Dee Brestin Teaches Us How to See Jesus in Song of Songs in Her New Book

By Timothy Yap Jun 14, 2017 04:34 AM EDT

Did you know that God loves you with a passion-and He wrote a love song to help you experience that love in a personal way? Tucked away in the pages of Scripture is one of the most fascinating and most misunderstood books of the Bible: the Song of Songs. Although the Song of Songs details a passionate, earthly love story, it is intended to illuminate the best love story, the intense love God has for us, His beloved.

In He Calls You Beautiful, Bible teacher Dee Brestin explores this love song from God to reveal transformative truths for each of us, whether married, single, or widowed. With rich contemporary illustrations and insight from biblical scholars, Dee shows how God uses poetry and exquisite images to illuminate the intimacy that Jesus longs to have with you.

God calls you to know His love not only in your head but also in your heart. He sings over you a song of love, a song of salvation, a song of hope. A Song of songs.

The book releases on July 11. Dee Brestin is the author of several Fisherman guides, including Proverbs and Parables and Building Your House on the Lord. She has also written Falling in Love with Jesus (with Kathy Troccoli) and The Friendships of Women. She and her husband, Steve, have five children and four grandchildren.

"Dee Brestin has a lovely, lyrical writing voice, perfectly suited to the Song of Songs. Verse by verse, she engages each of our five senses to help us truly experience the breathtaking love of God. The resources and questions she offers for Bible studies are exceptional. And her sheer passion for Him captures our hearts and minds until we too are swept up in His divine dance. He Calls You Beautiful is just that-beautiful. I learned so much and loved every word!"
-Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author of 31 Verses to Write on Your Heart

"Every woman's heart longs for her own personal love story in which she is desired, pursued, and cherished. As I read Dee's new book, He Calls You Beautiful, I wept again and again at the depth of love God has for me and for you. I underlined whole paragraphs so I could go back and read them again. If you long for your faith to move out of your head and into your heart, savor this book. You will feel undeniably loved."
-Leslie Vernick, Christian counselor, relationship coach, speaker, and author of numerous books including The Emotionally Destructive Marriage

"Dee Brestin joyfully leads readers through the enigmatic book of Song of Songs, causing our hearts to melt with the beauty of Christ and making us long for more intimacy with Christ."
-Nancy Guthrie, author of the Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament Bible study series

"Bernard of Clairvaux, one of the most beloved and influential writers of the Middle Ages, believed he could interpret the entire Bible through one book, the Song of Songs. Imagine seeing not the Gospels or Galatians or Romans but the Song of Songs as the best lens for understanding all of God's heart in all of God's Word. This seems strange to those of us who might approach this book of the Bible with detached curiosity and lingering questions. Yet drawing on trusted resources and relentlessly pointing her readers back to communion with Christ, Dee Brestin similarly navigates between the false choices of romantic love poem or simple allegory to help readers embrace the modern-day relevance of this ancient song."
-Rankin Wilbourne, pastor and author of Union with Christ

"In He Calls You Beautiful, Dee Brestin poignantly weaves together story and biblical truths to illustrate God's enraptured heart for His people. Several times as I read these pages, it was almost as if His breath was on the back of my neck. I had chills, feeling this nearness that Dee extracts so aptly from the Song of Songs. Just one chapter into this book and I was already making a list of friends with whom to share it. This is an excellent read for the hungry believer."
-Sara Hagerty, author of Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet

"Dee Brestin's fine books always strike me as deeply human, personal in the very best sense. This one is supremely so. Dee has done her homework. Taking the Song of Songs as a living picture of an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, she traces the relationship from before its beginning to its death-defeating end. Even those Bible students who do not follow all the parallels she sees will be greatly enriched by letting her help them dig into this Old Testament illustration of Christ and His bride, the church."
-Greg R. Scharf, professor of homiletics and chair of the department of pastoral theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and author of Relational Preaching: Knowing God, His Word, and Your Hearers

"My years of ministry to women struggling with relational and sexual brokenness have shown me how often they find it difficult to understand the depths of Jesus's tender love for us and how He actually can transform our lives! People all around us have distorted views of sexuality and feel trapped in patterns of disordered desires. Now in He Calls You Beautiful, I have a resource to offer that plumbs the beauty and wonder of intimate love with God, and the glory of His design for sexuality within marriage. I highly commend this book to the single and married, younger and older, because it will guide you through the Song of Solomon, a book often misunderstood or avoided, into the spacious place of intimacy with Christ!"
-Ellen Mary Dykas, women's ministry director at Harvest USA and author of Sexual Sanity for Women