Song of Solomon 5:6

The wife is lonely and misses her husband very much when he is away. She says in Song of Solomon 5:6-8, “I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.[7] The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.[8] I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.” We can tell the anguish that this young woman had when she could not find her husband. Think how much young lovers can suffer. It is like a sickness. And so she said, “I am sick of love.” She was love-sick. She was miserable without the one she loved. Once again we must say that this is what the true Christian is like when not in fellowship with Christ. We must be in fellowship with Jesus, or we cannot be satisfied with our lives. We cannot be happy, we cannot be content, and we cannot be at peace without being close to our Savior.

This wife is asked an important question by her friends in the next verse. They asked in Song of Solomon 5:9, “What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?” Notice her answer in Song of Solomon 5:10-16, “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.[11] His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.[12] His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.[13] His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.[14] His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.[15] His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.[16] His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” She loved everything about her husband including the fact that he was white. She was black and her husband was white. When you really love someone, then you love everything about them. It is important to notice that in verse 16 she said about her husband, “this is my friend.” Her husband was not only her lover: he was also her friend. That is the ideal marital relationship. “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” If you marry someone who is your lover but not your friend, you might be in for a rocky marriage.

We are still in the situation where the husband is gone, and the friends of the wife are helping her look for him. They ask her in chapter 6 and verse 1, “Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.” Even though the wife does not know where the husband is, her answer shows that she has confidence in him that he is in a good place, doing what he should do and what she expects him to do. She says in verses 2-3, “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.[3] I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.”

The husband speaks about his wife and says in Song of Solomon 6:4-13, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.[5] Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.[6] Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.[7] As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.[8] There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.[9] My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.[10] Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?[11] I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.[12] Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.[13] Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.” Remember that the husband and the wife are still apart. The husband is thinking of the wife. He thinks about how beautiful she is, and how much he loves her. Are there other women? Yes, he mentions them; but to this man his wife is the fairest of all. He says about the other women in verse 8, “There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.” He was not interested in any of the other women. He only had eyes for his wife. And so the husband said in verse 9, “My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.” When husbands have the ability to think of their wives in this way even when they are separated, they will be faithful husbands.

The husband is still speaking and says in Song of Solomon 7:1-9, “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.[2] Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.[3] Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.[4] Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.[5] Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.[6] How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights![7] This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.[8] I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;[9] And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.” The husband and the wife are separated from each other probably because the husband is on a journey of some sort. All that the husband can think about is the beauty of his wife, and how much he loves every inch of her. And so the husband mentions her feet, her thighs, her navel, her belly, her breasts, her neck, her eyes, her nose, her head, her hair, her stature, her mouth, and her lips. By the way, if you are ever separated from your spouse for a time, here is a way to test your love and faithfulness to him or her: compare your thoughts to the thoughts of this husband. He was constantly thinking of his wife, every part of her body, continually. If you are thinking about your spouse in this way, you will not be tempted to look at someone else either. It says in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” One way to avoid committing adultery is to be filled with thoughts of love for your spouse. What you think about is what will lead to adultery. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:[28] But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

The wife responds once again and says in Song of Solomon 7:10-13, “I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.[11] Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.[12] Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.[13] The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.” The wife is saying that she wishes they were together, and that they were going here and there together. She says in verse 11, “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.” She is asking him to “come” because he is not there with her. She is so lonely without him and constantly thinks about how much she loves him and how much she wants to be with him. Every Christian should have the same intense desire concerning their spiritual relationship with Christ.

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