The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” – Song of Songs 3:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 18, 2026): Song of Songs 3

I attended High School in a small town. As a result, most of us kids had a pretty good relationship with the local police officers. There were only four or five officers responsible for the area, and it seemed like they wanted to build relationships with at least some of us kids. That meant that we felt pretty comfortable being around them. I recall one incident in which a Check Stop was set up on a local bridge. Everyone coming into town had to cross the bridge; there were no other choices other than to drive at least a couple of hours out of your way so that you could approach the town from a different direction.

So, I drove up to the Check Stop. I hadn’t been drinking or doing anything illegal, just a kid trying to make his way home. The officer, whom I knew slightly, approached my window and requested my license, insurance, and registration. No other traffic was on the bridge, so it was just me and this young police officer. I retrieved my wallet, gave the officer my license, and then leaned over to open the glove compartment to get my registration and insurance. The registration was right where it was supposed to be; however, the insurance card was missing.

The police officer was not impressed and started to really press me. Did I know what the penalty was for driving without insurance? I assured him that I had insurance; I just couldn’t find my proof of insurance. I offered to bring my insurance to the police station the next day, but the officer wasn’t buying any of it. At one point, I wondered whether I would be arrested for driving without an insurance card. Again, it was a small town, and one of the local officials who was responsible for the jail was a friend (and my boss at my part-time job), and he had warned me that he didn’t ever want to be woken up to find out that I was spending the night in the local lock-up. And to this point, he never had.

Just as my fear was reaching its peak, a car pulled up behind me. The officer handed me back my license and insurance with the words, “Get lost, Garry. I have a real customer.” My “police confrontation” had a good ending. Still, maybe for a moment, I understood a little of what some minorities in several places in the world experience every time they encounter a police official. (I found my insurance card the next day. It had fallen to the floor when I pulled out the insurance. In the darkness of the night on the bridge, I couldn’t see it.)

The bride would have had a good relationship with the Watchman. But it wasn’t the watchman for whom she was searching. It was her beloved. She would ask if he had seen him, but then she would move on. I love the way Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) describes this passage.

She did not sit down, and say to any one of them, “O watchman of the night, thy company cheers me! The streets are lonely and dangerous; but if thou art near, I feel perfectly safe, and I will be content to stay awhile with thee.” Nay, but she leaves the watchmen, and still goes along the streets until she finds him whom her soul loveth (Charles Spurgeon).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Song of Songs 4