Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? Song of Songs 6:1 (ESV)
Probably at some point in your life a friend or relative has described a place where they have visited or an event they have attended that sounds so intriguing you just have to see or experience it for yourself. Maybe it was a place they visited while on vacation or a movie they watched. But they were so moved by it that the very passion by which they shared it made you determined to check it out.
In the fifth chapter of the Song of Solomon the Shulamite woman is desperately looking for her Beloved. Her Beloved had come to visit her, but she did not immediately respond to his call. By the time she opened the door he was gone. She begins to go about the city in search for him but to no avail. Finally she pleads with the daughters of Jerusalem that should they find him to let him know that she is sick for his love.
The daughters of Jerusalem respond, What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us? (Song of Songs 5:9 ESV) In other words they asked, “What makes this guy any more special than the next guy? What is so special about him that we should tell him that you’re looking for him? In response to their inquiry the Shulamite gives a vivid detailed description of her Beloved.
In reading the Shulamite’s response we soon realize that she is not describing the greats feats her Beloved has performed, rather she describes the beauty of his person. Only someone who has spent much time in the presence of her Beloved could give such a detailed description. In fact her description is so stunning that the daughters of Jerusalem quickly respond; “Where is your Beloved? We will seek him with you.” They may have thought, “If he is this beautiful we want to see him for ourselves.”
As Christians the beauty of Jesus should put a longing in our hearts to spend time in his presence e.g., worship, prayer and bible reading. And the more time we spend with him the more beautiful he becomes to us because we see the features of his person more distinctly. To spend time in the presence of the Lord was the one thing King David asked and sought after. He wrote, One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire (or meditate) in his temple. (Psalm 27:4 ESV)
Like the Shulamite woman, who was not ashamed to tell others of the beauty of her Beloved, neither should we be ashamed to tell others of the beauty of Christ, our Beloved. Our expectation is that our passionate description of Christ’s beauty will cause others to want to seek him as well.
How much time do you spend in the presence of your Beloved; Jesus? Do you see him as beautiful and infinitely valuable? Have you proclaimed his beauty to others in such a way that they too want to seek him?
Scriptures for meditation:
Psalm 96:6
Philippians 2:6-11
Colossians 1:15-18