Song of Songs 4:9-10 “You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes…How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!” (NIV).
Observation: The very title of the book suggests that this song is the greatest of all songs in history. Within it are metaphors of love and passion of surpassing emotion, whether the passion of God for His chosen people Israel or the intimacy between the King of kings and His beloved, the one for whom He would surrender all He had in order to win her eternal devotion.
Application: Of all the perspectives from which these verses may be read, the one I choose is that of the beloved, one whom a lovesick bridegroom king has ardently pursued. I am like the poor waif, become the object of such affection as to make the story surpassingly intimate and personal.
This is fundamentally different from any other of life’s pursuits. We have all had a deep longing for a “thing”: the exotic vacation or the latest fashion. When the showroom fills with sleek new models we head breathlessly to the dealer to admire them. We love the test drive, senses alive to the fragrance of new leather and the sensation of powerful acceleration. But this is poor passion indeed, one-way at best.
In the Song of Songs, though, I read that the God of all the universe is my lover, igniting my heart with words of devotion, with the caresses of His strong hands and a gaze that assures me He would die to win me. I realize that there is within me something so surpassingly attractive to Him that only He could have put it there. As I gaze into the eyes of my soul’s lover, He sees a reflection not merely of the impoverishments of my abject neediness; he also sees His very life that He transferred to me the instant of my salvation.
He has sacrificed all to win me and His words ring within: “You have stolen my heart . . . your love is more pleasing than wine.” On and on the Song goes as my magnificent lover assures me of His ecstasy over me. He is the lover who is always there, who will never leave me or forsake me, and for the rest of my life He invites me to explore intimacy with Him. He bids me find all my pleasure, my deepest satisfaction, in Him alone. And He assures me that I will forever be the object of His unfailing love.
Prayer: Jesus, other encounters in Scripture of Your glory and Your majesty would have me prostrate before You. But this encounter, this magnificent Song You delight in singing over me, draws me confidently into Your embrace. You have captured my heart, and I delight in being the object of Your love.