Song 4:9 | KingComments | STEP | The heart of the groom is full of love for his bride. His heart is always full of love for her. But now he says to her that she has “made” his “heart beat faster” or has “conquered” his heart, which is the better rendering ( ). Something has been done by her that has gently overwhelmed him, something that has deeply touched his heart. He even says it twice in this verse, which indicates how intense he experiences this. Before he says this the second time, he addresses her as “my sister, [my] bride”. In he called her ‘bride’ for the first time. Now he calls her ‘my sister’ for the first time, emphasizing her relationship with him. The relationship between the Lord Jesus and His own is one of love, but also one of kinship. It is even so that He first made us related to Himself before a relationship of love could arise. He, the eternal Son, has done this by becoming Man and connecting us to Himself through His work of salvation. As we read in the letter to the Hebrews: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” ( ). Because of this, a relationship has arisen between him and us and He calls us “brethren” ( ; ). If we understand this well, we will have no choice but to look at Him with admiration and love. And that is what He notices. Just as the groom sees from the bride’s eyes that she is completely full of him, so the Lord Jesus sees from our eyes that we only have an eye for Him. That conquers His heart. It seems so less, only “a single [glance] of your eyes”, but it says it all. It’s about our eyes, what we are looking at. Are we looking only at Him? He would like ‘eye contact’ with us (cf. ). His eye is constantly upon us ( ). It touches Him deeply when our eye is clear ( ), that is, it is directed at nothing and no one but Him. If our eyes are on Him, we will live our lives entirely for Him. Then the following connects to what the groom sees with her and through which she has conquered his heart. He sees “one strand”, or “one link” of her “necklace”. In the book of Proverbs the necklace is a decoration that symbolizes the father’s education and the mother’s teachings ( ). Some links of the necklace are “kindness and truth” ( ). The groom has an eye for all links and is delighted. The fact that he speaks of one link that has conquered his heart makes it clear that he has an eye for each link separately. Every detail of her decoration touches him. So it is with the Lord Jesus in His attention to us. If we submit to the teaching from His Word, we conquer His heart with it. That we submit to His Word is evident when we act according to His Word when He points out something to us through His Word. It is only one link at a time, whereby all links together form an adornment. His heart is conquered by it when we do the least of all His commandments for Him. He appreciates this in a special way: “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others [to do] the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches [them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” ( ). The bride said at the beginning of the book that the groom’s love is better than wine ( ). Here the groom expresses himself more strongly ( ). He says ‘how much’ better her love is. The groom’s appreciation of love has always been greater than that of the bride. So it is with the Lord. He knows how to fully appreciate our love, while we often appreciate His love so little. That He so appreciates our love is because it is God’s love, that is His own love, which He poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit ( ). However weak we sometimes show it to Him in our practice, He knows its nature and appreciates it. With the fragrance of the oils it is the same as with the wine. Again, the bride first praised the fragrant oils that are from the groom ( ). The groom uses her words and expresses himself more strongly: the smell of her oils is much better “than all [kinds] of spices”. It is not so much about the oil, but about its smell. The fragrance contains all the rich and varied characteristics of that anointing. Fragrance is invisible and can only be discovered by smelling. The oil, as we have seen before, is a picture of the Holy Spirit ( ). In addition to pouring out the love of God into our hearts, He also has come to dwell in our hearts and bodies ( ; ; ). From our hearts we can spread through our bodies a fragrance that is smelled with joy by the Lord Jesus. Our love for the Lord Jesus is worked in us by the Spirit – the oil refers to this – and for Him it is much better “than all [kinds] of spices”. In the same way we can experience that someone has a certain spiritual radiation that we cannot describe. A person’s presence can radiate a benevolent rest even before that person has said or done anything special. The whole performance makes you feel accepted and safe, without that person consciously drawing attention to himself. Such an action is worked out by the Spirit and reminds us of the Lord Jesus. It is the fruit of a life of obedience to the Holy Spirit. It goes far beyond everything the world contains. In the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit was able to do everything to glorify God. The whole life of the Lord on earth has been a lovely fragrance for God. Now the Lord Jesus says this – in picture – to the believer. The believer who lives a life shaped by God’s Spirit gives Christ great joy. He expresses His appreciation for this. When the love of God and the working of God’s Spirit are noticeable in a believer, the Lord Jesus finds His greatest satisfaction in it.

‏ Song of Solomon 4:9

The Appreciation of the Groom

The heart of the groom is full of love for his bride. His heart is always full of love for her. But now he says to her that she has “made” his “heart beat faster” or has “conquered” his heart, which is the better rendering (Song 4:9). Something has been done by her that has gently overwhelmed him, something that has deeply touched his heart. He even says it twice in this verse, which indicates how intense he experiences this. Before he says this the second time, he addresses her as “my sister, [my] bride”. In Song 4:8 he called her ‘bride’ for the first time. Now he calls her ‘my sister’ for the first time, emphasizing her relationship with him.

The relationship between the Lord Jesus and His own is one of love, but also one of kinship. It is even so that He first made us related to Himself before a relationship of love could arise. He, the eternal Son, has done this by becoming Man and connecting us to Himself through His work of salvation. As we read in the letter to the Hebrews: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb 2:14-15). Because of this, a relationship has arisen between him and us and He calls us “brethren” (Jn 20:17; Heb 2:11).

If we understand this well, we will have no choice but to look at Him with admiration and love. And that is what He notices. Just as the groom sees from the bride’s eyes that she is completely full of him, so the Lord Jesus sees from our eyes that we only have an eye for Him. That conquers His heart. It seems so less, only “a single [glance] of your eyes”, but it says it all.

It’s about our eyes, what we are looking at. Are we looking only at Him? He would like ‘eye contact’ with us (cf. Gen 24:63-64). His eye is constantly upon us (Psa 32:8). It touches Him deeply when our eye is clear (Mt 6:22), that is, it is directed at nothing and no one but Him. If our eyes are on Him, we will live our lives entirely for Him.

Then the following connects to what the groom sees with her and through which she has conquered his heart. He sees “one strand”, or “one link” of her “necklace”. In the book of Proverbs the necklace is a decoration that symbolizes the father’s education and the mother’s teachings (Pro 1:8-9). Some links of the necklace are “kindness and truth” (Pro 3:3). The groom has an eye for all links and is delighted. The fact that he speaks of one link that has conquered his heart makes it clear that he has an eye for each link separately. Every detail of her decoration touches him.

So it is with the Lord Jesus in His attention to us. If we submit to the teaching from His Word, we conquer His heart with it. That we submit to His Word is evident when we act according to His Word when He points out something to us through His Word. It is only one link at a time, whereby all links together form an adornment. His heart is conquered by it when we do the least of all His commandments for Him. He appreciates this in a special way: “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others [to do] the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches [them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:19).

The bride said at the beginning of the book that the groom’s love is better than wine (Song 1:2). Here the groom expresses himself more strongly (Song 4:10). He says ‘how much’ better her love is. The groom’s appreciation of love has always been greater than that of the bride. So it is with the Lord. He knows how to fully appreciate our love, while we often appreciate His love so little. That He so appreciates our love is because it is God’s love, that is His own love, which He poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). However weak we sometimes show it to Him in our practice, He knows its nature and appreciates it.

With the fragrance of the oils it is the same as with the wine. Again, the bride first praised the fragrant oils that are from the groom (Song 1:3). The groom uses her words and expresses himself more strongly: the smell of her oils is much better “than all [kinds] of spices”. It is not so much about the oil, but about its smell. The fragrance contains all the rich and varied characteristics of that anointing. Fragrance is invisible and can only be discovered by smelling.

The oil, as we have seen before, is a picture of the Holy Spirit (1Jn 2:20 ; 27). In addition to pouring out the love of God into our hearts, He also has come to dwell in our hearts and bodies (2Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6; 1Cor 6:19). From our hearts we can spread through our bodies a fragrance that is smelled with joy by the Lord Jesus. Our love for the Lord Jesus is worked in us by the Spirit – the oil refers to this – and for Him it is much better “than all [kinds] of spices”.

In the same way we can experience that someone has a certain spiritual radiation that we cannot describe. A person’s presence can radiate a benevolent rest even before that person has said or done anything special. The whole performance makes you feel accepted and safe, without that person consciously drawing attention to himself. Such an action is worked out by the Spirit and reminds us of the Lord Jesus. It is the fruit of a life of obedience to the Holy Spirit. It goes far beyond everything the world contains.

In the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit was able to do everything to glorify God. The whole life of the Lord on earth has been a lovely fragrance for God. Now the Lord Jesus says this – in picture – to the believer. The believer who lives a life shaped by God’s Spirit gives Christ great joy. He expresses His appreciation for this. When the love of God and the working of God’s Spirit are noticeable in a believer, the Lord Jesus finds His greatest satisfaction in it.