The Beauty and Delights of the Christian Bedroom

Shulammite invited Solomon to come to "his garden" in 4:16. Now in 5:1 he calls her "my" garden. In fact, nine times in this one verse he uses the word my. In tender words he calls Shulammite his garden, his sister, and his bride. Coming in to her was indeed a garden of delight. She smelled good, tasted good, and felt good; and he told her so. Their lovemaking was delightful. It had been wonderful. She invited him to come to her and he did. In response, he romantically and tenderly expressed the pleasure she had given him.

The last part of verse 1 has created quite a bit of interpretive discussion. Exactly who is it that encourages this man and woman in their lovemaking? Some believe it is the friends of the couple. The HCSB identifies the speaker as the book's narrator. However, this speaker's intimate knowledge of all that has transpired in their bedroom leads me in a different direction.

Though His name never appears directly in the entire Song of Songs (but see 2:7; 3:5; 8:4, 6), I believe the one who speaks here is God. He is the unseen but present guest in their bedroom. He has observed all that has happened this night, and He tells us what He thinks about it. And He thinks it is a good thing!

126"Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with love!" The love shared by Solomon and Shulammite, together with the gift of sex, was given to them by God. Craig Glickman comments,

He [God] lifts His voice and gives hearty approval to the entire night. He vigorously endorses and affirms the love of this couple. He takes pleasure in what has taken place. He is glad they have drunk deeply of the fountain of love. Two of His own have experienced love in all the beauty and fervor and purity that He intended for them. In fact, He urges them on to more.... That is His attitude toward the giving of their love to each other. And by the way, that's also His attitude toward couples today. (Glickman, Song, 25)

Yes, God is there and He is pleased with what He sees. "He sees the passion. He hears the sighs of delight. He watches the lovers as they caress one another in the most intimate places. He is witness to the fleshly, earthly sights, sounds, and smells.... God desires for us to rejoice in our sensuousness, to give in to it" (Dillow and Pintus, Intimate, 17).

A term of tender affection flows from the mouth of God in this verse as He looks on the couple enjoying His good gift of sex as He designed it. He calls them "friends." God loves them, and He loves what He sees. How foreign this is to so many persons' thinking when they try to imagine what God the Creator thinks about sex. He loves us, and He likes it when we are engaged in the passion of lovemaking within the covenant of marriage. It can be revolutionary and transforming when we accurately and correctly understand the Creator's perspective. We can become like a woman named Beth who said,

Loving my husband can become an act of worship to God. As my husband and I lie together, satiated in the afterglow of sexual ecstasy, the most natural thing in the world is for me to offer thanksgiving to my God for the beauty, the glory of our sexual joy. I don't even think about what I am doing; my heart just turns to the Lord and offers praise. Truly His gift of sex is a wondrous thing. (Dillow and Pintus, Intimate, 19)

Practical Applications from Song of Songs 4:1-5:1

What do happy couples say about sex, this good gift from a great God? Reader's Digest ran an article that answers that question with the caption, 127"With a dash of surprise, a pinch of romance and a word or two at the right moment, love can be kept simmering even in the longest marriage." Adapting their list slightly, I think at least 12 things can be said. Any couple will be well served to meditate, reflect on, and put into practice these helpful ideas.

In our Song we see a bride whose husband views her as perfect, flawless, "with no imperfection" (4:7). If only such a bride really existed. The fact is, however, she does! She exists in the people of God called the church, a people God has redeemed and "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). Made new in Jesus Christ, her divine Bridegroom, she knows He is committed "to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word," and that He is doing this "to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:26-27).

This is how our Bridegroom sees us through His imputed righteousness, and this is who we are predestined to be when our marriage is consummated at "the marriage feast of the Lamb" (Rev 19:9; cf. Rom 8:30). On that day we will

be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. She [will be] given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:7-8)

The love this shepherd-king has for his bride is beautiful and precious indeed. However, as Robert Saucy says so well,

The love of Christ for His bride far surpasses anything known in the human level.... Never has a husband loved as Christ loved the church. For Christ did not love those worthy of love, but sinners and enemies (Rom 5:8-10).... "Christ loved the church not because it was perfectly lovable but in order to make it such." (Saucy, The Church, 45)11

Indeed the extent of His love is seen in the price He paid to make us flawless, with no imperfection at all. We are indeed His beautiful bride, His darling. This is how Christ sees us! This is what He has made us!

"The Bride of Christ"

O Church of God, thou spotless bride,

On Jesus' breast secure;

No stains of sin in thee abide

Thy garments all are pure.

Of unity and holiness

Thy gentle voice doth sing;

Of purity and lowliness

Thy songs in triumph ring.

Thou lovely virgin, thou are fair,

Thy mother's only child;

Thy heav'nly music let me hear,

Thy voice is sweet and mild.

Thy cheeks adorned with jewels bright,

Thy neck with chains of gold;

Unfurl thy banners in thy might,

Thy graces rich unfold.

She stood attired in spotless dress

The early morning through,

And then into the wilderness

On eagle's wings she flew.

And nourished there from heav'nly clime,

She lived for many years;

Now, in this blessed evening time

Her glory reappears.

She leans upon an Arm of Love

No sin her garments taints;

They're made of linen wov'n above—

The righteousness of saints.

The marriage of the Lamb is come,

His bride all ready stands;

The Bridegroom soon will take her home

To dwell in heav'nly lands. (Brooks and Byers, "The Bride of Christ," public domain)

Much of this introduction is drawn from Daniel Akin, God on Sex: The Creator's Ideas about Love, Intimacy, and Marriage (Nashville: B&H, 2003), 136-37, which is adapted from "Notes on Song of Solomon 3:4-5" in The Believer's Study Bible, 912.

Cited in Paige Patterson, Song of Solomon (Chicago: Moody, 1986), 73.

Accessed July 9, 2014, http://www.christianliferesources.com/article/helping-yourteen-say-no-to-sex-309.

The last portion of this quote comes from Brooke Foss Westcott, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1952), 84.