Chapter 7
Wow! Have you ever read this chapter!! What adoration, praise and honor to the most beautiful royal and holy bride!!
This is the longest recorded expressions of adoration by Solomon to his bride!! Solomon gave voice to his bride earlier in the Song as to what he thought of her beauty. She was “the most beautiful of women” Song 1:8. Solomon adores, praises and honors his wife 34 out of 50 of the verses he speaks or communes with his bride. Here is Solomon praising 10 excellencies of the princes daughter. And oh how beautiful they are for she is queen to the king of kings yet she is humble. The praise ends with mutual communion in love and she realizes she is totally his. “I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.” 7:10 This adoration starts at her beautiful feet and move ups to her crowned head.
Song of Solomon 7
She is beautiful both physically and spiritually. By now her spiritual beauty or holiness consisting in love to God and husband is thru the roof!! She is royalty and is humble. How rare is that!! She is married to the king of kings and it doesn’t go to her head, she still sandals her feet and serves in 7:1 And the credit for all her beauty goes to the Master Craftsman God in7:2 Her moral beauty was her holiness, Solomon delighted in beholding the manifestations of her moral beauty or holiness more than wine, which consisted in her Love to God 8:6, 4:10 Having beautiful royal servants feet. Her holy joy was always full.
These delights, beauties and excellencies that Solomon is adoring are because she is worthy of them. Proverbs 31:28-30. Most of which can be traced back from lessons learned or good things done from 5:2-6:13. So 7:1-9 is Solomon praising and adoring the fruits of her love to God and himself. She is royally beautiful and holy and he lets her know what it is about her that is not only praiseworthy but beautiful and delightful to him.
What the particular beauty is like.
Point out the similar excellencies in the comparison.
Additional information to understand the text.
Delight, Beauty or excellency #1 of 15
7:1 “How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
“How Beautiful are your feet in sandals” She has been working. Solomon sees her sandaled feet and says they are beautiful. She has learned her lesson. She is serving and not lazy like in 5:2-3 and 3:1. Her feet are the first of 10 excellencies or beauties of the bride. The first beauty is in 7:1 and the 10th beauty is her hair in 7:5 These beauties draws the attention of Solomon and he admires each one of them. She sure does have a lot to offer him now and he enjoys it all.
“O prince’s daughter!” This is a reminder of who she is. The Song is very relational. King, shepherd, brother, beloved, friend and probably some other relation terms are used. It’s import for the husband to know that his wife is a royal holy princes daughter and she should act like one. Solomon wanted his bride to be reminded of her royal status. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful to see the princes daughter wearing sandaled feet. Intimating she was serving, bringing good news for “how beautiful are the feet that bring good news.” Even though she was royalty she was dressed like a servant.
What love to God and man is here? She had Love God’s flame in her Song 8:6. The fruit of that love is that she put sandals on, was humble and didn’t think to highly of herself even though she was royalty.
This is another complement to her moral character. She has royal sandaled feet!! How beautiful they are! Since she loves God she has holy beautiful royal sandaled feet! They are one of her delights v.6 (NASB says “charms” Its also the only one with that translation) Solomon’s greatest delight is in her holiness. She is acting consistent with who she is with great faith, love and humility.
The seeming opposite characteristics of royalty yet great humility and condescension in the bride reminds us of Jesus who is King of kings and served us while we were unworthy sinners. He died for us, demonstrated his love. Served God perfectly so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
I suppose the opposite would be something like “How ugly and unholy you are, o Satan’ daughter, always and only in your pride your the ruling authority and never serving others, but they all serve you. oh, how ugly you are, my holy eyes can’t look upon such evil with approval.”
The degree of the excellency of the moral beauties of the bride are dependent up how humble she can get even when in the most exalted position of being a princes daughter. Humility is more beautiful in a queen than in a servant. Both hearts are beautiful but humility is more beautiful the more royal the position.
Beauty or excellency #2
“The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.”
After adoring her beautiful royal feet, Solomon moves up to her hips. Her hips are one of her delightful beauties to behold v. 6. Something he delights in. He delights in the curves of her hips. They are beautiful and precious like jewels. Not deformed or unpleasant to behold but her curves are delightful. The proportions are symmetrical and attract his attention due to their beauty. Not that she is skinny or fat or just right to Solomon but that God made the curves of the hips of a woman to be attractive and beautiful to a man, so we praise God the Artist who formed her that way with great skill.
The curves of her hips are like jewels. Desirable, certainly properly curved hips would be “desirable” like jewels. Value, of great worth like diamonds. The curves of her hips due to their beauty are valuable, precious and of great worth to Solomon like jewels.
Precision. They are precisely made to be beautiful like jewels. The idea is that of making something beautiful. “The work of the hands of an Artist.” God made her hips beautiful so that they have some sort of power of attraction. They attracted the eye of Solomon. Her hips are shaped in a way that makes her desirable. The form of her hips is lovely and Solomon delights to behold how God carved them out to be beautiful. She is altogether lovely.
The beauty of the curves of her jewel like hips are the work of the hands of an artist. God is the artist of the curves of her hips. God is wise. He made woman beautiful, attractive to the male. This is a good thing!! Some guys talk about are you a leg, butt or chest man. Usually, a guy may prefer one a little over the other for what he thinks is more beautiful about his wife, but they are all beautiful! God made them!! Give God the glory for the beautiful curves that were the work of His Hands. The work of an artist. Skill and wisdom. motivated by love for Goodness sake. Our good and God’s glory. We were created to enjoy God and glorify him forever!! Glorify the Great Artist of the beauty of your wife!!
The refulgence shines upon and into the creature, and is reflected back to the luminary. The beams of glory come from God, are something of God, and are refunded back again to their original. So that the whole is of God, and in God, and to God; and he is the beginning, and the middle, and the end.
Delight, Beauty or excellency #3 of 15
7:2 “Your navel is like a round goblet
Which never lacks mixed wine;
This navel of hers is beautiful. It adorns her with loveliness worthy of admiration by her husband. Her navel is worthy of admiration due to it’s beauty and excellencies.
Her joy was there, holy and constant!!
- Her joy was there, never lacking.
- Her joy was constant. Never lacking. There wasn’t a time when she was not joyful.
- Her joy was holy and of and excellent quality.
- Her joy was never lacking. Joy was not missing in her life. There was no lack to her joy. She had joy in the Lord. How beautiful is that! Solomon saw that she had joy in the LORD and it was beautiful and beautified her, so much so that it was praiseworthy and admirable. Her joy was never lacking.
- Her joy was constant. Never lacking. The duration of her joy was always constant. There wasn’t a time when she was not joyful. The joy of the LORD was her abiding strength that enabled her to rejoice in the LORD always. Her navel is similar and compared to a round goblet, that never lacks mixed wine. Her joy was constant.
- Her joy was holy.
- Her joy was perfectly suited for its purpose. Her navel does not lack mixed wine. He is comparing her beautiful navel to a round goblet that isn’t missing anything in order to be used to it’s full potential. It is delightful for Solomon to possess a wife that is living up to her full potential. 7:6 Her navel was always full of joy! Not just any kind of joy. This is mixed wine. Mixed wine is better than regular wine. Always full of the best quality of joy! Holy Joy is the best kind, for it is morally beautiful. So since Solomon is commenting on her beauty then as her whole self is holy. She is completely God’s and Solomon’s. Her joy is in no other. Her joy is holy. Since her joy is holy it is delightful to behold because it is beautiful to see someone with holy joy. Her greatest joy and delight was in holiness. Holiness which consisted in Love to God. This holy joy of hers comes form Gods Holy Love in her heart. Song 8:6
- Her delight was of the highest kind or quality. Better than other delights, “mixed” was better than regular wine. The intensity of her joy was always there as well. The intensity of her joy or how much delight she had in God was not lacking. This fits under the quality of joy. The degree. Since her joy is of the best quality like “mixed” wine, it would have to have the appropriate degree. Her navel lacked nothing good. Using idea that wine was assumed to bring great pleasure “mixed wine” would bring even greater pleasure to the senses.
Love the flame of the Lord, is a sweet flame. A flame that produces holy joy. “The fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy…” Galatians 5:22 Holy Joy is a manifestation of God’s Holy Love in the heart!
The fact that her navel never lacks wine signifies to us that her joy was always full!! She could be content like Paul in all situations. She rejoiced in the LORD always!
Solomon recognized his wife always rejoicing in the LORD through the good times and the bad, she never lacked mixed wine, her joy in the LORD was always full. Her delight was in the LORD and he gave her the desires of her holy heart and she was satisfied in God alone!
She was fulfilling her purpose in life and the marriage.
The cup never lacked mixed wine. She was created to enjoy God by glorifying Him! She was fulfilling her purpose
Her navel. Is Solomon looking at her physical navel and saying it never lacks physical mixed wine as if her umbilicus or belly button always had physical wine in it? That would be absurd! Other euphemistic absurdities have been expressed by various authors who see the book as mostly sexual in nature. They say her navel is her vagina and the wine is the moisture thereof.
WBC
This verse speaks of wine and wheat, products of the field and vineyard, in association with the woman’s body. חטים, “wheat,” occurs only here in the Song of Songs, although “wine” (here מזג, elsewhere יין) is used several times for the pleasures of love. In keeping with usage elsewhere in the Song, “wine” usually refers not to some specific bodily fluid (vaginal moisture, saliva, etc.) but to the delights of love generally (see Song 1:2, 4; 2:4; 4:10; 5:1; 8:2).
“The infinite love which there is from everlasting between the Father and the Son is the highest excellency and peculiar glory of the Deity.”
Reduce Song 7:2 down to its simplest First principle is Love, intimating that love is the highest excellency and peculiar glory of each spouse. 8:6 The same power and glory is attributed to both spouses but different roles to reflect the different roles in the Trinity.
“The infinite love which there is from everlasting between the Father and the Son is the highest excellency and peculiar glory of the Deity. God saw it therefore meet that there should be some bright and glorious manifestation made of [it] to the creatures, which is done in the incarnation and death of the Son of God. Hereby was most clearly manifested to men and angels the distinction of the persons of the Trinity. The infinite love of the Father to the Son is thereby manifested, in that for his sake he would forgive an infinite debt, would be reconciled with and receive into his favor and to his enjoyment those that had rebelled against him and injured his infinite majesty, and in exalting of him to that high mediatorial glory; and Christ showed his infinite love to the Father in his infinitely abasing himself for the vindicating of his authority and the honor of his majesty. When God had a mind to save men, Christ infinitely laid out himself that the honor of God’s majesty might be safe and that God’s glory might be advanced.” (Jonathan Edwards blank Bible Canticles 7:2 referring to note 327)
Beauty or excellency #4
7:3 “Your belly is like a heap of wheat
Fenced about with lilies.”
This is another beauty of the princes daughter. v1 This is one of her delights! v6
He is adoring the beauty of her belly. It is delightful for him to behold the beauty of her belly.
What is it about her belly that makes it beautiful and delightful for him to behold?
Answer: The beauty is seen in the similarity. Solomon looks at her belly and a heap of wheat fenced about with lilies and the beauty shared between the two is similar.
Her belly is not just a “heap of wheat” The beauty of her belly is that it is like a heap of wheat fenced about with lilies. The sight of which is “beautiful” v1 and “delightful” to behold v6.
“Fenced about with lilies” meaning the her belly is beautiful all the way around. The excellency of her whole belly is beautiful and altogether lovely. There is no part of her belly that is not beautiful and delightful. No loveliness is missing. Her belly is as flawlessly beautiful as she is Song 4:7.
You have to compare the belly to the heap of wheat fenced with lilies. Beauty is the idea. V1. Meaning we know that Solomon is adoring her beauty for in Context the adoration of her sandaled feet, graceful legs, navel, belly, breasts, neck, eyes, nose, head and hair ends with an overall expression of how pleased he is to behold her various delights that are beautiful in Song 7:6. So the context is that she either just got done dancing 6:13 or still is dancing and Solomon flame of love in his heart for his wife expresses itself in what he see’s as beautiful and delightful about his wife. So Solomon adoring the various beauties of his wife is delightful for me. He lets her know what her beauties are in 7:1-7:5 and then 7:6 is a sort of overall summary statement ending with sweet communion in love in 7:7-9.
He is adoring the beauty of the physical parts of his bride and comparing them to other beautiful sights. Now what is beautiful about a heap of wheat? Or what beauty does the belly have that is similar to the beauty of a heap of wheat?
What are the similar beautiful aspects about a woman’s belly and a heap of wheat?
- The shape of the belly is not deformed but beautiful and delightful to behold
- Her belly is fit for all its purposes, therefore it is beautiful and delightful to behold
- Both wheat and belly or womb are a source of life! Both a heap of wheat and her belly are a source of life! How beautiful is that!! For a woman to have a body part that is beautiful because it is a source of life for a new baby!
The Hebrew בטן, “belly, womb, stomach,” is an ambiguous term, and it appears that this verse makes much of its ambiguity. On one level, the verse speaks of the simple beauty of her navel and curved waist, like a bound sheaf of wheat. On another level, it suggests her genital area as well as sexual arousal. On a third level, it speaks of her as one who has the power of fertility in her “belly.” In other words, the meaning of the verse should not be limited either to the woman’s navel and waist or simply to her vagina and to sexual arousal but should encompass her whole “belly” with all its beauty, sexuality, and fertile power. WBC
Beauty or excellency #5 of 15
3 “Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
Beauty or excellency #6
7:4 “Your neck is like a tower of ivory,”
Her neck is beautiful v6. Her neck is similar to a tower of ivory. Her neck is delightful to behold. v6. Her neck is part of the whole person. Overall the bride is flawless 4:7 and is “the most beautiful of women” Altogether beautiful there is no flaw in her therefore every body is beautiful within itself and consistent with the whole body and consistent with God’s plan. She is holy physically therefore beautiful and spiritually 8:6 therefore most beautiful altogether.
“tower” of ivory. Why did Solomon use a tower of ivory to illustrate certain excellencies of her neck? What do we know clearly about a tower of ivory.
- A tower of ivory is a lot of ivory. The excellency of her neck is in the amount. There is an abundance of rare ivory all in one spot in a tower of ivory. Not only is it a lot of ivory but such an amount of ivory would be unheard of!! Ivory is very rare and to have a tower of it would be impossible some writers say (WBC). But Solomon was Her neck is not great in size but the illustration of a tower communicates “greatness”. Her neck is of an unheard of quality of beauty and value!
- Immutability is understood by the unchanging nature of a tower of ivory. Immutable, unchangeable. The beauty of her neck is always beautiful.
- A tower of ivory would be fit to provide the greatest protection from enemies. Battle language here again. She is a warrior! And she has enemies. No fear of harm from those enemies because her neck is like an ivory tower glistening in the sun in all its glory. It would definitely be extremely if not impossible to destroy by an enemy. The enemy couldn’t get to her, she was safe. the context fits this one because she was among Solomon’s royal chariots in 6:12.
As a defense “tower” against evil, her will “neck” is precious and valuable to him.
“In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the term ivory tower is used as a symbol for noble purity. Wikiepedia”
A tower of nobility. She possesses a tower of purity or holiness. She has a lot of it. She has not a brick of ivory but a tower of ivory. I like the nobility aspect because in context Solomon is seeing his wife as royalty 7:1 “O Princes Daughter” So really all the beauties and excellencies of the bride are compliments to royal beauty oh so bright.
Again like the other 9 excellencies or beauties of the royal humble queen, this one is also delightful to behold. Solomon looks at her neck and it is beautiful and delightful like a tower of ivory. Tis beautiful to see her carry her head with dignity and strength. Ivory is valuable so the excellency of her neck carries weight in glory. She is not stiff-necked and rebellious.
She has circumcised her heart. Deuteronomy 10:16″So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.”
The dignity and awesomeness of the towers is applied to the woman. On the other hand, “Tower of David” in 4:4 presents the audience with something like a fortress, and the term there connotes impregnability. The name “Tower of Ivory,” by contrast, implies a tower of striking beauty and craftsmanship—a tower that is beautiful in its creamy white coloration. The change in metaphor is significant. She is no longer impregnable to him, and the military language has disappeared. But she is not bowed. She remains a tower of strength and elegance. It goes without saying that the usage does not refer to the arrogant and aloof scholar implied in the English term, “ivory tower.” WBC
Arguing from body to soul.
Outward representation of an inward spiritual reality. The neck responds to the head. The neck turns the head at the heads command. The mind turns the will.
Beauty or excellency #7 of 15
7:4 b “Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;”
Her eyes are beautiful!
Her lovely eyes had a Heshbon like excellency that made her eyes worthy of admiration. Solomon and his royal queen of peace both had Holy loving doves eyes due to Love “the flame of the LORD” that was in their hearts for God and each other.
There is an excellency about her eyes similar to the pools in Hesbon and by the gate of Bath-rabbim. The site of which ravishes his heart and they are absolutely beautiful to behold. They are a great delight Solomon says in 7:6 So what is it that is delightfully beautiful to behold about her eyes. Earlier she had doves eyes filled with holy love.
- Eyes see, gather information, behold.
- The mind is informed and the mind directs the eye. “The eye is the lamp of the body” her eyes were full of light/Light of the coming Messiah through her knowledge of her husband/Husband and growing love and delight in him/Him.
- Her eyes were beautiful
- The function of her eyes were holy. Her eyes would not be beautiful if they were not holy. They have no mixture of evil in them. Blessed are the pure in heart for then she saw Solomon for who he was in relation to her. Her eyes were beautiful and holy set apart for him/Him.
You have to wonder if she is either mourning over sin or, crying for joy or mourning over a loss or just that her eyes had a normal gloss over them? “Dark am I.” with sin, but infinitely lovely and hoy in Christ!” In a spiritual sense, she has mastered the “Dark am I, yet lovely” meditation. In order to keep her emotions balanced. She knows how to stay humble when exalted to royalty, thus her beautiful sandaled feet. and she knows where to place her hope when convicted of sin. Here you have both mourning over sin and joy for salvation and rejoicing in the LORD. Both can cause tears depending on what the mind is focused on!! Pools is chosen due the the abundance of water and not only for the beautiful location. She really hates her sin and has a high view of God therefore her grieving is more and more intense and thus the greater Joy for she saw God greater and her sin worse and valued Christ more and rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory!
Husbands, if your wife is mourning over sin, you could compliment how beautiful her eyes are!!! This is absolutely attractive to any godly man. Her is not beautiful nor attractive but her mourning over it is. “Blessed are those who mourn” over sin.
Bath-rabbin mean “daughter of a multitude”. Her beautiful eyes where near a location, by the gate of Bath-rabbin. Her beautiful eyes are similar to what you see when you look at the pools of hesbon by the gate of Bath-rabbin. I suppose since she is the most beautiful of women and Solomon would choose the most beautiful metaphor to illustrate the beauty of her eyes. Solomon chooses this location because the pools in Heshbon where absolutely beautiful particularly the ones by the gate of Bath-rabbin.
Heshbon “he that hastens to understand or build.” He can see it in her eyes and it is beautiful she doesn’t hasn’t to understand or build on her understanding.
The point is that her eyes are beautiful and delightful to behold.
Water.
Water. Live giving to a thirsty soul. Water. Refreshing for those that need Reviving. We are taking revival. Water a good metaphor for the Spirit. Enable by the Spirit of Love in her heart 8:6. her eyes hastened to understand God and grow thereby being built up in Christ. Her beautiful holy eyes. There is revival in her holy eyes and that is the most beautiful thing about them. Water is chosen as a good metaphor due to the gloss over the eyes, ability to cry or mourn and be wet with tears of joy, or mourning over sin or a loss of a loved one. Her eyes function in a holy manner. When presented with a blessing she is joyful, when convicted of sin she mourns. She has them both going on to a high degree, enough to bring tears to the eyes,
Now her eyes were pools. Full of water from these springs as were her eyes. She has beautiful eyes. “To this one God will look, to his bride who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at My Word.” Is. 66:2 I believe all of what the bride has learned thus far contributes to this praise of Solomon. But particularly in the context of 5:1 til now she has learned many things.
‘The pools of Hesbon were gorgeous deep reservoirs supplied by ever flowing springs. An excellent comparison for the lovely eyes of Solomons wife.
What particular beauty about her eyes would be known by understanding the comparison? There are similar beauties about her eyes and the pools in Hesbon.
Generally since the Song has so many superlatives in it, I have no problem making this pool the best of the best. Meaning she had the most beautiful eyes, they did their purpose most beautifully and powerfully. Her mind hastened to understand God!
The excellency of the water and an excellency of the pools of Heshbon
Solomon is looking at her eyes and she has got to be eye to eye with him. His eyes were like doves eyes by the water brook. Refreshing and pleasant to behold.
Now looking at the pools in Hesbon, what will come to mind? What kind of feeling would the Israelite get by looking at pools in Hesbon? Especially the ones by the gate of Bath-Rabbim. Were people hastening to get water from these pools because the water was special or more pure?
Oh, to be a woman whose eyes are deep, peaceful, reservoirs of life-giving spirit, open in compassion to the poor and prepared to minister to the needs of all the daughters of this earth!
The name Heshbon means “he that hastens to understand or build.”1 Already we find rich ore for the mining! For the bride to have her eyes compared to the fishpools in Heshbon would have brought to the ancient eastern mind thoughts of beauty, power, peace, and a heart to understand and build. Oh, that in our eyes our Lord might see beautiful spirits…peaceful spirits, but spirits with a passion to eagerly pursue wisdom and growth! Kathryn W. Armstrong
Application
Is there an eagerness in your heart to understand God as much and as soon as possible and this eagerness is overall ever growing as you understand God more.
Beauty or excellency #8 of 15
7:4 c “Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which faces toward Damascus.”
The excellency of a tower is its size, quality of build and overall ability to do its purpose. “tower” and direction “faces toward”
What impression would have been on the mind of Solomon’s bride when she heard this compliment of her beautiful nose?
Location. Its in the right place and faces the right direction making it beautiful.
Delitzsch suggested that this comparison conveyed “symmetrical beauty combined with awe-inspiring dignity.” It definitely would have drawn the attention of anyone passing by.
The size of the tower isn’t reflective of the size of her nose but the excellency of it is great. The beauty of it is great like a great tower that would protect Jerusalem from attack from enemies through Lebanon .
What was beautiful about a tower of Lebanon?
If they are in Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel then Damascus would have been north.
?Is there a Jewish phrase that has Damascus in it that people often said some like “look to Damascus” or “face Damascus” Which would be a morally beautiful thing to do and would be praiseworthy to be looking toward Damascus?
Damascus “well watered land” Darmsûq (ܕܪܡܣܘܩ) in Syriac[6][7]
Beauty or excellency #9
7:5 A “Your head crowns you like Carmel,
literally “your head upon you is like Carmel,”
This is a beauty or excellency of the bride. Delightful to behold. Her head is beautiful because it crowns her just right. The way mount Carmel sits in its surroundings is magnificent!!
There is a special excellency about Mount Carmel that when Solomon viewed her beautiful head similarities between the two came to mind.
This line primarily indicates that her head/hair completes the beauty of her body just as Carmel gives special beauty to the landscape in which it sits, but the comparison suggests her fecundity as well. WBC
Possible but I doubt that this is a reference to Solomon as her “head” or leader for then this would be Solomon complimenting or adoring himself.
“Thy head upon” “Your head crowns you
Beauty or excellency #10 of 15
7:5 B
“And the flowing locks of your head are like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.”
A woman hair is her glory. Her external beauty. As the strength of the young man is his glory and the glory of an old man is his wisdom. Her hair is beautiful and helps to beautify her as a whole. It gives Solomon great delight to behold her glory.
“Your hair is like royal tapestry” or “Your dangling curls are royal beauty.”
“Held captive” The holy king of kings is held captive!! He is captivated by her beauty! Oh, to captivate the one/One you love. Her royal glory was so beautiful that it captivated the greatest type of Christ alive. ( I say “greatest type of Christ alive so that you can argue the principle truth taught in the text that the Bride captivated her husband. We need only ask the question, “How does a believer captivate Christ in a similar way in which the bride in the Song captivated Solomon? Her hair or ratter her glory was beautiful. If our glory was beautiful would it captivate Christ? Our glory is our holiness which consists in Love to God. Our love to God must be a holy love in order for it to be beautiful and captivate our King.
From the lesser to the greater.
If only the external beauty of a woman hair can captivate her husband/King how much more so would the glory of God written upon our hearts be absolutely captivating to our heavenly Bridegroom and King. Any external beauty that the husband adores about his bride is nothing compared to the internal beauty of the bride of Christ, which is her holiness consisting in her love to God. Her love to God in her heart is the superlative beauty of the bride. Her love was more delightful than wine. Love is an internal beauty of the soul. Her holiness was flowing with the most delightful royal beauty!
Marriage is an illustration of Christ love to the Church. There is a spiritual union in love between the soul of the bride and a type of Christ that is similar to our souls union with Christ. In this context “captivation” is the principle. The husband/Husband is captivated by the glory of his/His bride/Bride.
This text serves as a good illustration of the principle of captivation. Solomon is captivated by her external beauty and glory. Which gives him pleasure and her beauty is delightful to behold. v.6
Due to our union with Christ what is the glory of our soul that would captivate Christ? His image in us. His Son in us. Love to God in us. Holiness in us. All are captivating to Christ. A woman takes great care to make her hair beautiful on her wedding day, how much more so ought we to circumcise our hearts of sin in order for our internal beauty and holiness to be all the more captivating to christ both here and when we see Him as he is!!
Delight, Beauty or excellency #11 of 15
7:6
“How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your delights!”
“How fair and how pleasant are you, O love, for your delights” kjv
Another summery statement bracketing 7:1-6, then starting in the next verse is another overall statement about her stature that leads to sweet holy communion in love. The 11th excellency is her. “How beautiful “you” are. Her husband praises her from foot to head and then lets her know she is altogether beautiful. Each beautiful part of her body is in harmony with the rest. Nothing is out of place or dysfunctional. She is beautiful. Not any ordinary beauty but “how beautiful” she is.
She is oh, how beautiful.
She is most delightful.
She is his love.
Her beauty consisted of all 14 “delights”
The idea is that in rhythmic poetic form he compliments her various beauties from foot to head and now views her as a whole and she is beautiful with all her delights.
She desires to please Solomon with all her body and soul, and she did and Solomon recognizes it and praises her like a husband ought to do Prov. 31:28-30. This helps the bride know what she is doing right and what pleases her husband so she can keep doing it. She has her feet sandaled and is serving him in 7:1, where as in 5:2-6 the reason she loses him and goes through so much trouble was because she wouldn’t get out of bed and sandal her feet. But now her feet are beautifully sandaled and it is delightful to behold and beautiful.
She is beautiful. And not just beautiful but Oh, how beautiful. It not that she is beautiful but that she is really beautiful and he is fully delighted in her!! This helps us get the idea that she is beautiful when he says “How beautiful” but then he repeats it “How beautiful” or “Pleasing” Her beauty is pleasing to his eye. Beholding her beauty gives him pleasure. Lots of different pleasures “with all her delights” The 11th beauty of the bride in this section is the bride herself with all her delights. Holy Christian hedonism within marriage. The bride’s love to God and husband had stagnated in 5:2-3 but was on fire and didn’t stop from 5:5 all the way to the end of the book!
“love with the delights”
11 beauties have been mentioned thus far in this section and there are 4 more to go but all her beauties are delightful and heart-endearing for all her delights are soul-ravishing excellencies.
He does not simply use the abstract אהבה as a concrete noun, as “O loved one” would have it. Rather, he asserts that the abstract quality of love is made concrete in the woman’s body. She is, for him, the incarnate form of the delights of love. WBC
Solomon has got to be one of the happiest men alive to have been blessed with such a wife! Still it was because of God’s great love that she has a husband who loves her as Christ loves the church. Solomon is a type of Christ who is adoring the beauty and excellencies of his wife, how much more so does Christ delight in the moral beauties and excellencies of His Bride! Christ delights in our holiness more than a godly man delights in the holiness of his wife. Our love is but a spark but His the Eternal Sweet Holy Flame the matchless infinite Love of God in Christ!
“My love”
His bride the princes daughter is “his love”, she is the one he loves, a type of Christ calls his bride “my love”. The husbands love is his bride. Its quite personal. “My love” He is the excellent lover above all and she is the one he/He loves. This side of heaven it doesn’t get better than this. The greatest type of Christ alive is united to the bride and she is his love. Surely she is worthy of this compliment because she has love “the flame of the LORD” in her heart. They are heart to heart. He loves her. There is a love relationship going on here. A personal one for he says “my love” She is his wife. They are in a conjugal agreement to love one another and she is the only object of “his love”. When the moral good he/He loves is present in her heart, he/He lets her know how beautiful the manifestations of her love is to him. And measures her that she is “his love”.
Beauty or excellency #12 of 15
7 “Your stature is like a palm tree,
תך, lit. “your height,” here refers to the impression conveyed by the woman’s entire body when viewed from head to toe, hence “your full physique.
Her stature had grown to great heights. Its beautiful and delightful for Solomon to see her mature stature upright like a palm tree.
Rate of growth may be hinted at here as well. The palm tree can grow to full stature and be bearing cluster of fruit fairly quickly. Quickness of growth and smoothness of uprightness. She has grown physically and spiritually upright, strong and fruitful like the palm.
Beauty or excellency #13
“And your breasts are like its clusters.”
Breasts give physical nourishment to babies similar to how the fruit of a mature palm gives sweet nourishment.
the date clusters that grow on date palms are rounded in a manner that somewhat resembles a woman’s breast. WBC
A few sentences later after complimenting the beautiful excellency of her breasts, the one she loves says he greatly enjoys the view and desires it to be that way. The feelings are mutual. And oh how much does he like it to be that way, the two are one, they are in sync. The love is flowing from God through Solomon to his/His bride and the bride returns her love to her husband/Husband, herein love is made complete. A stricter union is formed. Love to God formed a stricter union through both having right ideas of God, marriage and salvation through belief in the coming messiah, being delivered from sin and death due to his person and work seen in the types and promise of Scripture. By beholding the glory of the coming messiah she is transformed from one level of glory to another by His love, His Spirit written on her heart Ez. 36:26
“Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,” at the end of 7:8
Lesson Breasts like clusters go her.
Sweet holy communion intermingled in the end of his praises.
7:8
“I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will take hold of its fruit stalks.’
“I said” This is a reminder that he is keeping a promise. 2 things he promises. 1. “to climb” and 2. to “take hold of its fruit stalks.”
It only means that desire to enjoy her pleasures is equal to the desire and determination one would need in order to scale the date palm for its fruit. WBC
The greatest of her stature and height and difficulty at which Solomon would have to go through to enjoy her fruit communicates to the mind the idea that her fruit is so good that he is willing to go through great lengths and difficulty in order to enjoy the fruit of her love to God and himself.
The greatness of her stature is to elevate the mind to thinking of great growth, maturity. God has done great things in her heart. Even though she was once an enemy of God she is now a humble royal princes, upright, growing fast and producing fruit so precious its worth working hard to be able to enjoy it and in effect he is enjoying her and her love.
Her degree of holiness determines the sweetness of the fruit which made her holy fruit more desirable. She was worthy of such a compliment and she stayed humble under such great adoration. Him taking hold of her fruit was mutual because of their love for each other. Her wants her to be mature, she wants to be mature, she reached maturity as she wanted. She wants him to enjoy her love and its fruit. He promises he is going to enjoy her and her fruit
“I said” This is a reminder that he is keeping a promise. 2 things he promises. “to climb” and to “take hold of its fruit stalks.”
She desired to please him and now is the time that as he is beholding the majestic royal beauty of his humble bride that he will climb the palm and take hold of her fruits. Both spiritual and physical for you can’t separate the two.
Solomon is praising the moral beauty of her both inside and out. At the beginning of the praise in 7:1 the Bride is humble yet royal with sandaled feet. From then on Solomon goes on to adore and praise each beauty or excellency of his wife both physical and spiritual beauties that make her O so beautiful. All these 15 beauties fit under the category of what is beautiful about his bride, she was glorious yet a humble prices daughter with sandaled feet. Solomon sums it all up in her upright stature and ability to produce fruit that greatly pleases him. He says
“Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,”
Beauty or excellency #14
“And the fragrance of your breath like apples,”
“and the smell of thy nose like apples” KJV
“And the smell of thy countenance like apples” JPS
The smell of her breath was pleasing to Solomon. They are very close now if for he can smell her delightful breath. There is a similar fragrance coming from her mouth that smells the same as if you smelled apples. It was delightful to smell her breath.
The sweetness and nourishment or refreshment or revival. Therefore her breath was sweet and delightful to smell. Like she had just eaten something really sweet.
Of course Solomons lips were sweetness itself in 5:16. What was she eating? She was eating up his praises and in return her breath was sweet also like smelling apples. A fragrant aroma pleasing to her lord.
The purpose of breathing is to support life by giving oxygen to the lungs. He gets the sense that the way in which she gets life and gives life is sweet and nourishing. her breathe like apples. Breathing is a lively illustration or image of spiritual life. A representation of our dependence on the spirit of God for spiritual life. “That was our bodies breathe the common air, so should our souls suck and draw in vital breathe from the great mind that comprehends the universe, becoming as it were one spirit with the same.” (Jonathan Edwards Images and shadows of divine things #208)
“Your grace finds me” Breathing in your grace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXZf-rc_XaA
Gen. 2:7 God breathed “life” into Adam and oh, how sweet that breathe must have been.
Beauty or excellency #15
9 A
“And your mouth like the best wine!”
The best wine, by the words she says and the kisses of her mouth. Here she gets her desire. After complimenting her from head to toe the final beauty or excellency of the royal humble bride is her best kiss and sweet words for her mouth like the best wine or “like the wine of the good”
Love of benevolence to husband/Husband out of her love of complacency in the holiness of God, the supreme excellency of the divine nature.
She says the sweetest words. She sure isn’t nagging, wining or complaining here for her mouth was like the best wine. 7:1-9 really needs to be read together. The conversation was one sided from 7:1-8b.
Mouth referring to kisses, breathe and speech, which actions reveal the heart. Her mouth was beautiful and excellent in all its functions and shape. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Since Love is a flame her mouth has got to be on fire by now. In Song 1:9-10 we see Solomon praising his bride similar to Solomon praising her here, yet this one is much longer and more glorious. Yet while Solomon was praising her, her perfume spread its fragrances 1:12 and she thought highly of his value 1:13 and also of his various beauties 1:14. She is thinking highly of him while he is praising her. So also here in chapter 7 she is staying humble by thinking highly of him and the Master craftsman that made her that way 7:1. She has been doing and thinking a lot lately but the last thing she said was her description of Solomon in 5:10-16. Solomon could easily be referring back to 5:10-16 when she spoke of him to the daughters of Jerusalem, but more probable is that she is currently thinking or saying something that he very much enjoyed like the “best wine” because it goes down smoothly for her beloved.
“It goes down smoothly for my beloved,”
“Which makes the lips of sleepers move” Keil an Delitzsch
The Lamed in ledodi is meant in the same sense as when the bride drinks to the bridegroom,
“The dramatic structure of the Song becomes here more strongly manifest than elsewhere before. Shulamith interrupts the king, and continues his words as if echoing them, but again breaks off.” K and D
Her kiss and sweet words go down smoothly. Oh isn’t she happy now. She desired to only please him/Him and she did, he praised her from toe to head then they kiss or their show each other their affection for one another and it goes down smoothly for him to enjoy. She is happy he enjoys her love and the fruits of it. It goes down smoothly for him/Him. Most delightfully. With the greatest pleasure it goes down smoothly.
“Flowing gently through the lips of those who fall asleep.”
After receiving the longest and greatest praise in the Song they both fall asleep or pass out. This wouldn’t have been the only time she passes out in times of heightened spiritual and physical blessing. In 2:6 after their first heightened union and communion in love she grows faint and falls into his arms.
The Union of Love
7:10
“She is his.” She is her beloveds, she is totally and completely his. And his desire is for her. He is jealous for her love with a holy jealousy. She has realized this by now. This is the 3rd time this phraseology was used. 1st in 2:16 when they are engaged when a conjugal arrangement where she realized “he is hers, and she is his” And he loves to be around lovely sweet smelling lilies. “He browses among the lilies.”
This is where to find him. He browses among the lilies.
This is another place he likes to go and behold beauty after delightful beauty among the lilies among thorns.
In Song 2:16 and 6:3, the woman simply sings that she belongs to her lover and her lover belongs to her. Here, she sings, “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” Why does she not assert that he belongs to her? Certainly it is still true that he belongs to her; the ownership has not become a one-way street. Nevertheless, the changed language may be significant. The locus of love and desire here is the woman’s body; all possessiveness and desire are directed toward her. While it is still true that the man and woman mutually possess one another, it is the woman’s body that is the domain of their love.
Because of the fall, the ideal of marriage is in Gen 3 portrayed as shattered and deadly. The woman will “desire” the man, but it will be an unhealthy, clinging, and controlling desire. The man, likewise, will “rule” the woman not in a benevolent fashion but as a cold oppressor. WBC
Psalm 45:11
“Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.”
1 Peter 3:3-6
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”
11 “Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,
Let us spend the night in the villages.
12 “Let us rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine has budded
And its blossoms have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 “The mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all choice fruits,
Both new and old,
Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.
8:1
“O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.” Which wish of the church is now accomplished by Christ’s incarnation. The Son of God, who is infinitely higher than we, is come down unto us in our nature, and has familiarized himself to us.
Dance of the Mahanaim
“Dance of the Mahanaim”
“What shall you behold in the princess of peace? As it were a festive choir of rejoicing hosts.” George Burrows
She does an angelic victory dance for the princess of peace has done it again, she is at further peace with God and man because she destroyed, pride, selfishness and unbelief that were in her flesh and the world thus Satan our enemy takes quite a blow. She is dancing over the victory God has won for her against her enemies within.
At Gen. 32:3, however, by Mahanā⌜m is meant the double encampment of angels who protected Jacob’s two companies (Gen 32:8).
The town of Mahanāim derives its name from this vision of Jacob’s. The word, as the name of a town, is always without the article; and here, where it has the article, it is to be understood appellatively. The old translators, in rendering by “the dances of the camps” (Syr., Jerome, choros castrorum, Venet. θίασον στρατοπέδων), by which it remains uncertain whether a war-dance or a parade is meant, overlook the dual, and by exchanging מחנַיִם with מַחֲנוֹת, they obtain a figure which in this connection is incongruous and obscure. But, in truth, the figure is an angelic one.
The daughters of Jerusalem wish to see Shulamith dance, and they designate that as an angelic sight. Mahanā⌜mbecame in the post-bibl. dialect a name directly for angels. The dance of angels is only a step beyond the responsive song of the seraphim, Isa. 6. Engelkoere [angel-choir] and “heavenly host” are associated in the old German poetry.95 The following description is undeniably that (let one only read how Hitzig in vain seeks to resist this interpretation) of one dancing. In this, according to biblical representation and ancient custom, there is nothing repulsive. The women of the ransomed people, with Miriam at their head, danced, as did also the women who celebrated David’s victory over Goliath (Ex. 15:20; 1 Sam. 18:66). David himself danced (2 Sam. 6) before the ark of the covenant. Joy and dancing are, according to Old Testament conception, inseparable (Eccles. 3:4); and joy not only as the happy feeling of youthful life, but also spiritual holy joy (Ps. 87:7). The dance which the ladies of the court here desire to see, falls under the point of view of a play of rival individual artistes reciprocally acting for the sake of amusement. The play also is capable of moral nobility, if it is enacted within the limits of propriety, at the right time, in the right manner, and if the natural joyfulness, penetrated by intelligence, is consecrated by a spiritual aim. Thus Shulamith, when she dances, does not then become a Gaditanian (Martial, xiv. 203) or an Alma (the name given in Anterior Asia to those women who go about making it their business to dance mimic and partly lascivious dances); nor does she become a Bajadere (Isa. 23:15 f.),96 as also Miriam, Ex. 15:20, Jephthah’s daughter, Judg. 11:34, the “daughters of Shiloh,” Judg. 21:21, and the woman of Jerusalem, 1 Sam. 18:6, did not dishonour themselves by dancing; the dancing of virgins is even a feature of the times after the restoration, Jer. 31:13. But that Shulamith actually danced in compliance with the earnest entreaty of the daughters of Jerusalem, is seen from the following description of her attractions, which begins with her feet and the vibration of her thighs Keil and Delitzsch
But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?”
Solomon’s song of songs 7
7 “How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
2 “Your navel is like a round goblet
Which never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat
Fenced about with lilies.
3 “Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
4 “Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which faces toward Damascus.
5 “Your head crowns you like Carmel,
And the flowing locks of your head are like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
6 “How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your charms!
7 “Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters.
8 “I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,
I will take hold of its fruit stalks.’
Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
And the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9 And your mouth like the best wine!”
“It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Flowing gently through the lips of those who fall asleep.
The Union of Love
10 “I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
11 “Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,
Let us spend the night in the villages.
12 “Let us rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine has budded
And its blossoms have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 “The mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all choice fruits,
Both new and old,
Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.
Poem
Infinite Beauty, oh the most delightful thought
My heart will mediate on God, the thought of God.
He is the first and He is the Last, First meaning all things come from Him.
He is the last as all things are for His Glory and our good.
God is Beautiful. God the Father begets God the Son by Eternal Generation, God’s begotten Son is Himself all over again. Equal in Power and Glory. God the Father is Beautiful. God the Son is equally Beautiful. The infinite Beauty of the Son was always beheld by the Father and the Son in all His infinite Beauty was not alone.
There never was a time nor could there ever be a time when God’s view of His Son in all his fullness
There always has been and always will be the idea of the the Son being one with His bride. Chosen in Christ before the world began. Christ in all His fullness is infinitely Beautiful united to His Bride!!
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Saved in 2000 at age 27. Nearly immediately I fell in love with the Song and grew very fast the first two years memorizing large portions of scripture purifying my mind the started chewing on meat to soon and struggled for 12 years and Christ has me on track like always but I just took the long way around and now I love leading others closer to Christ by seeing His love reflected in Solomons love for an enemy slave girl.
I have experienced God's love to me in the Song in ways that words can't express. There are many portion of the Word where she experiences extra ordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God. If you have a burning desire for a close intimate relationship with God by experiencing His Love to you over and over again at greater and greater heights, depths, lengths and breaths then The Song of Songs is where you need to be.
I can help you with this process of Growing in the experience of God's love. As of 7-23-16 I have experienced everything prior to chapter 8. The Song of Song is progressive in experience. Meaning that if you are mature then you can experience the joys and extraordinary outpourings of God's Love shed abroad in your heart.
If you are not so mature then the delights in the first chapter of the Song will satisfy your thirst for experiencing the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Many Christian are living in sin because they do not know how to experience God's love and get hooked on Loving Him. It feels good to be loved and to love Him. His burden is not heavy and His yoke is light, Jesus said in Matt. 10:28
I believe God wants to use me to help beautify His Bride through the Song of Solomon.
If you see the book literally you will not understand nor grasp the Love God has for you. If you see the book and the verses in it relating to Christ's love to you then I would love to show you how to experience this Love to the fullest. I will pray for you daily and guide you every step of the way.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
I grew up going to church but was a hypocrite. I lived my life how I chose but went to church on Sunday because my family went.
Mom and Dad divorced when I was about 5.
About this time I was sexually abused by "Bob" a made up name. This incident changed my life for the worst. I had no clue how to deal with it.
As I got older I grew in my hatred for Bob. I didn't blame anyone of my family because I was to young to know any better. Some of what happened during the abuse was in a bathroom. So overtime I would use the bathroom and look at my private parts that night would replay in my mind. My hatred for Bob would continue to grow each time.
Now I know this only happened to me one night. I can't image the pain other's go through who have had this happen to them over and over. Even as I write this now I cry with many tears for those hurting. God love you even though you may not know it or feel it. Go to Him in your time of need.
I was a really bad teenager. I only cared about myself and not even my family. I always came first in my mind. Even at the expense of hurting others. I was growing in my hatred for God by now.
I was going to church and was learned that God was in control. I thought well, if God was in control then He must have let me be sexually abused. I didn't understand this, How could a good and loving God allow this. I hated Him for it. My hatred for Bob grew as well. I was still using the bathroom and memories kept coming back. My heart grew even harder for Bob and God. As far as I was concerned God would have nothing to do with my life so I lived even worse. I thought I would be in jail or dead and I really didn't care, I thought it could be much worse than reliving your painful past over and over again. Little did I know that God's plan later would be to use these events to give me a burning passion for the closest most intimate love relationship with Himself through Christ mainly through the love poem in the Song of Songs in the Bible.
I remember hating Bob so much that the only thing that would relieve my pain was actually thinking he would suffer forever for what he did. I grew so much in my hatred for him that I had to continue to think that he would get even worse than what I imaged before. After some time I would only be relieved of hatred for him unless I thought he would burn in a hotter and hotter hell for all the suffering he put me through.
I never told my mom or family what happened, although I think some of them knew something had happened.
I grew up quite rebellious and even went to jail at the age of 20. I was living the fast life pursuing all my sinful desires and wanting more. It never seemed to be enough. I was quite happy in my sin but I just wanted more of it.
I lived life thinking I would die at a young age, riding motorcycle and living on the edge put me in the hospital many times and I should have been dead.
California at age 26.
I moved to California for a job opportunity at the age of 27. While trying to figure out what radio stations to program in my car, I ran across a RC Sproul talking about "people who have the faith that saves and people who only say that have faith" only the people who have the faith that saves will go to heaven. I thought "I don't think I have the faith that saves because my life was so bad." I searched the scriptures to try to get this faith. I found a church and thought people there could help me get this faith that saves. All along God kept showing me how sinful I was and that I deserved punishment from Him for living my life hating Him.
One weekend I read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John desperately trying to find out how to get this faith that saves. By now I knew that if you had the faith that saves that Jesus would be saving you from a life of sin. I still liked my sin and Jesus sure wasn't saving me from a life of sin, so I rightly concluded that I didn't have the faith that saves.
By the time I got to John, I saw "believe" everywhere. John 3:16 and other verses and wow the whole book was written so that you may believe. John 20:31 "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." So at night I would pray "I believe Jesus died for me, I believe, I believe. This was just an intellectual belief. I knew that in history and the Bible that Jesus died for everyone, so I believed it. But this belief did not change my life.
I would go on night after night saying the same prayer only to wake up the next day wanting to fulfill my sinful desires. The prayer wasn't working so I started to word it different each time hoping some prayer would work. After about 2 weeks of this I was fed up with it all, nothing was happening. I still was living in my sin and wanted more of it. A Christian hates their sin and does something about it, and certainly they don't continue to make plans to sin. The prayers weren't working so I gave up. I thought to myself "God, I tried with all my might, I searched the Scriptures, went to church, read the Bible and prayed all to no avail. If Im going to be saved your going to have to do it because I tried."
So I quit praying but still the Bible kept calling me so I read more. 3 Days later I was laying in a tanning bed and God convicted me really hard that I had offended Him by the life I was living. I was so scared of God, where could I run. You can't hide from God. It seemed like forever that I was under these terrors of being punished by a Holy Angry God. This lasted about 10 minutes then this is how I understood it. God let me understand that all that anger that He had for me for all my sin should come my way but He had poured that anger out on Jesus 2,000 years ago. I immediately started weeping an couldn't stop for about 20 minutes. All the sins that I could think of I confessed for that 20 minutes one after another after another, I was so sorrowful and grieved it physically hurt inside.
After I stopped crying I thought that was the weirdest thing that ever happened. I walked out of the tanning salon and stood outside and everything seemed so beautiful, the tree's, the birds, even the air seemed pleasant. Now I was really wondering what was going on.
I pondered all of this as I drove to work that day. I brought my Bible to work and was thinking what am I doing, I want to take my Bible to work so I can read it. As soon as I got to work I started reading my Bible. I couldn't believe what I was reading!! It all was so wonderful. It felt so good to just read my Bible. My client showed up and as I was training them the only thing I could think about was getting back to my Bible. I read all night and slept about 2 hours and was reading again.
I had sinful things in my apartment and I rounded everything evil up and threw it in the garbage. It was weird I was thinking but it felt good so I left it all in the garbage. I called my girlfriend to break it up and she thought I had another girl, I said no, I just think this is wrong we shouldn't be sleeping together. She didn't understand so I told her I was a Christian now and she still thought I had another girlfriend. She said "Im glad your a Christian, so am I" I thought to myself, "I have a strong conviction that sleeping together is wrong and she thought it was okay" I wondered how she could think that. Anyway we broke up.
I kept reading my bible and repenting, there was so much to repent of and I had lived a very sinful life. I was a thief for some part of my life and all the people I stole from kept coming to mind. I owed so much money. I was instantly in debt about $80,000. As I could I paid them back. As of 7-18-2016 I still owe about $25,000 but it sure is a joy to be paying them back.
The first week of being saved a car just about ran me over, they hit me but I wasn't hurt at all. The guy in the car felt so bad. I just looked at him and said "God bless you and have a great day, I am okay" smiled at him and moved on. Now I was really wondering what was going on because I normally would have cussed him out left and right and instead of cussing I blessed him. That was so weird. But again it felt good. I learned to do good by what my conscience told me was good and that it felt good. I got hooked on this feeling good by doing good and did it more often.
About two weeks after being saved I thought of Bob. I immediately prayed for him, something like "Lord help him.." then I stopped praying and said out loud "What am I doing?" I'm praying for a man that I hated my whole life, but it feels good and right, so I did it again. I stopped again midway in the prayer and started pacing around. I was trying to make sense of what was going on and couldn't figure it out. But again it made me happy to pray for him so I did. Bob would often come to mind when I went to the bathroom and each time I would pray for Him. The more I did this the less weird it got. And the greater my love grew for him.
I started memorizing large portions of scripture and this was wonderful because it felt like the words were cleaning my mind and as Proverbs 2:10 "For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul." I wanted more and more of this pleasantness. So I memorized even more and the joy got more and more.
Then this life changing advice came:
A friend from church told me to find a book of the Bible and really understand it. Read through the Bible and pick one and read it over and over and study it and really get it. So I started in Genesis and read through. When I got to Proverbs I really liked it so I thought that would be the book. I started by memorizing all of Proverbs chapter 3. After that I thought maybe there is a better book than Proverbs. So I read on. Then I came to Song of Solomon. I read it with quite some confusion. It wasn't as good as the other books, I didn't know why. So I bought a commentary on it. George Burrowes commentary on the Song of Solomon.
In the commentary I found that George and other saw the book as illustrating God's love to the Church. And not only illustrating it but displaying the Love of Christ better than any other book. This caught my attention big time, because I was having a burning desire for a closer relationship with God and desperately learning about His Love so that I could Love God. You see I had hated Him for so long that God used that old hard heart to spur me on in loving Him. I so much did not want to hate God anymore that I was on fire to learn to Love Him as much and as fast as possible. So here was a book that would help me do that. So I landed on the Song of Solomon. I committed to learning as much of this book as possible.
I memorized the first chapter and would repeat it often throughout the day. I didn't know much of what I was repeating but it sure made me happier and on fire for God. I grew so fast repeating the first chapter over and over again all day, like a dozen times a day at least. It felt so good and I never found any other book that caused me to weep so much. I would often weep everyday just reading it. I was to immature to know what was going on. Even though it hurt to weep so much, I felt like my heart was being cleansed from the filth that was in it by repeating it over and over again so I did. As I read the commentary I understood more and more. What God was doing in me through the Song was greater and faster than any other portion of Scripture so I tended to stay there often. I was so excited about God that I thought it funny that other's in church weren't the same way. Some where happy but it seemed most of them didn't seem to care much about God. They would talk about work, football the weather. The only thing I wanted to talk about was Jesus and God and how can I grow closer to Him.
About this time there was a mission trip to Ireland.
I started to have convictions that I should try to find Bob and witness to him. I kept praying for him but how could he be saved if he hadn't heard the Gospel that has power unto salvation. So I asked family if they had any information. Like me before, my family hated him and thought he deserved hell. After some time I got his name but no location or phone number. Either they didn't know where he was or didn't want to tell me. I prayed some more and then started to get stronger convictions to do something about finding Bob.
So I went on the internet and typed in "his name and child molestation sex offender court" thinking that some court record would have some info leading to where I may find him" I even talked to a private eye and he couldn't help. So I googled some key words and spent hours each day looking through each page. I believed it was God's will for me to witness to Bob. I wanted him to be saved. Really bad. So much so that I thought God would save Bob if I were to witness to him. So I didn't stop searching for him. I kept my computer on each day and went page by page. It took two years to go through about 15,000 pages but I found someone who matched his name in a prison for molesting his grandchildren. I wrote the prison and he wrote back. All kinds of emotions went through my body when I saw his letter from the jail. I didn't open it right away but two hours later God gave me enough courage to face my fears again and I opened the letter. He admitted to being the one who molested me. We wrote back and forth I told him I was angry before but now I was saved and that I loved him and believed God wanted me to talk to him. He read my letters over and over again. I shared the gospel in each one.
I got mad at Bob 2x. Once he said that he love me. I got really angry with him. He didn't love me. That night it was hard to love Bob, I had to call a friend to pray for me to repent, after he prayed I felt greater love for Bob. Then I wrote him back saying "I'm sorry but you can't say that you loved me. You did not love me you lusted after me." He admitted he didn't love as he should have and admitted that it was lust and sinful. Finally some conviction. Yet I only thought he was saying that because I was being nice to him. All his family had left him and he said I was the only "friend" he had.
Wether or not it was true Bob said that he had cancer in his arm and that the help the prison gives was not enough and if he had money he could see a different doctor and get help. I sent him some money and since I was in jail before I knew what it was like to be in there without money, so I sent him money.
About 4-5 months in the economy went down, it was 2008. Work was hard. I still sent him money and I had to work harder. This was a really good lesson for me because I had to "work hard for the benefit of someone who did not deserve it." This was one of the greatest blessing ever because I realized with great certainty that Jesus was in me. This is what Jesus did. Jesus worked his whole life for me and I didn't deserve it!! Christ was in me! This was one of the best feelings ever and it put me in worship for months.
Then a mission trip to Croatia.
Each time I had to leave my business and amazing as it is I was completely okay each time. I am a self employed personal trainer and it is normally absurd to just leave and start over, but each time I had enough work within 2 weeks of coming back. This is a flat out miracle. I trusted God to provide and he did. How many people can start up a business in 2 weeks. Only with the help of God. God was teaching me early on in my walk that as long as I did what He wanted me to do then I had nothing to worry about.
About 3 years saved now.
I Taught the 4 year old's at church Sunday morning for 10 years.
Left my business 2x for mission trips and God miraculously provided when I came back.
I taught 5 x a week plus held a job.
Sunday morning to the kids.
Sunday night with the 5th graders
Friday afternoons at Good News Clubs. Sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship.
Friday Nights with the Kids teaching through Pilgrims Progress, I did this 2x
Teaching Monday afternoons at a nursing home. I taught through the Song of Songs once then John, then Romans then back to the Song again! I love the Song of Songs.
I grew up hating God for what happened to me, and now I love Him because He first loved me. My passion is for children to grow up loving God and not hating Him.
My other passion which has become ever greater is to help others see the Love of Christ to His Church in the Song of Songs!!
I would love to help you, just let me know and I will lead you and pray for you.
God demonstrates His love to us in sending His one and only Son to suffer in our place, taking our sins upon Himself so that whoever believes they get to heaven because of what He did for us will not perish but have everlasting life.
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