Check out these lyrics from a song that was written over 2500 years ago. It’s a Love Song that begins with how the bride-to-be feels about her man.

She says: 

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; your anointing oils are fragrant – draw me after you; let us run.” (1:1, 4)

Then He responds: 

“I compare you, my love . . . your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. You are beautiful my love, you are beautiful, your eyes are like doves.” (1:9a, 15)

She remembers and recites his words of proposal to spend the rest of her life with him: 

“Arise, my love my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.” (2:10-13)

And then she has a bad dream at night before her wedding day, fearing that the love of her life is lost.

“On my bed by night, I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.” (3:1, 4b)

On their wedding day, they speak their vows to one another:

He says:

“Behold, you are beautiful, my love . . . Your eyes are doves behind your veil . . . your lips are like a scarlet thread and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil . . . your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies . You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you . . . you have captivated my heart, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Your lips drip nectar, my bride.” (4:1a, 3, 5, 7, 9-10, 11, 16)

She responds:

“Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.” (4:16a)

The guests at the wedding party joyfully approve:

“Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!” (5:1b)

Then the Honeymoon, where they intimately describe each other’s body:

She describes her husband: 

“My beloved is radiant and sturdy – his head is the finest – his locks are wavy – his eyes are like doves beside streams of water bathed in milk sitting beside a full pool. His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His arms are rods of gold set with jewels. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires. His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His mouth is most sweet and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend.” (5:10-16a)

He describes his wife:

“Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. How beautiful and pleasant you are, o loved one, with all your delights. Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say, “I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.”   (7:1-2, 6-9)

The night is over. And in the warm summer morning she invites him to make love to her again  – outside among the fruit trees. And then she tells him:

“. . . under the apple tree I awakened you” (8:5)

Nearing the end of the Love Song, she says to her husband: 

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.” (8:6-7b)

The Point:

Married Love is a powerful gift from the Lord. It is relentless in its jealous pursuit of one another. It is not selfish but rather, is hot red with devotion and commitment and covenant, it perseveres through anything, plodding along year after year. Nothing is stronger than what God gives to a man and woman in marriage. The Love-making between a husband and wife is the very flame, the passion of the Lord himself.

Which means, there is something more to this Song of Songs (found in the Bible, the Old Testament). I’ll tell you in the next post. But for now, ask yourself this question:

Who is this God that would create such a union of ecstasy between a married man and woman, and why?