Longing for Her Beloved

 

¹ Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
² I would lead you and bring you
into the house of my mother—
she who used to teach me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
³ His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
⁴ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

⁵ Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶ Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the Lord.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

⁸ We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
⁹ If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

She

¹⁰ I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds peace.

¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he let out the vineyard to keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
¹² My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

¹³ O you who dwell in the gardens,
with companions listening for your voice;
let me hear it.

She

¹⁴ Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.

 

Reflection

• The language of vv6-7 is rich and beautiful. What qualities of love are named? How are these qualities unique to the long-term commitment of marriage?
• In what ways does marriage require a willingness to give one’s self to your partner (v12)?
• The woman desires that the man take full possession of her. She surrenders herself to him, yearning for “one flesh” union. The “seal” (v6) in ancient Israelite society was typically a stamp that was pressed on soft clay to leave an impression that served as a person’s identification. She wants to be marked as belonging to her beloved, with all her inward (“your heart”) and outward (“your arm”) being. However, our sense of individuality often rebels against this idea, and the danger is great in a fallen world. But the woman expresses a desire that we all have to be intimate and safe in the presence of another. Therefore, the ideal relationship between a man and a woman serves so well as a metaphor for our relationship with God.
• When is it difficult for you to surrender yourself to those who love you? When is it difficult for you to surrender to God’s love for you?
• Ask God to make you responsive to his unending love for you.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.