Song of Solomon 7:1-13: a reflection

1How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman. 2Your body is like a round goblet, no mixed wine is wanting. Your waist is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies. 3Your two breasts are like two fawns, that are twins of a roe. 4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus. 5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses. 6How beautiful and how pleasant you are, love, for delights! 7This, your stature, is like a palm tree, your breasts like its fruit. 8I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree. I will take hold of its fruit.” Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the smell of your breath like apples. 9Your mouth is like the best wine, that goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips of those who are asleep. 10I am my beloved’s. His desire is toward me. 11Come, my beloved! Let’s go out into the field. Let’s lodge in the villages. 12Let’s go early up to the vineyards. Let’s see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love. 13The mandrakes produce fragrance. At our doors are all kinds of precious fruits, new and old, which I have stored up for you, my beloved.

In the midst of the Song's poetry of love, one line captures the mutual belonging at the heart of it: I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. It is a statement of mutual belonging and delight: the beloved belongs to the one she loves, and his desire is toward her; each belongs to the other, each delighting in the other. And as this Song has long been read as a picture of the love between God and his people, this mutual belonging speaks of the love between Christ and those who are his: they are his, and his desire is toward them.

Notice the mutual belonging expressed: I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. It is not a one-sided belonging, but mutual: she belongs to her beloved, and he desires her; there is delight on both sides, a belonging to one another. And read as a picture of Christ and his people, it speaks a wonderful truth: that we belong to Christ, and, astonishingly, his desire is toward us. It is not only that we love and belong to him; his desire, his delight, is toward us. The belonging and delight are mutual: we are his, and he desires us.

That mutual belonging is worth resting in, for it means Christ not only receives our love, but desires and delights in us. We can think of our relationship with Christ as one-sided, that we love him but he merely tolerates us; but this speaks of a mutual belonging and delight: we are his, and his desire is toward us. Christ does not merely receive us; he desires and delights in his people. Do not think of Christ as merely tolerating you while you love him; the belonging is mutual, and his desire is toward you. Rest in the wonder that you belong to Christ, and that his desire and delight are toward you, as the Song says, I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me; for Christ not only receives the love of his people, but delights in them and desires them, and the belonging between him and his own is mutual and full of delight.

Lord, in the midst of the Song's poetry of love, one line captures the mutual belonging at the heart of it: I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. It is a statement of mutual belonging and delight: the beloved belongs to the one she loves, and his desire is toward her; each belongs to the other. And as this Song has long been read as a picture of the love between you and your people, this mutual belonging speaks of the love between Christ and those who are his: they are his, and his desire is toward them. Show me the mutual belonging expressed: I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. It is not a one-sided belonging, but mutual: she belongs to her beloved, and he desires her; there is delight on both sides. And read as a picture of Christ and his people, it speaks a wonderful truth: that we belong to Christ, and, astonishingly, his desire is toward us. It is not only that we love and belong to him; his desire, his delight, is toward us. Let me rest in that mutual belonging, for it means Christ not only receives my love, but desires and delights in me. I can think of my relationship with Christ as one-sided, that I love him but he merely tolerates me; but this speaks of a mutual belonging and delight. Keep me from thinking of Christ as merely tolerating me while I love him; the belonging is mutual, and his desire is toward me. Help me rest in the wonder that I belong to Christ, Lord, and that his desire and delight are toward me.