The Song of Solomon 4

God has given to the sons of men the wonderful gift of physical bodies. While there are some who are called to a single life, and that is a good gift, the royal husband in this love poem is rightly moved by the physical delights of a particular woman. In this chapter, the husband admires his bride in detail.

We might judge these details as mundane or inappropriate things to be noticed or talked about, but God disagrees. Her eyes, her hair, her teeth, her lips, her mouth, her cheeks, her neck, her breasts, her whole body is worthy of her husband's special admiration. He is determined to spend time with her and the enjoyment of her physical beauty is a wonderful part of this celebration. He finds no flaw in her.

This woman is more than two-dimensional physical beauty. Her presence is desired and will somehow be a part of who he is. He says to her, "Come with me," and calls her his bride. She has "captivated his heart." He wants her near. Wine may gladden the heart of men, but her love is far better than wine. She makes him glad. Everything about her is lovely to him.

Yet her love has not yet been fully enjoyed, for his bride-to-be is still a sealed fountain. His sensuous words make it clear that he wants all of her, and at the end of the chapter her words approve of his intentions. She wants her garden to be his garden so that he may eat of its choicest fruits and enjoy.

God has made us male and female from the beginning. He has given us the wonderful gift of sensuous bodies that work well together. This gift is presented in this chapter as very right and very good. The focus is on the bride's perfection and her happy and willing desire that her husband would enjoy her completely.

The purity and joy of this good gift may seem to elude us here below. Nothing is quite as easy and beautiful as this poem suggests. No bride is altogether beautiful in body and soul. No husband expresses his admiration and desire in just the right way, and no woman is so perfectly free and happy in giving herself to her man.

The poem calls us to enjoy one another in marriage as good gifts from a holy God, but it also calls us beyond the troubles of this fallen world. We know this because the Bible speaks very clearly of a perfect bride in another place (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Because of the death of Christ for us, and because of His cleansing and sanctifying work, one day we will be the glorious bride of Christ, with the physical reality of the perfect resurrection and with the spiritual beauty of complete sanctification. We will all be holy and without blemish. This will include all who are chosen by God through faith in Christ. You may have the gift of singleness today, and have no desire for the physical intimacy with a spouse that this poem describes. You may desire an intimate relationship but have not yet found the right person. You may have been hurt badly through some kind of abuse or degradation and may find it very difficult to escape these things in your thoughts and in your life. Yet if Jesus died for you, then you are in Him. He loves you and sees you as a part of His glorious bride. Together with all of His heavenly church you will be perfected in holiness and glorious in resurrection beauty. The King of the church will have us forever.

The final fulfillment of that pure and beautiful marriage may be yet far away, but today you can have the response of the bride who accepts that she is desired and says "yes" to that glorious future day. Do not push the Lord away. Your beloved who died for you is gentle and kind. Together the church responds to His call. We say, "Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits."