DRUNK WITH DELIGHT
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, I praise you for your great power and that there is nothing or no one with strength to stand against you. Thank you that your power is at work in me and sustains me.
Read SONG OF SOLOMON 4:1–5:1
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
He
4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with courses of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
and the mountain haunts of leopards.
9 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.
10 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!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits,
with henna and nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
She
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
that its fragrance may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.
He
5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Friends
Eat, friends, and drink;
drink your fill of love.
Reflect
What or who is beautiful to you? What sort of language do you use to describe beauty?Every bride is beautiful on her wedding day! While the imagery describing the bride (4:1–7) sounds bizarre to modern ears (hair like goats, neck like a tower), these images are book-ended by affirmations about her beauty (4:1a, 7). In Hebrew thought, ‘seven’ symbolized perfection or completeness. As the groom’s eyes move slowly down her body, mention of seven aspects—eyes, hair, teeth, lips/mouth, temples, neck, breasts—emphasizes that he finds her ‘altogether beautiful’ (4:7).
After praising the wonders of her body, the groom initiates sexual intimacy, symbolized by the image of a ‘garden’ containing all manner of pleasing plants and exotic spices (4:12–15). Here, for the first time, he calls her ‘my bride’—a phrase said six times (4:8–12; 5:1). Before the wedding, this garden was ‘locked’ (v. 12); there was a level of intimacy that was out of bounds: ‘Do not arouse or awaken love …’ (2:7; 3:5). But now, it is right to ‘awake[n]’ love (v. 16)! The bride, earlier veiled (4:1), is unveiled before her husband and responds eagerly to his invitation, without a hint of shyness or shame (v. 16). Their union is deeply satisfying (5:1). The closing invitation is, literally, ‘drink your fill of love’ (5:1). While the Bible frowns on intoxication, this intoxication is God-endorsed: ‘May you ever be intoxicated with her love’ (Proverbs 5:19).
Apply
How can your church help all believers, married or unmarried, to ‘honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband’ (Hebrews 13:4, The Message)?
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, continue to impress on me the ways you would have me honor you and show me how to stand for them, especially when they appear countercultural.
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