Proverbs 5:18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.Proverbs Daily is a reader-supported publication. All posts are free, but all donations help spread the message. When you see the word “upgrade,” you’re simply invited to help me make the sacred positively contagious....thank you in advance for becoming a free or paid subscriber.What a verse! Straight up—when I was a teenager, I read Proverbs 5:18–19, especially verse 19…“Let her breasts satisfy you at all times!”And I was like: “Lord! I have no problem obeying this command!”In fact, Lord… “Can I put this scripture on a poster above my bed when I get married? I just want to be faithful, Lord!”But with time, I learned: Yes, this text and many others speak uncandidlyabout physical love…yes…SEX!And we’ll get to that—but physical love is just the doorway to something deeper: covenant, joy, companionship, history, and blessing.So this episode here… is dedicated to the one I love—my wife, D’Ann—because her birthday is tomorrow. And I just gotta talk about her.Our Story — The Altar MomentI’ll never forget the first time we met. We were in church. She was at the altar praying, crying—having her moment with God.And with all the 19-year-old smoothness I could muster, I walked up, dropped my voice to a Barry-White-level tone and said:“Praise the Lord.”She looked up—eyes red, nose running— and said, “Oh… hi,” then immediately turned back to praying.Now I thought, “Dang… she kicked me to the curb in church.”But later she told me: “Boy, I thought you were cute, but I was crying, my hair was a mess, and the Holy Ghost was dealing with me. I needed at least 30 seconds to get myself together.”And that’s how it began— awkward, funny, real, and full of God’s fingerprints.Scripture Breakdown — The Blessed FountainNow… that phrase “let your fountain be blessed” in Hebrew poetry?Yes—the whole idea of a ‘fountain’ in this context with its ‘fount-ness’ is an explicit sexual metaphor. Ancient readers wouldn’t have missed it…they knew what he was talking about! In fact, Commentators confirm it: This is a literal prayer for a vibrant, joyful, faithful life giving intimate sex-life with one’s life partner. Did you get that part? Spouse…Life-Partner.A shared joy. An endless love. A union that overflows.But the fountain is also symbolic of the whole life that flows from a covenant bond where you discover:* Emotional safety* Shared purpose* History built through seasons* Joy you don’t have to manufacture* Love that grows up, not just grows oldGod is saying: May everything that flows from this relationship be blessed. May your union be a source of joy, vitality, renewal, and life.Sure it’s about pleasure— but it’s also about partnership. The sacred gift of choosing and being chosen by someone for life.The Deeper MeaningAt its core, Proverbs 5:18 is an invitation to:Look at them the way you did at first. To smile at memories. To honor what God is building between you. To treat your relationship not as ordinary, run of the mill… “garden variety love”—Naw…it’s a blessed fountain you get to drink from and pour into.And for those listening who aren’t boo’d up—(that means you don’t have a partner) this verse is still for you:Rejoice in the love God has already placed in you— the love you carry, the love you give, the love you are slowly becoming. Nurture that inner well. Because healthy outward love grows from a holistic inner love.Love doesn’t begin with another person. Love begins with a soul at peace with itself.Here’s The PointAttend to love. Because a tended love—romantic or personal— becomes a blessed fountain that never runs dry.PrayerTeach me to cherish, honor, and rejoice in real love.Today’s ChallengeTake five minutes and remember the first moment you knew— really knew— that love had chosen you…for life!Let gratitude rise. Then tell that person (or tell yourself):“This smile in my heart… is dedicated to you.”About the AuthorFred Lynch is a creative communicator,...