Divine Appreciation and Devout Affection (Songs 7:1–8:4)

We are still looking at the poem which began in 5:2 and runs until 8:4. As we have seen, the woman had been dilatory in allowing the King into her house, but she recovered her place of nearness to the King in his garden when she went there with her friends, the daughters of Jerusalem. We observed that in the poem two descriptions are given of her return: one is by herself and she mentions the various steps that she took – personal searching, correction from the watchmen and interaction with the daughters of Jerusalem (5:5–6:10); the other is by the King and his earnest desire, spoken with power, that she should return (6:11-13). The obvious question now is, what will she do now that she has returned? That question is answered in the section from 7:1 to 8:4. It is that she dances for the King and then she and the King go away together.

Appreciation (7:1-9)

The King describes her dancing in 7:1-9. It is common in the Bible for women to dance during occasions of joy. Basically dancing was performed at occasions of public rejoicing and did not involve both sexes dancing together. Solomon is using a common situation to depict the manner of the return of a backslider. The verses contain his expressions of delight as he observes, with others, her beautiful appearance and fine movements. We are not told what the others in the garden thought of her dance, but they would have observed the King’s delight with her. Here we have an illustration of how happy a restored believer can be and how delighted Jesus is with such. It is a question to ask ourselves if our souls are dancing, because if they are, we will please the Saviour and encourage others.

Her royal name (7:1)

We should observe how the King addresses the woman – she is here called ‘noble daughter’, which is a similar title to how the bride is described in Psalm 45:13 where she called ‘the daughter of the king’. This is obviously a term of affection indicating the love he has for her. We can see that it is also a term of affirmation, because he is reminding her of her position in the structure of that society. And since that is the case, it is also a term of assurance, because he is the one who has taken her there from being a keeper of vineyards to sharing his extensive gardens. It is not hard to see a spiritual application for believers. They are the beloved of the Saviour.

The situation here reminds us of the amazing grace of God. It is amazing when shown to unconverted sinners, and it is amazing when shown to restored believers. Although she had been lethargic, the King did not remove her from the place given to her by his decision of love. In a far higher sense, when we are restored we are restored.

The royal approval (7:1-7)

In his description of her dance, the king comments on two features: one is the harmony of movement between her limbs and her head and her eyes; the other is the beauty of every part. Obviously, that needs to be true of a physical dance in order for it to be praised. A similar combination of balance and beauty is required when the heart of a believer is dancing. As the psalmist says to himself in Psalm 103, when he calls on everything within him to praise the Lord.

The royal aspiration (7:8-9)

In these verses, the King uses various pictures to describe his intentions of enjoying her company. At the time of speaking, he and the woman are with others, which we could say is a picture of corporate fellowship as she revealed her joy as she danced. Now he indicates that he would like to be alone with her, which we can say is a picture of personal fellowship, of him enjoying what she can provide. Of course, we might think it should be the other way round, with her enjoying what he has to give. The reality is that both are necessary, but here the focus is on the pleasure that the King receives from each of his people.

Devout affection (7:9-13)

Initial response

The woman responds to the words of the King in two ways. First, she speaks to herself in verses 9b and 10 and then she speaks to the King. That process may be one that we should follow after listening to anything that Jesus says to us – we consider what he says and then we speak to him about it.

The first thing that she says to herself links back to something specific that he said – his reference to her mouth being like wine, and the second thing that she says to herself is a deduction based on everything he has said in his appreciation. Again we can see in her response a picture of how we should respond to Jesus. We can focus on one comment he has made and we can take the big picture of all that he says. Her response to his statement about her mouth is one of affection because she wants to give him what she has whereas her comment about his overall appreciation is one of great assurance as she expresses her delight in him and affections.

Invitation

Then the woman suggests that she and the King should go out into the countryside. Of course, since he is the King she is asking that he take her to his possessions because the countryside belongs to him. Given the autocratic nature of kingship at that time, we might imagine that she is being very presumptuous in making this suggestion. But love has a power of its own.

She requests that the King take her to four places: the countryside (fields), the villages, the vineyards and to a house. All of them are owned by the King and they reveal the variety of places of interest within his domain. Each of them contributes to his kingdom. I would say that the point is that she does not want to go to any of them without him, because his possessions without his presence are not enough. It is not too difficult for us to find applications of those four locations; for example, the fields could picture where we work for Jesus, but what good will that be if he is not helping us do so?

She describes the first three places as the locations where she will give him her love. And is that not the main point of why we go anywhere in the kingdom of Jesus? Whichever means of grace we visit, that is why we go to it. Of course, we go to them to get blessings from Jesus, but we also go there to give him our love.

I think it is worth noting what she says about the fourth location. It is a poem, so she is able to say that she has been there before in order to prepare for the time when he would come there with her. The various items she gathered to make it pleasant for the King all came from his fields or gardens. Some of them she says are old and others are new, but she has stored them up in order for him to be refreshed by them. I would suggest that what is being illustrated here is that when we have communion with Jesus we can speak to him about things he did for us in the past as well as things he is doing for us in the present.

It is intriguing that she calls the house ‘our’ house rather than his house, but it must indicate that somehow she has deduced that his possessions now also belonged to her in a sense. Is this not a reminder to us that we are joint heirs with Jesus?

Intentions

In 8:1, the woman continues to express her love. At that time in society in the Middle East, the only ones who embraced in public would be brothers and sisters. The woman takes this custom and says that she wishes the King was her brother so that she could kiss him in public. In other words, she wants to express her love for the King who restored her, and to express that love in public. The application to us is obvious – our love for Jesus must want to be public.

In 8:2, she says that she wants to take the King to her mother’s house. One would assume that her mother’s house would not be very grand and certainly not be anything like the houses of Solomon. Yet she has realised that the King wants to go to places connected to her, and to places where she would feel comfortable in providing him with refreshment. Sometimes we foolishly imagine that we are too low for the high King of heaven to bother with. But he is not like that.

In 8:3, she turns away from her spiritual aspirations and describes her current comfort as she enjoys the affections of her beloved. She can sense his strength and his tenderness, and also realises that his focus is on her. And that is what the normal Christian life is like, discovering the pleasure and satisfaction that Jesus has in his people.

Then in 8:4, she addresses the daughters of Jerusalem who have been with her since they decided to go with her to find the Beloved in the garden. She does here what she has done already in the Song and asks them not to do anything that would disturb the rest of love that she is enjoying with the King.

This longish poem within the overall set of poems began with the woman refusing to let the King into her house. It closes with her enjoying the presence of the King. Although long, it describes a very common Christian experience, which is how a lethargic believer is restored by grace.