‎אֲנִי יְשֵׁנָה, וְלִבִּי עֵר

“Ani y’she’na v’lee’bee air”

“I am asleep, but my heart is awake” (Song 5:2).

Song of Solomon 5:2 begins with an idiomatic expression for dreaming, “I am asleep, but my heart is awake.” The lover in the Song is dreaming about their love and their presence, longing for them. The longing is not just a conscious experience, but a deep longing of the heart. There is, however, something deeper happening here.

We are taught that we are “to walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). The context of 2 Corinthians 5:7 speaks to the longing of the heart to be with the Lord, the lover of our soul:

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:6-9).

David writes, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the prayer/requests/desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4 TLV).

Our delight, the conscious experience of life and living, is to be in the Lord, to be pleasing to Him. Then, David points us deeper to the requests of the heart. What is in our heart? Or more precisely, Who is in our heart? What is our treasure? Or more importantly, Who is our treasure? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21; cf. Phil. 3:8).

Just as the lover in the Song of Solomon dreamed of their love, David and Paul reveal to us that the desires (prayer/requests) and longing of our heart should be for the presence of the Living God: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps. 42:2).

Let us be awake to His presence, even while dreaming; and while awake, let us be dreaming of his soon return: “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua/Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

Be well. Shalom.