Those Who Dance 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 caring for their appearance.
The pain and side effects that come with surgery are beyond words, yet the number of women undergoing it is rising sharply. Nor is it only women: men too, rather than living with the face and body God has given them, are remaking themselves through human medicine, as though they could create themselves anew. Ordinary people, meeting it so often through the media, are growing numb to it. For those whose faces are deformed or disfigured, of course, surgery is a truly needed medicine; but when I see the faces of entertainers and of people addicted to surgery change every time I look, I cannot help feeling a certain bitterness.
In the past, having surgery to look good to others was something no one would have dreamed of. As the quality of life has risen, the stress on appearance has grown, and looks have turned into the yardstick by which a person is judged. Because of a culture that judges people by their looks rather than by their character or nature, more and more people feel unhappy by comparison. Some take their own lives in despair over their appearance, and some cannot take part in society at all. It would be well if reshaping a face and figure gave people the confidence to live. But when people throw away their lives, or cannot live among others, because of how they look, it is a grievous misfortune for the individual and for society alike.
I first went to America in the year my first grandson was born. When I landed at the Atlanta airport, what surprised me most was how many people were heavier than anything I could have imagined. Some seemed to find it hard even to walk. But the surprise soon passed, and what I came to envy was that, whatever they looked like, they were all doing their work faithfully and with bright faces. No one seemed cowed by their appearance; everyone was giving their best to the task in front of them. What pleased me even more was that, unlike in our country, where heavy people struggle to find suitable work, they were working cheerfully regardless of how they looked. Granted, it would vary by field and by person, but from this one thing alone, that there was work for people whatever their looks, the people there seemed open in their thinking.
However much someone has studied, and whatever expertise they have, if they cannot find a place to work because of their appearance, that is the mark of an evil society, because such a society does not look for each person to work according to their talents and abilities; it wants only attractive looks, as though stamping dolls out of a factory. The worship of appearance that has spread through the world is a problem in itself, but society is falling sick because people, by comparison, have lost their confidence. The suicides of those who, poor or sick or ashamed of their looks, take their own lives and even their children’s with them must also come to an end.
Life is not only suffering that plunges down into the valley; there are also times when we stand on the heights and look down on the world. If we know that the road we walk now is not the end and hold fast to our faith, God will turn our suffering into shoes and make us run all the faster.
Because she worked in the vineyard, the Shulammite had a sunburned face and rough hands. Love restored her confidence despite her plain looks. She is loved by Solomon, yet beside the queens, concubines, and maidservants of the palace in all their fine adornment, she was never a match for them from the start.
But love’s spectacles can make the beloved stand out above all others, however plain their looks. That is why love has the power to change a life. To Solomon, deeply in love, the Shulammite’s appearance did not matter, because her face, darkened by hard work in the vineyard, looked plain to others but strong to him, and the way she had lost her confidence under her brothers’ harsh treatment stirred his instinct to protect her. To Solomon she was more beautiful than any other woman, and the very fact that she was at his side filled him with joy.
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, dancing with all her heart for the husband she loved, looked so beautiful that it drew a cry of wonder: how could she be so radiant and so lovely, like a cloudless day?
Every movement of the Shulammite’s dance was so dear and so beautiful to Solomon that his love for her overflowed. Because he loved his wife so much, she looked to him, as she danced, like Mahanaim, a majestic army of angels, dazzling and bold.
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 her love with her whole body, the Shulammite danced as if to show everyone how happy she now was. Even her feet in sandals looked beautiful, and her rounded thighs were like jewels, the work of a skillful workman. Like the Shulammite’s beautiful feet in sandals, the feet of believers who run carrying the gospel are precious. The feet of those who bring 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 verse says, our feet are fitted with the Good News of peace; proclaiming the gospel is itself what gives freedom to those bound by death and makes them dance the dance of peace.
As she danced, the Shulammite would have worn ornaments of gold, silver, and precious stones around her waist to make herself more beautiful still. With every movement, the ornaments set her off. The waist plays a vital part in keeping a person’s balance through life. Only with a healthy waist can we get through ordinary days, or dance; so too, our life of faith can be healthy only when the word of truth stands at its center.
When we stand upright on the word of truth, the grace God pours out will make our lives lovelier still, like jewels strung together. That grace comes in many forms: spiritual gifts, power, talents, abilities, worldly authority, wealth, and long life. It shines only when the word of truth is set at the center; when we stray from the path of truth, it turns into a curse instead. This is because God grants the desires of all his people, and anyone who exploits that heart of God to pursue the blessings of the world will find God’s blessing turned into a heavy burden.
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, her body is like a round goblet that lacks no mixed wine. This means that the Shulammite looks as abundant as a round goblet filled with wine blended with spices to bring out its full flavor, and that many people love her. Wine gladdens the hearts of those at the feast, and the heap of wheat, like the sheaves stacked on the threshing floor after harvest, brings the joy of a rich harvest won by the farmer’s sweat.
When Solomon compares the Shulammite to a goblet brimming with wine and to a heap of wheat, he is saying that she is a richly blessed woman, blessed to bear much fruit, that is, many children, because in those days children were a woman’s strength. Likewise, we must receive the full grace of the Holy Spirit and live abundant lives, blessed again and again in body and in spirit. Only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit can we serve as lamps that light up a dark world. And only when we reap a rich harvest like that heap of wheat can we save the many souls who are perishing.
Song of Solomon 7:3
3Your two breasts are like two fawns, that are twins of a roe.
That her two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a roe, means that she looks as full as a doe so richly blessed that she carries two young in her womb. If it is a great blessing for a doe to bear one fawn, to bear two at once would be the greatest blessing of all. And nothing is as precious as the mother’s milk made ready to keep such treasured young alive.
Do you have the two breasts that give life ready? If there are no breasts to nurse the newborn young at once, they will not survive; they will die. So it is with us. If we do not have the word of truth, the bread of life, and the fullness the Holy Spirit gives, ready and waiting, we cannot bring souls to life. However many souls we bring to birth for salvation by preaching the gospel, we will lose those precious souls, because we have no breasts to feed them. You must first do your utmost to prepare spiritual food. Like the fuel, food, and water a ship lays in before it sails out onto the sea of the world, the fullness of the Spirit, the word, and faith are life itself to us.
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.
That the Shulammite’s neck is like an ivory tower means that her neck, which joins head and body, looks as graceful as a tower made of ivory. Things made of ivory are graceful and of great value. Because the saints, the members of Christ who is the head, resemble Christ, God looks on them as graceful and as precious as ivory. When the world attacks saints so dear to him, God will protect them with a strong fence so that the body of Christ is not harmed.
A watchtower serves the vital purpose of watching for an enemy’s approach. So we must be watchtowers that never fall, keeping awake in prayer so that no evil spirit or evil person can slip in, because when we doze in the tower, the church, the home, and the heart fall.
In 7:4 Solomon says that the Shulammite’s eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim. When he first met her, Solomon said her eyes were like doves; now he recalls the famous fishpools in Heshbon and likens her eyes to them. Heshbon carries the meaning “wise,” and Bathrabbim the meaning “a woman among a great multitude.” In other words, he seems to be praising her as “a wise and discerning woman among many women.” A wise woman brings peace and rest to everyone around her, as a pool full of fish does to those who look on it. This would be the highest praise a husband could give his wife.
It is a blessing for a household when the wife is wise and discerning.
Proverbs 14:1
1Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
It may be the same for a woman, but for a man, winning a wise woman as his wife is an adventure that stakes his whole life, so he must be careful. This is because only by living together can anyone know whether a wife is wise or foolish. To win a wise wife, a man must first have the wisdom to discern spiritual wisdom.
So too, we who are to become the bride of Christ must be wise and discerning, because however much grace, however many gifts, and however much power God pours out, if we are not wise and discerning, we turn all that grace into rubbish. Depending on the vessel that holds it, God’s grace either shows its power as grace or rots away. Only the wise among us will reveal God’s glory, and only the gospel of Christ can save souls; so we must always pray, seeking 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, contended with the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. From the start it was a contest Elijah could not possibly win, yet with dignified and commanding spiritual authority he rebuked the people who were wavering between the two sides, telling them to decide where they would stand. And when Elijah fought alone against so many idol worshipers, God sent fire down from heaven and helped him win by faith. God made sure that Elijah, who fought for him without doubting, would not be put to shame before the idol worshipers or the people.
We need this kind of assured faith. However much worldly power our opponent holds, only with the faith that God will surely help us can we win as Elijah did. I hope you will hold on to a faith that can show the world that God is alive, whatever circumstances or problems you face. If you waver in between like the people of Israel, the world and Satan will use still more wicked means to prove that your faith is wrong. But if you face them with bold faith like Elijah, God will first take up your faith as his instrument and make you victorious.
In 4:1 Solomon said that the Shulammite’s hair was black, like a flock of goats on the slopes of Mount Gilead, but in 7:5 he says it is like purple.
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 black as a flock of goats. After she met him, it took on the sheen of purple.
Purple is the color of the robes kings wear. When Solomon spoke this way, he meant that the Shulammite, now the king’s wife, had been raised to an honor like a king’s. Like the Shulammite with her purple sheen, we too will be married to Christ our King as the bride of the King of kings. We who were stained with sin, like hair dyed black, will be made the King’s bride through the blood of Christ and enjoy eternal life.
Whether we are fit to be the bride of Christ is decided by our life in this world. For the wedding feast with Christ, the saints will wear fine linen, bright and pure, and this fine linen is the righteous acts they have done in the world. A life that obeys the word and commands of God and sets an example of faith before many people: that is what righteous acts are. God, seeing that life of faith, will bring the saints into the wedding feast clothed in fine linen. And Christ will raise up those who wear that beautiful linen, so that they shine all the more.
To raise up his bride on the last day, Christ is helping our faith even now. Solomon was a king, yet whether before others or alone with her, he honored the Shulammite. His character as a husband, whose words and deeds always agreed, was worthy of respect in itself, and to the Shulammite it was the strongest fence of all. We too must always watch our words and never forget that a careless word of ours can make another soul stumble and lose heart.
God allowed his own Son to die on the cross to make sinners into saints, and his love is a bond in which life was given and received. We cannot help but rejoice and give thanks for it. You who have received the love of heaven, a love the world could never obtain however much it longed for it, I hope you will dance before God in thanksgiving with all your heart. As the Shulammite boldly let her happiness shine, may you dance the dance of faith with all your heart before the world, showing how beautiful and how worthy of thanks the blessing of heaven is.
The joyful dance of God’s people will make the world turn its eyes to God. If, through you dancing in the fullness of his grace, they can meet God, there could be no greater blessing. The world is watching the dance we dance out of overflowing thanks, but God is watching too. If believers dance with the world fastened at their waist instead of the truth, the world will rejoice, but God will judge.
But to those who dance the dance of grace he has given, God will give both the blessings of heaven and the blessings of this earth. Those who never forget that God is always watching are the ones who bring miracles to pass, and they are blessed indeed, enjoying blessings even in this world.
May you always dance the dance of the Holy Spirit in a life of fullness. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.