Song of Solomon Devotion #3

HE- If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents. I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels…Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves. Song of Solomon 1:8-10, 15



HE- Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of pomegranate behind your veil. Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stones, on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:1-7



In our last devotion, we talked about the flaws we see in our bodies when we look in the mirror. We also talked about what our husband sees. Remember, that when your beloved looks at you, he is seeing your entire person, not just your physical body. Once again, we look to Solomon and his bride as an example. In the two passages we are looking at now, we see Solomon complimenting the beauty of his bride. Now, we look at his descriptions today, and don’t think they are very complimentary, but in Solomon’s day, it was high praise indeed! He starts at her eyes and works his way down. And how does the Shulamite respond to the compliments of her lover? When we go to scripture, and look at the Song, we find that she responds by talking about Solomon. She talks about how she responds to him and how lovely she finds his body.



I know that often, when my beloved compliments me, my response is, “Don’t have your glasses on, do you?” But, do I have a right to answer him in this way? Even though I think that my thoughts and response are based in me, are they really? Am I being respectful of my husband if, in answering a compliment I basically call him a liar? What right do I have to not believe him? If he tells me how lovely he finds me, why do I feel the need to tell him he’s wrong?



This is an area we need to follow the Shulamite’s example. When Solomon compliments her, what does she do? As we have already observed, she turns the compliment on him.We need to get to a point where we can either say a simple ‘thank you’, or where we can, in turn, compliment our husband.



For example: You’re doing dishes and your husband walks up behind you, puts his arms around your waist and says, “You get more beautiful every year, honey.” You can either respond with something like, “Yeah, and what is it that you want?” OR you could lean back against him, or turn around and put your arms around his neck and say, “It must be because you’re such a good, loving husband.”



Which response is going to make your husband feel more loved and respected? Which response is more honoring? Which response is going to encourage intimacy and communication? We should not think that we can continually rebuff our husband’s compliments,and then expect him to act in a loving way toward us. We need to realize that an unwillingness to accept our husband’s compliments and the need to tell him he’s wrong when he compliments us are rooted in an attitude of disrespect toward him. If you are guilty of this, then go to your beloved and confess, and ask for his forgiveness.



PRAYER

Father God, I thank You for a husband who sees beauty when he looks at me. Thank You, Father, for his willingness to tell me how beautiful he thinks I am. I confess, Father, an attitude of disrespect toward my husband, and ask for Your forgiveness. Father, enable me to honor my husband by either saying “thank you” or by being able to genuinely return a compliment. I pray Father, that You would draw us closer to each other and to You as I strive to change my attitudes.

Amen