Beauty, Desire And Sex
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, teacher of disciples, tend me and teach me today as I come before Your holy Word now.
Read SONG OF SONGS 4:1—5:1
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.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever thanked God for the physical beauty of another person? Have you thanked God for your sexuality and talked to God about it? If not, why not?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is difficult to define or describe. We often resort to metaphors. These are drawn from our culture and may seem odd to someone from a different culture. In 4:1–6 the man describes the beauty of the woman, using a form of poetry known from ancient Egyptian to modern Arabic love songs, the wasf. He does not treat the woman as a sex-object. He does not describe her body directly but the sense of beauty it evokes in him—using seven metaphors, indicating perfection (4:7). Her beauty arouses him sexually (4:6). He
wants her as his bride (4:8–10). Sister/brother language is common in the love poetry of the near east. He longs for her kisses (4:11). She is like a locked, luxurious garden full of sensuous pleasures which he longs to enjoy.
By any measure 4:16—5:1 comes at the center of the Song. The woman invites the man to enjoy sexual union with her. He accepts and expresses his pleasure at the physical consummation of their marriage. Some find the ending of 5:1 odd. It is probably the poet’s way of affirming the rightness and goodness of the enjoyment of sex within a mutual, committed, loving relationship.
Greek Platonic thought, which denigrated the body, still has an unfortunate legacy in Christianity, making some feel guilty about sexual feelings. However, embodiment was God’s good idea, affirmed by the incarnation (Gen. 1:27; John 1:14). Physical sex was God’s good intention for us too, within marriage (Gen. 2:24,25). The Song affirms this in its frank celebration of physical beauty. By using the garden imagery the poet indicates that the shame felt by Adam and Eve is inappropriate in marriage (Gen. 3:7).
Apply
Ask God to help you to present a biblical view of sex among those you know, both Christians and non-Christians, by what you do and say.
Closing prayer
Dear Lord, as regards sex, it seems today that we have “sown to the wind and reaped the whirlwind.” So much hurt, so much brokenness, so much confusion. Enable me to demonstrate the difference Jesus makes in this important area of life.
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