Song 5:13 | KingComments | STEP | The bride continues her description of the groom with “his eyes” ( ). To see someone’s eyes one has to be close to the person. The eyes are sometimes called ‘the mirror of the soul’. If you look someone deep in the eyes, you can read a lot of what is going on in him, whether someone is happy or sad. The bride compares his eyes to “doves” (cf. ). That means that his eyes are characterized by what characterizes doves. Doves have a “clear” or “single” (Darby translation) eye ( ). A single eye is an eye that focuses on only one object. With the Lord Jesus we see this in perfection. His gaze was always directly ahead ( ). Several times we read of Him that He lifted up His eyes to heaven ( ). His eyes were always on the Father. He always had, so to speak, ‘eye contact’ with His Father. He never saw anything wrong and never looked in a wrong way. Eve did, so sin came into the world. The Lord Jesus has always been guided by His Father – by everything He said. This is indicated by “beside streams of water”. He lived by the Word of God ( ). That Word was a refreshment for Him ( ). With that refreshment He also revives or restores others who are affected by sin. This is how He looked at Peter, after Peter has denied Him three times. This reminds Peter of the word the Lord has spoken to him. That breaks his heart, and the way to restoration has begun ( ). Still the bride is not finished with the description of the groom’s eyes. She sees his eyes “bathed in milk, [and] reposed in [their] setting”. She compares the eye white of the eye socket to milk. Milk is associated with the thought of abundance, purity, cleanness and healthy food. Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey. Milk is also a picture of the healthy food of God’s Word ( ). The description “reposed in [their] setting” radiates tranquility. This gives a picture of the full fellowship of the Lord with His Father. His eyes do not wander, nor go back and forth nervously. His eyes are always on His Father. From the fellowship with the Father His eyes also go to His disciples ( ) and to the crowds ( ; ). It is good to know the eyes of the Lord Jesus and to read in them what is in them for us. They are the eyes of doves, which also reminds us of the Holy Spirit, Who descended upon Him in the form of a dove. The Spirit gives His eyes a shine reminiscent of streams of water and a look reminiscent of the purity of milk. His eyes are for His own a source of sympathy. After the eyes, the gaze is focused on His cheeks ( ). Then we remember that He gave His cheeks to those who plucked out His beard ( ). For those who know Him, those cheeks are “like a bed of balsam, banks of sweet-scented herbs”. His reaction to the reprobate treatment inflicted upon Him is full of rest, like a bed. He has suffered silently. And what a pleasant fragrance ascended out of that rest up to God, like the fragrance of balsam. He Who was once despised as the defenseless One is therefore admired by God and His own. The “banks” (of a river) speak of not being distracted, going one direction. The Lord Jesus did not let Himself be distracted from the way He had to go. He went all the way until all His work was accomplished. Herbs, like spices, give a pleasant fragrance. His watchfulness, his constant attention to the Father, has been for the Father a fragrant aroma, a great joy for His heart. Here the bride tells that she has seen that in the groom. Have we seen this in the Lord Jesus? We have to look at Him, that is, that we read the Word and think about Him. As we think about His life on earth, we will get to know more and more of His Person and start to admire Him more and more. We will bear witness to this to others. The bride compares the lips of the groom with “lilies dripping with liquid myrrh”. We read of the Lord Jesus that upon His lips “grace is poured” ( ). The lily is a picture of tenderness in a region of thorns ( ). The Lord Jesus spoke words of life and encouragement among a people compared to “thistles and thorns” ( ). In an unruly, pain causing world, He speaks words of grace. These words are not in the newspaper, but in God’s Word and in the hearts of those who have accepted His words. They have experienced, like the bride, that His words are not cheap words. They are steeped in the suffering that He wanted to undergo in order to be able to speak those words. This is what the “liquid myrrh” speaks of. There is testified of Him: “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” ( ). “And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips” ( ). He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He suffered the same on earth as we did, yet without sin ( ). We never knock on the door in vain if we want to tell Him our problems. When we come to Him with our need, He is open to us and we may experience that He understands us. Then he says: “Take courage” ( ; ; ; ). This is such a word of grace with which He comforts us with the comfort He knows from His own experience.

‏ Song of Solomon 5:13

Eyes, Cheeks and Lips

The bride continues her description of the groom with “his eyes” (Song 5:12). To see someone’s eyes one has to be close to the person. The eyes are sometimes called ‘the mirror of the soul’. If you look someone deep in the eyes, you can read a lot of what is going on in him, whether someone is happy or sad.

The bride compares his eyes to “doves” (cf. Song 1:15 ; Song 4:1). That means that his eyes are characterized by what characterizes doves. Doves have a “clear” or “single” (Darby translation) eye (Mt 6:22). A single eye is an eye that focuses on only one object. With the Lord Jesus we see this in perfection. His gaze was always directly ahead (Pro 4:25). Several times we read of Him that He lifted up His eyes to heaven (Jn 17:1 ; Jn 11:41).

His eyes were always on the Father. He always had, so to speak, ‘eye contact’ with His Father. He never saw anything wrong and never looked in a wrong way. Eve did, so sin came into the world. The Lord Jesus has always been guided by His Father – by everything He said. This is indicated by “beside streams of water”. He lived by the Word of God (Mt 4:4). That Word was a refreshment for Him (Psa 110:7).

With that refreshment He also revives or restores others who are affected by sin. This is how He looked at Peter, after Peter has denied Him three times. This reminds Peter of the word the Lord has spoken to him. That breaks his heart, and the way to restoration has begun (Lk 22:61-62).

Still the bride is not finished with the description of the groom’s eyes. She sees his eyes “bathed in milk, [and] reposed in [their] setting”. She compares the eye white of the eye socket to milk. Milk is associated with the thought of abundance, purity, cleanness and healthy food. Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey. Milk is also a picture of the healthy food of God’s Word (1Pet 2:2).

The description “reposed in [their] setting” radiates tranquility. This gives a picture of the full fellowship of the Lord with His Father. His eyes do not wander, nor go back and forth nervously. His eyes are always on His Father. From the fellowship with the Father His eyes also go to His disciples (Lk 6:20) and to the crowds (Jn 6:5; Mt 14:14).

It is good to know the eyes of the Lord Jesus and to read in them what is in them for us. They are the eyes of doves, which also reminds us of the Holy Spirit, Who descended upon Him in the form of a dove. The Spirit gives His eyes a shine reminiscent of streams of water and a look reminiscent of the purity of milk. His eyes are for His own a source of sympathy.

After the eyes, the gaze is focused on His cheeks (Song 5:13). Then we remember that He gave His cheeks to those who plucked out His beard (Isa 50:6). For those who know Him, those cheeks are “like a bed of balsam, banks of sweet-scented herbs”. His reaction to the reprobate treatment inflicted upon Him is full of rest, like a bed. He has suffered silently. And what a pleasant fragrance ascended out of that rest up to God, like the fragrance of balsam. He Who was once despised as the defenseless One is therefore admired by God and His own.

The “banks” (of a river) speak of not being distracted, going one direction. The Lord Jesus did not let Himself be distracted from the way He had to go. He went all the way until all His work was accomplished. Herbs, like spices, give a pleasant fragrance. His watchfulness, his constant attention to the Father, has been for the Father a fragrant aroma, a great joy for His heart.

Here the bride tells that she has seen that in the groom. Have we seen this in the Lord Jesus? We have to look at Him, that is, that we read the Word and think about Him. As we think about His life on earth, we will get to know more and more of His Person and start to admire Him more and more. We will bear witness to this to others.

The bride compares the lips of the groom with “lilies dripping with liquid myrrh”. We read of the Lord Jesus that upon His lips “grace is poured” (Psa 45:2). The lily is a picture of tenderness in a region of thorns (Song 2:1-2). The Lord Jesus spoke words of life and encouragement among a people compared to “thistles and thorns” (Eze 2:6).

In an unruly, pain causing world, He speaks words of grace. These words are not in the newspaper, but in God’s Word and in the hearts of those who have accepted His words. They have experienced, like the bride, that His words are not cheap words. They are steeped in the suffering that He wanted to undergo in order to be able to speak those words. This is what the “liquid myrrh” speaks of. There is testified of Him: “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” (Jn 7:46). “And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips” (Lk 4:22a).

He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He suffered the same on earth as we did, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). We never knock on the door in vain if we want to tell Him our problems. When we come to Him with our need, He is open to us and we may experience that He understands us. Then he says: “Take courage” (Mt 9:2 ; 22 ; Mt 14:27; Mk 10:49; Jn 16:33; Acts 23:11). This is such a word of grace with which He comforts us with the comfort He knows from His own experience.