Song of Solomon 6:4-7 describes the Lord’s response to the beauty of the bride in her time of testing as well as the godly character of the bride in her desert season. Let’s take a look at the symbolism within the scriptures before I compare the season the Shulamite maiden experienced with a season in my personal life.
1. Jesus describes His emotions for the bride. Song of Solomon 6:4a
Jesus addresses the bride by declaring “Oh my love!” This comes out of the overflow of adoration in His heart for the bride. Calling her by name isn’t enough to fully describe the emotion in His heart at that moment.
2. Jesus uses two ancient cities to describe the internal and external beauty of the Shulamite. “...you are as beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem.” Song of Solomon 6:4b
As Jesus describes the bride He calls her as beautiful as Jerusalem and as lovely as Tirzah. In ancient times, Tirzah was known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it was once the capitol of the Caananites. Jerusalem is often thought of as the spiritual capital of the world, it is where Solomon built his temple of worship which was the only place known on earth where the Spirit of God manifest Himself continuously in the Holy of Holies. The contrast between the two shows that Jesus is describing the bride as beautiful in Spirit and lovely in the flesh. This beauty would captivate believers and non-believers alike.
3. The Bridegroom refers to the bride in a way that tells of her strength of character in Song of Solomon 6:4c. “...awesome as an army with banners!”
He is acknowledging her maturity in tribulation and her strength to stand trial without giving into temptation and sin. She walks out of her circumstances carrying the banner of an overcomer, the banner of grace, the banner of perseverance, the banner of faith and devotion. Where she could’ve given in to doubt and insecurity, she chose to hold on to the truth, fully established in her identity as a lover of God.
4. As the bride lovingly looks at Jesus amidst her season of testing, He is overwhelmed with emotion by her adoration of Him. “Turn your eyes away from Me, for they have overcome me.” Song of Solomon 6:5a
Jesus is greatly moved by her unrelenting gaze. So much so, that He is completely overcome with emotion. The greatest delight of the Lord’s heart is a heart in wholehearted, voluntary worship of Him. The bride was in the midst of testing, yet she kept her gaze on Jesus. This phrase describes Jesus’ heart being overwhelmed by the love of the bride.
5. Jesus affirms the Shulamite by describing her character in 3 parts.“ Your hair is like a flock of goats going down from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which have come up from the washing; every one bears twins, and none is barren among them. Like a piece of pomegranate are your temples behind your veil. Song 6:5b-7”
Jesus is describing the bride based on 3 details of her nature, her hair, her teeth and her temples. In each one, Jesus is affirming her grace, growth and maturity in faith. Her hair symbolizes her dedication to Jesus, her teeth describe her life in the word and her temples are symbolic of her godly emotions.
Just as the Shulamite went through seasons of testing, I as well have been through several in my own life. I wish I could say I faced each one fully in grace and maturity as the Shulamite did, but I do believe the Lord used each season to produce maturity in me. I am going to use my most recent desert season as an example because it is still very fresh and very real in my heart.
I had gone from sitting under the terebinth tree, eating cakes and raisins and enjoying getting to know the Lord’s heart as my friend to following Him over the mountains into ministry. Three years ago you would have found me completely alive in the Spirit, walking in full confidence in my identity as a daughter of the King and heir in the Kingdom of heaven. My heart was driven by the love of the Lord and His jealousy for the people. I was one of the leaders in our youth ministry, small group leading, on the prayer ministry and pastoral ministry teams, leader of the greeting team, teacher in the 1st and 2nd grade classroom, as well as co-leader in a community based discipleship program in my church.
My heart was at home serving my church and I worked on the side to make ends meet. I loved this season of partnership with Christ, seeing heaven invade earth and lives changed and set free. I ended up getting involved in a relationship and at the time it seemed like the perfect addition to my perfect life of fullness and joy. The relationship ended with a broken heart on my end and the young man jumped into ministry alongside me in my church. I became a walking zombie, where life and joy had dwelled in my heart before, it was now overflowing with pain and numbness. I cried out to the Lord morning and night for comfort, for peace, for restitution and felt like I was talking to air. I had not only lost hope for my future, but I also felt like I had lost my best friend Holy Spirit.
I wrestled with the Lord for two years as He finally brought me to the place where I was living alone ( I had been a part of a community based discipleship program for 3 years), barely able to go to my church because of the loss and pain I felt when I was there, seeking the Lord in my apartment about where He wanted me to be. I was reminded of a season where I had briefly looked into doing an internship or something at IHOP-KC but was held back by all of my responsibilities at my local church. I started praying about the possibility of moving and three weeks later I drove in to Kansas City with only the belongings I could fit in my car.
Looking back on the season I had been in while in Washington state I could see the jealousy of the Lord’s heart for me. He was showing me that He is first, before ministry, before friendships, before marriage, above my identity as a great minister before man. Even though I was plagued with feelings of doubt, fear and condemnation in that season, I still declared my trust in Him and His sovereignty in my situation. I didn’t feel His presence, I sometimes wondered if He even saw the pain I was in and the confusion I faced but I held on to faith that He was good, that He was in the process of working everything together for good because I loved Him and chose to trust Him.
After studying chapter 6 of Song of Solomon where the Shulamite captivated Jesus’ heart by her trust and adoration of Jesus amidst her season of testing, I’ve been awakened to Jesus’ heart for me as I went through my own season of testing and chose to trust and obey and worship Him amidst my pain and confusion. My weak expressions of worship and cries of pain that I breathed during that season were not only heard but savored and delighted in by Father God. My trust in Him captivated His heart! I am so thankful for the growth and the things I learned about myself and the Lord during that time. I feel like I am just now at a point where I can look back with gratitude at the gentle way the Lord led me through, causing me to pursue Him more and dig deeper in the word and trust Him with even greater faith than ever before.
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