Reflections on the Song of Songs
“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm”

Today we meditate on the phrase: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm” (Song 8:6), and it is a double expression:

It can be directed from man to God, and it can be directed from God to man, and it has other meanings.

The seal, the heart, and the arm:

Here we find the human soul, having familiarity with God…

At certain times a person is in a state of humiliation and contrition, saying to the Lord: “I am not worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” But here he says to Him: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm,” imprinted upon Your heart and upon Your arm…

We must first know what is meant by (the seal), and the significance of the word (heart) and the word (arm), so that we may continue our meditation.

The seal here means the imprint, not the ring that is worn on the finger.

Thus the meaning of the phrase is: Set me as a seal, by which Your heart is sealed, and by which Your arm is sealed, completely attached to both.

The heart is a symbol of love, emotion, feelings, and affections…

As for the arm, it is a symbol of strength, work, and help…

Perhaps the arm is the origin of the derivation of assistance, and the hand is the source of support… So-and-so put his hand to the matter, meaning he participated in the work. The Scripture says that God brought the people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And the Scripture says: “The right hand of the Lord has done valiantly!”

The human soul says to the Lord: “Set me as a seal upon Your heart,” that is, I want to feel Your affection toward me; show me Your love. Give me Your tender bosom upon which I may lean like John. Grant me Your love despite my unworthiness.

I am a sinful person, but Your love is greater than my sin. If You loved only the righteous, we would all perish. Set me as a seal upon Your heart, for I am in need of Your love, O You who have engraved us on the palm of Your hand.

And set me as a seal upon Your arm. Do not forsake me.

At times it seemed to the prophet David that he was not a seal upon God’s heart nor upon His arm, so he cried out saying: “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” “Why do You stand afar off in times of trouble?”

“Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” “O Lord, hasten to help me.” Use, O Lord, Your strength. Use Your arm.

It is also possible that the Lord says these words to man:

“Set Me as a seal upon your heart,” “My son, give Me your heart,” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” You say: “Your word I have hidden in my heart.” Would that it be not only My word, but I Myself. I seek this heart by Myself and by My messengers and prophets… The Lord says this because sometimes He is only upon our lips, not in our hearts…!

I am astonished that the Lord, the Owner of all, asks a request, and asks it from the work of His hands!! “Give Me your heart,” “Set Me as a seal upon your heart”!

He asks for this heart because He loves it, and in order to fill it with love… He asks for it to purify it and sanctify it, and to make it His image, and worthy for His dwelling within it.

Set Me as a seal upon your heart, like the stamp with which gold is sealed, so it becomes official and acknowledged.

Thus place My seal upon you, that you may be acknowledged as a son of the Kingdom, bearing My Name and marked with this divine mark.

You say to Him: My Lord, my name is Michael or Raphael. He says: “I do not want to be a seal only upon your name, but upon your heart as well”…

He also says: “Set Me as a seal upon your arm.” Show your love by your work. For many grow lazy, saying: It is enough that the heart contains the love of God!

If you love God, labor for His sake, and God “is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love.”

“Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Our father Abraham loved his nephew Lot. Was he only a seal upon his heart? No, but the Scripture says: “Now when Abram heard that his brother Lot was taken captive, he armed his trained servants” (Gen. 14), and rescued him from captivity. Thus he was also a seal upon his arm.

Jacob loved Rachel; she was a seal upon his heart. But he was not satisfied with the heart only; he labored for her twenty years; the heat consumed him by day and the frost by night… She was a seal upon his arm.

If you love God, labor in the service of the Church, in the vigils of the night, in the toil of fasting and prostrations. Set Him as a seal upon your arm.

Set Him as a seal upon your heart, by faith, and as a seal upon your arm, by works. Has God become a seal upon your arm? When you are tested in the love of your heart, do you succeed in the test? I will give you an example:

The Apostle Peter made the Lord a seal upon his heart. He said to Him: Even if all deny You, I will not deny You, even if I have to die with You. But when the test came, he denied Him three times…

In Peter’s denial, the Lord was upon his heart and not upon his arm.

Therefore he said to the Lord after the Resurrection: “You know, Lord, all things; You know that I love You.” Yes, I know that I am a seal upon Your heart, but I am not a seal upon Your arm. And Peter remained like this while hiding in the upper room, afraid…

But when did Peter become a seal upon the Lord’s arm?

He became so when he was flogged for the sake of the Lord, and imprisoned, and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” He struggled for the sake of the Gospel, and finally was crucified upside down. Thus he became a seal upon His arm.

This is the working love that the Lord asks of us, toward Him and toward people: that the arm may join the heart in the work of love.

A daughter says to her mother that she loves her with all her heart, as a seal upon her heart. Then she leaves her mother to toil in the housework without extending her hand to help her. This is not a seal upon her arm.

A son says that he loves his father as a seal upon his heart. Yet he neglects his studies and burdens his father with heavy expenses in private lessons and in repeating the school year due to failure: this is not a seal upon his father’s arm.

The hand must prove the love of the heart…

You love the poor with your heart, without loving him with your hand—your love is false…

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.” May this verse enter practically into the depth of our lives.

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An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year (Issue Seventeen), 23-4-1976.

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