Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. (Song of Songs 2:5 ESV)
Comfort Food
For me, it is bacon. When I am tense, bacon helps relax me. When I am excited, bacon helps calm me. When I am angry, bacon helps me smile. When I am tired, bacon revives me.
Others might be refreshed by chocolate donuts… others by kale… others by steak… others by a milkshake.
For the poet in these verses, when he is heartsick, yearning for love… he turns to raisins and apples.
These fruits remind him, somehow of the reality of love. It might be referring to romantic love. It might be referring to brotherly love. It might be referring to God’s love.
But food, particular foods, refresh in him an awareness of love.
THAT is comfort food.
Consider God’s love when you eat your favorite food. Consider your family’s love when you share a familial meal. Consider romantic love when you are out to eat on a date. Consider Christ’s love when you eat HIS Supper with Him.
Food and comfort go together.