Lovers’ Anticipation

Song of Songs 1-4

Today and tomorrow we quickly read through the Song of Songs, the best of all songs — a celebration of true love and intimacy found in marriage, the wonderful union of one man and one woman in the eyes of God. This beautiful poem uses words to describe that which is rather indescribable. The writer wastes no time in setting the theme:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.
Song of Songs 1:2

Have no doubt, these are words designed to describe perfect love, an amazing relationship between husband and wife, two lovers that hold nothing back; complete devotion to each other.

He: How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.
She: How handsome you are, my beloved!
Oh, how charming!
And our bed is verdant.
He: The beams of our house are cedars;
our rafters are firs.
She: I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
He: Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
Song of Songs 1:15-2:2

Genuine love, intimacy found within the bonds of marriage is based in mutual desire. Images of our wedding album come to mind as I read these words. It’s so good to look back, to discard the issues of today long enough to remember that which transcends time and space. I’m convinced that marriages would be saved if we could stop and soak in these words more often.

Until it so desires:

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Song of Songs 2:7, 3:5, 8:4

Three times this refrain is repeated in Song of Songs. Intimacy is not fabricated or rushed. Our current society portrays love in a different light more graphically than the ancient text here, but the words are timeless and reveal a treasure for those who will be patient.

These words seem to describe a dream, a place where pressures of the world are gone and there are only two people in the world:

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
Song of Songs 2:9-10

I hear the swell of the orchestra play as the lovers dance in the fields without a care in the world. Complete joy and full of love. A time to remember, a day to long for. Really, it’s ok to daydream for a bit. Let the sweetness of the words fill your mind and delight in what our Creator, the Lord of the universe has wired us to enjoy.

Finding this kind of love is an adventure, I’m sure we all have a story to tell, but it is worth the struggle, a prize worthy of searching for. She searched the city and when she found him:

I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
Song of Songs 3:4

What else can I say? Linger again and let your thoughts fill in the space.

My sister, my bride.

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume
more than any spice!
Song of Songs 4:9-10

True love is so full when we are both found in Christ, children of God, brothers and sisters indeed. My heart belongs completely to my bride. Delightful, pleasing, precious. Complete.

This is our God. He wired us to love as He loves. His unrelenting desire to reconcile us to himself is amazing and unearned, yet He continues, even to the point of death on a wooden cross. That’s how much he loves us, how much he wants us to love.