Peter that Peter’s ideas came from the devil (Mark 8:32-33). After the soldiers arrested Jesus, Peter was afraid. Three times, he denied that he knew Jesus (Mark 15:66-72). John’s behaviour was much more mature (John 19:26-27). So Peter was afraid when Jesus died. After Jesus became alive again, Jesus called Peter to serve him for a second time (John chapter 21).