LET MY BELOVED COME INTO HIS GARDEN

Song of Songs 3:6-5:1 / Keywords 4:16b

that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.

3:6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness

    like a column of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh and incense

    made from all the spices of the merchant?

7 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,

    escorted by sixty warriors,

    the noblest of Israel,

8 all of them wearing the sword,

    all experienced in battle,

each with his sword at his side,

    prepared for the terrors of the night.

9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage;

    he made it of wood from Lebanon.

10 Its posts he made of silver,

    its base of gold.

Its seat was upholstered with purple,

    its interior inlaid with love.

Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,

    and look, you daughters of Zion.

Look[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,

    the crown with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

    the day his heart rejoiced.

He

4 How beautiful you are, my darling!

    Oh, how beautiful!

    Your eyes behind your veil are doves.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

    descending from the hills of Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,

    coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin;

    not one of them is alone.

3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;

    your mouth is lovely.

Your temples behind your veil

    are like the halves of a pomegranate.

4 Your neck is like the tower of David,

    built with courses of stone[b];

on it hang a thousand shields,

    all of them shields of warriors.

5 Your breasts are like two fawns,

    like twin fawns of a gazelle

    that browse among the lilies.

6 Until the day breaks

    and the shadows flee,

I will go to the mountain of myrrh

    and to the hill of incense.

7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

    there is no flaw in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

    come with me from Lebanon.

Descend from the crest of Amana,

    from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,

from the lions’ dens

    and the mountain haunts of leopards.

9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;

    you have stolen my heart

with one glance of your eyes,

    with one jewel of your necklace.

10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!

    How much more pleasing is your love than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume

    more than any spice!

11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;

    milk and honey are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments

    is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;

    you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates

    with choice fruits,

    with henna and nard,

14     nard and saffron,

    calamus and cinnamon,

    with every kind of incense tree,

    with myrrh and aloes

    and all the finest spices.

15 You are[c] a garden fountain,

    a well of flowing water

    streaming down from Lebanon.

She

16 Awake, north wind,

    and come, south wind!

Blow on my garden,

    that its fragrance may spread everywhere.

Let my beloved come into his garden

    and taste its choice fruits.

He

5:1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

    I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;

    drink your fill of love.

Footnotes

a. Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look

b. Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

c. Song of Songs 4:15 Or I am (spoken by She)

 

1. Today’s passage describes the wedding day of the Shulamite woman and the king. While the woman was in the country town tending the family vineyard and the flock, she saw a procession of the king. The king brought a beautiful carriage carefully adorned to seat his bride. The king himself wore a crown prepared for his wedding day. Can you imagine what this country maiden would have felt to see that?

 

2. Chapter 4 is mostly the song of the king expressing his delight in his beautiful bride at the wedding. The king finds her beautiful and flawless (7). Since the king had possession of anything he ever wanted, the king’s affection for a simple woman from a humble background may be surprising. Yet, this reminds us of the Lord’s delight over each of us as we humbly seek our refuge in him (Zephaniah 3:17).

 

3. In response to the king’s affection, the woman invites him into her garden. She has prepared her garden that only the king can enter, which she considers ‘his garden’. Would you receive the love of the Lord and prepare your heart as a place where only he can enter?

 

Prayer Father, thank you for Jesus, my Lord, and the King. I feel secure in his love. Please come into my heart and guide my soul so I may be one with you and share your heart.

One Word Come into my garden