The God Who Comes in the Night (Part 5)

After surrendering fully in chapter 4, inviting both the north and south winds to blow upon her life, the bride is ready for anything. She’s said “yes” to partnership, to maturity, even to suffering. But what follows next might surprise us: not instant intimacy, not glorious ministry, but the night.

“I sleep, but my heart is awake;
It is the voice of my beloved!
He knocks…” (Song 5:2)

The Bridegroom comes again, but this time He comes in the dark. It’s not rejection; it’s a deeper invitation. He’s calling her into a love that is refined and relentless. She hesitates momentarily at his invitation, “I’ve taken off my robe… I’ve washed my feet…” She doesn’t know what awaits her but it’s His voice calling her into the night so she willingly obeys. 

The Dark Night of the Soul

This is the moment spiritual writers have called the dark night of the soul. It describes a season where God draws us closer by inviting us to share in His sufferings. Its a part of our christian journey sharpens and matures our love through experientially connecting with parts of Him that most want to bypass. The dark night is the night of Gethsemane. Its the place of suffering. Its a season of silence. When Jesus comes this time He comes as the Suffering Servant—“His head covered with dew, His locks with the drops of the night” (5:2). This is not the triumphant King, instead He shows Himself as the One acquainted with grief and suffering.

He invites her into the night and still He calls her “my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one”, in order to stabilize her for what’s ahead. When she finally rises, she’s all in. Her fingers drip with myrrh, the fragrance of death and surrender. She’s embraces the way of the cross to find HIm in the night. 

In the dark night there are several challenges to our faith; The first is the absence of His presence. She searches, calls, cries out, but gets no answer. Then comes the second challenge: she is wounded by the watchmen. Spiritual authority, those meant to protect, mistreat her. They even tear away her veil—her covering, her dignity. And through it all she remains lovesick.

The Beauty Revealed in the Night

Instead of hardening, she softens. Instead of withdrawing, she presses in. The daughters of Jerusalem, confused by her resolve, ask: “What makes Him so special? Why do you still love Him?”

Her answer is one of the most powerful descriptions of the beauty of Jesus in all of scripture. It is a poetic explosion of love and adoration, born from the intimacy of longing through the night season:

“My Beloved is radiant and ruddy,
Chief among ten thousand…
His mouth is most sweet,
Yes, He is altogether lovely.
This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend.” (5:10,16)

She describes ten facets of His beauty: His perfect leadership, His passionate zeal, His faithful gaze, His rich emotions, His gracious speech, His sacrificial strength, His unwavering motives. He is altogether lovely. This isn’t praise from a place of comfort, it is devotion forged in the fire.

Real Love Is Tested

This chapter confronts a Western Christian assumption: that obedience leads to ease. It doesn’t. Sometimes, obedience leads to trial, to delay, even to suffering. But that doesn’t mean God has withdrawn. It means He’s inviting us deeper. He’s shaping something eternal in us.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
—2 Corinthians 4:17

The dark night strips away sentimentality and reveals substance. It proves whether your love is based on blessings or on His beauty. And it gives birth to something precious: a pure, steady, unwavering love. One that can say in the face of pain, “This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend.”

Your Dark Night Isn’t Wasted

If you’re in that place now—feeling abandoned, misunderstood, even mistreated—don’t turn away. Like the bride, let your trial become your testimony. Let it draw out the beauty of Jesus in your words and your worship. You may not feel Him now, but your “yes” still moves Him. He sees. He knows. And He will come again.

This isn’t the end of the story. The very next chapter reveals a bride who has grown radiant, resolute, and ready. But for now, in chapter 5, she shows us what it means to love in the dark.