The sun has darkened her skin, and she knows people notice. She speaks of angry brothers who put her to work keeping vineyards while her own went untended. She asks the daughters of Jerusalem not to stare. Before we hear much of her story, we recognize something familiar: the discomfort of being looked at without being understood.
Her beloved looks at her too. He sees beauty. As their words move back and forth, she speaks with a confidence that reaches beyond appearances. She belongs to her beloved, and he belongs to her. The woman, conscious of other people’s eyes, is also a woman deeply loved.
There is a world of difference between being inspected and being cherished.
Her beloved compares her to an enclosed garden. Something precious to be kept, to be loved. Her beauty is personal, her devotion faithful. The language of this bond grows fierce: a love that will not let go—with a jealousy as unyielding as the grave. Nothing can be compared to a love so deep. It cannot be bought. Some may regard this love as worthless, but their rejection cannot diminish its worth.
People can praise us while we are useful and disappear when we become costly. After enough of that, even kindness can make us suspicious. What will this person expect? How long before the welcome wears out? The heart wants to be known, yet fears what someone might do with the knowledge.
Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. The connection brings us to the cross. Christ knew the people He came to save. Our sin was already before Him when He willingly bore its cost. His love did not depend on discovering that we were better than we appeared.
He knew the cost, and He gave Himself.
We do not have to purchase His welcome or become impressive enough to deserve it. Faith receives what His love has provided. The choice to trust Him is real, and it matters eternally. Yet we need not approach Him as though we must hide the very wounds and wrongs He came to address. The Savior calls us to repentance with full knowledge of whom He is calling.
The fierce flame of this love gives us language for devotion that hardship cannot drown and wealth cannot purchase. At the cross, we see how far Christ’s devotion went. We can stop wondering whether His love rests on some flattering mistake about us.
He knows whom He is loving—and we are grateful to belong to Him.
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” —Song of Solomon 8:7
—Jeff Wager
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