Meditations on the Song of Songs (3) -Set Me as a Seal upon Your Heart
Meditations on the Song of Songs (3)
Set Me as a Seal upon Your Heart, as a Seal upon Your Arm [Song 8:6]¹
The word seal here means stamp or impression. Thus, the phrase means: “Let me be imprinted on Your heart, impressed upon Your arm.” The heart symbolizes affection, while the arm symbolizes strength and help.
So the expression of the Song may mean: “Let me be imprinted on Your heart—attached to Your feelings and emotions—and at the same time, let me be in Your work and in Your time.” As St. John the Apostle said: “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18).
The phrase “Set me as a seal upon Your heart, as a seal upon Your arm” is twofold:
It can be said by God to man, and it can also be said by man to God.
Here, the human soul says to God: Grant me to feel Your love as Your child—to delight in You and taste the sweetness of communion with You. And though I am sinful and unworthy, yet Your love is greater than my sin. As a seal upon Your heart—never separate from me, and may I never separate from You. Let me not be with You one day and far away another.
And “as a seal upon Your arm”—grant me the help and strength by which I may remain steadfast in Your love, accomplish Your will, and not be shaken, as You have said before: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”… “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The Book of Revelation gives us a beautiful image of God in the midst of the seven churches, holding the seven angels (pastors) in His right hand (Rev 2:1). They are in His hand, “and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” As the Psalm says: “The right hand of the Lord has done valiantly; the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Ps 118).
O Lord, I am certain of Your love, but I want to see it extended in the power of Your arm.
I believe in Your love, yet at times I cry with David in the Psalm: “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Ps 13:1), and “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Ps 10:1).
I know that I am as a seal upon Your heart—for without Your love You would not have created me, and without Your love You would not have redeemed me. Yet I long to see myself as a seal upon Your arm. From the arm comes the word assistance; therefore, I want to see Your arm at work in my life.
God made Moses the Prophet a seal upon His heart when He appeared to him and spoke with him mouth to mouth, making him faithful in all His house (Num 12:7–8). But He made him also a seal upon His arm when Moses struck the Red Sea with his rod and brought forth water from the rock.
God also says to man: “Set Me as a seal upon your heart,” and even more, “My son, give Me your heart.”
And why the heart? The Lord adds: because “this people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Deut 6:5). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” says the Lord, “that you may open to Me.” For the sake of this heart, He sent prophets, apostles, divine inspiration, priests, preachers, and even the Holy Spirit Himself—the voice of conscience within man.
The Bride of the Song, in chapter five, made the Lord a seal upon her heart when she said: “The voice of my beloved!… My beloved put his hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for him.” But she did not make Him a seal upon her arm, for she did not arise to open for Him—she remained asleep, though her heart was awake.
At one point, Peter the Apostle made the Lord a seal upon his heart, but not upon his arm! He made Him a seal upon his heart when he said: “Even if all forsake You, I will not deny You… even if I must die with You.” But when trial came and death threatened, he cursed and swore, “I do not know the man.” Here, he had not made the Lord a seal upon his arm.
And when did he make Him a seal upon his arm? Later—when he was scourged for His sake, imprisoned for His name, and finally crucified upside down for Him.
Thus, “a seal upon the heart” may symbolize faith, while “a seal upon the arm” signifies works.
Both are necessary. It is not enough for your heart to be with God if your arm is idle and slothful.
Nehemiah made the Lord a seal upon his heart when he wept, fasted, and prayed after hearing that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates burned with fire (Neh 1:3–4). But he made the Lord a seal upon his arm when he arose with strength, journeyed, rebuilt the walls, and endured great hardship.
It is not enough to say, “I love God,” if you do not keep His commandments. For the Lord’s word is clear:
“He who loves Me keeps My commandments.”
“He who loves Me” means he has made Me a seal upon his heart;
“and keeps My commandments” means he has made Me a seal upon his arm.
Therefore, the Lord did not only say, “My son, give Me your heart,” but also added, “and let your eyes observe My ways.”
Saying “Lord, Lord” alone is not enough, for of the last day He said: “Many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’” and He will answer them, “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity.”
The foolish virgins made the Lord a seal upon the heart, but not upon the arm.
He was a seal upon their hearts, for they were virgins waiting for the Bridegroom, watching with their lamps—but not upon their arms, for they took no oil with them.
The Scripture says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” It is not enough to be a tree planted in God’s house by faith—you must also bear fruit by works, by your effort and God’s grace together—your arm and God’s arm united. For every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Even in human relationships we see the phrase “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.” Abraham loved Lot, his nephew. Did he love him only as a seal upon his heart? No—he was also a seal upon his arm. How so? When Sodom was taken captive in the war of Chedorlaomer, Abraham gathered his trained men, born in his house, and pursued the kings until he rescued Lot with a strong arm (Gen 14:14).
And our father Jacob loved Rachel, his uncle’s daughter, and married her. Was she only a seal upon his heart? No—for he labored for her twenty years. Thus she was also a seal upon his arm.
Here we see that love alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by giving and sacrifice.
Love is the seal upon the heart; giving is the seal upon the arm.
Those who loved God and made Him a seal upon their hearts through faith also labored for His sake—in crucifying the flesh with its passions, in service, in preaching, in bearing the cross, in witnessing for His name, and even in martyrdom. “For to you it has been granted not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil 1:29).
Faith in Him is the seal upon the heart, like the stamp that marks pure gold; suffering for Him is the seal upon the arm, also like a golden seal that distinguishes true faith. Of this the Lord said to the angel of the Church of Ephesus: “I know your works, your labor, your patience… you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary” (Rev 2:2–3).
Can you believe with your heart without ascending the cross, to have your arm nailed with Him?
The Lord loved us “to the end,” so we were a seal upon His heart; but when He ascended the cross, we became a seal upon His arm.
Do you love God yet not labor to spread His kingdom? Do you love people yet make no effort to serve them? Do you love His commandments yet refuse to endure for their sake?
Are you then only a seal upon the heart, and not upon the arm?
Paul loved Christ, yet said, “I have suffered the loss of all things that I may gain Christ.” He also said, “I labored more abundantly than they all,” and again, “If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him.”
The seal upon the heart and the seal upon the arm are inseparable if the seal is genuine.
The seal upon the heart cannot be true unless accompanied by the seal upon the arm.
If you truly love God, you will surely watch in prayer, labor in service, spread His kingdom, read His word, and keep His commandments.
But if you do none of these, you must examine yourself: Is your love for God true from the heart? Is God really a seal upon your heart?
As the Apostle said: “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith.”
The one who truly loves, his arm is ever extended to give. He who loves the poor will surely help the poor. Love without giving is not true love. If you love the Church, you must give your time, your effort, your money, and your care.
Therefore God taught man giving from the beginning: to give the Lord one day of the week, to give tithes, first fruits, and vows. His love is not confined to the heart without the arm. And if necessary, he gives even his life.
Yet because you cannot do all this by yourself, you pray to God for help and say, “Set me as a seal upon Your heart, as a seal upon Your arm.”
When God is a seal upon your heart, He blesses your heart; when He is a seal upon your arm, He blesses your arm.
Here appears the work of grace: you never act alone, but by the power of this holy seal that God has imprinted on your heart and arm when you received the Sacrament of Holy Chrism, by which God sealed all your members—your heart, your arm, and all that is in you—as holy to Him.
The Apostle says: “Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13), and also, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed” (Eph 4:30).
This is the seal upon your heart and upon your arm—the Spirit of God who sanctifies the heart, filling it with divine love, and sanctifies the will to accomplish God’s purpose in life.
Thus, God looks upon your soul anointed with chrism, sanctified by the holy anointing, and whispers in your ear: “Set Me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.”
The Book of Revelation completes the Song of Songs, for St. John the Beloved says: “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels…” calling them to wait “till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Rev 7:2–3).
He who is sealed on his heart and on his arm will also be sealed on his forehead, distinguished by this divine seal.
“And I heard the number of those who were sealed—one hundred and forty-four thousand…” (Rev 7:4).
Yes, O Angel of the Living God, may the seal of God in Your hand be not only a mark of distinction, but also a driving power—the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
¹ Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani newspaper on October 12, 1980.
