Fall 1994

The Eye of a Dove
Wade E Taylor

"Behold, you are fair, My love;
behold, you are fair; you have
dove's eyes." Song of Solomon 1:15.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the
way you should go; I will guide you with
MY eye. Be you not as the horse, or as
the mule, which have no understanding;
Whose mouth must be held in with bit
and bridle, lest they come near you."
Psalm 32:8 9.

We are to cultivate within our spiritual life and walk a "single eye" that sees Him alone. This means that we have disciplined the outward gaze of our vision to be upward toward the Lord. As we develop our relationship with Him, we become close enough to Him to see which way He is looking. As a result, we can understand His thoughts and feelings and be easily led by Him.

Our having this quality of a "single eye" indicates that we are becoming increasingly aware of the Lord's person and presence. It is His desire to lift us into this special relationship of communion and fellowship and to share with us the outworking of His purposes.

The Lord pays a very special compliment to His bride in the first chapter of the Song of Solomon. He sees in her a quality that attracts His attention and which He intensely desires to cultivate and develop within her. "Behold, you are fair, my love; behold you are fair; you have dove's eyes." Song of Solomon 1:15.

A dove is often referred to as a "love bird" because it does not have "side vision." A dove “fixes” its gaze upon one object and then sees nothing else. It is not distracted by activities around it. A horse is different, it has side vision. It must have a "bit" within its mouth, and "side blinders" on its eyes, to keep it from TURNING ASIDE, because of what it sees.

The quality that so moved and attracted the Lord to her was her "single eye". She had cried out, "Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed, where You make Your flock to rest at noon: for why should I be AS ONE THAT TURNS ASIDE by the flocks of thy companions?" Song of Solomon 1:7.

This intense desire that she expresses here is singularly towards her Lord. Now, she has a "single vision" that intensely desires to gaze upon the Lord alone. She can no longer be satisfied with a knowledge of things about the Lord, she desires the Lord Himself. The ministries, abilities or personalities of His servants are not enough for her. Now, she must personally know the Lord Himself.

An intense reduction of all her ambitions, dreams and desires has brought her to this place. Now that her vision has become single, the Lord is ready to lead her on. His next word to her is, "Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come away." Song of Solomon 2:10.

Psalm 27 was written by David about his experience with the Lord as he hid in the back of a dark cave while Saul's armies were outside seeking to kill him. In the darkness of his present circumstances, his dreams about sitting on the throne of an earthly kingdom, with all of its grandeur, faded in the light of the eternal Kingdom that he now saw.

In this seemingly hopeless situation, David realized that only that which is of God is of any value. All else vanished in the darkness of the cave, even the hope that he had received from the prophecy that had been given to him by Samuel when he was anointed to sit on the throne of Israel as King. Now, he sees only the Lord. He has been reduced to a single vision and has but one desire - to abide in the presence of the Lord. The dark cave has become a cathedral for he has the eye of a dove.

Only then could he say,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall
I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of
whom shall I be afraid? … ONE THING have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His
temple" Psalm 27:1,4.

Now the values in his life have come into “Divine order,” and the Lord can lead him on to the throne of Israel.

Jesus said, "But seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33. The Lord is seeking those who are willing to be reduced to this singleness of vision. To these, He will then be able to say, "Behold, you are fair, you have dove's eyes."

Then He will lead these up into a further experience of union with Him in bringing forth and establishing His purpose through the function of His Kingdom within these who have this single eye.