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7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
Your navel is a rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
which looks toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Carmel,
and your flowing locks are like purple;
a king is held captive in the tresses.
How beautiful and pleasant you are,
O loved one, with all your delights!
Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like its clusters.
I say I will climb the palm tree
and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
and the scent of your breath like apples,
and your mouth like the best wine.
Come, my beloved,
let us go out into the fields
and lodge in the villages;
let us go out early to the vineyards
and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.
(ESV)
In today’s culture, being liberated is often defined as being free from marriage. Many today would rather scrap the old marriage and move on to something new and exciting. But in Song of Solomon 7, we find that true freedom and joy are not found in one’s self (outside of marriage), but rather, within the security of an honest and intimate relationship.
It could be said that liberation actually happens within a marriage, not outside of it. Within marriage, some of our greatest desires are met. We read this in verse 10.
I belong to my lover, and he desires me.
Song of Solomon 7:10 GNB
That word for desire comes from the Hebrew word tĕshuwqah. It is a feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state. It’s an extremely powerful and attractive word that describes the deepest desires of our hearts. Inside marriage, we experience a deep connection that is representative of the relationship we have with Jesus.
At the end of the chapter, the bride wishes to go with the bridegroom to the countryside. It has been speculated that the bridegroom would rise early in the morning and leave his bride to go into the country. He would leave to allow her to sleep and would command his companions not to wake her until she was ready to get up. In this case, however, the bride wants to rise early with her bridegroom and follow him into the country where they will share their love.
The picture being painted here is intimacy and desire. Do we have this kind of crazy love relationship with Jesus? Do we desire to be wherever He is and go wherever He goes? Do we find that our deepest desires are met with total satisfaction in His presence? How is your love life with Jesus lately?