The full text of this tract is shown below in the NLT version. (Do you want to print this tract in a different version than the one listed? Contact us and let us know what you're looking for—we may be able to create the alternate version for you at no charge.)

“Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume your robes. In ivory palaces the music of strings entertains you” (Psalms 45:8). 

“Your royal robes release the scent of suffering love for your bride; the odor of aromatic incense is upon you. From the pure and shining place, lovely music that makes you glad is played for your pleasure” (Psalms 45:8 TPT).

This verse is literarily burning inside me. There’s so much to it. Look closely at verse 8: “Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume your robes.” When you study myrrh, it speaks of a suffering love, one that the Jewish rabbis refer to as, “the tears from a tree.” This speaks deeply and passionately of suffering love. Did you know that your heavenly bridegroom has suffering love for you—a love that was bought with His precious blood?

He is dripping with myrrh; love is dripping from His very heart. He also wears the sweet aroma of aloes and cassias which speaks of the anointing spice that’s burned in the holy place. He is wrapped in the sweet aroma of heaven and because you spend time waiting on the Lord, you now carry that same aroma, that same fragrance, that same perfume. In fact, you’re perfumed by the very manifest presence of the Lord—our sweet Master Jesus because you have spent time with the sweet aroma Himself—the Lily of the Valley the Rose of Sharon. Are you after the sweet aroma? Are you willing to spend enough time with Him to be saturated in it?

You won’t have to wear a sign that says you’re powerfully anointed, nor will you have to boast about your ministry. You won’t have to tell others that you carry the favor of God, because if that’s the case, the aroma will fill the room where you are even if no one mentions it. When your gaze is aimed at your heavenly bridegroom that sweet perfume will follow you everywhere. I’m speaking of suffering love—and it’s coming through to you right now as you read. His love can’t be compared with anything else, making it entirely overwhelming.

I love this term “out of the ivory palaces” (KJV) in verse 8. This speaks of a high priest who is dressed in glistening white robes and abides in a holy place. Do you want your heavenly bridegroom to leave His ivory palace to visit you personally? Do you want your holy high priest Jesus, to come and spend time with you? Is that your deepest heart’s desire? 

All His garments are fragrant, with the scent of myrrh permeating their every fiber. His suffering love is so real and powerful that it melts the heart. Those tree-born tears are tears of love and adoration for us as His queen, His true bride of Christ. The spice, the cassias, that burns in the holy place is anointing you even as you read this. Can you sense the anointed spices being poured on your head? The oil spills over and runs down your face, soaking your garments. This spice is the covering of the Lord Himself that envelops you completely—this is His suffering love. He gave His all for you, delight in it. In fact, Jesus went to the cross just for you. He didn’t give up on you, even when it seemed like all hope was lost. He endured the pain and suffering that come from being your lover for eternity—just so we could be saved!

The truth is, there’s nothing He wouldn’t do for His bride. I think about my wife who, as of now, has stood with me for almost twenty-seven years. Even when we didn’t have two cents to rub together, she was still there. When nobody knew our names, she was there. When we went through pain, she was there. She stood with me when nobody else stood with me. We have two daughters, one who’s married and gave us a beautiful granddaughter and the other daughter who’s in college. I think of all she’s done for me—all the times she stood with me when she didn’t have to. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I love and honor her. I tell her that every single day.

I sing love songs to my wife on a daily basis. I do. I’m not boasting when I say I love my wife. Nobody knows you better than your spouse. I honor her in the Lord and rejoice at what God has done in our marriage. He has moved mightily indeed. 

The Lord is declaring the same thing; there’s nothing He wouldn’t do for His bride. Can you hear Him proclaiming these words of love? “I love her with an everlasting love” “I tenderly call her by name.” Every hair on her head is numbered. I keep track of every tear she’s ever cried, storing it in a special bottle in heaven (Psalms 56:8). She is precious. She is my treasure. She is my undefiled one. She is my dove.

“You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace” (Song of Solomon 4:9).

Isn’t it stunning to realize that you’ve moved the heart of God, that you moved the heart of Jesus? When He looks at you, He says, “You are my treasure. You are my dove.” A dove is a very unique creature in that it has tunnel vision. It looks straight ahead, never looking to the right or left, never distracted nor looking elsewhere for other lovers.

The dove is nothing like a mule that has a well-earned reputation for stubbornness. You have to put blinders on the side of a mule’s eyes because they’re so easily distracted. He doesn’t call us mules though, He calls us doves. “My dove, my love, my fair one.” The Lord has tunnel vision toward you and me. He looks at us and He sees no one else. I don’t understand how that can be, any more than I understand how He could be eternal and have no beginning. But the truth is that, whether we believe it or not, I have Jesus all to myself, but the same is true of you. We can both romance the divine, touching the very heart of our Jesus. 

There was a time not long ago that the Lord continually woke me up in the middle of the night to be with Him. One particular night, I was sitting in my chair when I began to weep, feeling the heart of God. I was surprised to find that He was deeply touched that I decided to get up and spend time with Him during the late night hours. I knew I touched the heart of my Father, and that made me weep. To think that a guy like me, Steve Porter, can touch the heart of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one who created the heavens and the earth!

I can touch the heart of God Almighty when I respond to His invitation to get up because He wants to spend time with me. Can you believe it—that we can actually have close personal relationship with our creator, but only if we’re hungry enough, desperate enough to seek it. Otherwise, we can simply go on autopilot, living nominal Christian lives, just going through the motions, before finally going to heaven when we die. 

I don’t want to go to the other side as an average Christian. I want Jesus to come running toward me when I enter the throne room, to wrap His loving arms around me, and say, “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been waiting for you!” Lord, don’t let my love be ordinary. Let my heart boil over with suffering love for you.

May He come to us wearing those glistening white garments. May He come to share His heart. Our Lord always responds to a hungry heart, one that is eternally craving Him. Oh, how I desire to always have a fervent heart. I say, “Lord, may I never lose that hunger. May I never lose that desperation—that deep desire for your abiding manifest presence. May there always be an ongoing revival of longing inside me.”

The high priest of our Lord comes to us from His ivory palace, a holy place. He reveals Himself because He desires nothing more than your time and attention as we worship Him sincerely with all that is within us. His suffering love and anointing rests upon all those who respond to the call to draw near. 

So come, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. No matter where you are or what you’re going through, the Lord is always waiting for you with open arms. He desires nothing more than to spend time with you and lavish His love on you. Draw near to Him today and experience the incredible power of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He longs to reveal Himself to you in the midst of sincere worship. If you respond to His call to come near, you will be blessed with His suffering love and personal manifest presence. What are you waiting for? Come join us at the feet of our Lord!

Suffering Love Suffering Love

As He comes from the ivory palace

With a voice as soft as a dove’s

And a touch as gentle as a summer breeze.

Here He moves toward His Bride

Pulls her to His side

Calms all her fears Collects all her tears

The sweet aroma of His presence

Lingers in the room

And my heart is consumed

With a love so pure and true 

I can’t help but worship at His feet

My Beloved 

The One who has come to set me free.

He is everything I need

And more than I could ever hope for

I am His and He is mine Forevermore.

Suffering Love Suffering Love

Please let us know if we can keep
you in prayer and share your joy.

Back to top of page