A Wake-up Call to Men

Song of Solomon 4

Young Man

1 You are beautiful, my darling,
beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are as white as sheep,
recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
each tooth matched with its twin.
3 Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
6 Before the dawn breezes blow
and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
beautiful in every way.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Come down from Mount Amana,
from the peaks of Senir and Hermon,
where the lions have their dens
and leopards live among the hills.

9 You have captured my heart,
my treasure, my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
with a single jewel of your necklace.
10 Your love delights me,
my treasure, my bride.
Your love is better than wine,
your perfume more fragrant than spices.
11 Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes are scented
like the cedars of Lebanon.

12 You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,
a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
13 Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates
with rare spices—
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
fragrant calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,
and every other lovely spice.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of fresh water
streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.

Young Woman

16 Awake, north wind!
Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
and spread its fragrance all around.
Come into your garden, my love;
taste its finest fruits.

Hello out there men! Are you listening? If you didn't notice to the first 15 verses of this chapter then I don't know if there is any hope for you. What we read in these verses is a key for us to understand on just how we should be looking at our wives (from not on it is implied for girlfriends for the unmarried). Granted, some of the descriptions used here do not carry a lot of weight with women in this part of the world, but the ideas behind them are still the same. If you missed it, here are the highlights for review:

You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful beyond words. Your eyes are like doves, your hair falls in waves. Your teeth are white and your smile is flawless. Your lips and your mouth are inviting. Your neck and your body cause me to hurry to see you. I would climb a mountain to get to you. You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way. Come with me from your place of protection. You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine or football or golf or fishing or hunting. Your lips are sweet to kiss. You dress like a goddess and your scent drives me wild. You are mine and mine alone and your body is like a fantasy to me. I am swept away with your beauty. Your beauty refreshes me and washes over me. My love for you is like a fresh stream of water on a mountain.

I took some liberty to rephrase some passages, but the idea is the same. If we, as men, truly believed these things about our wives the porn industry would be hit with a huge loss in revenue. If we could get it through out thick skulls and embrace these thoughts and feelings about our wives our marriages would be envied by everyone we know. We would have mush stronger marriages and our wives would be much happier women. If we would meditate on these verses and apply them to our wives not only would our love for them grow our appreciation for what God has given us through them would grow. God would get all the glory.

I want you men to try this phrase out and apply it with the thoughts in these verses and see what happens. Here it is:

I am anointed to love my wife on a level that the world is unfamiliar with. As a result of my expression of that love and appreciation for her all the glory and honor will belong to God. He has made it possible for me to love her in a way that will acknowledge her outer beauty and encourage her inner beauty. She will respond positively and her love for me will grow and her love for God will grow.

That's a great start men. Let us walk together on this journey of a deeper love walk with our wives. Let us really develope an appreciation for them that the world has not seen before so that more people are attracted to God's love that will truly transform their lives and their marriages. All the praise and honor belong to Him who created us all and brought us together with our spouses.

Lord I thank You that I am anointed to love my wife on a level that the world is unfamiliar with and that all the glory and honor belong to You for it. You made it possible for me to love my wife in a way that will encourage her and honor her and her response will be the same. I thank You the You gave me the example of how to love her. I lay my life down for her and give her preference in all things (even the remote). I thank You Lord for first loving me and pursuing me. Let my love for my wife grow and flourish and may Your Word be a constant guide for me as I walk this out. I thank You for my wife. Her beauty is beyond words. Her body is what I dream about. She is altogether beautiful in every way. She has captured my heart. She is my treasure here on earth. She holds my heart hostage with one glance of her eyes. Her love delights me and is better than anything this world has to offer. She is mine and I am hers, completely and without reservation. Her beauty washes over me and refreshes me like a fresh mountain stream. I praise You for Your creation reflected in her and through her. She is a gift to me from You and I will strive to fully appreciate that gift and continue to show my appreciation for her. You are an awesome God and I am truly thankful that I am more in love with You than I am with my wife. Amen.

Published by Erik L. Vakula
Daily Bread From the Word
Copyright © 2009 Erik Vakula, All Rights Reserved