Day 875: Song of Solomon 4- Redeeming Sex

​Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
    built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
    all of them shields of warriors.

5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
    and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
    come with me from Lebanon.
Depart[b] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.
 
9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
    you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
    with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
    How much better is your love than wine,
    and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
    honey and milk are under your tongue;
    the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
    a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
    with all choicest fruits,
    henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
    with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
    with all choice spices--
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
    and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
    and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
    let its spices flow.
 
Together in the Garden of Love
She
Let my beloved come to his garden,
    and eat its choicest fruits.
 
Meditation
The redemption of Jesus restores and renews everything, even sex. In a world where sex is used as a weapon and abused in countless ways, we must allow Christ to heal and restore as we trust His design to redeem. Abuse does not negate proper use, and God has a glorious design for human sexuality.
 
The description of the bride’s beauty (1) extends from her head to chest (2-7). The point of the portrayal is to illustrate the groom’s deep love for His bride. Love overflows from his heart. Sex is redeemed in the context of covenant relationship.
 
Scripture doesn’t hide God’s good design for sex. Through sex, two become one flesh to image the Trinitarian God who created male and female (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:8; Ephesians 5:31). Sex in the context of the covenant of marriage is joy for husband and wife and God’s vehicle to fill the world with family!
 
Song of Solomon dignifies God’s design for sex within marriage as the groom’s captivated heart (9-10) seeks to consummate love through physical intimacy with his bride (11-15). Sex completes the unity marriage vows begin, a celebration of the beauty of love for intimacy in relationship.
 
Love trusts the other for the deepest levels of vulnerability. The woman opens the garden to the man and invites him to eat the choicest of fruits (16). So too the intimate love of marriage invites the other into the sanctuary of love, intimacy of physical connection marked by trust.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Is sex a good or bad thing for you? Do you see the goodness of God’s design?
 
-Christ’s love and work redeems everything, including sex. Ask the Lord to apply the work of His redemption to your sexuality in general and sex life in marriage if appropriate.
 
-Do you see how beauty is an invitation to intimacy? Where do you need to more intimately know God through beholding His beauty? How can you celebrate the beauty of your spouse to deepen the invitation to intimacy with one another?
 
Key Verse
9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.