Song of Solomon 6:1-13: a reflection

1Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? 2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies. 4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. 5Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead. 6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins; not one is bereaved among them. 7Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil. 8There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number. 9My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her. 10Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners? 11I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower. 12Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots. 13Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?

The Song of Songs is a celebration of love between two lovers, and at its heart is a confession of mutual belonging: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. The two belong to each other, each delighting in the other, each the other's own. It is a picture of love at its fullest, not a one-sided longing, but a mutual belonging and delight, each able to say, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.

Notice the mutuality of this belonging: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. Each belongs to the other, and each delights in the other. And throughout Scripture, such love between two is used as a picture of something greater: the love and belonging between God and his people, between Christ and his church. As the lovers belong to each other, so God's people can say of the Lord, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; we are his, and, wonder of wonders, he is ours.

That mutual belonging is the heart of our relationship with God. We are not merely his servants or subjects, kept at a distance; we belong to him, and he gives himself to us, so that we can say, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He delights in his people, and calls them his own; and they belong to him and find their joy in him. Rest in this mutual belonging: you are the Lord's, and he is yours. Do not think of God only as a distant master; know the wonder that you belong to him and he to you, that he delights in you as his own, and that you may find your deepest joy in belonging to him. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; rest in belonging to the God who gives himself to his people.

Lord, the Song of Songs celebrates love with a confession of mutual belonging: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. And throughout Scripture such love pictures something greater: the love and belonging between you and your people, between Christ and his church. Thank you that I am not merely your servant or subject, kept at a distance, but that I belong to you, and you give yourself to me, so that I can say, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. You delight in your people, and call them your own; and they belong to you and find their joy in you. Help me rest in this mutual belonging: that I am yours, and you are mine. Keep me from thinking of you only as a distant master; help me know the wonder that I belong to you and you to me, that you delight in me as your own, and that I may find my deepest joy in belonging to you. I am yours, Lord, and you are mine; let me rest in that.