The Believer Who Dances Before God
1How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman. 2Your body is like a round goblet, no mixed wine is wanting. Your waist is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies. 3Your two breasts are like two fawns, that are twins of a roe. 4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus. 5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses. 6How beautiful and how pleasant you are, love, for delights! 7This, your stature, is like a palm tree, your breasts like its fruit. 8I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree. I will take hold of its fruit.” Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the smell of your breath like apples, 9Your mouth like the best wine, that goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips of those who are asleep.
Many women are choosing cosmetic surgery as a way of improving themselves.
The pain and the side effects that come with surgery are beyond describing, and still the number of women having it done is rising sharply. And it is not only women; men too, rather than living with the face or the body God allowed them, are changing themselves in the spirit of re-creating themselves by human medicine. Ordinary people meet it so often through the media that they are growing numb to it. Surgery is certainly a necessary medical art for people whose faces are deformed or disfigured; but when you see the faces of entertainers and people addicted to surgery looking different every time, it leaves a bitter feeling.
In the past having surgery in order to look well to other people was something nobody would have dreamed of. As the quality of life improved, appearance came to be stressed, and looks became the measure by which a person is judged. Because of a climate that judges people by appearance rather than by character or disposition, the number of people who feel unhappy by comparison has risen. There are people who kill themselves out of despair over their looks, and people who cannot function in society at all. It would be good if surgery to make a face and a body pretty let people live with confidence; but throwing away a life or being unable to function in society because of appearance is a very unhappy thing for the individual and for the society.
I went to America for the first time the year my first grandchild was born. I landed at Atlanta airport, and what astonished me most was how many people were heavy beyond anything I could have imagined. Some of them looked as though even walking was hard. But the astonishment lasted only a moment; what I envied was that all of them, whatever their appearance, were doing their work faithfully with bright faces. Not one of them was shrunken because of how they looked; every one was giving their best to the work in front of them. And what was even better to see was that, unlike in Korea, where a person who has put on a lot of weight has trouble finding anywhere to work, they were working cheerfully regardless of appearance. There are differences by field and by person, of course, but simply from the fact that there is work available regardless of appearance, people’s thinking seemed to be open.
That someone who has studied a great deal and holds expert knowledge cannot find anywhere to work because of their appearance is evidence that the society is evil. It is because people are not working according to their talents and abilities; the search is only for good looks, as though dolls were being stamped out in a factory. That the worship of appearance is everywhere in the world is a problem in itself, but the society is also growing sick because people are losing confidence by comparison. And killing themselves — taking their children with them — because they are poor or ill or unsure of their looks must also disappear.
A life is not only suffering that runs downhill like a valley; there are also times of looking down at the world as though from a high summit. Know that the life you are walking now is not the end, and keep the faith, and God will make suffering into shoes and have you run faster.
The Shulammite had worked in the vineyard, so her face was burned and her hands were not fine. Love restored her confidence about that poor appearance of hers. She is loved by Solomon, but set against the queens and the concubines and the maids in the palace with their careful grooming, she was no match from the start.
But the spectacles of love have the power to make the one you love stand out above everyone else, however poor their appearance. That is why love has the power to change a life. To a Solomon in love, her appearance did not matter. Her face, burned while she worked hard in the vineyard, looked poor to other people; to him it looked strong, and the way she had lost her confidence under her brothers’ mistreatment stirred his instinct to protect her. To Solomon she looked more beautiful than any other woman, and simply having her beside him made him glad.
Song of Solomon 6:10
10Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
The Shulammite danced with everything she had for the husband she loved, and she looked so beautiful that he asked in wonder how she could be as fair and as bright as clear weather.
Every movement of her dancing was so lovely and so beautiful to Solomon that his love for her overflowed. He loved his wife so much that the dancing Shulammite looked to him like an army of angels, dazzling and commanding, like Mahanaim.
Song of Solomon 6:13
13Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
Song of Solomon 7:1
1How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.
Step by step, expressing love with her whole body, her dance seemed to show everyone how happy she was at that moment. Even his wife’s feet in their sandals looked beautiful, and her rounded thighs looked like a string of beads made by a skilled craftsman. Just as her feet in sandals are beautiful, the feet of believers who run carrying the gospel are precious like this. The feet of believers who carry good news are more beautiful than anything.
Ephesians 6:15
15and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace;
As the word says about being shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, testifying to the gospel is itself giving freedom to people bound in death, so that they can dance the dance of peace.
As she danced she would have worn about her waist an ornament decorated with gold and silver and jewels, to make herself look more beautiful. The ornaments made her stand out with every movement of the dance. The waist does the important work of holding a person’s center as they live. Just as a healthy waist is what makes ordinary daily life and dancing possible, a faith too can only be healthy when the word of truth stands at the center.
When you stand straight in the word of truth, the grace God pours out will make a believer’s life more beautiful still, like a string of jeweled beads. The grace God pours out on believers includes gifts, ability, talents, skills, worldly authority, wealth and long life. The grace God gives shines when the word of truth has been set at the center; go off the road of truth and it becomes a curse instead. God grants every believer’s request; but if someone uses this heart of God to ask for the world’s blessings, then his blessing becomes a heavy load to them instead.
Song of Solomon 7:2
2Your body is like a round goblet, no mixed wine is wanting. Your waist is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies.
In verse 2, that her navel is like a round goblet filled with mixed wine means that she looks abundant, like a round cup poured full of wine that has been spiced to bring out its flavor, and that many people are fond of a Shulammite like this. Wine makes the hearts of the people at a feast merry, and the sheaf of wheat means the joy of a rich harvest gained by a farmer’s sweat, like the sheaves stacked on the threshing floor after the reaping.
That Solomon compares her to a cup overflowing with wine and to a sheaf of wheat is his way of saying that she is a woman rich in blessing, blessed to produce much fruit — that is, many children of her own. In those days children were strength for a woman. Believers, too, must live abundant lives, receiving the full grace of the Holy Spirit and always receiving many blessings in body and soul. Only when believers are filled with the Spirit can they carry out the work of a lamp lighting a dark world. And only by gathering a rich harvest like sheaves of wheat can they save the many souls who are dying.
Song of Solomon 7:3
3Your two breasts are like two fawns, that are twins of a roe.
Solomon says her breasts are like two fawns, twins of a roe. He means she looks abundant and greatly blessed, as though two young were inside the womb. For a roe to bear even one is a great blessing, and to bear two at once would be a blessing greater than any. And there is nothing so precious as a mother’s milk, ready to keep those precious young alive.
Do you have two breasts ready that keep life alive? If there were no breasts to give the newborn young at once, they would not live; they would die. If believers do not have the word of truth, the food of life, and the fullness the Holy Spirit gives ready as well, they cannot make souls live. However many souls we give birth to by preaching the gospel for their salvation, without breasts we will lose those precious souls. You must first prepare food of the spirit with everything you have. As one fills up with fuel and lays in food and water in plenty before setting out onto the sea of the world, for believers the fullness of the Spirit and the word and faith are life itself.
Song of Solomon 7:4
4Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.
Solomon says her neck is like a tower of ivory. The neck joining head and body looks graceful, as a tower of ivory does. Things made of ivory are graceful and of high value. Believers are members of the body of Christ, who is the head; and because God sees that they resemble Christ, he sees them as graceful and precious as ivory. When the world attacks a believer this precious, God will protect them as a sure fence, so that the body of Christ is not damaged.
A tower does the precious work of watching for an invading enemy. So you must become a tower that never falls. Stay awake and pray, so that evil spirits and evil people cannot slip in. Doze in the tower and the church falls, the home falls, the heart falls.
In 7:4 Solomon says her eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. When he first met her he said her eyes were like doves; now he remembers the famous fish pools in Heshbon and compares them to those pools. Heshbon carries the meaning “wise,” and Bath Rabbim means “one woman among a great multitude.” That is, he seems to be praising her as “a woman wise and understanding among many women.” As a fish pool full of fish gives peace and rest to whoever looks at it, a wise woman supplies peace and rest to everyone. This must be the highest praise a husband can give his wife.
For a household’s wife to be wise and understanding is a blessing.
Proverbs 14:1
1Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
It would be the same for a woman too, but for a man, gaining a wise wife is a venture on which he stakes his whole life, so he must be careful. That is because whether a wife is wise or foolish can only be known by living with her. To gain a wise wife, a man must first have the wisdom to see spiritual wisdom.
In the same way, believers who become the bride of Christ must be wise and understanding. However much grace and gifting and ability God pours out, without wisdom and understanding they will turn all that grace into rubbish. Depending on the vessel God’s grace is poured into, the grace either produces power or rots. Only a wise believer will show the glory of God, and only the gospel of Christ can save a soul; so we must pray always to ask for the wisdom of Christ.
Song of Solomon 7:5
5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses.
Mount Carmel is where Elijah alone debated with the eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and Asherah. It was a contest Elijah could not possibly win from the start; but he rebuked the people who were hesitating in the middle, telling them with dignity and authority and spiritual power to decide which side they would stand on. And while Elijah fought alone against many idol worshipers, God sent fire down from heaven and helped him win by faith. He made sure that an Elijah who fought for God without doubting would not be shamed before the idol worshipers or the people.
You must have this kind of certainty in your faith. However much worldly power the other side holds, only a person who trusts that God will surely help them wins the way Elijah won. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the problem — I hope you will hold a faith that shows the world God is alive. Hesitate in the middle as the people of Israel did and the world and Satan will use still more evil methods to prove your faith wrong. But face them with a bold faith like Elijah’s and God will use your faith as his instrument first and give you the victory.
In 4:1 Solomon said the Shulammite’s hair was dark like a flock of goats lying along the slopes of Mount Gilead; in 7:5 he says it has a purple tint.
Song of Solomon 4:1
1Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
Song of Solomon 7:5
5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses.
Before she met Solomon, the Shulammite had hair as dark as a flock of goats. But after meeting him she came to carry a purple tint.
Purple is the color of the robes kings wear. Solomon says this to mean that the Shulammite, having become the king’s wife, has become honored like a king. As she carries a purple tint, believers too will marry Christ the king and become the bride of the King of kings. We were stained with sin like dark hair, and through the precious blood of Christ we will become the king’s bride and enjoy eternal life.
The qualification for becoming the bride of Christ is decided by this life in the world. For the wedding feast with Christ, believers will wear fine linen, bright and clean, and this fine linen is the righteous acts believers did in the world. The life of a believer who obeys the word and the commands of God and lives as an example of faith to many people is what those righteous acts are. God will see that life of faith and let believers enter the wedding feast wearing the fine linen. And Christ will set a believer dressed in beautiful linen up high, so that they shine more.
Christ is helping believers’ faith even now, in order to set the brides up high on the last day of the world. Solomon was a king, and he respected the Shulammite whether they were in front of people or alone together. His character, in which word and action as a husband always matched, deserved respect just as it was, and to her it was a fence firmer than anything. You too must always be careful with your words. Never forget that one word thrown out carelessly can make another soul stumble and lose heart.
The love of God, who let his own Son die on a cross in order to make a sinner into a believer, is a relationship in which life was given and received. It can only be a joy and a cause of thanks. You have received a love of heaven that the world could never receive however much it wanted it, so dance the dance of thanks before God to the full. As the Shulammite gave off her happiness boldly, dance the dance of faith to the full toward the world, showing how beautiful and how welcome the blessing of heaven is.
The dance of joy a believer dances will make the world look toward God. If through you, dancing inside the full grace of God, those people can meet him, there is no greater blessing than that. The world watches the dance a believer dances out of sheer thankfulness, and God is watching it too. If believers dance with the world rather than truth hung at their waist, the world will be glad, but God will judge.
But to a believer who dances the dance of grace God gave, he will give the blessings of heaven and the blessings of this earth together. A believer who does not forget that God is always watching is one who works miracles, and is a blessed person who enjoys blessing in the world as well.
May your life be full, and may you dance the dance of the Spirit in it always. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.