Song of Solomon is a poem of love spoken from both the perspective of the lover and the beloved. Hopefully you are reading from a Bible that divides this book into sections labeled with the speaker’s identity so that you can easily understand who is speaking. Here is the text of the footnote in my Bible:
“Primarily on the basis of the gender of the Hebrew pronouns used, male and female speakers are indicated in the margins by the captions ‘Lover’ and ‘Beloved’ respectively. The words of others are marked ‘Friends’. In some instances the divisions and their captions are debatable.”
God’s word couldn’t miss speaking about this important human experience, and how fortunate we are that it does. Satan has so corrupted God’s intended design for physical intimacy between a husband and wife that sometimes we don’t know what the correct attitude is: this book offers a correction for us. It reminds us that God designed physical intimacy within the boundaries of God’s plan, to be a delight for us.
How would you like for your beauty to be compared to that of a horse? I’d find that funny if not for the hint given in yesterday’s reading about how much Solomon liked horses. Much of the imagery in this poem is obscure because we don’t understand the references with which our culture is unfamiliar. The poet does a beautiful job of veiling erotic references in a decent way, while still conveying desire and delight.
A key phrase in the book is “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” What do you suppose that means? What does that tell you about our culture’s fixation with romance? If we were to take that admonition seriously, what would that look like?
Some scholars believe the book is intended to speak only of Solomon’s love for his wife; others believe the book speaks of God’s delight in us. I believe that since God gives us the relationship between a husband and wife as an object lesson to help us understand the relationship between Jesus and the Church, we can learn from this book about how God delights in us.