Song of Solomon.....and other Psalms..., page 1

The Song of Solomon -- also called the Song of Songs or Canticle of Canticles -- is considered by scholars as a Canaanite wedding hymn of uncertain date.
In Orthodox Church Tradition it is interpreted as a mystical love story between man's soul and God. Christian saints of East and West, such as Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux, have given such a meaning to the book which is in line with the biblical tradition of viewing the interrelationship of God and His People as that of conjugal love (See Hos, Jer 2-3, Eph 5, Rev 21-22).
This book is never read in the liturgical services of the Orthodox Church, although certain lines from it are traditionally sung in the Russian Orthodox Church when the bride approaches her bridegroom in the church before the celebration of their marriage.

Virtually all states of man's soul before God are found expressed in the psalms: praising, thanking, blessing, rejoicing, petitioning, repenting, lamenting, questioning and even complaining.
Many of the psalms are centered in the cultic rituals of the Jerusalem temple and the Davidic kingship.
Others recount God's saving actions in Israelite history. Still others carry prophetic utterances about events yet to come, particularly those of the messianic age.
Thus, for example, we find Christ quoting Psalm 8 in reference to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem; Psalm 110 in reference to his own mysterious divinity; and Psalm 22, when, hanging upon the cross, He cries out with the words of the psalm in which is described His crucifixion and his ultimate salvation of the world (See Mt 21:16, 22:44, 27:46).

In the Orthodox Church all of the psalms are understood as having their deepest and most genuine spiritual meaning in terms of Christ and His mission of eternal salvation.
Thus, for example, the psalms which refer to the king are sung in the Church in reference to Christ's exaltation and glorification at the right hand of God.
The psalms which refer to Israel's deliverance are sung in reference to Christ's redemption of the whole world. The psalms calling for victory over the enemies in battle refer to the only real Enemy, the devil, and all of his wicked works which Christ has come to destroy. Babylon thus signifies the realm of Satan, and Jerusalem, the eternal Kingdom of God.
The psalms which lament the innocent suffering of the righteous are sung as the plea of the Lord Himself and all those with Him who are the "poor and needy" who will rise up to rule the earth on the day of God's terrible judgment.
Thus, the psalter remains forever as the divinely-inspired song book of prayer and worship for all of God's People, and most especially for those who belong to the Messiah whose words the psalms are in their deepest and most divine significance.

Thought it would be nice to share!
helen....