How Jesus Christ Sees Me – Song of Solomon 4:1-7

In this chapter, the Bridegroom is speaker with the exception of Vs. 16 and likely Vs. 6. They contain a heart-gripping love song revealing the deep admiration and affection the Groom has for His bride. Considering this in light of the N.T. truth that we are Christ’s bride, it reveals some heart-warming, encouraging truths concerning how our Saviour views us through grace.

Her growth in maturity is revealed in her willingness to listen more than speak. It contains a heart-gripping love song revealing the deep admiration and affection the Groom has for His bride.

These descriptions of the bride are not designed to vaunt outward physical beauty but the beauty of holiness” or the qualities Christ gives His people through the work of salvation. Christ admires His handiwork in the lives of His people. (Masters)

This chapter is “a most affectionate appraisal of the many and varied beauties of the Bride as seen through the eyes of Christ her Beloved.” (Flanigan)

We will consider this song of praise under 4 divisions:

The Praise of her Beauty (Vs. 1; 7)

The Source of her Beauty (Vs. 1a)

1. She belongs to her Beloved (“my love”) and He is the source of her beauty.
2. “The explanation of the fairness of the bride is found in her reflecting like a mirror the beauty of the Bridegroom.” (Hudson Taylor)
3. Speaking of Israel’s beauty, God said, “And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ex. 16:14)
4. As born again, blood washed believers, we have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This is why he views us ‘fair’. Before salvation, our sins made us vile in his sight and we had only the filthy rags of our own attempted righteousness. But now through the work of redemption we are “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” (Rev. 19:8)

The Scope of her Beauty (Vs. 7)

1. “all fair” = the word ‘all’ now added to the description. Her whole person is beautiful to Him.
2. “no spot in thee” = a ‘spot’ is a blemish or defect. The work of redemption is so complete that in Christ, I am without blemish or defect. God sees the end and the fulfilment of His Redemptive work. Truly these are words of unfathomable, unsearchable grace.

The Particulars of her Beauty (Vs. 1b-5)

The Bridegroom now moves from a general statement of her beauty to a seven-fold description of the particular features of her beauty. Considered through the lens of N.T. truth, they provide some wonderful thoughts on the specific spiritual qualities that bring joy to our Saviour’s heart as His people.

Her Eyes (Vs. 1b)

1. He has already referred to her eyes in this way in Song 1:15. Both of these verses are a passionate outburst of praise for the fairness of the bride. In both cases, the first thing that captures the attention of the Groom are her eyes.
2. The eyes are the gateway to the soul, revealing much about one’s inner life. Before salvation, our eyes are for that which is sinful and wicked. But now He fills our vision is the object of our affections.
3. The Bridegroom’s eyes are also described as “the eyes of doves” (5:12). Her eyes have become like Christ’s and hence His attraction to them.
4. He is attracted to her eyes on account of their dove-like qualities. The dove is a symbol of:
   1. Peace – The flash of rebellion and resistance are no longer in her eyes from her former life of enmity against the Saviour.
   2. Purity – the dove was the bird of sacrifice in the Old Testament. She has been cleansed by the blood and is pure. The taint of sin has been removed from her eyes.
   3. The Holy Spirit – she is possessed of the Saviour’s own Spirit making her attractive to him. The Holy Spirit is producing the beauty of holiness in our inner lives.
5. Challenge: Who has your eyes? Whoever has your eyes, has your heart. God said of Israel in Ezekiel 6:9 “…because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols:” How does Christ feel when the eyes of God’s people are trained on the television set night after night as they have an adulterous love affair with this world? How do you think Christ feels when your eyes are focused on a romance novel that doesn’t honour Him rather than His Word?

Her Hair (Vs. 1c)

1. Her long hair, like the Nazarite, speaks of her separation and consecration unto Him.
2. To the world, separation and holiness is ugly and detestable but to Christ our Saviour, it is truly beautiful. Three times in the Bible we have the phrase, “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (1 Chr. 16:29; Psalm 29:2; 96:9)

Her Teeth (Vs. 2)

1. The teeth are the instruments of the body used to receive food. Perhaps the teeth speak of her appetite for spiritual things (truth).
2. Her teeth reflect symmetry – they are even and balanced
3. Her teeth reflect purity – they are white and pure. What a contrast to the teeth of the ungodly described as “spears and arrows” (Psalm 57:4) and “swords and knives” (Prov. 30:14)

Her Speech (Vs. 3a)

1. The lips are the vehicle of speech and are scarlet, the colour of Redemption. Her lips are Redeemed lips!
2. He finds her words ‘comely’ meaning suitable, appropriate, proper and beautiful. Her lips have been transformed through the work of grace.
3. The Bridegroom expressed a passionate desire in Song 2:14 to hear the Bride’s voice. What a wonder that God should actually seek fellowship with us! (John 4:23)
4. Christ loves to hear the voice of His people in prayer and praise. Three times in the Book of Revelation the prayers of the saints are likened to sweet incense before the throne of God (Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4)
5. Challenge: Can you imagine a marriage where a wife virtually never spoke to her husband or a husband didn’t speak to his wife? Yet how often we go for hours, days or even weeks with barely uttering a word of prayer or praise to our Beloved.
6. Challenge: Are our lips used as a vehicle for words that are pure and proper or are, they used in the service of carnality and ungodliness? What sort of words does your Saviour hear coming out of your mouth? Are they beautiful and appropriate words?
   1. James 1:26 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
   2. Eph. 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
   3. Col. 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
7. Hudson Taylor: “The lips that speak only of Him are like a thread of scarlet; the mouth or speech which has no word of self, or for self, is comely in His sight.”

Her Temples (Vs. 3b)

1. The head is the “palace of the mind”. The Groom admires and loves the bride’s depth of understanding, insight and discernment. (Masters)
2. Are our minds filled with the beauty of holiness or the ugliness of carnality and impurity?

Her Neck (Vs. 4)

1. The neck speaks of the man’s will. The ungodly are often described as stiff necked in Scripture on account of their will be suborn and rebellious against the Lord (e.g. Acts 7:51). In contrast, her neck is submitted and surrendered to the will of God.
2. Her neck is likened to the tower of David which was an armoury (weapons storage) for a thousand shields. Her neck is set for the defence of the truth. She is willing to fight her Beloved’s battles, holding the shield of faith. She is faithful and loyal to Him. Standing for truth and right is distasteful in the eyes of the world and the compromised believer, but in the eyes of Christ our Saviour, it is a beautiful and praiseworthy thing.

Her Heart (Vs. 5)

1. He praises the part of the bride’s body that is nearest to her heart. The chest area is regarded as the seat of the emotions. Thus, her love for her Beloved is highlighted.
2. Both breasts are equal in proportion, revealing that her heart is undivided and singular.
3. The breasts are also the organs of nurture. She ministers the milk of the Word to newborn babes in Christ and this is pleasing to the Saviour.

The Practice of Her Beauty (Vs. 6)

It is likely that the Bride speaks these words as the language closely resembles her words in chapter 2:17. This is her response to the Bridegroom’s words concerning her position through grace. She understands that her position in grace has practical implications for her until she experiences the consummation of her pilgrimage in glory.

She Pursues the Cross – The Mountain of Myrrh (Vs. 6a)

1. Myrrh speaks of Christ’s suffering love. Truly, Calvary was the mountain of Myrrh where the fragrance of God’s love was poured out on the cross.
2. The bride is conscious that the cross is the place where progress is to be made in the beauty of holiness. It is at the cross where her life will be beautified and perfumed for her earthly walk. The cross is central to her earthly walk “until the day break and the shadows flee away” She must walk the crucified life if she is going to live out the position she has in her Saviour.
3. The cross applied by the Holy Spirit is the only instrument powerful enough to hold in the place of death the hideous and ugly old man and to release the beauty of the life of Christ in us. Paul expressed this endeavour in Phil. 3:10.
4. Watchman Nee comments: “She freely admits that she has not arrived and that a deeper work of the cross was indispensable to her progress. From this brief statement, we observe that the maiden fully realized her present limited state of attainment and that spiritual features needed still more development. The future is taken up in these words: “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.” They point to a realization in her that she had not yet come to the climax of spiritual maturity.”
5. Her endeavour calls forth the passionate approval of her Beloved in Vs. 7.

She Pursues Christ’s Life – The Hill of Frankincense (Vs. 6b)

1. ‘frankincense’ speaks of the fragrance of the life of Christ, in particular His intercessory ministry.
2. The Hill of frankincense is the hill of prayer. In prayer, I breathe the atmosphere of heaven and it perfumes my inner life.

Conclusion

1. Are we living out the beauty we possess in Christ? Are we living with an endeavour to be pleasing to the Saviour?
2. Do we feel discouraged on account of our weaknesses and failures? Remember how Christ sees you; clothed in His perfect righteousness.

Sermon 15 of 22 in Song of Solomon Series

Sermon Audio Id: 126191932181680